june 27, 2008

CAA Open Mic with The Raving Poets Band

The Canadian Authors Association is having their national Conference CanWrite in Edmonton July 3 -6, 2008. As part of the conference, we will be having an Open Mic with the Raving Poets in residence, sponsored by the CAA and Yiannis Taverna.

Let's show the National Writers what a good audience is!

We had a pre-register for 20 CAA readers and we expect to have some last minute spots... and depending on time.... we'll open it up first to CAA folk, then to anyone...

So if you are hungry for the Raving Poets band and some words to rave by, then come on out and applaud as loudly as you can! Most of the readers will be first time readers, so let's give them an RP first-time readers experience!

WHERE: Dinwoodie Lounge, SUB, UofA campus
WHEN: July 3, 2008 8:00 p.m.

Of all the wonders of nature, a tree in
summer is perhaps the most remarkable;
with the possible exception of a moose
singing "Embraceable You" in spats."
-Woody Allen

june 24, 2008

june 20, 2008

june 6, 2008

Two treats for you today. We have a new guest poet on the site, Shona. Please welcome her with a read of her outstanding work. And the indefatigable Michael Appleby has sent in two new pieces for your perusal. Check 'em out!

And finally, a note from Mary Pinkoski:

Hi Everyone,

The CD of my winning CBC poem is now available for purchase online at the CBC website. Just what you always wanted, a little piece of my voice :) The CD also contains the other regional winners. Teachers, apparently I have been told that the CD is good for use in schools because all our poems had to meet the community standards...

Buy one for yourself,
Buy one for your mom,
Buy one for the man at the bottom of your street
who never mows his lawn.

Here is the link if anyone is interested.

Thanks again for all your support.

Mary

An artist is a dreamer consenting
to dream of the actual world
-George Santayana

may 30, 2008

If you weren't at the Kasbar last Wednesday, you missed one of the best Raving Poets nights EVER. Mike's brilliant theme idea turned the night into what felt like a concentrated "Best Of". The theme was, write your "last poem", a piece that would be your last words to this world. And man... one after another, twenty poets knocked it out the park.

A huge thank you to everyone who contributed to the fundraiser for the Alberta Heart and Stroke Foundation! Those who bought buttons or tossed cash into the hat. We raised $455! (In no small part thanks to the über-salesmanship of Rosemary Wilson and Michael Appleby.) And you can tell your friends that the buttons are still available at Greenwoods and Blackbyrd Music. But they're going fast, so get'em soon!

A few quick thanks:

- to Tammy and Jamie at the Kasbar for hosting our rag-tag crew of poets and musicians.
- to Randy for getting those sweeeet buttons designed, built and packaged.
- to Mike, for being the Host with Most. Dude, you were melting the ice in everyone's drinks with those warm-hearted, endlessly inventive intros.
- to the band for 13 weeks of Whyte Ave parking-angst, and hauling gear up and down those stairs.
- and of course, to the poets. Writing is a solitary activity. Most poets are introverts who find it a challenge to get up in front of microphone. And yet, week after week, you popped open your ribs and showed us into your hearts. You are what Heart Beat was all about. Thank you.

I was reading the dictionary.
I thought it was a poem about everything.
-Steven Wright