Browse through the archives to read about our featured poets.
March 2024: Ronna Bloom and Christina Shah; International Women’s Day 2024 (Marie Metaphor Specht, Délani Valin, Wendy Donawa, Luna Piscetta); Kazim Ali and Garth Martens; Michelle Brown and Chelsea Rushton
February 2024: DC Reid and Chris Bullock; Ali Blythe and Shawnda Wilson; Sneha Madhavan-Reese and Joanna Lilley; Cecily Nicholson and Fatima-Ayan Maliki Hirsi
January 2024: Eve Joseph, Sharon McCartney and Patricia Young (Baseline Press Poets); Cathy Stonehouse and Zoey Dickinson; Ariel Gordon and Cynthia Woodman Kirkham; Nicholas Bradley and Allie Picketts;
December 2023: Arleen Paré and Lorna Crozier;
November 2023: DM Bradford and Joey Scarfone; Patrick Friesen and Eva Kolacz; Homage to P.K. Page (Lynne Mustard/Barbara Pelman/ Susan McCaslin/Dan MacIsaac/Kate Braid/Sandy Shreve and Heidi Greco/Cynthia Woodman Kerkham/Stephen T. Berg/Wendy Donawa/ Terry Ann Carter/Leila Kulpas); Barbara Pelman and Karen Enns
October 2023: Maureen Hynes and Gisela Ruebsaat; VICTORIA FESTIVAL OF AUTHORS (Lorna Crozier, Marie Metaphor, Renée Sarojini Saklikar); Meghan Fandrich and Kurt Trzcinski; Jen Currin and Meharoona Ghani
September 2023: Robert Bringhurst and Sarah Jeannine Booth; Raven Chapbooks Poets (Marlene Grand Maître, Susan McCaslin, Ian Thomas); D.A. Lockhart and Catherine St Denis
April 2023: Joseph A. Dandurand and Pamela Medland; Karen Enns; Mary Ann Moore, MJ Burrows and Marlene Dean; Sareh Farmand and Caitlin Carter
March 2023: Maleea Acker and Frank Wilson; Brendan McLeod and Steven Ross Smith; Zoë Landale and Pamela Porter; Jamie Dopp and Derek Peach; Jónína Kirton and Ajit Ghandi
February 2023: George Elliott Clarke and Kim Dhillon; Anne-Marie Turza and Yvonne Blomer; Justene Dion-Glowa and Kelsey Andrews; Sally Ito and Andrea McKenzie Raine
January 2023: Sophie Crocker and Marlene Grand Maître; Michael Crummey and Eric Hansen; Garry Gottfriedson and George Spong; Christopher Levenson and Leanne Boschman
December 2022: Laurence Hutchman
November 2022: Jane Munro and George Smith; Kevin Andrew Heslop; Daniel G Scott and Sandy O’Reilly; Manahil Bandukwala and Miranda Pearson
October 2022: Tyler Pennock and Shawnda Wilson; Frances Boyle and Katherine Lawrence; Zoe Dickinson and Michelle Poirier Brown; Tāriq Malik and Clare Sharpe
September 2022: Sarah Ens and Herb Bryce; all open mic fundraiser; Joanne Leow and Joey Scarfone; Victoria Festival of Authors event with Jan Zwicky, Cecily Nicholson and Nancy Holmes, moderated by Susan Alexander
June 2022: Lorna Crozier; 20 poets from the Poets Caravan series
May 2022: Isabella Wang and Sandy O’Reilly; Michelle Poirier Brown and Eli Mushumanski; Terry Ann Carter and Michael Boissevain; Rhona Mcadam and Catherine St. Denis
April 2022: Heather Haley and Julie Paul; Tolu Oloruntoba and Rhonda Ganz; Yvonne Blomer and Arleen Paré; Electronic Garret; Chantal Gibson and Daniel Scott
March 2022: Ellie Sawatsky and Joey Scarfone; Alan Hill and Wendy Donawa; Sarah de Leeuw and Carole Halligan; Jude Neale and Kamal Parmar
February 2022: Assiyah Jamilla Touré and Margaret Lonsdale; Cornelia Hoogland and Barbara Pelman; Kelsey Andrews and Shawnda; Doris Fiszer and Terry Ann Carter
