2016 Edmonton Poetry Festival

Page 1

2015 Program


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The Oxford Dictionary defines "to become" as to develop into, to transform, to alter. In sixth century BCE, the philosopher Heraclitus of Hephesus said that nothing in this world is constant except change and becoming. With that in mind the 2016 Edmonton Poetry Festival invites you to take part in a week of transformation and change - a week of Becoming. This year we celebrate poets who are working in multiple art forms, pushing boundaries and transforming the narrative of poetry. We look at how poetry alters cities, how words become art, how science and poetry intersect, how language reflects identity and how poetry develops the human conscience. I’d like to give a warm welcome to all of you and thank you for joining us this year for our eleventh festival. We’ve grown a lot since our inception and it’s all thanks to this incredible community we find ourselves a part of. Please join me in welcoming our visiting poets, our volunteers and our local contributors. Welcome to Poetry Becomes! I hope you enjoy the journey!

Rayanne Doucet Alice Major – President Jannie Edwards – Vice President Kasia Gawlak – Treasurer Don Perkins Pierrette Requier Matthew Stepanic Bill Howe Liam Coady Patrick Seal

Rayanne Doucet – Executive Director Katrine Nielsen – Assistant Producer/ Volunteer Coordinator Michael Gravel – Venue Manager/ Web Designer Al Rasko – Financial Consultant John Leppard – Sound/Tech Guru & Blinks Coordinator Patrick @ ElDesigno – Graphic Designer 03


morning

Sun, apr. 17

mon, apr. 18

10am – 1pm: Photography and Poetry workshop @ Devonian Botanic Garden

tues, apr. 19 10am: Eutopia – Writing in Revolution Group @ Stanley Milner Library

wed, apr. 20

thurs, apr. 21

fri, apr. 22

afternoon

12pm: Local Books 1 @ CBC Centre Stage

11am: YEP Showcase @ Massawa Café 12pm: Brown Bag Lunch @ U of A

12pm: Local Books 2 @ CBC Centre Stage

12pm: Organic Poetry @ CBC Centre Stage

5pm: Poetry Becomes Identity – Exploring Queer Poetry @ The Mercury Room

evening

4pm: Turnstone Press Anniversary @ Audreys Books

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12pm: Poetry Among the Pines @ River Valley Adventure Company

1:30pm – 3:30pm: Café Readings @ Three Bananas, L`Espresso, Audreys Books, Massawa Cafe

2:30pm Poetry Becomes Social Conscience @ Latitude 53

2:30pm: Thresholds @ St. Faith’s Anglican Church 4pm: Literary Cocktails @ Faculty Club, U of A

7pm: Blinks @ The Mercury Room

5pm: Brown, Black and Fierce @ Latitude 53

5:30pm: Glass Buffalo Magazine @ Audreys Books

6pm: Poetry Becomes Art @ The Art Gallery of Alberta

5pm: Inner City Drum Beats @ Zocalo 7pm: Poetry Striptease @ CAVA Art Gallery

sun, apr. 24

10am – 12pm: 10am – 4pm: Performance Armand Garnet Ruffo workshop writing workshop @ The Mercury @ St. Johns Institute Theatre

9:30am: Poetry Becomes City @ City Hall

11:30am – 1:30pm: Poetry Central @ Churchill Square 12pm: Walking with Words – Poetry Becomes Landscape @ City Hall meetup

sat, apr. 23

6pm: Poetry Becomes Spirit, CAA Presentation @ St. Johns Institue

7pm: Screen Becomes Poetry @ The Mercury Room

7pm: Vintage Poetry @ SEESA

7pm: The Rasp and The Wine @ Kasbar

8:30pm Spoken Word Showcase @ Rouge Lounge

8pm: Poetry Becomes Molecular @ Latitude 53

8pm: French Twist @ CAVA Art Gallery

8:30pm: Wine & Wild Women Wordsmiths @ Latitude 53

8:30pm: Poetry Meets – Waitsing Around @ Latitude 53 05


WGA Annual Gathering

featuring Greg Hollingshead, Patrick Finn Marina Endicott & others Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) | Calgary, AB Join us for a keynote address, seminars, and the annual Alberta Literary Awards

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Find out more at writersguild.ca


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armand garnet ruffo

Catherine kidd

christian bÖk

katherena vermette

richard siken

kayla czaga

pierrette requier

dennis cooley

Ruffo is the Queen’s National Scholar in Indigenous Literature at Queen’s University. He draws on his Ojibway heritage for his work – most recently The Thunderbird Poems, based on the paintings of the great Aboriginal artist Norval Morrisseau.

is an internationally recognized Montreal-based writer/performer, best known for her zoology-themed performance poetry. "There is no one phrase to describe what Cat Kidd does except, perhaps, force of nature." (Charlebois Post)

Christian Bök is an internationally renowned poet who is working to insert poems into the DNA of bacteria. He has won the Griffin Poetry Prize for Eunoia and his performances are legendary.

