Readings & Events

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

Serpentine Loop Reception, Reading & Meet the Author!

Free event, light refreshments, wheelchair accessible.

All book sales to benefit the Youth Programs https://www.ssypboston.org/

Meet your neighbors, see the newly-renovated hall, and give our youth a boost!

serpentine loop Book Launch Skating Party

serpentine loop Book Launch Skating Party with special guest, professional skater Elin Schran.

Come skate for an hour in celebration of a book of poems about ice, frozen rivers, skating and edges.

Elin Schran will perform a short piece based on the book and set to music prompted by the book of poems.

And this is the debut of “Funnel Cloud”, a string piece for everyone to skate to created by Chris Gainey, recorded by University of Iowa New Music Ensemble!

Rental skates available or bring your own. All ages and abilities welcome. Snacks and beverages served. Books for signing and sale. This is not a poetry reading, but a skating party.

Elin Schran founded the Boston Ice Theater, a professional ensemble skating company, in 1999, to create new movement possibilities for the ice and to convey the joy of skating to the audience. As a choreographer and director, she designed the company’s numbers and also performed in every show. The ensemble of up to sixteen skaters worked together for five years performing in a wide variety of venues, including the Opening Ceremonies of the 2001 US Figure Skating Championships in Boston, MA.In 2004 Elin co-founded Frozen Frog Productions which specializes in developing high-energy shows for audiences all ages. Frozen Frog is known for its polished “wow factor” custom shows for corporate, as well as private clients who want to bring an added element of excitement to their events. Elin choreographs, directs and performs for all of the company’s projects. Elin was a coach at Dorothy Hamill’s Fantasy Skating Camp for 5 years, helping adult skaters of many skill levels feel comfortable and confident on the ice while being challenged in a positive way.

She has created a unique edge class for all ages and skill levels called IceFlow in order to bring a gentle, yoga-inspired approach to skating. IceFlow aims to connect movement with the breath while incorporating twisting, stretching, and gliding choreography. Main objectives of IceFlow include awareness and control of weight transfer, increased comfort with shifting balance points, and a celebration of the joy of skating.

Elin also works as an Independent Choreographer, sought out for her creativity and positive attitude. Her multi-faceted approach to skating is fed not only by practical experience as a skater in many shows, including Dorothy Hamill’s Ice Capades, but also by a theoretical understanding of the creative process evidenced by her Master’s degree in Critical and Creative Thinking.

WORD Vancouver

1:10pm to 1:25pm: Reading of serpentine loop at Sunrise Suite, the tent closest to Georgia Street.

3:40pm to 4:40pm: Panellist on Inclusive Magazine Publishing: Barriers and Strategies for Writers & Publishers at The Lions (tent midway between Robson and Georgia Streets) with Chelene Knight (Room magazine) and Jonina Kirton (Aboriginal Writers Collective). Moderated by Jen Sookfong Lee.

In between readings I’ll be at Thursdays Writing Collective‘s table outdoors – come visit!