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Simply put, this month’s reading was over-the-top. Having Eileen Kernaghan back with us after a long absence was so gratifying. And Henry Beissel’s reading had everyone captivated. It’s so rewarding having talented poets descend on Poetic Justice. It makes it so worthwhile bringing the likes of writers of such a high calibre to our series.

(l – r) Co-host James Felton, Eileen Kernaghan, Henry Beissel, and Co-host Franci Louann

In October, the tradition continues. At PJ we bring you an incredibly diverse line-up of poets where there is always one certainty: deep, uncompromising talent.

Joining us on October 16 are Susan McCaslin and Richard Osler. Both these exceptional writers already know we’re starting at an earlier time that day, so please make a note of our ‘brunch’ reading session that kicks off at 11:30am. Both Susan and Richard are on the verge of launching new publications. More about that in our newsletter. In the meantime, here’s more about them…

Susan McCaslin

Susan McCaslin has published thirteen volumes of poetry. Her upcoming one is Painter, Poet, Mountain: After Cézanne (Quattro Books, Sept. 2016).  Previous volumes include The Disarmed Heart (The St. Thomas Poetry Series, 2014) and Demeter Goes Skydiving (University of Alberta Press, 2011).  The latter was short-listed for the BC Book Prize (Dorothy Livesay Award) and the first-place winner of the Alberta Book Publishing Award (Robert Kroetsch Poetry Book Award) in 2012.  Susan has also published a memoir, Into the Mystic: My Years with Olga (Inanna Publications, 2014). She currently lives in Fort Langley, British Columbia where she initiated the Han Shan Poetry Project as part of a successful campaign to protect an endangered rainforest along the Fraser River.

Richard Osler

Richard Osler was born in Toronto and now lives in Duncan on Vancouver Island, where he facilitates poetry writing retreats and, also, weekly poetry workshops at The Cedars, an addiction recovery centre. His chapbook of short poems Where the Water Lives was published by Leaf Press in 2012. His poems have appeared in many journals. In 2011 he was a finalist for the Malahat Open Season Awards in poetry and in 2015 he was long-listed for the PRISM International Poetry Prize. His other writing includes chapters in The Rock Rabbit and the Rainbow: Laurens van der Post Among Friends and The Latest Morningside Papers by Peter Gzowski.

So mark your calendars for Sunday October 16 and please don’t forget the earlier start time of 11:30am. Come early so can register for open mic and place your food & beverage order before we get underway. So see you for brunch!

If you weren’t there you missed something special. With a nearly full house last Sunday, two seasoned and stellar poets kept us glued to the mic. Heidi Greco and Christopher Levenson, what a professional, playful, and profound duo!

Open mic readers were particularly peerless, too. We’ve said to those open mic’ers who didn’t have the chance to read, they’ll be first up at next month’s reading.

September’s session is promising to be nothing short of mind boggling. All the way from Ottawa, Henry Beissel is rolling into town on his Western Canada book launch. Joining him will be a talented local favourite, Eileen Kernaghan.  Here’s more about them…

Henry Beissel

Henry Beissel is a poet, playwright, essayist, translator and editor who lives in Ottawa. His commitment to writing first came to national attention through the controversial political and literary journal Edge which he founded in Edmonton and edited from 1963 to 1969. Since then he has over thirty publications to his credit that have received high critical acclaim in Canada and abroad. His versatility as a writer is evident even in a partial list of them: twenty volumes of poetry; six books of plays, both for adults and young audiences; numerous productions of his plays as well as of his adaptations of plays (most recently Ibsen’s Peer Gynt, 2009, and Sophocles’ Antigone, 2011, both performed to much critical and audience acclaim); translations from the works of Bauer, Huchel, Ibsen, Mrozek, and Dorst; fiction and non-fiction; a book on Canada; a Festschrift for Irving Layton; two anthologies of plays for High Schools. His work has been translated into more than a dozen languages.

Eileen Kernaghan
(photo courtesy of Julie Ferguson)

Eileen Kernaghan’s poetry  has appeared in PRISM international, The Antigonish Review, Room of One’s Own, Acta Victoriana, Wascana Review, The Magazine of Speculative Poetry, the anthology  Quintet: Themes & Variations (Ekstasis Editions ) and other publications both mainstream and speculative. Her collection Tales from the Holograph Woods was published in 2009 by Wattle & Daub Books. Eileen has also published nine historical fantasy novels. In 2014 Sophie, in Shadow was shortlisted for the Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic, and for the Sheila Egoff Prize for Children’s Literature.  She lives in New Westminster.

So mark your calendars for 3:00 p.m. on Sunday September 18, and in the meantime consider something you’d like to present at our Open Mic that day. Arrive on time in order to make the list before the cut-off.  Also, don’t forget the last reading at Poetry in the Park goes on Wednesday, August 31 at 6:00 p.m. Don’t miss the finale reading of PiP’s summer series. Check out the line-up here.