14.1 | SPRING | MARCH 2017
IN THIS ISSUE 2
NEWS FROM THE LEAGUE
4
NATIONAL POETRY MONTH, POETRY CITY, POEM IN YOUR POCKET DAY
8
BOOKISH BITS AND INDUSTRY NEWS
10
NEWS FROM THE FEMINIST CAUCUS
11
REVIEWS
11
FROM THE BLOG
14
NEW MEMBERS
16
MEMBER NEWS
17
IN MEMORIAM: PATIENCE WHEATLEY
19
WRITING OPPORTUNITIES
4 WELCOME TO OUR ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR 4 READING FUNDING FOR APRIL AND BEYOND 4 MEMBERSHIP DUES 4 2017 AWARDS SHORTLISTS 4 JOIN NATIONAL COUNCIL 4 2017 AGM AND CONFERENCE 4 DONATION AND MEMBERSHIP RECEIPTS 4 UPDATE YOUR ONLINE MEMBER PROFILE
NEWS FROM THE LEAGUE WELCOME TO OUR NEW ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR Many of you have already had the pleasure of chatting with our new Administrative Director, Stefanie Pantalone. We are so excited to have her on the team! Arzu accepted another position in late 2016, and we are so grateful to have Stefanie here with us, already diving right into everything. If you have questions about our funding programs, your membership status, donations, or awards, you can contact her at stefanie@poets.ca. Stefanie is a Theatre Arts graduate from Ottawa. In 2011, she moved to Toronto and immediately started working with the Ontario Arts Council. She is an arts enthusiast! Besides being an avid book lover and writer, she spends lots of her time seeing family, friends, going to the movies and musical theatre, eating delicious meals, attending various Comic Cons, and playing Donkey Kong on her old SNES. A (self-described) nerd all around! READING FUNDING FOR APRIL AND BEYOND: TORONTO READINGS, SCHOOL VISITS, AND MORE We are happy to have just re-opened two of our popular funding programs for applications: Readings in Public Places is now accepting applications for readings taking place in Toronto, and Poets in the Schools is now open for applications for visits taking place in April and beyond. Please note: our Toronto funding program is always quick to be snapped up, and funds are allotted on a first-come first serve basis (with no set deadline) so if you are thinking of using this program, be sure to apply as soon as possible! Visit poets.ca/ripp for full guidelines and an application form.
There is still a limited amount of funding available for school visits taking place before March 31. Please visit poets.ca/pits or contact the office if you are looking into arranging a school visit before the end of the month. Our Canada Poetry Tours program is now closed, and everyone who submitted an application should have heard from us—if you are still waiting, please contact stefanie@poets.ca. The next application period will be from June 15 to July 31, for funding for readings taking place between October 1, 2017, and March 31, 2018. If you have a reserved reading, applications for that reading do not need to be submitted during the open application windows, but must be received at least two weeks in advance of the reading (ideally earlier). MEMBERSHIP DUES NOTIFICATIONS You may have recently received an email from the League letting you know membership renewal time is upon us. We just want to let you know that no further action is required from you yet – on April 1st, you’ll receive another email from us with your annual membership invoice and a link to pay online. You are also welcome to send in a cheque at that time, or give us a call to set up a payment plan. While there’s no need to send in any new paperwork, this can be a great time to make sure we have your most up-to-date contact information, including email, phone number, and mailing address. AWARDS SHORTLISTS TO BE REVEALED THIS NATIONAL POETRY MONTH Thank you so much to all of our jurors for their hard work this awards season! We are excited to have shortlists for all three of our book awards as well as for the Sheri-D Wilson Golden Beret Award for spoken word, all of which will be announced in early April to celebrate National Poetry Month. Plus, keep your eyes peeled for our Jessamy Stursberg young poets’ prize winner announcement at the end of April!
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: NATIONAL COUNCIL The League of Canadian Poets is seeking to fill the Atlantic Representative position on the National Council! This volunteer position involves supporting the League is fostering connections with poets in your region in beyond. You will also help to guide the organization, assist with fundraising projects, and build awareness in your region and across Canada. If you are interested in taking this on, find out more information here. 2017 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING The League AGM and conference will be taking place in Toronto on June 9, 10, and 11, 2017. We are excited to have our annual awards celebration, feminist caucus programming, members-only events and much, much more! Stay tuned to poets.ca/conference and sign up for Between the Lines, a monthly newsletter, to receive the most up-to-date information about programming, registration, discounts, and more. DONATION AND MEMBERSHIP RECEIPTS All those who generously donated to the League in 2015 should have now received a donation receipt for tax purposes. If you require another copy of a receipt from the League for tax purposes (for your membership payment or for a donation) please feel free to contact Stefanie Pantalone, stefanie@poets.ca. MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR ONLINE PROFILE All members of the League have an online profile publicly visible in our member directory (poets.ca/directory). There is space for a profile picture and additional photos, as well as a lengthy area to include biographical information, publications, awards, and contact information if you like. This directory also allows visitors to sort and view members who are open to being booked for school visits. We encourage you to check out your profile and let us know if you’d like to update your information! To update your profile, please email nicole@poets.ca.