Katherena Vermette is a talented young Métis writer of poetry, fiction and children’s literature. Her first book, North End Love Songs won the Governor General’s Award.

Richard is a poet, painter and filmmaker from Tucson. He has won the Yale Series of Younger Poets prize and a Pushcart Prize. “His territory is [where] passion and eloquence collide and fuse,” says the New York Times.

Requier is Edmonton’s sixth poet laureate, described in the Globe and Mail as “spirited and whip-smart” and “a force on the Edmonton literary scene.” Poet, dramatist and une pure-laine bi-lingue!

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Kayla Czaga won The Gerald Lampert Award for her first book, For Your Safety Please Hold On, which also scooped a nomination for the 2015 Governor General’s Award.

photo by diane cooley

Dennis has published 20 books of poetry. His prairie-inspired voice has been heard internationally through translations into many languages and readings around the world.


anna yin

Anna Yin is Mississauga’s inaugural Poet Laureate. She has authored six books of poetry, and her lyric work builds a bridge between her birthplace in China and Canada.

Gerald Hill has published six poetry collections, two of which won Saskatchewan Book Awards for Poetry. He is the new poet laureate of Saskatchewan. photo by mark anderson

alice major

weyman chan

lise gaboury-diallo

harold rhenisch

charlotte cranston

antony di nardo

Alice Major served as Edmonton’s first poet laureate. Her tenth poetry collection, Standard Candles turns her poetic lens on the latest discoveries of cosmology.

photo by dan harper

gerald hill

Gaboury-Diallo is one of Western Canada’s bestknown francophone writers. She teaches at the Université de Saint-Boniface and has published seven books of poetry and two collections of short stories.

Charlotte is Edmonton’s first Youth Poet Laureate and a two-time member of the Edmonton Slam Team. She runs a youth poetry meet-up series called Young Edmonton Poets, YEP!

Weyman Chan’s second book, Noise From the Laundry, was a finalist for the 2008 Governor General’s Award. His fifth book of poetry, Human Tissue— a primer for Not Knowing comes out this spring.

Harold Rhenisch is the author of 12 full-length books of poetry, most recently The Spoken World and Two Minds.

Antony Di Nardo divides his time between Beirut, Lebanon and central Canada. He is the author of three collections of poetry, most recently Roaming Charges.

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Prufrock Shadowrunner, Isaac Bond, Winona Linn, Matt Miller, Kimmy Beach, Ahmed Knowmadic, Vivek Shraya, Wendy McGrath, Shawna Lemay, Peter Midgley, Juliane Okot Bitek, Richard Therrien, Laurie MacFayden, Marina Reid Hale, Tabitha Carol Anne, Sarah Lang, Walter Hildebrandt, Kelly Shepherd, Benjamin Hertwig, Randy Kohan, Manijeh Mannani, Brandon Wint, Gerald St. Maur, Claire Kelly, Gavin Doyle, Megan Paranich, Nisha Patel, John Leppard, Marilyn Dumont, Colin Matty, Megan Dart, Tim Mikula, Vanessa Caicedo-Cardona, Shima Robinson (aka Dwenimen), Liam Coady, Jenie Thai, Luke Thomson, Lindsey Walker, Joe Nolan, Alison GrantPreville, Sarah-Jeanne Bélec, Gisèle Villeneuve, Anna Marie Sewell, Gisèle Lemire, Carolyn Gingrich, Raphael Freynet, Bernard Salva, D, Katherine Lawrence, Carla Funk, Stephen Ross Smith, Edward van Vliet, Dave Von Bieker, Lisa Martin, Kim Mannix, Dawn Carter, Stephen T Berg, Wenda Salomons, Kathy Fisher, Drumadrumdrum, Gary Garrison, Leif Gregersen, Naomi McIlwraith, Shayne GoloskyJohnston, Medgine Mathurin, Jannie Edwards, Darrin Hagen

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Photography and Poetry | Registration: $55 (limited to 18 spots)

10am – 1pm Devonian Botanic Gardens Join author Shawna Lemay for a 3-hour workshop blending the elements of photography and poetry in the inspiring Kurimoto Japanese Garden. Register online at www.devonian.ualberta.ca or call 780.987.3054 (ext. 2227)

Walking with Words: Poetry Becomes Landscape | free outdoor event

12 – 1:30pm Meet at City Hall Enjoy a 2km poetic walk through Edmonton’s heart, starting at noon at City Hall and ending at the High Level Bridge. Published work by more than a dozen local poets will be read by volunteers and have been selected for their relation to particular points along the route. Note: Dress for the weather.

