June 2024
All in-person PEP events will be taking place at Russell Books, 747 Fort Street in Victoria
Doors open at 7:00pm, event starts at 7:30 and sign up for the open mic in person between 7:00–7:20.
Unless otherwise noted, in person events will be livestreamed HERE (Meeting ID: 494 660 4447 /Passcode: 2129)
**please note, livestream begins at approx. 8:00–8:15pm with featured readings**
Planet Earth Poetry acknowledges with respect and gratitude that we read and write on the traditional territories of the WSÁNEĆ (Saanich), Lekwungen (Songhees), Wyomilth (Esquimalt) peoples of the Coast Salish Nation.
Poet Chelsea Comeau Poet Erin Wilson
Poet Genelle Schmunk - contest runner-up
Poets Diane Massam, Wendy Donawa, Lois Mary Hammond and Heidi Garnet
Friday, june 7
join us for our last night of the season!
featuring an extended open mic and & readers from our
“A Tribute to Patrick Lane” Poetry Contest
JOINT WINNER: Erin Wilson has published in Grain, Vallum, Dalhousie Review, Freefall, Prairie Fire, and elsewhere internationally. She's been long-listed for the CBC Poetry Prize and has won a Pushcart. She lives on Robinson-Huron Treaty Territory. She refuses to carry a cell phone.
*Erin will not be able to attend the reading, but we will read her poem aloud.
JOINT WINNER: Chelsea Comeau is a freelance writer, editor, and web designer whose work has appeared in CV2, Room, and SubTerrain magazines, among others. In her spare time, she likes to be outdoors with her boyfriend and the birds.
RUNNER-UP: Genelle Schmunk is a poet, artist, nurse, and parent living on W̱SÁNEĆ land. They studied writing at the Kootenay School of Arts, received a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Victoria, and published work in Prairie Fire Magazine.
SHORTLIST: Wendy Donawa attended her first poetry retreat with Patrick Lane in 2007, and never looked back. Thanks to his inspiring and rigorous mentoring, she has published two poetry collections and enjoys the generative friendship of fellow poets.
SHORTLIST: Diane Massam writes about the entanglement of nature and mind. Winner of the 2021 FBCW contest, with poems in Arc Magazine and Queen’s Quarterly (upcoming), she is professor emeritus (linguistics) at U of T and lives in her hometown, Victoria.
SHORTLIST: Heidi Garnett's poems have been published in literary journals in Canada, Great Britain and the USA. Winner of the Descant Winston Collins Prize and short-listed in contests such as Canada Writes, Arc, CV2, the Mitchell Prize, etc. Awarded the Timothy Findlay scholarship for her fiction work. Recently finished a third poetry manuscript and working on a novel.
*Heidi will not be able to attend the reading, but we will read her poem aloud.
SHORTLIST: Lois Mary Hammond lives alternately in beautiful Bamfield, B.C. and Edmonton, Alberta. She reads and writes poetry because it’s one portal to life beyond the surfaces. Her work has been published in Filling Station, Shot Glass Journal, Wm. Henry Drummond Contest chapbooks, and various poetry society anthologies. Once upon a time national CBC radio broadcast two of her adult fairy tales. Prior to retiring, Lois made her living by words as a teacher, freelance journalist, and award-winning, science communicator. Exploring Russell Books is a regular summer delight.
June 15 & 16, 2024
10:00am to 4:00pm
Summer retreat with Evelyn Lau
What Lies Beneath: A Workshopping Weekend
Facilitated by Award-Winning Poet, Evelyn Lau
ONE SEAT REMAINING: MORE INFO