Fine words will be spoken tomorrow night when dozens of poets convene at a local venue.
On July 16 (Wednesday) more than 20 poets including Governor General Award-winner Patrick Lane will be sharing their work at the Globe Hotel as part of a poetry chapbook launch party.
The free event, which will last for two hours, features 22 poets inculding Mary Nelson, Heidi Garnett, Chelsea Comeau, Ann Graham Walker, Liz McNally, Pat Smekal, Tina Biello and David Fraser.
“You’re going to listen to Patrick’s words and what he writes about,” Fraser said about the event. “You’ll listen to his work, which is always thrilling to listen to. Then Liz (McNally) will be hosting it and she will be calling up poets one at a time to perform their work.”
Poets will be reading some of their work from new chapbooks, which were created during two poetry retreats to Honeymoon Bay in Cowichan Valley.
“Basically it’s reading of poems from two chapbooks that are published by Leaf Press,” Fraser explained. “The poems come out of two retreats in Honeymoon Bay, one in July of last year and January of this year.”
Fraser, who was part of the July retreat, explained that the four-day retreats, which are hosted by Lane, are designed to challenge established and active poets.
“These are retreats that are run by Patrick Lane who is a master poet and a governor general award winner and lieutenant governor winner. He’s got tons of accolades,” Fraser said. “He runs these retreats down in Honeymoon Bay and in Sooke with another group.”
Those who attend the retreats are given a variety of assignments and exercises, which are designed to challenge poets not just over a four-day period, but also on the spot.
“It’s not a workshop so much as it is an exploration of possibilities,” Fraser explained about the Honeymoon Bay retreats. “You’re on the spot in about five minutes to come up with something in some of these exercises. Each day there is a bigger assignment that you take away with you for the evening and you work on that.”
Patrick Lane and David Fraser present their work along with 20 other poets at the Globe Hotel on July 16 from 7-9 p.m.
For more information, please visit www.patricklane.ca or visit www.globehotel.ca
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