January 2022: Jeremy Loveday and Kyeren Regehr; Geoff Inverarity and Sharon Lee; John Swanson and Christine Walde; Gary Geddes and Nancy Issenman
December 2021: Francine Merasty and Josephine LoRe; Dallas Hunt and Marlene Grand Maître
November 2021: Pamela Medland and Medwyn McConachy; Renée Sarojini Saklikar and Susan Braley; Wendy Donawa and Leila Kulpas; Henry Doyle and Wendy Morton
October 2021: Victoria Festival of Authors; Danielle Janess and Anne Hopkinson; RC Weslowski and Richard Osler; Laura Apol and Jamie Dopp
September 2021: Linda K. Thompson and Pam Porter; Matsuki Masitani and Cynthia Woodman
Summer 2021: Poets Caravan launches
May 2021: Arleen Paré and Beth Kope; Vanessa Shields; Kamal Parmar, Jude Neale and Kieran Egan; Barbara Nickel; Louise Bernice Halfe and James Summer
April 2021: The Frontenac Four: Joan Shillington, Lisa Richter, Alexander Williamson, Tyler B. Perry; Larissa Lai; Electronic Garrett, Terence Young, Billeh Nickerson
March 2021: Adrienne Drobnies, Linday B-e, Spring Fling Open Mic, Patricia Vickers
February 2021: Derk Wynand, Canisia Lubrin, Irfan Ali, Dorothy Field and Kurt Trzcinski
January 2021: Evelyn Lau, Susan Alexander, launch for the pandemic poems anthology The Sky is Falling, The Sky is Falling, Patrick Friesen, Tyler Pennock
December 2020: Lorna Crozier
November 2020: Kevin Spenst; John Barton; Wendy Morton and Kate Marshall Flaherty; Jane Munro
October 2020: Part 2: Maureen Hynes, Launch for Voicing Suicide anthology, Joseph A. Dandurand
October 2020: Part 1: All open mic, Ariel Gordon, Allan Briesmaster, bill bisset and Christine Walde
September 2020: 25th Anniversary Season Launch; Launch for Sweet Water: Poems for the Watersheds; Marlene Grand Maitre and Daniel G Scott; Ted Landrum and Bruce Rice
July 2020: Featured readers from Yvonne Blomer’s “Undressing Your Master Poet” class; Kyeren Regehr
June 2020: Kim Goldberg, M.C. Warrior, Daniela Elza, Arleen Paré (the debut month of our Zoom readings)
March 2020: Judith Castle and Diana Hayes; CANCELLED: Lorna Crozier, Tess Gallagher and Marlene Cookshaw; Maureen Hynes and Alan Briesmaster; John Swanson and Terence Young
February 2020: Richard Osler and Sonja Greckol; Love Poems for Valentine’s Day; Conrad Scott and Larry Hannant; Bren Simmers and Adrienne Gruber
January 2020: Stephen T Berg and Daniel Scott; James Arthur and Susan McCaslin; Best Canadian Poetry anthology launch; Jacqueline Turner and Mary Lee Bragg; Catriona Sandilands and readers from Rising Tides anthology
November and December 2019: Sonnet L’Abbé and Kayla Czaga; Vincent Pagé and Peter Midgley; Joanna Streetly and John Donlan; Monica Kidd and Wendy Morton; Susan Glickman and Sharon Berg; Lorna Crozier
October 2019: Victoria Festival of Authors: Billy-Ray Belcourt, Erin Mouré and Eve Joseph; Marilyn Bowering and Valentina Cambiazo; Allessandra Naccarato and D. A. Lockhart; Cassidy McFadzean and Pamela Porter
September 2019: Brian Henderson and John Reibetanz; Katherin Edwards and Heidi Greco; Fiona Tinwei Lam and Frank Wilson
Summer 2019: Rebecca Păpucaru and Emily Davidson; Laura Williamson and Liz Breslin; Laura Ritland and Jennifer Zilm