NATIONAL POETRY MONTH NATIONAL POETRY MONTH EVENTS CALENDAR Our April events calendar is filling up with exciting poetry events taking place all across Canada to celebrate National Poetry Month! If you’re participating in or planning a literary event this April, be sure to send us the details either by email or through our submission form at poets.ca/npm. We will be highlighting certain events from coast to coast throughout the month! NATIONAL POETRY MONTH—AND BEYOND! To celebrate poetry this April, we will be adding lots of new content to our blog to help readers integrate poetry into their day-to-day lives. Check poets.ca/community, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter, to find poetry recommendations, reading tips, and more fun poetry fodder for National Poetry Month and beyond. WRITE FOR THE NATIONAL POETRY MONTH BLOG If you would like to contribute to our blog this April, please contact nicole@poets.ca with your idea! We are looking to share posts that are – at least loosely – related to our theme of time. That could mean reflecting on your own journey as a poet, discussing the impact of time on your writing life, charting a chronology of your favourite books over time, or something completely new! We have limited space available but we’re keen to have as many voices as we can celebrating poetry for National Poetry Month.
POETRY CITY Canada’s poet laureate, George Elliott Clarke, challenges mayors to bring poetry into politics this spring for Poetry City! Poetry City provides Canadian cities with the opportunity to bring poetry into the public eye and showcase local talent. Find out how to get your city involved at poets.ca/poetrycity!
POEM IN YOUR POCKET DAY Poem in Your Pocket Day will take place this year on Thursday, April 27! We are so grateful to everyone who submitted poems for the booklet, and we are excited to reveal the fifteen new poems to be included in the 2017 booklet. Stay tuned to poets.ca/pocketpoem for the big reveal! Poem in Your Pocket Day is an annual initiative organized by the Academy of American Poets to celebrate National Poetry Month. Each year on Poem in Your Pocket Day, schools, bookstores, libraries, parks, workplaces, and other venues ring loud with open readings of poems from pockets.
BOOKISH BITS PUBLIC LENDING RIGHT Public Lending Right registration is now open, and this is big news for any poet with a published book! The Public Lending Right is a wonderful program from the Canada Council that compensates writers based on the library circulation of their books. PLR compensation is a reliable source of income that may even exceed royalty payments from year to year. Registration is open until May 1, and books must be published and in circulation on or before May 1 to be eligible for this registration period. Translators are also eligible for PLR compensation! To find out more about how the PLR can benefit you, visit plrdpp.ca or contact plr@canadacouncil.ca or 1-800-521-5721. And in good news for the PLR itself, at the end of 2016, it was announced that the PLR budget will permanently increase by $5 million--the largest raise in the program’s history! CANADA READS TAKING PLACE END OF MARCH CBC announced this year’s Canada Reads contenders and defenders! What is the one book Canadians need now? We’ll find out at the end of March! Check out the books on the Canada Reads website. CBC 2017 SPRING BOOKS PREVIEW We’re swooning over the beautiful poetry titles in this 2017 spring books preview from CBC! Check out all the great CanLit coming your way soon, and get ready to hit up your local book launches. FESTIVAL OF LITERARY DIVERSITY REGISTRATION NOW OPEN The Festival of Literary Diversity in Brampton will take place from May 4 to 7, and registration is now open! Don’t miss this is excellent literary festival!
A PARLIAMENT OF POEMS: INTERVIEW WITH CANADA’S POET LAUREATE “I really do think that when the Hon. Jerry Grafstein (Senator) and poet Roger Nash proposed the creation of this position, they likely properly thought that it was all self-explanatory. Unfortunately, the popular/public understanding of the role of poets had shifted badly from, well, 1900-2000, from the Shelley notion that we are “unacknowledged legislators” to the high modernist propaganda that we are insular oracles publishing cryptic creations that are of interest mainly (if not only) to professors of literature and graduate students. I’ll speculate that a Hansard search of quotations of poets/ poetry in the Parliament will show a steady decline in occurrence from the beginning of the last century down to the present, with a significant tapering off after the 1960s, when politics became more the domain of technocrats, lawyers, and economists, and less open— perhaps—to learned graduates of the humanities.”
POETRY PRIZE SUBMISSION TIPS FROM CBC BOOKS Sign up for the new CBC Poetry Prize newsletter! Starting April 1, when the $6,000 prize opens, you will receive three emails each week with writing tips from Canadian writers. These tips will inspire you to write and help you through the editing and revising process before hitting the “submit” button.
AND INDUSTRY NEWS OTTAWA TO GET POETS LAUREATE (AGAIN) “Ottawa has historically fallen prey to an odd combination of provincialism and self-consciously being the Nation’s Capital, which has often overrun considerations of the local. Consider, for example, that the Ottawa Art Gallery is smaller than the Kamploops Art Gallery, but the National Gallery is on par with the Vancouver and Winnipeg Art Galleries, as well as Montreal’s Beaux-Arts. The response to Ottawa-specific Poet Laureates will be interesting to see, and one can only hope that increased attention to the art ends up helping everyone involved. There is an enormous amount of writing activity in the city, so anything that might allow acknowledgment of that is a good thing.”
