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.
Featured Readers november 2015
FRIDAY, novemBER 6, 2015
MARILYN BOWERING
AND XAN SHIAN
The words of Threshold (Leaf Press) are plain, ‘as bare and pregnant as the stones of a ruined croft.’ In them, Marilyn Bowering unites her voice with the life and words of a silenced, exiled female Hebridean poet who speaks across three centuries. Xan Shian’s photographs face this world of extremes and change with a timeless and contemporary eye.
Marilyn Bowering is a poet, librettist and novelist who lives in Victoria, B.C. She travels in the Hebrides frequently. Threshold is her first book with the photographer, Xan Shian.
Mary Macleod (Màiri nighean Alasdair Ruaidh) was a Scottish Gaelic poet. She was born c.1615 on the island of Harris and died at Dunvegan c.1707 on the island of Skye.
Xan Shian has lived and photographed in Montreal, Scotland, Spain, and France; she works in analog and edits in camera. Her work has been published in a variety of periodicals and exhibited in Montreal, Scotland and Victoria.
Xan Shian Photo: Mia Watkins
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2015
YOUTH POETRY NIGHT WITH THE CLAREMONT REVIEW MAGAZINE
Students from Claremont Secondary School and contributers to the Claremont Review take over the mic for Youth Poetry Night. Listen to the next generation of poets and poetry.
The Claremont Review publishes young artists, aged 13–19, from anywhere in the English-speaking world.
It accepts poetry, short stories, short plays, graphic art, photography, and interviews twice a year in the spring/summer and fall/winter
Wendy Morton and friend, circa quite a while ago
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015
WENDY MORTON
Wendy Morton has published six books of poetry and a memoir. She is the recipient of the 2010 Spirit Bear Award and the Golden Beret Award. She was named Honorary Citizen of Victoria in 2011 and was awarded the Colleen Thibaudeau award by the League of Canadian Poets in 2012 for her outstanding contribution to Canadian poetry.
She believes that a poem is the shortest distance between two hearts and that life will always surprise you; all you have to do is hold out your arms.
Her reading will be a presentation of poems and photographs.
Friday, november 27, 2015
LORNA CROZIER
The Wild in You: A gorgeous and stirring collection of photos and poems from photographer Ian McAllister and Governor General’s Award-winning poet Lorna Crozier that reveals how the startling wildness of the natural world is mirrored in the human heart. Featuring over thirty beautiful full-size photographs of wolves, bears, sea lions, jellyfish, and other wild creatures paired with thirty original poems, The Wild in You challenges the reader to a deeper understanding of the connection between humans, animals, and our earth.
Ruth Roach Pierson’s latest collection.
Lorna Crozier has received numerous awards, including the Governor General's Award, for her fifteen books of poetry, which include The Blue Hour of the Day, What the Living Won't Let Go, Everything Arrives at the Light, and Inventing the Hawk. She is also the author of the memoir Small Beneath the Sky and the editor of several anthologies. She lives in Saanich, British Columbia.