Summer’s sun rolled like a beach ball into our yard. I ran outdoors to catch it and wound up lost in my flower gardens. So much for spring cleaning! However while tidying my desk (to escape the heat) I discovered some photos I promised to share.
Featured readers at the 2015 Niagara Literary Arts Festival held over a year ago at the Mahtay Café in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.
Consider this a memory from my digital scrapbook, more images than words. A thank you to the host/emcee/organizer Keith Inman, a fellow Black Moss Press author, for showcasing regional poets. (Almost all the readers are members of the Niagara Branch of the Canadian Authors Association.) The event held over a year ago at the Mahtay Café in St. Catharines, was one of several spotlight readings held during the month-long 2015 Niagara Literary Arts Festival.
From left to right: The official poster for just one of several events during the 2015 Niagara Literary Arts Festival, Canada. Keith Inman organized several readings during the 2015 festival.
For those who are interested in this year’s program, check out the NLAF2016 website. There is still one more event scheduled for tonight (Thursday, June 23) featuring Andrew Porteus and Sherman Zavitz, 7 p.m. at the Niagara Falls History Museum.
Mark Your Calendars!
Summer is a great time for travelling and for attending literary events and festivals. I just received a poster listing all the events for the 2016 Leacock Summer Festival including an August 6 reading by Billy Collins, a former US Poet Laureate and a popular poet who often writes with a sense of humour. Mark the location Orillia, Ontario as a possible summer destination.
If you’ve never travelled to Niagara Falls and area, check a few more of my vacation photos here.
If you are currently seeking inspiration outside the house or office, consider attending one of several literary offerings scheduled for this week:
Kelsey Knight was an open mic reader during the 2015 Niagara Literary Arts Festival, June 20 at the Mahtay Café in St. Catharines. She will also be a featured poet/performer at tonight’s (Thursday, June 23, 2016) Poetics Melodies at The Spice Factory in Hamilton, Ontario.
Tonight (Thursday, June 23 from 8 to 10 p.m.) in Hamilton, poet Kelsey Knight will be performing with pianist Ian Green, singer Lauren Mikaela and special guest Klyde Broox during Poetic Melodies at The Spice Factory.
In London, Andrews Gripp and Koral Scott will be featured in Couplets: Poets in Dialogue, Friday, June 24, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Chapters South London while Joan Clayton will launch her first novel When the Bones Speak, Saturday, June 25 at 2 p.m. at the RCAF Wing Association, 2155 Crumlin Road (near the airport).
In Mississauga, John Ambury, Moving Waters (IOWI 2016), Bradley McIlwan, Elementals (IOWI 2015) and Brandon Pitts, Tender in the Age of Fury (Mosaic Press) will showcase their work in a triple launch, Saturday, June 25, 2 p.m. at Sudio 89 – 1065 Canadian Place, Unit 104 (E. off Tomken Road, S. of Eglinton Avenue).
Future Literary Events!
For additional summer literary events scheduled for the Ontario area, check out my events page. (Please note this list represents only those event notices that have crossed my newsfeed or desk. It does not represent all the events scheduled for the province. I share and promote as much as I can but I am only human.)
The League of Canadian Poets website also posts a list of poetry events scheduled across Canada.
Have an amazing summer everyone!
Follow this blog for upcoming Canadian Author and Poet Profiles.
Kites Without Strings 