MARGARET ATWOOD RECEIVES NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Margaret Atwood was the 2016 recipient of the National Book Critics Circle’s Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award. Awarded semi-regularly since 1982, this honour recognizes those in the writing and publishing world who have made a significant contribution to book culture. Past recipients include Toni Morrison, Joyce Carol Oates, the Library of America and the PEN American Center. Atwood is the first Canadian to receive this honour.
CANADIAN WRITERS SHARE INSPIRATION Karen Solie and Esi Edugyan discuss the writing process: “Literature and poetry matter because writing is an active process. It animates the mind. However, poets must accept that their work will always have some kind of negative reception, along with the positive—the same could be said for any form of art. ‘The poem will always fail,’ [Solie] said. Some people will not resonate with it; others will not understand. Thus, the poet must be comfortable with failure, because there is ‘beauty in the impossibility.’”
THE WALRUS PROFILES M. TRAVIS LANE AND HER POETIC CAREER “Armed with an encyclopedic knowledge of the western canon, she dissects poetry with elegance and authority. She has poked and probed Can Lit pioneers (Ralph Gustafson), contemporary darlings (Madhur Anand), and the occasional translated heavyweight (Tomas Tranströmer). Reading, Lane believes, is not just for poets, and poets should discourage such notions; poets should avoid too-personal trivialities. Poets are people who write poetry, no more, no less, and they have no mystic sensitivity the rest of us lack; poets should get more fresh air.”
FIVE CANADIAN AUTHORS REFLECT ON PLACE From the New York Times: “Canada, our No. 1 pick for this year’s 52 Places to Go list, spans millions of square miles. It also contains multitudes, not just of people and locations, but of memories. We asked five Canadian authors to reflect on places that have lodged in their psyches.”
NEWS FROM THE FEMINIST CAUCUS WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH AND INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY This month, we celebrate Women’s History Month! Of course, we should remember to celebrate the women in our lives all the time, but it’s a great time to focus on how women have shaped and inspired us as people, professionals, and artists. We particularly love this post from 49th Shelf: “Poetry vs. the Patriarchy,” a list of seven recommended books by incredible female poets. All Lit Up also posted several amazing feminist blog posts around International Women’s Day, including “Writing and the Women’s March: Two Stories” and “Joyfully: Reading as Generative Resistance.” FEMINIST CAUCUS REPORTS Every month, Feminist Caucus Chair Anne Burke prepares a monthly report of Caucus activities and feminist news. You can find an archive of all monthly reports on the Feminist Caucus page, poets.ca/feministcaucus. Recent reports include: • Review of several books by members, including Tourist by Lara Bozabalian, Dopamine Blunder by Lori Cayer, The Unlit Path Behind the House by Margo Wheaton, and more. • Poetry from Canisia Lubrin, Norma J Kerby, Susan Olding, and an interview with new member Susan Ksiezopolski. • A reflection on the life and impact of Patience Wheatley, a longtime League member and member of the Feminist Caucus who passed away last summer. • Information about recent festivals and calls for submissions. • Updates from members about new books, book tours, and other exciting events and information.
As my friend Tanis MacDonald has written, every time I talk about Canadian poetry I feel I am doing something radical. This is even more true when I talk about poetry written by women and women-identifying people writing in the context of Canada. The titles I’ve chosen are challenging. Indeed, they are challenging insofar as they shake at the structures of what is in service of what might be. They are, to me, hopeful without turning away from inequity and pain. They are radical in their enactments of gender politics and poetics. They are working to make us better readers, these books. They breathe life into my heart on my most tired days. ERIN WUNKER, author of Notes from a Feminist Killjoy, introducing her recommendations for the 49th Shelf list “Poetry vs. the Patriarchy.”
JOIN THE FEMINIST CAUCUS Members of the Feminist Caucus are selfidentified, and any member of the League is welcome to join. If you would like to join the Caucus and receive additional (occasional) correspondence from the Feminist Caucus, including reading and publishing opportunities as well as volunteer positions, please let us know by sending an email to nicole@poets.ca.
REVIEWS SERPENTINE LOOP BY ELEE KRALJII GARDINER Reviewed on Debutantes (“Remembered Symmetries”) by Aaron Boothby: “So much swings on the hinge of what is remembered without being often thought of. To encounter a book titled Serpentine Loop, icy – riverine forms drawn on the cover-becomes an event that twins other encounters with the serpentine. To open it and find an exploration of the form’s expressions in unexpected ways, both visually and sensually, in emotion and language, to say the shape of a poem deepens, taking on all these levels at once, becomes a singular experience in itself.”
ON NOT LOSING MY FATHER’S ASHES IN THE FLOOD BY RICHARD HARRISON Reviewed by Sharon Berg: “The beauty in this book, what brings it close to being a gem, is the writer’s ability to craft a vision of his inner struggle through personal dilemma that jointly allows the reader to address their own internal inquiry. That vulnerability, that openness, is what makes the poems in this volume ring.”
