Saturday, November 22, 2014
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Cascadia Poetry Festival, April 30 to May 3, 2015 in Nanaimo
The Cascadia Poetry Festival is an international event which seeks to bioregionally animate & culturally construct Cascadia by gathering writers, artists, scientists and activists to collaborate, discover and foster deeper connection between all inhabitants and the place itself. Over four days the fest features Academic, Democratic and Performance components, late night readings, a Small Press Fair and one workshop. Some of the best poetry minds in the bioregion, many Canadians not well known in the U.S., will gather, discuss this place and begin to better understand Cascadia and our role here. The festival was founded by SPLAB, a Seattle-based non-profit organization founded in 1993 and the first iteration happened in 2012. Cascadia III will happen in Nanaimo, BC, in 2015.
Web Site
Seven Headliners and Many Featured Readers
Here are two of our headliners who will be coming to the festival. Sam Hamill
Poetry Foundation Site
Brenda Hillman 2014 Griffin Prize Winner
Web Site
Web Site
Seven Headliners and Many Featured Readers
Here are two of our headliners who will be coming to the festival. Sam Hamill
Poetry Foundation Site
Brenda Hillman 2014 Griffin Prize Winner
Web Site
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Cascadia Poetry Festival 3
Nanaimo British Columbia
April 30 to May 3, 2015
Cascadia Poetry Festival
Check back for details, and future posts
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
WordStorm's New Season
WordStorm
Please note we have changed our location and are now on Tuesdays.
Now at
Demeter's Coffee Vault
499 Wallace Street, Nanaimo, BC
Phone: 250.591-0776
Demeter's Coffee Vault
TUESDAY, September 25th, 2012
Doors Open at 6:15 for reservations. Come early for coffee and a snack, if you like.
Program starts at 7:00 with the open mic
Yvonne Blomer
Yvonne Blomer lives in Victoria, BC where she works as a poet, memoirist, writing teacher, event organizer and mom. She was born in Zimbabwe and came to Canada when she was two years old. With her husband she has taught in Japan, cycled in Southeast Asia and lived in the UK where she completed an MA in Creative Writing: Poetry. Her poems have twice been shortlisted for the CBC Literary awards and have appeared in literary journals in Canada, the US, Japan and the UK. Her first collection of poetry, a broken mirror, fallen leaf (Ekstasis Editions), was shortlisted for The Gerald Lampert Memorial Award in 2007. She is the host/organizer of the Planet Earth Poetry Reading Series in Victoria, B.C. In 2012 Yvonne’s illustrated series of poems Bicycle Brand Journey will launch with Jack Pine Press. Please see the poster for her most recent book, The Book of Places. Poster
Naomi Beth Wakan
Naomi Beth Wakan has published over forty books including Sex After 70 and other poems and the ALA selection, Haiku – one breath poetry. Her books of essays from Wolsak and Wynn, are Late Bloomer-on writing later in life, Compositions – notes on the written word, Bookends – a year between the covers, and A Roller-coaster ride – thoughts on aging. Her poetry and essays have appeared in many magazines including Geist, Resurgence, Senior Living, Still Point Quarterly and Room. She is a member of The League of Canadian Poets, Haiku Canada and Tanka Canada. She lives on Gabriola Island with her husband, the sculptor, Elias Wakan. Web Site.
Ann Graham Walker
Ann Graham Walker was a finalist in the 2010 Malahat Open Season Awards and the 2011 Prism International Poetry Contest. Her work has been published in the Gaspereau Review, Prism International, Word Works, the Rocksalt Anthology, Leaf Press's Wild Weathers love poem anthology and in numerous anthologies that have come out of BC poet Patrick Lane's Glenairley, Ocean Wilderness and Honeymoon Bay writing retreats. Her chap book "The Puzzle at the End of Love" is an organic sequence of lyric narratives about love gone awry, the poems drawn from family stories and sometimes from long family silences. Ann recently went back to school and got an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College. She lives in Nanoose Bay with her Irish husband and three rescued cats. The twelve-year-old Border Collie, alas, passed away late last year.
Please note we have changed our location and are now on Tuesdays.
Now at
Demeter's Coffee Vault
499 Wallace Street, Nanaimo, BC
Phone: 250.591-0776
Demeter's Coffee Vault
TUESDAY, September 25th, 2012
Doors Open at 6:15 for reservations. Come early for coffee and a snack, if you like.
