Journal Staff Local poets and their work will be celebrated at a public event at John’s Restaurant on April 18.
Journal Staff
Local poets and their work will be celebrated at a public event at John’s Restaurant on April 18.
Six former and current members of the Writers’ Union of Canada will be featured at the annual event, held every year to mark National Poetry Month.
Emcee James Deahl says Sarnia is emerging as a poetry “hot spot.”
“It can now be said that Sarnia is an important literary focal point in Ontario,” he said. “Local poets commonly travel from Nova Scotia to British Columbia to present readings or participate in literary festivals.”
Several Sarnia poets have contributed to the sesquicentennial anthology celebrating Canada’s 150th.
“This is your chance to hear them,” Deahl said.
Deahl himself is the author of 26 titles and is currently writing a series of essays on 10 Canadian poets of the Confederation period for Canadian Stories magazine.
He will be joined on April 18 by Sarnia’s Sharon Berg, author of fiction, poetry and First Nations educational history; Norma West Linder, former Lambton College teacher and author; Debbie Okun Hill, past president of the Ontario Poetry Society who has over 350 published poems; and Carmen Ziolkowski, who has won several poetry prizes and published a series of novels and books of poetry.
Kara Ghobhainn Smith is also participating in Sarnia’s 2017 National Poetry Month celebration as the writer-in-residence at the Chatham-Kent Cultural Centre in 2015-16. She has recently launched her book The Artists of Crow County, which includes a poem shortlisted for the 2016 Walrus Poetry Prize.
Deahl notes that several local poets are participating in out-of-town poetry events this month.
And in a separate event, Okun Hill, who has written extensively about Sarnia’s dying ash trees, is participating in a public gathering at Canatara Park on April 29. She will share the stage with artist Mary Abma and other performers starting at 10 a.m. in the Seaway pavilion.
Sarnia’s National Poetry Month celebration at John’s Restaurant Famous Room April 18 is free. All are welcome to attend from 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.
