The Planet Earth Poetry reading series is a launching pad for the energies of writers and poets established and not. It is a place where words are most important. A venue in which all manner of poets and writers are welcome; a place for excellence, innovation, collaboration, diverse projects and experiments. The evening begins at 7:30 with an open mic, followed by a featured reader(s). Planet Earth Poetry is located at Hillside Coffee and Tea, 1633 Hillside Ave (across from Bolen Books). Between 7 and 7:15, put your name in the hat to read at open mic.  Planet Earth Poetry acknowledges that we have the honour to host this reading series on the traditional territory of the Lekwungen peoples.

FRIDAY, july 6, 2018

kate braid &
John Terpstra

Kate Braid has written, co-written and co-edited 14 books and chapbooks of non-fiction and prize-winning poetry. Though she once worked in construction (her memoir is Journeywoman: Swinging a Hammer in a Man’s World), she now builds entirely in words. Her latest book of poems is Elemental (Caitlin Press). katebraid.com 

Elemental
Usually, we take for granted or plain ignore the Earth we walk on, the Sky above, the Water we drink and bathe in or that falls as rain, the Fire we assume for heat, and the Wood that makes up our landscape and building materials. But over fifteen years as a construction carpenter, Kate Braid began to pay more attention to the materials she worked with and depended upon. Out of these she has crafted an intimate picture of what it is like to be wholly engaged with the elemental materials of earth, sky, water, fire and wood that we depend upon every day.  

John Terpstra has published ten book-length collections of poetry and many chapbooks. He has also published four prose projects, most recently The House with the Parapet Wall, winner of a Hamilton Literary Award. Terpstra has also been a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award and the RBC Taylor Prize. He lives in Hamilton, Ontario, where he works as a writer, cabinetmaker and carpenter.

In his latest collection of poetry, Mischief, whether he’s exploring the spiritual or the temporal, the present or the past, the animate or the inanimate, Terpstra approaches his subjects with a mix of curiosity and empathy, attuned to how the right words can “begin innocently enough/to thread through the fabric of our lives.”

FRIDAY, july 13, 2018

ned baeck & rob Lewis

Ned Baeck studied Liberal Arts at Concordia University and Asian Studies at UBC. His poetry has recently appeared in untethered, The Continuist, sewer lid, Ottawa Arts Review and Prism. His first full-length collection of poetry was published by Guernica in March, 2018.  He lives in Vancouver. 

Rob Lewis is a poet, activist, house painter and musician, who’s writings have been published in Dark Mountain, Cascadia Weekly, Manzanita, The Atlanta Review, Southern Review and other publications. Bringing the power of language to the defense of the more-than-human world is his steady obsession, approached through poems, essays and activism. As owner of Earth Craft Painting he also works to revive the use of local wild clays to paint our work and living spaces.

FRIDAY, july 20, 2018

launch of sustenance

This event will feature Island writers in the anthology.

Sustenance: Writers from BC and Beyond on the Subject of Food brings to the table some of Canada’s best contemporary writers, celebrating all that is unique about Vancouver’s literary and culinary scene. Punctuated by beautiful local food photographs, interviews with and recipes from some of our top local chefs, each of these short pieces will shock, comfort, praise, entice, or invite reconciliation, all while illuminating our living history through the lens of food. Sustenance is also a community response to the needs of new arrivals or low-income families in our city. The contributors have donated their honoraria to the BC Farmers Market Nutrition Coupon Program. A portion of sales from every book will go towards providing a refugee or low-income family with fresh, locally grown produce, and at the same time will support B.C. farmers, fishers, and gardeners. 

Award-winning chefs, poets, and writers in Sustenance include:
Frank Pabst (Chef, Blue Water Café), Renee Sarojini Saklikar, Mark Winston, Susan Musgrave, Lorna Crozier, Thomas Haas (artisan chocolatier), Meeru Dhalwalla (Chef, Vij’s and Rangoli), Ayelet Tsabari, Joan Kane, Thomas Larson, John Pass, Sarah Leavitt, Amber Dawn, Daphne Marlatt, Carleigh Baker, Russell Thornton, Evelyn Lau, Fiona Tinwei Lam, Brian Brett, Jen Currin and many, many more.

Anvil Press