Program starts at 7:00 with the open mic
Yvonne Blomer
Yvonne Blomer lives in Victoria, BC where she works as a poet, memoirist, writing teacher, event organizer and mom. She was born in Zimbabwe and came to Canada when she was two years old. With her husband she has taught in Japan, cycled in Southeast Asia and lived in the UK where she completed an MA in Creative Writing: Poetry. Her poems have twice been shortlisted for the CBC Literary awards and have appeared in literary journals in Canada, the US, Japan and the UK. Her first collection of poetry, a broken mirror, fallen leaf (Ekstasis Editions), was shortlisted for The Gerald Lampert Memorial Award in 2007. She is the host/organizer of the Planet Earth Poetry Reading Series in Victoria, B.C. In 2012 Yvonne’s illustrated series of poems Bicycle Brand Journey will launch with Jack Pine Press. Please see the poster for her most recent book, The Book of Places. Poster
Naomi Beth Wakan
Naomi Beth Wakan has published over forty books including Sex After 70 and other poems and the ALA selection, Haiku – one breath poetry. Her books of essays from Wolsak and Wynn, are Late Bloomer-on writing later in life, Compositions – notes on the written word, Bookends – a year between the covers, and A Roller-coaster ride – thoughts on aging. Her poetry and essays have appeared in many magazines including Geist, Resurgence, Senior Living, Still Point Quarterly and Room. She is a member of The League of Canadian Poets, Haiku Canada and Tanka Canada. She lives on Gabriola Island with her husband, the sculptor, Elias Wakan. Web Site.
Ann Graham Walker
Ann Graham Walker was a finalist in the 2010 Malahat Open Season Awards and the 2011 Prism International Poetry Contest. Her work has been published in the Gaspereau Review, Prism International, Word Works, the Rocksalt Anthology, Leaf Press's Wild Weathers love poem anthology and in numerous anthologies that have come out of BC poet Patrick Lane's Glenairley, Ocean Wilderness and Honeymoon Bay writing retreats. Her chap book "The Puzzle at the End of Love" is an organic sequence of lyric narratives about love gone awry, the poems drawn from family stories and sometimes from long family silences. Ann recently went back to school and got an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College. She lives in Nanoose Bay with her Irish husband and three rescued cats. The twelve-year-old Border Collie, alas, passed away late last year.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
The Third Annual Hazelwood Writers’ Festival
The Third Annual
Hazelwood Writers’ Festival
Hazelwood Herb Farm
Sunday, August 12th, 2012, 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
13576 Adshead Road, Ladysmith, B.C., Canada V9G 1H6 Phone: (250) 245-8007
info@hazelwoodherbfarm.com
Admission: $10.00 (Gate receipts go to the local writers.)
Featured Performers and Readers
Kate Braid
Kate Braid has written poetry and non-fiction about subjects from Georgia O’Keeffe, Emily Carr and Glenn Gould, to mine workers and fishers, and a memoir, Journeywoman, about her 15 years as a carpenter. She has published five books of poetry and co-edited with Sandy Shreve, In Fine Form: The Canadian Book of Form Poetry. Her work has won a number of awards and is widely anthologized. Kate's Web Page
Tom Wayman
Tom Wayman’s recent books include a poetry collection, Dirty Snow (Harbour, 2012), a novel, Woodstock Rising (Dundurn, 2009), and a critical monograph, Songs Without Price: The Music of Poetry in a Discordant World (U of Vancouver Island, 2008). His 2007 collection of stories, Boundary Country, currently is a contender for the 2012 One Book One Kootenay competition. Poetry anthologies he has edited include The Dominion of Love (Canadian love poems), 2001. He most recently taught at the University of Calgary, 2002-2010. Since 1989, he has lived in southeastern B.C.’s Selkirk Mountains.
Local Writers and Performers
Featuring Wind Weaver
Paul Bezooyen & Terry Mack
Greg Blanchette, Jule Briese, Kim Clark, Barbara A. Denz, Tricia Dower, Janet Dunnett, Kirsty Elliot, David Floody, David Fraser, Kim Goldberg, Kenn Joubert, Janice Lore, Edeana Malcolm, Mary Ann Moore, Mary Elizabeth Nelson, Naomi Beth Wakan, Ann Graham Walker, and M.C. Warrior
Reserve in advance so we know the numbers at ascentaspirations@shaw.ca.
Jointly sponsored by the Hazelwood Herb Farm and the WordStorm Society of the Arts and supported by the Canadian League of Poets, the Canada Council for the Arts and the Writers’ Union of Canada.