FOREIGN SKIN BY KATE ROGERS Reviewed by John Oughton: “Rogers’ poems are generally tightly written and economical. One of the qualities that make them shine is her ability to convey a mix of emotions, a kind of affective stew… delicate as a sepia photo.”
REVIEW FOR THE LEAGUE! VISIT POETS.CA/REVIEWS FOR MORE.
FROM THE BLOG THE WRITING PARENT Vanessa Shields continues to share her (occasionally chaotic) experiences navigating writing life and parenthood. Tis the season for colds and flus, and her most recent post talks about how illness— chronic, spontaneous, terminal or short-term—can both interrupt and inspire the writing life… and how it can completely derail a household. “My take-away here is that this particular challenge – choosing to tend to a sick self or family member, or choosing to do your creative writing work (at your desk or on a stage) – is a choice that is often made in the moment. It is made based on time, energy, and the seriousness of the illness. It is made based on your support system (if your partner can stay home instead of you, for example). And we can trick ourselves pretty darn good, especially if it’s the ‘self’ care that needs to take precedence. But in the end, our bodies and/or our hearts will take the upper hand, and we will STOP to take care of ourselves, and those around us.”
(MORE) FROM THE BLOG POETRY TO GET THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL We’re excited to have this guest post on the blog that rounds up 18 collections of poetry that may be great for high school-aged readers—or, really, any non-poetry reader.
“I didn’t discover poetry until the summer before my fourth year of university, and as soon as I did I wished I had discovered it sooner. When poetry clicks with a reader or a listener, it clicks more loudly and with much more conviction than any other type of literature. More than essays, more than memoirs, more than stories or novels, poetry can find the shortest and fastest route to the core of a reader, and it can settle there: it can make itself at home flipping through your entire existence, providing solidarity, providing perspective, providing hope.” LOVE POEMS This Valentine’s Day, we rounded up some of our favourite lesser-known love poems on the blog! But since neither love, nor romance, nor poetry is confined to Valentine’s Day, we hope you’ll all take a look at our picks—and maybe even share one with your sweetheart. ROBBIE BURNS DAY To celebrate Robbie Burns Day this January, a few of our outstanding Toronto Leaguers organized an amazing Burns supper to celebrate the event and the League! Thanks to Ayesha Chatterjee, George Elliott Clarke, and Kate Marshall-Flaherty for organizing this great event. The readers of the evening– Dwayne Morgan, Kate Marshall-Flaherty, George Elliott Clarke, Mary Lou Soutar-Hynes, and Ronnie O’Byrne–each performed a Burns poem, then performed an original poem composed for the occasion. You can find those original response poems on our blog, as well as some tips if you’re thinking of organizing a Burns Night yourself next year! WRITE FOR THE LEAGUE If you are interested in writing for our blog, please email nicole@poets.ca! We love to share writing that recommends new and diverse selections of poetry, posts that reflect on the creative process, critical writing about poetry and Canadian literature, and much more. You can find all of our blog posts at poets.ca/community.
NEW MEMBERS WELCOME TO THE LEAGUE! SONIA COTTON a publié quatre recueils de poésie aux éditions Poètes de brousse, et est connue pour ses lectures publiques chargées de rock et d’urgence. Elle voyage ainsi dans la francophonie, de Paris à Moncton, dans des festivals de littérature et de poésie. En 2009, elle fait paraître un premier recueil de poésie jeunesse, illustré par Karine Hébert. De plus, elle a créé un spectacle de poésie jeunesse, avec support musical et vidéo. Ce sont les textes et illustrations de ce spectacle qui dessinent les contours de l’exposition «Marcher dans le ciel», du même nom que le nouveau recueil disponible depuis mai 2015 et publié chez Bouton d’Or Acadie...toujours avec le support de l’immense talent d’Annie aux illustrations!! Elle a remporté en mars 2015 le premier prix du concours de poésie Genevieve-Amyot du Printemps des poètes. LEANNE DUNIC is a multidisciplinary artist, musician, and writer. Her work has won several honours, including the 2015 Alice Munro Short Story Contest, and has appeared in magazines and anthologies in Canada and abroad. Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Leanne is the Artistic Director of the Powell Street Festival Society and is the singer/guitarist of The Deep Cove. To Love the Coming End (BookThug 2017) is her first book. LAURA FURSTER is a poet, fiction writer, and fine artist residing in Hamilton, Ontario. She holds a BA in English from the University of Toronto. Laura is a multi-tasker, with several visual and literary projects ongoing at all times. Her poems “Faults,” and “Insomnia,” can be found in Issue 36 of CAROUSEL Magazine.
