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 The Moka House, 1633 Hillside Ave (across from Bolen Books). Sign-up for the open mic begins at 7pm.

FEATURED READERS MARCH  2014

 Upcoming readings

Friday, March 7, 2014

JAY RUZESKY &
E.D. BLODGETT

Jay Ruzesky’s most recent book is In Antarctica: An Amundsen Pilgrimage (Nightwood 2013) about his recent voyage to the white continent in the footsteps of his ancestor—Roald Amundsen. Ruzesky’s novel about a medieval monumental astronomical clock is called The Wolsenburg Clock (Thistledown 2009) and was shortlisted for a ReLit Award and for the City of Victoria Butler Book Prize.

His books include Blue Himalayan Poppies, Writing on the Wall, Painting The Yellow House Blue, and Am I Glad To See You.

He has been on the editorial board of The Malahat Review for 21 years without getting tired of it, and he teaches English, Creative Writing and Film Studies at Vancouver Island University. Essays, interviews and art criticism have appeared in Brick, Poetry Canada Review, and selected gallery publications.

E.D. Blodgett, FRSC, is Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Comparative Literature at the University of Alberta, and held the Louis Desrochers Chair in Études canadiennes, Campus Saint-Jean (2008-10). His research has varied from mediaeval European romance to Canadian Comparative Literature. His publications include The Love Songs of the Carmina Burana (with Roy Arthur Swanson), Garland Library of Medieval Literature, Vol. 49, Series B (Garland Publishing, 1987), The Romance of Flamenca (Garland Publishing, 1995), Five-Part Invention: A History of Literary History in Canada (University of Toronto Press, 2003) and Les Enfants des Jésuites ou le sacrifice des vierges (Les Presses de l’Université Laval, 2013). He has published 26 books of poetry, of which 2 were awarded the Governor General’s Award. He has 1 other in press (including Horizons, a bilingual collection of poems). Recently published are Illuminations (in collaboration with Lucie Lambert and Réjean Beaudoin) (Les Éditions Lucie Lambert, 2013) and Apostrophes VII: Sleep.You.A Tree (University of Alberta Press, 2011). He is a past poet laureate of Edmonton (2007-09), and a former Writer-in-Residence at Grant MacEwan University (2004).

Friday, March 14, 2014

LEANNE MCINTOSH &
JUDITH NEALE

Leanne McIntosh will be reading from Dark Matter, a conversation between prose and poetry; a conversation between sun and earth. The prose has been culled from a Catholic priest's private correspondence, journals and articles; the poems are a woman's response, written with today's insights.

Leanne McIntosh was born in Regina, Saskatchewan. She has published two previous books of poetry: The Sound the Sun Makes and Liminal Space. Her poems have appeared in literary journals, anthologies and a series of chapbooks edited by Patrick Lane. She is a regular participant in local reading events and she volunteers poetry sessions at the Nanaimo Brain Injury Society.

Jude Neale is a Canadian poet living on Bowen Island off of Vancouver. Her writing has been published frequently in journals like The Antigonish Review and Quill, online magazines such as Monday’s poem and Ascent Aspirations Magazine, and anthologies like the forthcoming Tri-City Anthology Portland, Seattle, Vancouver and The Wild Weathers Book of Love. Her book, Only the Fallen Can See (Leaf press) was published in 2011. Her next collection will be coming out in 2014 and  is called,  A Quiet Coming of Light.

She was shortlisted for the 2012 Gregory O’Donoghue International Poetry Prize (Ireland), The 2012 International Poetic Republic Poetry Prize (U.K),The Mary Chalmers Smith Poetry Prize shortlist (UK), The 2013 Wenlock International Poetry Prize (UK), and the Royal City short story and poem contests, where she placed second in both. She was nominated for the 2012 Canadian ReLit Award and the Pat Lowther Award for her book Only the Fallen Can See.

Friday, March 21, 2014

RHEA TREGEBOV

Rhea Tregebov’s seventh collection of poetry, All Souls’, was released in 2012. Quill & Quire notes of All Souls’ that “Tregebov has always been a poet’s poet, but never more than here.” Her poetry has received the Pat Lowther Award, the Malahat Review Long Poem prize, Honorable Mention for the National Magazine Awards and the Readers’ Choice Award for Poetry from Prairie Schooner.
Tregebov is also the author of an historical novel, The Knife-Sharpener’s Bell. In addition to her poetry and fiction, Tregebov has also published five children's picture books and edited numerous anthologies. She is an Associate Professor in the Creative Writing Program at UBC.

Friday, March 28, 2014

NAOMI BETH WAKAN, CORNELIA HOOGLAND & LAISHA ROSNAU

Naomi Beth Wakan has recently been appointed the first poet laureate for Nanaimo, BC. In addition to writing many books of haiku, tanka and blank verse poetry, her essays and poems have appeared in Resurgence, Geist, Room of One's Own, Kansai Time Out, Far East Journal and many other magazines and websites. She has read her writings on CBC and in poetry venues. She is also a member of Haiku Canada and The League of Canadian Poets.

Naomi Beth Wakan lives on Gabriola Island with her husband, sculptor Elias Wakan.

Cornelia Hoogland’s poetry, as well as her nonfiction, fiction and plays have been published and performed internationally. Selections from her six books of poetry, three chapbooks and her nonfiction (“Sea Level”) have won competitions and have been shortlisted for the CBC literary awards, the Relit awards, and the National Magazine Awards. Cornelia’s play, Red, had its Canadian premiere in May 2013 (Fountainhead Theatre, London, Ontario). Cornelia is Professor Emeritus of Western University and lives on Hornby Island, British Columbia.

Laisha Rosnau is the author of the bestselling novel The Sudden Weight of Snow the Acorn-Plantos People's Poetry Prize-winning collection Notes on Leaving, and two collections of poetry, Lousy Explorers and Pluck. Her work has been published in Canada, the US, the UK and Australia, and she was recently anthologized in White Ink: Poems on Mothers and Motherhood and Rocksalt: An Anthology of Contemporary BC Poetry. Rosnau lives with her husband and two young children in Coldstream, BC.