Kate Braid
Kate Braid has written poetry and non-fiction about subjects from Georgia O’Keeffe, Emily Carr and Glenn Gould, to mine workers and fishers, and a memoir, Journeywoman, about her 15 years as a carpenter. She has published five books of poetry and co-edited with Sandy Shreve, In Fine Form: The Canadian Book of Form Poetry. Her work has won a number of awards and is widely anthologized. Kate's Web Page
Tom Wayman
Tom Wayman’s recent books include a poetry collection, Dirty Snow (Harbour, 2012), a novel, Woodstock Rising (Dundurn, 2009), and a critical monograph, Songs Without Price: The Music of Poetry in a Discordant World (U of Vancouver Island, 2008). His 2007 collection of stories, Boundary Country, currently is a contender for the 2012 One Book One Kootenay competition. Poetry anthologies he has edited include The Dominion of Love (Canadian love poems), 2001. He most recently taught at the University of Calgary, 2002-2010. Since 1989, he has lived in southeastern B.C.’s Selkirk Mountains.
Local Writers and Performers
Featuring Wind Weaver
Paul Bezooyen & Terry Mack
Greg Blanchette, Jule Briese, Kim Clark, Barbara A. Denz, Tricia Dower, Janet Dunnett, Kirsty Elliot, David Floody, David Fraser, Kim Goldberg, Kenn Joubert, Janice Lore, Edeana Malcolm, Mary Ann Moore, Mary Elizabeth Nelson, Naomi Beth Wakan, Ann Graham Walker, and M.C. Warrior
Reserve in advance so we know the numbers at ascentaspirations@shaw.ca.
Jointly sponsored by the Hazelwood Herb Farm and the WordStorm Society of the Arts and supported by the Canadian League of Poets, the Canada Council for the Arts and the Writers’ Union of Canada.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
WordStorm at the Diners Rendezvous
WordStorm MONDAY, May 28th, 2012
Diners Rendezvous
489 Wallace Street, Nanaimo, BC
Phone: 250.740-1133
Doors Open at 6:15 for reservations. Come early for dinner, if you like.
Program starts at 7:00
Featured Performers
Martha Royea
Martha Royea lives in Gibsons, BC. Poetry is a major passion – reading, writing, hearing, speaking it and translating poems from the Spanish. Her poems appear intermittently in chapbooks and anthologies, including several Leaf Press publications edited by Patrick Lane. Her own chapbook, If I Could Pray, was published by "26 Leaves" in 2007 and reissued by request in 2011. Love Songs for Dead Mothers is still developing.
Liz McNally
Liz McNally is an émigré; part of a large, now distant, Irish family. True to her heritage, she is prone to melancholy and humour in equal measure and feels there’s nothing a great poem or a good song won’t fix. Liz is an observer. She takes her notebook everywhere to capture the extraordinary poetry of people’s lives in ordinary moments. She has enjoyed the company of other poets in a handful of Chapbooks and dreams of a time when she can say the words “my recently published book of poems”.
Savannah Featherstone
When Savannah Featherstone is not running the contracting business that she and her husband own, you can find her upholstering old chairs or in her art studio combining paper, glue, and paint on different types of canvas. Although she has written poetry off and on since an early age, it has only been in the last few years that poetry has taken a significant and defined place in her creative practice. Savannah lives in North Saanich with her husband, a loyal and neurotic Border Collie and two extremely spoiled felines.
Dan Lundine - Double Lightning Reader Book Launch for Signpost - A Prairie Town
Dan Lundine was born and raised on Vancouver Island. When high schools had tired of him, he joined the RCMP in January of 1962 and was immediately sent to Regina, Saskatchewan to train. After seven years of service, Dan left the force and obtained a teaching degree at the University of Regina. He then taught school for thirty years in Regina, West Germany, and Langley, BC. Upon leaving the classroom, Dan and his wife, Carol, moved to French Creek on Vancouver Island and operated a bed and breakfast for a number of years. They are now retired and living in Qualicum Beach, BC.
Martha Royea lives in Gibsons, BC. Poetry is a major passion – reading, writing, hearing, speaking it and translating poems from the Spanish. Her poems appear intermittently in chapbooks and anthologies, including several Leaf Press publications edited by Patrick Lane. Her own chapbook, If I Could Pray, was published by "26 Leaves" in 2007 and reissued by request in 2011. Love Songs for Dead Mothers is still developing.
Liz McNally
Liz McNally is an émigré; part of a large, now distant, Irish family. True to her heritage, she is prone to melancholy and humour in equal measure and feels there’s nothing a great poem or a good song won’t fix. Liz is an observer. She takes her notebook everywhere to capture the extraordinary poetry of people’s lives in ordinary moments. She has enjoyed the company of other poets in a handful of Chapbooks and dreams of a time when she can say the words “my recently published book of poems”.
