05 Saturday Oct 2019
Posted in Events & Appearances, Reading, The Brightest Thing
Tags
book tour, Durham, Ontario, performance, poetry, spoken poetry, The Brightest Thing, travel, Words Aloud
I’m very pleased to say this BC-based poet is finally making it all the way to Ontario, and it’s for the Words Aloud Festival based in Durham. If you’re nearby, I do hope to see you there. I’ll be performing work from my book The Brightest Thing and travelling with my newest (won’t-take-a-bottle) baby. I’ll let you tell me how cute he is!
28 Tuesday May 2019
Posted in Poetry, Publications
Tags
Bloedel Conservatory, Corpse Flower, Dear bird, DUSIE, occasional poetry, parenthood, poem, poetry, rob mclennan, Tuesday pem, Vancouver
I’ve got a new, never-before-seen poem (from my working manuscript) now up on the DUSIE blog as this week’s Tuesday poem. It’s called “Corpse Flower” and it’s about, among other things, life and death and parenthood and “Uncle Fester,” who bloomed last summer at Vancouver’s Bloedel Conservatory. Please feel free to have a read and share (and subscribe to the Tuesday poem emails, if you haven’t already). My thanks to rob mclennan for the opportunity to be part of the Tuesday poems.
25 Thursday Apr 2019
Posted in Poetry, Publications, The Brightest Thing
Tags
featured poem, Grimm Brothers, Grimm Brothers poem, love poem, love poetry, poem, poetry, Poetry Daily, Scholoss Steinau Hesse Germany, The Brightest Thing
My poem “Schloss Steinau, Hesse, Germany,” originally published in Room and from my book The Brightest Thing (Caitlin Press, 2019) is today’s featured poem on Poetry Daily. Go check it out!
03 Wednesday Apr 2019
Posted in Interviews, Publications, The Brightest Thing
Tags
Caitlin Press, Dear bird, Malcolm Curtis, poetry, process, Talking About Strawberries All the Time, The Brightest Thing
Oh, you know me, someone asks me about my writing and I respond by asking really easy questions like, “how do we love each other, and love each other well, in a world that’s damaged?”
Thanks to Malcolm Curtis of talking about strawberries all the time for taking the time out of his strawberry time to talk to me about how I came to poetry, about my first book, and what’s next for me (aside from another baby)! In the interview–the art of writing #2–I talk about my book The Brightest Thing, and my current working manuscript, Dear bird, two poems from which recently appeared in talking about strawberries all the time.
10 Sunday Mar 2019
Posted in Events & Appearances, Reading, The Brightest Thing
Tags
Close-up Magic: Launch of Room Issue 42.1, fairy tales, feminist literary festival, Growing Room 2019, Mother Goose Was a Feminist: Crafting the Modern Day Fairy Tale, performance, poetry, ROOM Magazine, speech arts, The Brightest Thing, Vancouver, Vancouver literary event, Vancouver-based literary magazine, workshop, writing
Hi, friends! Just a reminder that I’m going to be in Vancouver all this week, ready to talk poetry, process, fairy tales, feminism, and the joys and pitfalls of searching for happily ever after. On March 14, I’m throwing the Vancouver launch of The Brightest Thing, and I’m super excited about this event: Vancouver is the city where I really grew up as a writer, and I’m looking forward to seeing a whole lot of my fellow writers there, as well as old and new friends–you, I hope!
♥ The Brightest Thing Book Launch – Vancouver
Thursday, March 14, 2019 at 7:00pm
nə́ c̓aʔmat ct Strathcona Branch – Vancouver Public Library
730 East Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC
Free event. No need to register, but you may RSVP (through Facebook events) here. Books will be available for purchase.
I’m also really excited to be participating in Growing Room 2019. Room Magazine has been one of the most supportive magazines to me as an emerging writer and I’m really proud to be a part of their feminist literary festival this year. I’m over the moon that the workshop I’m leading, Speech Arts for Writers, is sold out; it promises to be a really fun afternoon of learning and performing and talking about process with the fellow writers who signed up. If you missed out, don’t worry: I’ll be participating in two panels/readings that are going to be super fun: “Mother Goose Was a Feminist: Crafting the Modern Day Fairy Tale” and “Close-Up Magic: Launch of Room Issue 42.1.” Registration is now closed for those events, but you can still show up. According to the Growing Room organizers, there’s space for walk-ups at all of their panels and readings (with the exception of “Funny Feminists”)–so even if you didn’t register, I hope you’ll consider coming out! Both events are going to be magical. Here are the details below.
