Muriel’s Journey poetry reading at Word Vancouver
Sept 14 18:00-19:30 PST
Sept 15 10AM Japan
I will read poem “small box of cereal” along with these other accoladed poets:
- Jessica Lee McMillan
- Ghia Aweida
- Joel LeBlanc
- Elizabeth Cockle
- Katherine Koller
gosh I’m sure hope you can join and participate
note: while I’m always writing poetry, i rarely submit to journals, anthologies, or other publications because wanna be part of a “movement” or a true campaign, not *just another poem* published in a short-run but apparently ‘prestigious’ journal which sits on shelves and as a line item in a writer’s résumé or whatever you call it
as such, this unique inclusive and mixed media poetry initiative is not just a book or an event, it’s part of a legacy of a passed-on poet (whom never had the pleasure of meeting) named Muriel, with roots in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, and a connection to First Nations, marginalized, displaced, possibly disabled and otherwise less-heard communities.
so, is very special to me (although I live on the other side of the Pacific and very gently want to ensure space for more voices to be heard) – very pleased to be selected with an honourable mention and hope can be worthy of the accolade
my thanks to Isabella Mori for diligent wrangling and respecting and encouraging voices (and supporting my work since my “fck stats, make art” keynote at Northern Voice 2008) and Kyle Hawke of Three Ocean Media for an exceptional touch on editing and efficient and detailed publishing including all the critical nuanced data for the front matter page #AlwaysBeArchiving
this is an online streaming event but requires registration {a link below which will also triangulate your time zone for your convenience}
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/muriels-journey-poetry-prize-tickets-1587256319379
& pardon my placeholder image above, cobbled together from various screenshots and not meant to be representative of the efforts of the actual publishers and designers
At the risk of revealing too much, I wrote a note after being informed of the honorable mention, ergo:
Dear Isabella et al, I think you know me well enough to know that I sit with things pretty heavily
The selected poem was written in an overwhelming flash of memories which come out after these painful injections and has stuck with me especially since I was so generously awarded this honorable mention and sat with the poem again – wondering who I was when I wrote it and who I was when it was conceived
This led me down the proverbial rabbit hole and *found the kid* who really wrote this poem although he didn't know it at the time
Here I am with crooked neck, heavy glasses, glitter candles, doing my best, dreaming of everywhere and trying to survive somewhere and just wanting a box of cereal, some peace to read my books and do my projects and *all the noise to stop*