Savannah Featherstone
When Savannah Featherstone is not running the contracting business that she and her husband own, you can find her upholstering old chairs or in her art studio combining paper, glue, and paint on different types of canvas. Although she has written poetry off and on since an early age, it has only been in the last few years that poetry has taken a significant and defined place in her creative practice. Savannah lives in North Saanich with her husband, a loyal and neurotic Border Collie and two extremely spoiled felines.
Dan Lundine - Double Lightning Reader Book Launch for Signpost - A Prairie Town
Dan Lundine was born and raised on Vancouver Island. When high schools had tired of him, he joined the RCMP in January of 1962 and was immediately sent to Regina, Saskatchewan to train. After seven years of service, Dan left the force and obtained a teaching degree at the University of Regina. He then taught school for thirty years in Regina, West Germany, and Langley, BC. Upon leaving the classroom, Dan and his wife, Carol, moved to French Creek on Vancouver Island and operated a bed and breakfast for a number of years. They are now retired and living in Qualicum Beach, BC.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Honeymoon Bay Poetry Chapbook Launch
April 23, 2012 7:00 - 9:00
Diners Rendezvous
489 Wallace Ave, Nanaimo, BC
Join Patrick Lane, along with 18 master poets
for this FREE exciting eclectic evening full of variety and fine words.
Amrita Sondhi, Barbara Black, Barbara Pelman, Elizabeth McNally, Joanna Qureshi,
Judith Heron, Martha Royea, Mary Ann Moore, Pamela Porter, Richard Osler,
Ann Graham Walker, David Fraser, Linda Thompson, Patricia Smekal, Chris Donaldson,
Mary Beth Nelson, Maureen Bendick, and Somae Clarie Murray.
Each year, Patrick Lane offers four writing retreats on beautiful Vancouver Island. At each of these retreats, sixteen poets come together for four days to improve their craft through writing exercises and discussion. New work is at the heart of these retreats, where Patrick provides structure, guidance, editing advice and personal consultation. These retreats are not traditional workshops, although all work done there is read and discussed during a free exchange of poems. Poets who participate bring with them years of study and practice, and many have gone on to publish in magazines, chapbooks and books, and have as well been the recipients of numerous awards and prizes.
Each retreat results in a beautiful chapbook anthology containing a poem written at the retreat by each participant, with an introduction by Patrick. The chapbooks are created by one of Canada’s finest book designers, Ursula Vaira, the publisher of Leaf Press. (Excerpt from the web site of Patrick Lane)
This launch will feature three chapbooks produced at two January and and one July retreat at the Honeymoon Bay Resort at Lake Cowichan on Vancouver Island.
In the Darkness. In the Dream, January 2011
Love in the Time of Predators, July 2011
I am the Angel of Old Grey Horses, January 2012
http://www.patricklane.ca/writing-retreats/
http://www.patricklane.ca/about/
Diners Rendezvous
489 Wallace Ave, Nanaimo, BC
Join Patrick Lane, along with 18 master poets
for this FREE exciting eclectic evening full of variety and fine words.
Amrita Sondhi, Barbara Black, Barbara Pelman, Elizabeth McNally, Joanna Qureshi,
Judith Heron, Martha Royea, Mary Ann Moore, Pamela Porter, Richard Osler,
Ann Graham Walker, David Fraser, Linda Thompson, Patricia Smekal, Chris Donaldson,
Mary Beth Nelson, Maureen Bendick, and Somae Clarie Murray.
Each year, Patrick Lane offers four writing retreats on beautiful Vancouver Island. At each of these retreats, sixteen poets come together for four days to improve their craft through writing exercises and discussion. New work is at the heart of these retreats, where Patrick provides structure, guidance, editing advice and personal consultation. These retreats are not traditional workshops, although all work done there is read and discussed during a free exchange of poems. Poets who participate bring with them years of study and practice, and many have gone on to publish in magazines, chapbooks and books, and have as well been the recipients of numerous awards and prizes.
Each retreat results in a beautiful chapbook anthology containing a poem written at the retreat by each participant, with an introduction by Patrick. The chapbooks are created by one of Canada’s finest book designers, Ursula Vaira, the publisher of Leaf Press. (Excerpt from the web site of Patrick Lane)
This launch will feature three chapbooks produced at two January and and one July retreat at the Honeymoon Bay Resort at Lake Cowichan on Vancouver Island.
In the Darkness. In the Dream, January 2011
Love in the Time of Predators, July 2011
I am the Angel of Old Grey Horses, January 2012
http://www.patricklane.ca/writing-retreats/
http://www.patricklane.ca/about/
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