Thresholds | Entrance by donation. Donations will go to support The Bleeding Heart Art Space

2:30 – 4pm St. Faith’s Anglican Church Seven local poets, two musicians, one visual artist. Thresholds asks you to pause, consider, linger in the spaces between the seen and

unseen, the telluric and transcendent—the between, between being and Being.

Turnstone Press Anniversary Event | Free event 4 – 5:30pm Audreys Books Join Turnstone Press for their 40th birthday bash! The roster of talent lined up to help fête the press includes Dennis Cooley, Katherine Lawrence, Carla Funk, Kimmy Beach, and Steven Ross Smith.

Inner City Drum Beats | Admission by donation

5 – 7pm Zocalo Join local poets for a celebration that honours the people, places and stories of the inner city and winners of the Inner City Drum Beats Poetry Contest

Poetry Striptease – Poets go Paperless | $15 at the door 7 – 8:30pm CAVA Art Gallery A theatrically woven performance of words and music featuring Giselle Lemire, Kathy Fisher and Roylin Picou. The evening opens with Off-Book Bards, a curated set featuring students from the workshop series, Poetry Striptease…Poets Go Paperless.

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Poetry Central | Free event 11:30am – 1:30pm Sir Winston Churchill Square Poetry Central is your chance for a lunch-time poetry meet-up on the square. Join in on the fun and have a Short-Order Poem written for you on the spot. Chalk a favourite poem on the concrete. Pick up festival information or a free poetry book.

Everything but the Kitchen Blinks | Free Event 7 – 9pm The Mercury Room You are invited to deliver your best and briefest lines or rhymes of verse and spoken word – whatever you can squeeze into half a minute. Bag it, box it, tie it with a string and bring your friends, all of them, everyone, whatever fits for Everything but the Kitchen Blinks! Register at signup/edmontonpoetryfestival.com

Writing in Revolution Group: Eutopia | Free event 10am – noon Stanley Milner Library Join us to share the work produced in the WRIP group in this year’s Project Eutopia: The River and the River Valley: Where Are We When We Say That We Are Here?

Local Books 1 @ Centre Stage | Free event Noon – 1pm CBC Centre Stage, Edmonton City Centre Four Edmonton writers bring recent books to show off the local/ national/international scope of writing in this city.

Poetry Becomes Identity | $5 for Poetry Festival members; $10 for non-members. Available through Tix on The Square and at the door

5 – 6:30 pm The Mercury Room 12


Richard Siken, whose debut collection Crush won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition in 2004, headlines this collaboration of strong queer voices, including Tabitha Carol Anne, Marina Reid Hale, and Laurie MacFayden. A discussion around using poetry to settle our identities in a cisheteropatriarchical society will follow.

Moving with Light: Screen Becomes Poetry |

$10 for Poetry Festival members; $15 for non-members. Available through Tix on The Square and at the door

7 – 8:30 pm, doors at 6:45pm The Mercury Room Images from movies, films, video or television burrow into our brains and stay there. For this event, our featured artists will respond poetically to a film scene of their choice. Special guest Christian Bök will present a screen-and-voice riff on his recent work in The Xenotext: Book 1.

Performance Poetry Showcase with the Breath in Poetry Collective | $5 available at the door 8:30 – 10pm Rouge Lounge This special edition of the BIP weekly series is hosted by Ahmed Knomadic and features some of Edmonton’s best slam performers and special guests from across the country including Prufrock Shadowrunner, Isaac Bond, Winona Linn, Matt Miller.

Poetry Becomes City | Free event 9:30 – 11:30am City Hall Poets breathe life into their cities, and cities breathe inspiration into their poets. Join us for coffee and an engaging poetic conversation with Gerald Hill, Pierrette Requier, Anna Yin, Charlotte Cranston and Marilyn Dumont. We’ll also meet the four young winners of the Edmonton Poetry Festival’s Poetry Route. 13


Brown Bag Lunch: The Science-Poetry Sandwich | Free event

Noon – 1pm Arts and Convocation Hall Student Lounge, University of Alberta (Presented in partnership with the Canadian Literature Centre) Sit in on the conversation with acclaimed poets Christian Bök, Weyman Chan and Alice Major as they discuss making science poetry happen.