May 2019: Cecily Nicholson and Marita Dachsel; Michael Kenyon and Catherine J. Stewart; Daniel Cowper and Sandra Ridley; Doyali Island and Ian Ferrier
April 2019: kj munro and DC Reid; Ali Blythe and Else Kraljii Gardiner; Laura Apol
March 2019: John Barton and Aziza Moqia SEealey-Qaylow; Leslie Timmins and Marion Quednau; Rayanne Haines, Michelle Brown and Zöe Dickinson; Kerry Gilbert and Al Rempel
February 2019: Claire Kelly, Anne Hopkinson and Rhona McAdam; Jenna Butler and Lenea Grace; Alice Major and Paul Nelson; Randall Maggs and Susan Gillis
January 2019: Will Webster and Hilary Peach; Tina Biello, Marlene Grand Maitre and Stephen T. Berg; Kelly Shepherd and Colin Morton
December 2018: Poets appearing in the anthology Heartwood: Poems for the Love of Trees
November 2018: Lorna Crozier; Stevie Howell and Eve Joseph; Yvonne Blomer and Patricia Young; Philip Kevin Paul and Amanda Jernigan; Wendy Morton and Emily Nilsen
October 2018: Jónína Kirton and Dvora Levin; Onjana Yawnghwe and Micheline Maylor; Patrick Friesen and Joanna Lilley
September 2018: Carl Hare and Daniel G. Scott; David James Brock, Laisha Rosneau, Katherine Vermette
August 2018: Yusuf Saadi and Aidan Chafe
July 2018: Kate Braid and John Terpstra; Ned Baeck and Rob Lewis; launch of Sustenance: Writers from BC and Beyond on the Subject of Food
June 2018: Anne Campbell and David Day; Five Island Poets: Susan Alexander, Terry Ann Carter, Richard Osler, Barbara Pelman and Linda K. Thompson
May 2018: Danielle Janess and Susan McCaslin; Jordan Mounteer and Susan Elmslie
April 2018: Poet Laureate Night at City Hall; Heidi Greco and Russell Thornton; Terry Ann Carter and Cornelia Hoogland; Danika Dinsmore and Naomi Beth Wakan
March 2018: Elizabeth Bachinsky and Kayla Czaga; Joe Denham and Bernice Lever
February 2018: Lisa Bird-Wilson and Christine Lowther; Arleen Paré and Laura Apol; Richard Harrison and Jude Neale; Renée Saklikar and Gary Gottfriedson
December 2017 and January 2018: Sheila Rosen, joined by Wendy Donawa, Carla Funk and Rhonda Ganz; Patricia Young & Christine Walde; Mark Sampson and Wendy McGrath; Kim Trainor and Laurie Graham
November 2017: Susan Alexander and Barbara Pelman; Tim Lilburn and Gary Barwin; Dan MacIsaac and Canisia Lubrin; Wendy Morton and Chelsea Comeau
October 2017: Sheri-D Wilson and Tim Bowling; Adèle Barclay and Rob Taylor; Linda King and Frank Wilson; David Stymeist and Philip Resnick
September 2017: Fundraiser for Doctors without Borders; Lorna Crozier and Patrick Lane (with Victoria Festival of Authors)
July and August 2017: Andrea McKenzie Raine and Suzannah Showler; Arthur Joyce and Blair Trewartha
May and June 2017: Ulrike Narwani and Emily McGiffin; Rhonda Ganz and Shirley Graham; Yoko’s Dogs – Mary di Michele, Jann Conn and Jane Munro
April 2017: Clea Roberts and Kevin Spenst, Amber McMillan and Joe Denham, Madhur Anand and Dee Hobsbawn-Smith
March 2017: Ali Blythe and Lynda Monahan, Peter Midgley and Nora Gould, Julie Paul and Murray Reiss, Heidi Garnett and Rhea Tregebov
February 2017: Amber McMillan and Melanie Siebert; Gisela Ruebsaat and Miranda Pearson; Bren Simmer and D.N. Simmers; Alice Major and Alison Calder
January 2017: Stephen Collis and Owain Nicholson; Elee Kraljii Gardener and Pamela Porter; Maleea Acker and Angeline Schellenberg