AISLINN HUNTER (returning) NORMA J KERBY is a Terrace-based writer and environmental consultant. Her passions include amphibians, natural ecosystems, sustainable living and adaptations of wildlife and people to northern British Columbia. She occasionally writes poetry about the North’s uncertain future. SUSAN KSIEZOPOLSKI is a project management and change specialist. She is currently taking a break from 30 years of working in the public service and recently self-published My Words, a collection of her life’s poetry. In 1976 she was the recipient of the Bloor Collegiate Institute’s Writer’s Circle Writer of the Year honour, awarded to her by Marshall McLuhun. Susan was born in Italy and now lives and writes in the Toronto area of Ontario, Canada. Her website, where you can purchase her book, is: www.mywordsnow.com. You can find Susan on Facebook. BRENDA LEIFSO has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia, and was the executive editor of PRISM international. Her poetry has appeared in many journals, and has received the Bliss Carman Banff Centre Award for Poetry, as well as awards in the Vancouver International Writers’ Festival Writing Contest. She currently lives in Ottawa. CANISIA LUBRIN was born in St. Lucia and studied Creative Writing and Professional Writing at York University before completing her MFA at Guelph-Humber. A long-time arts administrator, she serves on the editorial board of the Humber Literary Review and on the advisory board of
the Ontario Book Publishers Organization. Her writing has been published in Arc, The Puritan, THIS Magazine, Room, CV2, and in other journals and anthologies. She teaches writing at Humber College and writes in Whitby, Ontario. Lubrin’s début poetry collection—Voodoo Hypothesis— will be released, in the fall of 2017, by Buckrider Books/Wolsak & Wynn. BERTRAND NAYET was born in France and came to Manitoba when he was young. He has written, directed, and acted for the theatre, and has also published stories, journalism, and poetry. His publications include Contes de fils et d’eaux and La lune en mille gouttes (shortlisted for the Lansdowne Prize for Poetry), as well as les lieux de l’amour / l’amour des lieux (Éditions du blé), a collaboration with Charles Leblanc. He is the founder and perpetual secretary of the Collectif post-néo-rieliste, as well as founder and leader of the Kukai Rouge. He lives in St. Norbert, and is currently writer in residence at the Maison Gabrielle-Roy. GREG SANTOS is the author of two full-length collections of poetry, The Emperor’s Sofa (DC Books, 2010), and most recently, Rabbit Punch! (DC Books, 2014). His writing has appeared in The Walrus, Geist, Vallum, The Feathertale Review, Ricepaper, Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, McSweeney’s, The Best American Poetry, and World Literature Today. Santos is the poetry editor for the online literary journal, carte blanche. He teaches creative writing through organizations including QWF’s Writers in the Community, Vallum Society for Education in Arts & Letters, New Haven Reads, and LOVE: Leave Out Violence. Santos lives in Montreal with his family. MICHAEL V SMITH (returning) is a writer, comedian, filmmaker, performance artist and occasional clown teaching creative writing in the interdisciplinary program of the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies at UBC’s Okanagan campus in BC’s Interior. His first book of poetry
is What You Can’t Have (Signature Editions, 2006), short-listed for the ReLit Prize. In 2008, he published a hybrid book of concrete poems/ photographs, Body of Text (BookThug), created with David Ellingsen. MARGO WHEATON is a New Brunswick– born poet currently living in Halifax. Her poems have appeared in publications including Undercurrents: New Voices in Canadian Poetry, Poet to Poet and Landmarks: An Anthology of New Atlantic Canadian Poetry of the Land, and in periodicals including The Fiddlehead,PRISM, CV2, Event, Prairie Fire and The New Quarterly. Her essays and reviews have been found in The Globe and Mail, The Antigonish Review, The Coast and the Guernica Series on Writers. The Unlit Path Behind the House, her first poetry collection, was published with McGill-Queen’s University Press in spring 2016. DAVID YEREX WILLIAMSON is an educator, poet and public speaker living in Norway House, Manitoba, on the bank of the historic Nelson River. David has dabbled in theatre and poetry since the 1980s. His creative work has appeared in the Winnipeg Fringe Festival, Contemporary Verse 2, Aesthetica, Quint and, most recently, in the Winnipeg Free Press’ National Poetry Month feature in April, 2016. David is co-founder of the Boreal Writers Group, a collective of poets and lovers of poetry seeking to create a community across the boreal landscape. David can be reached at dwilliamson@ucn.ca CATRIONA WRIGHT is a writer, editor, and teacher. Her poems have appeared in Prism International, Prairie Fire, Rusty Toque, Lemon Hound, The Best Canadian Poetry 2015, and elsewhere. She has been a finalist for The Walrus’s Poetry Prize, Arc’s Poem of the Year Contest, and a National Magazine Award. In 2014, she won Matrix Magazine’s LitPop Award. She is the co-founder of Desert Pets Press, a chapbook press. She lives in Toronto.