♥ Mother Goose Was a Feminist: Crafting the Modern Day Fairy Tale
part of Growing Room: A Feminist Literary Festival
Friday, March 15, 2019, 7:30-9:30pm
Annex Performing Arts Theatre
823 Seymour, Vancouver, British Columbia
Free event. Registration closed. Walk ups welcome!
♥ Close-Up Magic: Launch of Room Issue 42.1
part of Growing Room: A Feminist Literary Festival
Saturday, March 16, 2019, 7:30-9:30pm
Red Gate Revue Stage
1601 Johnston Street, Vancouver, BC
Free event. Registration closed. Walk ups welcome!
14 Thursday Feb 2019
Tags
BC authors, book recommendation, fairy tales, love, love poems, poet, poetry, Read Local BC, recommended reading, The Brightest Thing, Valentine's Day
Oh, how lovely—my book, The Brightest Thing (available for purchase now!), gets a generous shout-out this week by Read Local BC as one of their recommended reads. Be sure to check out their recommended books; many of them were already on my “to read” list!
The Brightest Thing is definitely appropriate reading for Valentine’s Day (or any day): love! heartbreak! magic! renewal! I hope you find something beautiful and/or useful in these poems: it was my hope you would.
I’m in the midst of finalizing some upcoming appearances and book launch events for The Brightest Thing, so do please keep in touch! I’m excited to share this book with the world.
04 Thursday Oct 2018
Posted in Poetry, Publications
Tags
Dear bird, Malcolm Curtis, poems, poetry, Talking About Strawberries All the Time, working manuscript
I have two new poems up in the inaugural issue of Talking About Strawberries All the Time. Have a read, if you like! The poems, “Today I can’t be sad” and “August 27:” are from my current working manuscript (entitled Dear bird,). My thanks to editor Malcom Curtis for the publication.
Keep watching for updates about my debut poetry collection, The Brightest Thing, which will be published with Caitlin Press early in 2019.
30 Sunday Sep 2018
Posted in Announcements & News, Poetry, Publications
Tags
book, Caitlin Press, feminist poetry, poetry, poetry collection, The Brightest Thing, the fairy tale poetry manuscript
I’m excited to announce that my first book of poetry, The Brightest Thing, is forthcoming early next year with Caitlin Press (and it has a beautiful fairy tale cover)!
Read all about it on the publisher’s online catalogue. And stay tuned for launch party details–I can’t wait to share this book with you!
08 Friday Sep 2017
Posted in Poetry, Publications
Tags
Beauty, feminism, gender, girlhood, girls, Nicolas V. Sanchez, poem, poetry, Visual Art, White Dresses, women, Word and Colour
I’m thrilled to collaborate with Word and Colour once again! My new poem “White Dresses” is now up on the site, in response to visual art by Nicolas V. Sanchez. I feel very lucky to be a contributor to Word and Colour. The journal’s mandate is “to confront oppression or provide positive alternatives to stereotype.” The journal curates pieces of visual art, which are selected and then sent to writers who respond to the visual art. The resulting collaborations are exciting, and the journal has recently featured work by some literary and visual artists who are dear to me–when you’re reading through the archive, be sure to notice the work of Natalie Morrill, Francine Cunningham, and Chelsea Rushton.
21 Friday Jul 2017
Posted in Events & Appearances, Interviews, The Writing Life
Tags
BASA, Can Lit, Casears, feminism, feminist poetry, interview, Mallory Tater, poetry, strawberry lemonade, The Brightest Thing, V, Van Lit, Vancouver, Vancouver poets
Me with my strawberry lemonade at Burgoo Bistro on Main St. in Vancouver on July 12. Photo by Mallory Tater, via the Glamato blog.
I was recently back in Vancouver for two weeks to run some teacher training workshops for BASA (the beloved speech arts school where I used to teach and for which I still design curriculum), and while I was back in my old neighbourhood I ate a lot of ice cream, dipped my toes in the ocean, visited the George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary, toured around Stanley Park, and just tried to soak up as much Vancouver-in-the-summer time as I could.
I also had the pleasure of chatting about feminist literature with the lovely Mallory Tater, who is running Glamato, a new summer-themed interview series. The idea is that Mallory meets up with female-identifying and genderqueer folk of the Can Lit scene and engages them in conversations about inclusion, literature, creativity, and process. And she does so while sipping Caesars on the best patios in Vancouver!
I opted for a strawberry lemonade instead of a Ceasar and thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Mallory. You can read the full interview (and many more, with other smart folk) over on the Glamato blog.