Literary Cocktails | Free event 4 – 6pm Faculty Club, University of Alberta The staff of the University of Alberta Press welcome you for readings and refreshments as they launch their newest poetry titles.

Poetry Becomes Art | Free event 6 – 8pm, doors at 5:30pm The Art Gallery of Alberta, Ledcor Theatre (Presented in partnership with The Art Gallery of Alberta) At this exciting event we bear witness to the deep interplay between visual art and poetry. Celebrated author Armand Garnet Ruffo, Richard Siken and Gerald St. Maur share their words amongst a display of their artwork in the Ledcor Gallery.

Vintage Poetry...An Evening of Works by Well Aged Poets | $5 in advance, $7 at the door 7 – 8:30pm @ Southeast Edmonton Seniors Association This tenth annual evening of well-aged poets features Gerald Hill, the new poet laureate of Saskatchewan. The evening includes wine and cheese. Readers welcome. Please register in advance by calling 780.468.1985

Poetry Becomes Molecular |

$10 for members, $15 for

non-members. Available through Tix on The Square and at the door

8 – 9:30pm Latitude 53 So you thought science was all about dry equations, dusty test 14


tubes and eensy-weensy atoms? Four poets change your mind as they explode scientific ideas into words.

Local Books 2 @ Centre Stage | Free event Noon – 1pm CBC Centre Stage, Edmonton City Centre Four Edmonton writers bring recent books to show off the local/ national/international scope of writing in this city. They’ll chat about their books and share some poems.

That Becomes You | Free Event 5:30 – 7pm @ Audreys Books Join special guest Kayla Czaga and previous contributors to Glass Buffalo as they discuss how they came to poetry and how its words become their stories or message.

The Rasp and The Wine | $5 at the door 7 – 9pm @ The Kasbar Special guest Dennis Cooley shares the stage with a passel of open mic poets at this event hosted by The Rasp and The Wine series.

French Twist | Free event 8 – 10pm @ CAVA Art Gallery This 5th edition of French Twist is the festival’s not-to-be-missed French event hosted by Pierrette Requier, Edmonton’s bilingual poet laureate.

CBC Centre Stage: Poetry Becomes Organic | Free event Noon – 1pm CBC Centre Stage, Edmonton City Centre Four poets will share their work and their idea of how poetry can be organic.

Poetry Becomes Spirit: Armand Garnet Ruffo |

Free

for CAA and Poetry Festival members, $10 for non-members at the door

6 – 7pm @ St. John’s Institute (Presented in Partnership with the Canadian Authors Association) 15


Acclaimed author Armand Garnet Ruffo will speak about challenges he faced in finding his way into writing The Thunderbird Poems - a book inspired by the great aboriginal shaman-artist Norval Morrisseau, who shares his own Ojibway ancestry. This is a not-to-be-missed opportunity to gain insight into two powerful artists.

Wine and Wild Women Wordsmiths | $15 for members of the Edmonton Poetry Festival or the Writers Guild of Alberta. $25 for non-members. Available at Tix on the Square or at the door.

8 – 9:30pm @ Latitude 53 Presented in partnership with the Writers Guild of Alberta Four fierce female voices will serve you aromatic poetry with spirit. And the price of admission includes a sample of four wines to match our wordsmiths.

Writing Workshop with Armand Garnet Ruffo | $40 for members of the Canadian Authors Association and the Poetry Festival, $70 for non members. Tickets in advance online

10am – 3:30pm St. John’s Institute (Presented in Partnership with the Canadian Authors Association) You have the opportunity to work with one of Canada’s finest poets, Armand Garnet Ruffo, on how to create your own personal mythology and turn it into poetry. Use elements of myth, legend and tall tale to reveal what can’t always be revealed by describing the ‘real’ world.

Young Edmonton Poets Showcase | Free event 11am – noon @ Massawa Café A showcase of young voices followed by an open mic for youth aged 13–23.