MEMBER NEWS LOUISE CARSON has a poem in the latest issue of Montreal Serai. In the same issue, Brian Campbell reviews her book A Clearing, Signature Editions. She also has five poems in the latest issue of The Nashwaak Review, Volume 36-37. In 2016, KEITH INMAN’s work was shared through The Windsor Review, Crossing Borders/Cuba, Open Heart, Memory and Loss, Fire and Sky, Picture Perfect, and the blog sunrisewithseamonsters. Keith became the new Chair for CAA-Niagara’s The Banister Poetry Contest, and, for the fourth year in a row, he adjudicated the FreshInk poetry contest for teens through the local library system. Keith will be this year’s judge for the Henry Drummond Poetry Contest. BERNICE LEVER reads with Russell Thornton, co-feature at Poetic Justice, on Sunday, March 23, 11:30 am to 1:30 pm, Boston Pizza, Columbia Square, 1045 Columbia Ave., New Westminster, BC. Reading on Saturday, March 25, “Spring Festival” of Writers International Network, at Moberly Centre, 61 St., Vancouver. JENNIFER LOVEGROVE: BookThug invites you to celebrate the launch of Jennifer LoveGrove’s eagerly-anticipated new poetry collection Beautiful Children with Pet Foxes. She will be joined by special guests Canisia Lubrin and Shannon Bramer, who will preview their fall 2017 poetry books. Tuesday, March 28, 2017 at 7pm at Supermarket Restaurant and Bar (268 Augusta Ave, Toronto, ON). MICHELINE MAYLOR, poet laureate of Calgary, launches Little Wildheart on April 5th at Memorial Park Library in Calgary. 7:00 pm.
SUSAN McCASLIN hosted (as moderator) “A Reading and a Conversation on the Presence of the Divine in Poetry: Being Here,” with Ted Blodgett & Tim Lilburn, Visual Space Gallery, 3352 Dunbar St., Vancouver, Fri. Feb. 10, 2017, 7:30-9:30 pm. Audio Recording (listen here). She also offered a public talk and power point presentation to the Langley Heritage Society on Feb. 28 on the Han Shan Poetry Project, a successful union of poetry and activism she initiated in 2012 to help save an old, ecologically diverse forest in Glen Valley, Langley. Also a poem from her volume The Disarmed Heart (The St. Thomas Poetry Series), was posted and audio-recorded on Vallum Magazine’s blog page, Mon. Feb. 20: https://vallum.wordpress. com/ Her upcoming volume, Into the Open: New and Selected Poems, will be published by Inanna Publications in October of 2017 when Susan will be touring with the book. Additionally, a collaborative volume of creative non-fiction done with fellow poet J.S. Porter on the contemplative writer Thomas’ Merton’s treatment of the divine and human feminine, titled Thomas Merton Superabundantly Alive, has recently been accepted for publication through Wood Lake Books (Kelowna, BC) for publication in the Fall of 2018. Congratulations to DWAYNE MORGAN, whose TV show, Poetically Speaking, has been renewed for a second season by the AfroGlobal Television Network. After successfully wrapping up a seventeen episode first season, season two begins production in March 2017. Morgan has also just signed a contract with Bell TV1, to create a series of Spoken Word short videos, which will be made available on all Bell platforms in 2017, from TV to mobile.
IN MEMORIAM: WHAT I REMEMBER ABOUT PATIENCE WHEATLEY JUDE NEALE’s book, Splendid in its Silence, has won publication in the U.K. I was chosen by the SPM poetry book prize and my book will be launched in London in April, with a Canadian launch to follow in May. RICHARD OSLER is hosting a retreat in Umbria, Italy this June, open to writers of all levels of experience this retreat will take care to maintain a constructive balance between facilitated writing sessions, lots of quiet times for writing and our out trips to some of the remarkable places near and far-near from La Romita including, Rome, Assisi, Perugia, Spoleto and some of the many towns that dot the hilltops of Umbria, each with their own special features and histories. For more information visit La Romita website. NAOMI BETH WAKAN: While The Way of Tanka was written as a homage to English-language haiku/tanka masters, and contains many examples of their writing, it is actually being welcomed as a very necessary basic introduction to the subject of tanka writing. It is PB, 144 pages, ISBN 978-1-941830-60-4. The Publisher is Shanti Arts, Brunswick, Maine. The book and e-book can be purchased at info@shantiarts.com. The price is US$15.95. It can be purchased in Canada (Cdn$25) from mail@pagesresort.com. More details. The author, Naomi Beth Wakan, is the Inaugural Poet Laureate of Nanaimo and the Inaugural Honorary Ambassador for the Federation of BC Writers. She has written over fifty books. For twelve years she held a haiku/ tanka poets gathering at her home on Gabriola Island, when the leading writers in those forms from North America and Australia visited to give seminars. She is a member of Haiku Canada and Tanka Canada.
