As mentioned in my last post (Walking Victoria) in addition to some lovely photo opportunities and the best matcha ever, I attended the launch for a new anthology of poems made up of past readers at the Planet Earth poetry reading at Moka Coffee in Victoria, BC. Poems From Planet Earth is the book. Ursula Vaira’s Leaf Press the publisher. Yvonne Blomer is the current curator for the series and co-editor (with Cynthia Woodman Kerkham) of the anthology. One of the Georgettes, (see the last post again) Rhonda Ganz, designed the cover.
PEP
The cafe was packed last Friday (4.12.13) and the atmosphere festive. There were two sets and I was in the second, so had a chance to relax a little and enjoy the show. Patrick Lane is somewhat of THE elder statesman poet in Victoria and in his introduction to the book he wrote: “We are mole, microbe, mountain and sea, the wind, a spider’s web, a wasp, a molecule’s wish that all of us in our untold, unimaginable selves are one beautiful thing, forms that together are one form, our story one story.” After the opening remarks by Yvonne and Cynthia, Patrick led off the evening with some remarks and his contribution to the book, The Ecstasy of No. (Unedited versions: First Half, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3). In order, the other readers of the first half were:
Grace Cockburn
Julie Paul
Murray Reiss
Maleea Acker
David Fraser
Ann Graham Walker
Arleen Paré
Karen Chester
Ulrike Narwani
Barbara Colbrook Peace
Susan Telfer
Wendy Morton
Part Two. (1st half unedited. 2nd half.)
Owain Nicholson
Judith Heron
Giesela Ruebsaat
Terry Jones
Wendy Donawa
Betsy Warland
Paul Nelson
Andrea Raine
Susan Braley
Derk Wynand
Dvora Levin
Tris Pargenter
Paul–thank you so much for taking the time to post this. The launch was wonderful, but necessarily ephemeral, and it is lovely to have this record.
Grace, Thanks for taking time to write. I want to deepen connections between poets from Victoria, Vancouver, Seattle and all of Cascadia.