Poetry Among the Pines | Free Event Noon – 1pm River Valley Adventure Company Come for poetry right on the banks of the North Saskatchewan, with two exceptional writers – Harold Rhenisch and Kelly Shepherd – as our guides to landscape. 16


Poetry Becomes Social Conscience | $5 for festival members, $10 for non-members. Tickets available through Tix on The Square and at the door

2:30 – 4pm @ Latitude 53 Poets have long been leaders in addressing current social issues with attention to the human condition. This afternoon we showcase six poets who speak up about the issues that matter.

Brown, Black and Fierce | Free Event 5 – 6:30pm @ Latitude 53 Vivek Shraya launches his debut poetry collection, even this page is white, along with readers from Edmonton’s Brown, Black and Fierce Collective.

Poetry Meets – Waitsing Around | $10 festival members, $15 for non-members, Free for Volunteers. Tickets available through Tix on The Square and at the door

8:30 – 10pm @ Latitude 53 This year at Poetry Meets we present “Waits-ing Around” a night of music and poetry inspired by the Black Rider himself, Tom Waits.

Performance Poetry Workshop – Jazz Up Your Reading! | $25 Tickets available through Tix on The Square and at the door

10am – noon The Mercury Theatre Join spoken word artist John Leppard and explore techniques that will enhance your poetic voice and take your café reading to a new level. The workshop is open to new and experienced poets!

The Café Readings |

Free event with a donation to the

food bank

1:30 – 4:30pm L’Espresso Cafe, Three Bananas Café, Audreys Books and Massawa Cafe Wind down festival week with our traditional chorus of local voices. Dozens of poets will share brief readings of their work in cafes around downtown. Register at signup/edmontonpoetryfestival.com and share the company of Edmonton’s poetry community. 17


Arts and Convocation Hall, Student Lounge.................. University of Alberta Art Gallery of Alberta.....................................#2 Sir Winston Churchill Square Audreys Books................................................................. 10702 Jasper Avenue CAVA Art Gallery.............................................................. 9103 95 Avenue NW CBC Centre Stage................................................... 123 Edmonton City Centre City Hall............................................................#1 Sir Winston Churchill Square Devonian Gardens .................................... 51227 Alberta 60, Parkland County EPL Stanley Milner branch..............................#7 Sir Winston Churchill Square The Faculty Club...................................................... 11435 Saskatchewan Drive The Kasbar......................................................... 10444 82 Avenue (lower level) L’Espresso Café................................................#3 Sir Winston Churchill Square Latitude 53.............................................................................. 10242 106 Street Massawa Café........................................................................... 10153 97 Street The Mercury Room................................................................. 10575 114 Street The Mercury Theatre............................................................ 11315 106 Avenue River Valley Adventure Co............................................ 9735 Grierson Hill NW Rouge Lounge.......................................................................... 10111 117 Street SEESA Seniors Centre................................................................9350 82 Street St. Faith’s Anglican Church...................................................... 11725 93 Street St. Johns Institute..................................................................11024 82 Avenue Three Bananas Café..............................................Sir Winston Churchill Square Zocalo........................................................................................10826 95 Street Project Manager Andy Cookson andy@postvuepublishing.com

This guide is published by Postvue Publishing © 2015 Postvue Publishing All Rights Reserved, Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited without the written consent of the publisher. Postvue Publishing #200, 11230 119 St. Edmonton, AB. • T5G 2X3 Ph: 780.426.1996

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Layout & Design Jessica Hong Cover Design Patrick O'Kane patrick@eldesigno.ca Account Managers: James Jarvis james@postvuepublishing.com Joanne Layh joanne@postvuepublishing.com


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Simply INSPIRING Becoming Poetry Workshop Join author Shawna Lemay for a 3-hour workshop blending the elements of photography and poetry in the inspiring Kurimoto Japanese Garden. Suitable for all levels of experience. April 17, 10 am - 1 pm In partnership with the Edmonton Poetry Festival. Advance registration required.

devonian.ualberta.ca | 780-987-3054 ext. 2227 Located in Parkland County, 5 km north of Devon on Hwy 60

SEASON SPONSOR

By JON ROBIN BAITZ Directed By BRENDA BAZINET

APRIL 9 - MAY 1, 2016 “…juicy and surprising…” – NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

“A fun ride”

– HUFFINGTON POST

“…a witty, blistering play.” – THE INDEPENDENT, UK


May 12 to 21, 2016 @ 7:30 pm (No performance Sunday, May 15) Matinee Thursday, May 19 @ 12:30 pm

Timms Centre for the Arts, University of Alberta

Or The Whale by Chris Bullough

with Michael Peng and wishbone theatre

www.ualberta.ca/artshows


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