a tribute by Anne Burke WHAT I REMEMBER FIRST ABOUT PATIENCE WHEATLEY She told me she was a student of A.M. Klein (Abraham Moses) (14 February 1909 – 20 February 1972) who taught at McGill University. This was a revelation to me. In the early 1950s, he suffered a mental breakdown, withdrew from public activity and gradually lapsed into silence for the remainder of his life. To coin a phrase, Klein was the J.D. Salinger of a nascent Canadian Literature. I grew up in Montréal, in a family associated with Irish, French, and First Nation. As a student in Ottawa, studying Irving Layton, I came to Klein by way of The Rocking Horse, and Other Poems, his collection about Montréal culture, including “Indian” (meaning “First Nation”) in Québec, which was especially important to me. See: Usher Caplan, Like One That Dreamed: A Portrait of A.M. Klein (1982); Caplan and M.W. Steinberg, eds, A.M. Klein: Literary Essays and Reviews (1987). At UBC I met with Professor Steinberg, before‒ but on the cusp of‒ major scholarship on Klein. WHAT I REMEMBER SECOND ABOUT PATIENCE WHEATLEY She was fearless. There was a traffic circle next to then Victoria College. Without a backward glance, she launched out into rush hour, with a lesson about pedestrians having the right-of-way...with me tentatively following. I explained that in Calgary the vehicles always did. We certainly had a laugh.
WHAT I REMEMBER THIRD ABOUT PATIENCE WHEATLEY Among other duties, she kept the minutes for the Living Archive Collective meetings on Sunday mornings, with authority and a no-nonsense air. She was organized, engaging, a serious and diligent contributor to its progress. So, I was surprised when the year came (it must have been 1991 because that is when Susan McMaster rewrote the Mission Statement) that Patience announced her frustration since the previous annual Business Meeting. To put a point on it, she said she wanted to resign, but didn’t know who to send that letter of resignation to. We realized that meeting in person once or twice a year was an unusual way to maintain a national feminist group, when we were separated by great distances. (No budget). Fortunately, we pulled together, as a Caucus, and moved forward, again, with renewed spirit. She felt relieved, having expressed her feelings, no longer alone but now we were all one in commitment. Needless to add, she never did resign. WHAT I REMEMBER FOURTH ABOUT PATIENCE WHEATLEY Patience loved her family, she was very proud and grateful for their support. Her indomitable spirit was based on a very strong foundation. WHAT I REMEMBER FIFTH ABOUT PATIENCE WHEATLEY Patience left an urgent and almost breathless message on my voice mail. When I called her, she said she was in the midst of moving. Everything had to be packed. She was emphatic about how to handle the precious papers she had in her possession about the Feminist Caucus. Clearly, she had reached a tipping point, the time was now or never. Fortunately, Susan McMaster had already arranged for the accession of our private papers and records to be housed at the National Archives. We laughed about the current practice of touching nothing, simply sending off the records without any intervention on our part. “Perfect,” she intoned. Receipt of her package was later confirmed. WHAT I REMEMBER SIXITH ABOUT PATIENCE WHEATLEY Her voice was soft and we were interrupted by the dinner schedule. She did phone me back afterwards. We were among the “last letter” writers, after she relinquished her email account, substituting our cards and notes. Her favourite gift seemed to be Godiva chocolates (I sent Laura Secord). She thanked me for remembering and keeping her “in the loop” with new, fresh copies of the annual chapbooks. Her name is always in the masthead.
Wanklyn, Patience (née Wheatley) Died peacefully in Montreal, on August 16, 2016. She was the beloved wife of the late David Irvine Wanklyn. She leaves behind, William (Kathleen), Virginia (Derek) and Susan; grandchildren, David (Simone), Charles, Alicia, Leah and Jordan (Rosa) ; and great-grandchildren Mia, Lukas and Amaya. Born in England in 1924, Patience arrived in Montreal In 1940 as a child evacuee. She attended McGill University. At 18, she joined the Canadian Women's Army Corps and served in London. Soon after the war she married David, eventually returning to Montreal to raise her family. Patience was a member of the Feminist Caucus of the League of Canadian Poets and the published author of four books of poetry and stories. In addition to being a wife and mother, Patience was an avid cook, gardener, tennis player, and astrologer. Her beauty, keen intelligence, courage, and generosity will be missed by all who knew and loved her.
WRITING OPPORTUNITIES WRITERS’ TRUST FELLOWSHIP NOW ACCEPTING NOMINATIONS: Canada The Writers’ Trust Fellowship annually awards one writer $50,000 for demonstrating exceptional creative ability and outstanding promise in their publications to date. The Fellowship will free writers substantially from financial concerns and provide a window in which they can work with as much creative freedom as possible. The program is intended to draw attention to a writer’s past work and to stimulate interest in their future work. The Writers’ Trust Fellowship will identify and support the leading Canadian writers of their generation. SASKATCHEWAN WRITERS’ GUILD WRITER/ARTIST RETREATS: Muenster, Saskatchewan Regular SK Writers/Artists Retreats are for established and practicing writers and artists who are able to work independently. Community retreats are held in February, July, and occasionally in June. These are offered for writers and artists from Saskatchewan, other parts of Canada and around the world. Summer and winter retreats are held at St. Peter’s Abbey in Muenster. These retreats are not teaching situations, but places where established and practicing writers and artists are expected to work independently. Deadline for summer retreat (June/July): April 28. VALLUM CHAPBOOK AWARD Get on board with poets George Elliott Clarke, Don McKay, Fanny Howe, and more! The second annual Vallum Chapbook Award is open for submissions. Submit 12 - 20 pages of poetry for the chance to be published alongside some of the best poets writing today. Prize: $125 + publication. Deadline is March 31st, 2017, and the entry fee is $25.
