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.
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!
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
I have new work appearing in The Games We Play, a juried exhibition that will be showing all summer at the Kelowna Art Gallery. The opening reception is happening on Friday, June 23 and I would love to see you there–the event is free to members and to guests by invitation. You can RSVP to the Facebook event if you plan to come to the party, but of course you can visit the art gallery at any time this summer (through to September 17) to view the poems, paintings, installations, and all the other excellent art by my fellow exhibitors!
The Games We Play is an exhibit about all kinds of games, from video games to board games, party games to nursery games… The gallery has brought together artists from game and animation studios, visual art programs, and local art communities to create a diverse celebration of games and how they influence us! (You can learn more about the exhibition from the art gallery’s website.)
My work for the exhibit is a suite of four poems, which I’ve illustrated with watercolour. I’m really excited to be a part of this exhibition. If you’ve ever wanted more poetry and art about Mario Kart, this is your chance!
My poem “Nesting” is now published in the June issue of Bird’s Thumb, a delightfully quirky journal that showcases emerging writers. I’m completely charmed by their logo design, and consistently enjoy the work they feature, so I’m extra pleased the editors have chosen to feature my poem! I hope you’ll check out the issue … and stay to browse the journal’s excellent archive! My own poem in Bird’s Thumb is about, among other things, robins.
A couple other of my bird poems have been published: for Sandhill Cranes, check out my award-winning poem “Wedding Anniversary” in The New Quarterly and for White-crowned Sparrows check out “Natural Behaviours” in Word and Colour.
Since I’m talking about birds already (I often am), I’ll mention that a pair of Black-billed Magpies are raising their very noisy young in our backyard here and it is amusing to watch the fledglings learn to fly–their tail feathers haven’t grown in completely yet and the birds’ bodies seem plump and fluffy and so with their too-short tail feathers they are altogether endearingly clumsy.
I’m thrilled to collaborate with Word and Colour again (my poem “Tinaja” appeared in the journal in February). My new poem “Natural Behaviours” is now up on the site, in response to visual art by Nick Liefhebber. I feel very lucky to be a contributor to Word and Colour. As I’ve mentioned before, I love the journal’s mandate “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. I hope you’ll check it out!
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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)!
I’m thrilled to collaborate with Word and Colour again (my poem “Tinaja” appeared in the journal in February). My new poem “