December 2016: Patricia Young and Patrick Warner; Karen Enns, Wendy Donawa and Terry Ann Carter
November 2016: Sheryda Warrener and Sarah Kendall; The launch of In Fine Form, second edition; Sonnet L’Abbé and Will Webster; Wendy Morton and Leanne McIntosh
October 2016: Naomi Beth Wakan and Karen Shklanka, Dean Steadman and Sue Sinclair, Richard Osler and Susan McCaslin, Clara Blackwood and Allan Briesmaster
September 2016: Open Mic, Fundraiser for Doctors Without Borders, Victoria Festival of Authors, Susan Stenson, Bill Stenson and Fred Stenson
Summer 2016: as below (May to July) with the addition of Barbara Pelman and Timothy Shay on August 19
May to July 2016: Daniel Scott and Zoe Dickinson, David Fraser and Jim Roberts, Rachel Lebowitz and Zachariah Wells, Judith Castle and Dorothy Mahoney
April 2016: Jeff Steudel and Drymphny Dronyk, Jeanette Lynes and Carla Funk, Gary Geddes and Susan Telfer, Joy Russell and Antony Di Nardo
March 2016: Betsy Warland and Trisha Cull, Kyeren Regehr and Naomi Guttman, Words on Ice: An Evening of Readings (co-hosted by The Malahat Review)
February 2016: Harold Rhenisch and Missie Peters, Arleen Paré and Carolyn Smart, Jenna Butler and Murray Reiss, Patrick Lane retreat chapbook launch Fracture
January 2016: Yvonne Blomer and Rachel Rose, Tina Biello and David James Brock, Pamela Porter and Frances Boyle
December 2015: All open mic night
November 2015: Marilyn Bowering and Xan Shian, Youth Poetry Night with the Claremont Review Magazine, Wendy Morton, and Lorna Crozier
October 2015: Alisa Gordaneer & Paulo Da Costa, Elena Johnson & Maureen Hynes, Terry Ann Carter & Monty Reid, Anita Lahey, Patricia Young & Ruth Roach Pierson
September 2015: Fundraiser for Doctors Without Borders, Jen Hadfield & Pam Galloway
July and August 2015: Shelley Leedahl & Steve Noyes, Catherine Owen, Deanna Young and Sandy Shreve
May and June 2015: Niki Loulouris & Kevin Spenst, Bren Simmers & Anne Simpson, Best Canadia Poetry in English 2014, Meira Cook & Cynthia Woodman Kerkham
April 2015: Danielle Janess & Warren Heiti,Catherine Graham, Kyla Czaga & Henry Rappaport
March 2015: Claire Caldwell & Lorri Neilsen Glenn, Alice Major & Beth Kope, Karen Enns, Matt Rader & Peter Midgley, Billeh Nickerson & Amber Dawn
February 2015: Judith Castle, Carl Leggo, Chris Levenson, Cathy Ford, Julie Paul & George Szanto, Goran Marić, Patrick Friesen and Derk Wynand
January 2015: Youth from Claremont Secondary and St. Michael’s University School
December 2014: Dvora Levin and Susan McCaslin
November 2014: Garth Martens, Erina Harris, Rhona McAdam, Wendy Morton, Fionncara MacEoin and Michael Kenyon
October 2014: Yvonne Blomer, Ariel Gordon, Patricia Young, Tim Bowling, Lawrence Feuchtwanger, Jane Munro, Susan Paddon, John Barton, Joanna Lilley, Arleen Paré and Ricardo Sternberg
September 2014 : Kate Braid and John Terpstra
Summer 2014 : Diane Tucker, Madeline Walker, Rachel Lebowitz, Andrea Bennett, Daniel G. Scott and Bonnie Nish
May 2014: Andrea Raine, Andrea Routley, Janine Alyson Young, Tina Biello, Christine Smart, Julie Bruck, Catherine Owen, Eufemia Fantetti, Kathryn Para and Katrin Horowitz
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013