Readings & Events

Elephant’s Ear Cafe

I’m looking forward to this reading hosted by Misty River Books!

Rural Writers Retreat

I’ll be at this three-day retreat leading workshops, writing and giving readings.

Skate the Book: serpentine loop skating party in Vancouver

Free event, open to public. Spectators and non-skaters welcome. Rental skates available or bring your own! Bring your kids, friends, neighbours and anyone else who wants to skate for fun. We know it’s late-ish but the ice was cheap! Before we get on the ice at 10pm we’re featuring a ten-minute reading and a short off-ice talk by professional skaters Elin Schran and Douglas Webster. After that Douglas and Elin are going to demonstrate some figures and edges and then Elin is going to skate the Canadian debut of the program she choreographed of my book! Facebook invite page here (please share) and more info on this site here.

Growing Room Festival: A Feminist Literary

Writing in (the) Community
Leah Horlick, Elee Kraljii Gardiner, Audrey Thomas | Moderator: Amber Dawn

In his acceptance speech for the National Book Award in 2016, Colson Whitehead said, “Be kind to everybody, make art, and fight the power.” Writing of all kinds has always been central to the fight against systemic oppression and injustice—and now, more than ever. As we move forward into an uncertain future, and fight to have our voices heard, writers and community activators Elee Kraljii Gardiner, Leah Horlick, Amber Dawn, and Audrey Thomas discuss writing against the grain and creating spaces for everyone to speak their truth.

Please note: tickets are necessary.

The Only Way Out is Through: Writing About Trauma

Growing Room: A Feminist Literary Festival

Evelyn Lau, Christine Lowther, Sonnet L’Abbé | Moderator: Elee Kraljii Gardiner

Many of us seek to escape the traumatic memories that haunt us—to heal and move on from the things that have happened to us. Could writing be a way through? Many recommend writing as a method of healing from trauma, but it’s easier said than done. Join Evelyn Lau, Christine Lowther, Sonnet L’Abbé, and Elee Kraljii Gardiner for a powerful discussion about sitting with your memories and leaving it all on the page.

Please note: tickets are necessary.

Simon Fraser University’s Lunch Poems

This excellent bring-your-lunch series is in its fifth year. It will be my first time reading and I am thrilled because my co-reader is musician, spoken word, poet and beauty Jillian Christmas.

Concord Academy with Nancy Boutilier

Reading and writing with Creative Non Fiction Students at Concord Academy with Nancy Boutilier.

Reading with Evan Mallett

I’ll be reading with chef Evan Mallett of The Black Trumpet bistro, author of Black Trumpet: A Chef’s Journey Through Eight New England Seasons. It’s a gorgeous bookstore and I’m excited to be reading with Evan, a friend of more than two decades.

Evan, chef and co-proprietor with his wife Denise of the renowned Black Trumpet at 29 Ceres St. in Portsmouth, is a James Beard semi-finalist for Best Chef, Northeast (2011, 2013, 2014). He is actively involved and sits on the boards of Chef’s Collaborative, Slow Food Seacoast, and the Heirloom Harvest Project, an initiative to join farmers, chefs and educators to identify and restore a food system native to the greater NH Seacoast.

Evan and I share an interest in how we form community- through foods, activities, geographies. Evan’s recipes and stories are an outgrowth of his extensive experience considering local New Hampshire farming, foodsheds and cuisine.

Books will be available for sale and signing. River Run Bookstore is wheelchair accessible and has single occupancy washrooms (marked by gender).

Before the reading please join us for an outdoor skating event hosted by Elin Schran and Douglas Webster at Strawbery Banke’s Labrie Family Skate at Puddle Dock Pond nearby. (Details to follow) Professional figure skater Elin Schran will skate a program choreographed to the content of Elee’s book Serpentine Loop.

Elin Schran is the co-founder of Frozen Frog Productions and is the innovator of IceFlow (a yoga-inspired skating class). She is a choreographer and performer with experience in many shows including Ice Capades, and taught for five years at Dorothy Hamill’s Fantasy Skating Camp. https://www.facebook.com/frozenfrogproductions/

Kittery resident Douglas Webster is both the Artistic Director of Strawbery Banke’s Labrie Family Skate and the Maine based not-for-profit, Ice Dance International. He is one of the most sought-after professional choreographers in the world today (Ice Theatre of New York, Disney On Ice, Holiday On Ice, Stars On Ice).

Douglas is also the Creative Director of Shall We Dance on Ice airing Saturday, February 11th on ABC.
http://www.icedanceinternational.org/

SCOB Alumni Event

I’ll be reading at the SCOB Alumni event for twenty minutes before dinner and skating. This is a bit of homecoming since many of the poems are situated here and I actually laid the manuscript out on the floor by the boards as I was sequencing poems for the book. Also, the first time I am reading to a community of skaters!

Phillips Academy Andover

I’ll be reading and leading writing exercises for two classes of English students at Phillips Academy Andover with Lou Bernieri‘s tenth and twelfth graders.

Planet Earth Reading Series

The evening begins at 7:30 with an open mic, followed by a featured reader(s). Planet Earth Poetry is located at Hillside Coffee and Tea, 1633 Hillside Ave (across from Bolen Books). Between 7 and 7:15, put your name in the hat to read at open mic.

I’ll be reading with Pamela Porter. Her work has earned more than a dozen provincial, national, and international awards, including the inaugural Gwendolyn MacEwan Poetry Prize, the 2013 Malahat Review 50th Anniversary Poetry Prize, the Our Times Poetry Award for political poetry, the 2012 FreeFall Magazine Poetry Award, the 2011 Prism International  Grand Prize in Poetry, the 2010 Vallum Magazine Poem of the Year Award, as well as the CBC, Raymond Souster and Pat Lowther Award shortlists. Her novel in verse, The Crazy Man, won the 2005 Governor General’s Award, the Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award, the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award, and other prizes. Both The Crazy Man and her 2011 novel, I’ll be Watching,  are required reading in schools and colleges across Canada and the US. Patrick Lane has called her “a poet to be grateful for.” Defending Darkness is her 9th volume of poetry. Pamela lives near Sidney, BC with her family and a menagerie of rescued horses, dogs, and cats.

An Intimate Evening with Vancouver Poets

Julie Emerson, Elee Kraljii Gardiner, Evelyn Lau, and Fred Wah

Join us in celebrating four of British Columbia’s celebrated poets, who will each read from and discuss their latest works.

Presented by Read Local BC, 2016