arts // no. 8

Participate 1n a poet's paradise

» Word Vancouver offers poetry readings, discussions, and workshops

Cheryl Minns
Arts Editor
Marts
@theotherpress.ca

 

ord Vancouver is back

with another five days
full of passion for prose. This
year, there are many events for

poetry readings, a book launch,
a chapbook workshop, and an
open mic night.

Kicking off the week’s events
on September 23 is the launch
party for The Revolving City: 51
Poems and the Stories Behind
Them at the SFU Harbour Centre
starting at 5:45 p.m. The event
will feature readings by six
poets—Joanne Arnott, George
Bowering, Daphne Marlatt,
George Stanley, Fred Wah, and
Betsy Warland—as well as book
signings and a reception.

Next is Twisted Poets

Literary Salon’s featured readings :
: taking place on the bus—one

: unlike any other at Word

: Vancouver—is from the Dead

: Poets Reading Series, a bi-

: monthly event that takes place

: at the VPL’s Alice MacKay Room.
: Starting at 4:30 p.m., Evelyn

: Lau, Sandy Shreve, and Fiona

: Tinwei Lam will each read four:
: to five poems from their favourite }
: deceased poets: John Updike,
: P.K. Page, and Maya Angelou,
: respectively.

and open mic session at The
Cottage Bistro starting at 7 p.m.
on September 24. Poets Kate
Braid and Elizabeth Bachinsky, a
Douglas College creative writing
instructor, will be reading their
individual works, followed by the
open mic session.

“Expect to be a little bit
jiggled, a little bit shaken, a
little bit entertained. But mostly
expect to have your world a tad
displaced,” Braid said. “Poetry
asks you to see freshly. Trick is
that, to see that way, you have
to leave your cynical, everyday,
jaded, and skeptical self at the
door.”

Word Vancouver’s main
festival day will take place at
the Vancouver Public Library’s
central branch on September
27. In the transit bus parked
outside the library, there will
bea collection of readings and
presentations as part of Poetry
on the Bus, featuring a variety of
poets each taking their turn to
present listeners with a taste of

: their work.

Four of the poets from the

: Revolving City will be on the bus
: to read their poems and discuss

: their works starting at 11:30 a.m.

: Readings will be performed

: by Daniela Elza, Mercedes

: Eng, Mariner Janes, and Cecily

: Nicholson of New Westminster.

Also appearing on the bus

young poets to explore, including : will be poet Amber Dawn, a
: Douglas College creative writing
: instructor, who will be reading

: her poetry at 1:45 p.m.

“Tl be reading from my

: newest book, a collection of glosa :
: form poetry called Where the

: Words End and my Body Begins.
: The glosa is a 15th century

: Spanish form, and I’ll be briefly
: introducing how the form works, :
: then speaking a bit to my own :
: feminist interpretation of the
: form,” she said. “In my book,

: there are quite a few poems about :
: Vancouver that I believe will

: work well at Word Vancouver.”

Another set of readings

“Our readers are tasked with

honouring and bringing to life

: the work of someone else, which
: means they can’t rest on the

: quality of the writing itself: they
: didn’t write it, so the only added
: value they bring is in the quality
: of their reading,” said Rob Taylor, :
: the organizer for the Dead Poets
: Reading Series who will be

: hosting the Word Vancouver set
: of readings.

He discovered the DPRS in

: his early 20s when he attended
: the series’ first event in 2007.
: Founded by David Zieroth, a

: now-retired English instructor

: at Douglas College, under the

: original title The Night of the

: Dead Poets, the readings took

: place ina bookstore on the North
: Shore.

“
I was four years from my

: first book, and had no formal

: training in poetry. Eight years

: later, I'm co-running the series

: and havea book and a couple

: more on the way,” Taylor said,

: recalling how the series has

: influenced his career. “I point to

: the Dead Poets Reading Series

: as one of the great sources of my
: education as a poet. A number of

things made the DPRS vital for

Taylor suggested young

; poets attend readings such as

: the DPRS because it provides

: an education in the history of

: poetry, and teaches novice poets
: how to deliver a reading.

“No self-promotion, no

_ ——

 

: money changing hands, just a

: group of people getting together
: to celebrate that someone out

: there at some point in time

: wrote something beautiful,

: or challenging, or both, and

: decided to share it with the

: world. And here we are sharing

: and sharing it again, hopefully

: feeling our lives enriched a little
: more with each reading. What

: more could you dream of asa
poet?” he said.

Dawn agrees that attending

: literary events and readings are
: a great opportunity for young

: poets and students to discover

: the real world of writing.

: me asa young poet, and I believe :
: they still hold true today.”

“Poetry is like a language. To

: truly be fluent in poetry, poets

: must immerse themselves in it.

: Attending live poetry readings

: isa critical part of becoming a

: poet,” she said. “Word Vancouver
: isan opportunity to see what the
: larger literary community looks

: like outside of the classroom.”

theotherpress.ca

Photo via Word Vancouver on flickr

On September 27 at 4

: p.m., poet Kevin Spenst will be

: hosting a one-hour workshop on
: chapbook making in the VPL’s

: Alice MacKay Room. Participants
: will be given writing prompts to

: create new poetry, offered some

: editing strategies to refine their

: work, and then each provided

: asingle piece of paper to make

: their own poetry chapbook.

Outside of the VPL on

: Homer Street at 4 p.m., five of

: the Revolving City poets will be

: present to discuss their ideas

: on the poetic process. Jordan

: Abel, Rahat Kurd, and Jacqueline
: Turner will be speaking while

: Wayde Compton and Renée

: Sarojini Saklikar will moderate

: the presentation.

: Word Vancouver will run from

: September 23 to 27, with a variety
: of readings, discussions, and

: workshops for writers of all ages

: and genres.

 

Comic Corner: Blending light and dark

» ‘Cloak and Dagger #1’ review

Brittney MacDonald
Life & Style Editor

B Milifeandstyle
@theotherpress.ca

    

00000

dmittedly I was a little

scared to pick up this
series. Mostly because, on the
surface, the Cloak and Dagger
series looks like just another
babe-meets-brawn dynamic

: duo. However, I found that

: the shallow impression that I

: initially had was swayed almost
: entirely by the time I had

: finished the first single issue.

On the island of Utopia,
which has become a safe
haven for mutants, Dagger
has aspirations of joining the

: X-Men. Her partner, Cloak,

: seems to have different concerns.
: Neither he nor Dagger is a

: mutant, instead having received
: their powers through an illegal

: drug. In an effort to come to

: terms with his new reality,

: Cloak backpedals, attempting
: to reclaim aspects of his old

: life. Nothing is ever so simple
: though. Cloak and Dagger’s

: relationship is necessary for both :
: to maintain their control over
: their powers.

Written by Stuart Moore,

: the plot blends emotion and

: action almost perfectly. There

: is clear sexual tension between
: the two main characters, yet

: their reluctance to be together
: ina romantic way due to the

: necessity of them maintaining
: asymbiotic relationship seems
: well developed and perfectly

: natural.

My only gripe is Dagger’s

: fully acquiescent nature.
: Hopefully as the story progresses :
: and the characters develop,
: overcoming this trait will

: become part of her character arc, :
: but as it is now, one can’t be sure. :
: : dramatic read.

Art-wise, this comic is good,

: but not great. It features a very

: cartoony aesthetic, but also has
: some high detail. Normally, the
: panels appear well planned and
: clean, but there are times when
: things can get confusing. This is
: common with quite a few minor
: Marvel titles, because they tend

to feature art created by a group

: as opposed to one lead artist.
: I liked this title, and I would

recommend it to anyone looking
for an action-orientated yet