THE CATERPILLAR POETRY PRIZE This €1,000 prize is awarded to the best poem by an adult, written for children aged 7-11. Deadline: March 31. RBC/PEN CANADA NEW VOICES AWARD The RBC/PEN Canada New Voices Award supports and celebrates new Canadian writers. Young unpublished writers are invited to submit short stories, creative non-fiction, journalism, and poetry to a jury of distinguished PEN Canada members for a chance to win $2,000 CAD and mentorship from a Canadian author. Please submit your entries by midnight on April 21, 2017. POETRY IS DEAD: LET IT BREAK For issue 16, the editors invite you think beyond, around, above, and deeper into the recent political event consuming the world’s attention: the current American administration. We welcome your poems of empathy, of rage, of resistance, of deep caring for yourselves and your communities. What’s happening in the United States holds immense ramifications for people all over the world, regardless of citizenship. We need only look to Quebec to see what havoc it can wreak here and elsewhere. So go ahead: use your poetic might to reflect on this moment of history, of herstory, of theirstory and everystory, of struggle and liberation. Show us what this moment means, and what we could become. Deadline: June 30. QWF LITERARY PRIZE FOR YOUNG WRITERS A new $1,000 prize for emerging writers from the Quebec Writers’ Federation! “The prize will be awarded annually to an emerging writer who is a resident of Quebec and who is between 16 and 24 years old, inclusively, as of the contest deadline, June 15, 2017. The prize will recognize
the best short story, poem, or work of creative non-fiction written in English and published in an official literary publication in 2015 or 2016.” FRONTENAC HOUSE CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS The call for manuscripts for Frontenac’s Quartet 2018 is now open, and will close April 30. Please submit paper only copies to Frontenac House Quartet 2018, 1648 Bowness Rd. NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 3J9. Remember to enclose a postcard or self addressed stamped envelope or email address should you like an acknowledgement of receipt. Multiple submissions are welcome, but please let us know in your cover letter. Decisions will be made by June of 2017. DR. WILLIAM HENRY DRUMMOND POETRY CONTEST Entry fee: $10 per poem. Cash Prizes: $1600: $300 first place, $200 second place, $100 third place, 8 honourable mentions of $75, 8 judge’s choice of $50 complimentary anthology, trophy, and award ceremony during the Spring Pulse Poetry Festival. Final received submissions deadline: Friday March 31, 2017. Visit springpulsepoetryfestival.com for further info and rules. Enquires: Send to David Brydges mybrydges@yahoo.ca CANADIAN AUTHORS ASSOCIATION NIAGARA BRANCH POETRY CONTEST The Niagara Branch of the Canadian Authors Association is holding its 32nd Annual Poetry Anthology contest for residents of Ontario. Entries must be in English, previously unpublished and not submitted for consideration elsewhere. Number of entries is unlimited, but no more than six poems from one poet will be included in the anthology. For more information go to Details. Deadline: May 31, 2017. Entry fee: $15 for up to three poems and $4 for each additional poem. Prize: 1st prize: $300; 2nd prize: $200; 3rd prize $100. Details here.
SOMEWHERE MY LOVE POETRY CONTEST AND ANTHOLOGY Somewhere My Love is the themesong of the cinematique Dr. Zhivago (written by Boris Pasternak). Boris Pasternak, as well as being a noted Poet/Author, translated the work of dissident Russian Poets into English. This epic love story unfolds in the midst of war. The theme of Somewhere My Love Contest/Anthology is: Love and War and Peace. The winner of the Best Love and War poem receives a bottle of French champagne and $100 and a place in the Anthology. The Second Runner-Up receives $50 plus a place in the Anthology. The Third RunnerUp receives $25 plus a place in the Anthology. All Honourable Mentions receive at least $10 (depending on Crowd Funding campaign) and a place in the Somewhere My Love Anthology. No entry fees. Please email your submission to subterraneanbluepoetry@gmail.com with a small (75 word) biography. LORCA’S GRANADA WRITER’S RETREAT AND COLLOQUIUM A limited number of places remain for this truly unique retreat taking place from May 2 to May 16. Directed by Gerry Shikatani, respected author, mentor and a renowned expert on Spain. Writers, artists, and scholars come with their own independent projects while gaining inspiration from the city and countryside that was beloved home of Federico García Lorca. Visit the country houses where he was born and raised, enjoy tapas and flamenco in the gypsy barrio he frequented and informed his vision of duende -- and marvel at one of the world’s most visited monuments, the Alhambra. Strolls in the plazas Lorca crossed, an evening with a local expert in Spain’s oldest flamenco club, and a keynote address are on the menu. Qualified applicants are accepted on a first-come-firstconfirmed basis, accepted quickly by email. From $2150 (CAD). Not a competition. Contact: Gerry Shikatani, Director – http://www.gerryshikatani. com or btweenartists@gmail.com.