Barrie Jazz and Blues Festival Seeking Poets

This year’s Barrie Jazz and Blues festival, which takes place from June 11 – 22, will feature poetry and spoken word readings. According to organizer Samantha Holland:

We are looking for volunteers to perform their poetry. The event is going to combine poetry / spoken word with Jazz accompaniment, but beyond that, we are open to what our artists bring to it and tailoring it from there. Mostly, we are using this event to showcase up-and-coming poets and spoken-word artists and let them explore their work in a new, exciting way while also serving as an outreach event for TBTB.

Any one interested is free to contact me at samyholland@live.com

Check out the festival webpage or contact Samantha Holland for more info.

Word UP – Thursday April 9, 2015

Word Up takes place Thursday April 9, 2015 from 7 pm at Unity Market Cafe & Studios. The readers are the award-winning poet and short story writer, Dr. Shane Neilson, and local writer Mark Jacquemain.

MJ, aka Mark Jacquemain, is a graduate of the Creative Writing Master’s program at the University of New Brunswick. His short fiction has been published in QWERTY and Prism International and this year will appear in The Fiddlehead Summer Fiction issue and Oberon’s Coming Attractions, an anthology of top young writers.

More info to follow!
Don’t forget to bring your own work to share.
We’d love to see a few of you bring your music instruments and show us what you’ve got.

Dead Poets Night – Oct. 9, 2014

Unity Market Cafe & Studios plays host to a Dead Poets evening on Oct. 9, 2014 from 7 – 9 pm. Organized by Word UP, this free event offers anyone the chance to read the work of their favourite departed poets. Celebrate the Halloween season by sharing the words of the dead.

Unity Market Cafe & Studios is located at 25 Toronto Street, Barrie, Ontario L4N 1T8. Food and beverages are available for purchase.

Word UP! Culture Days Event – Friday September 26, 2014

On Friday September 26, 2014 Unity Market Cafe & Studious plays host to a Word UP! Event for Barrie’s Culture Days. The event starts at 7:30 pm and features author readings in the first half and an open mic in the second half. From Word Up’s Facebook page:

Four local authors will be reading their work.
Deepam Wadds’, whose short stories and poetry have appeared in various literary journals and anthologies.

Esther Griffin teaches English Literature and Creative Writing at Georgian College in Barrie and works on the Poetry Editorial Board for PRISM International. Esther’s work has appeared in Geist Magazine’s Memories of Vancouver festival and The League of Canadian Poets’ 2013 celebration of National Poetry Month, as well as various anthologies.

Linda Laforge, science fiction author and visual artist will read from her novel.

PLUS! A surprise guest, to be announced!

Writers, authors, poets, spoken word performers, rappers, comedians, motivational speakers and anyone who loves the magic of language is welcome to join.

Visit the event’s Facebook page for more info.

New Reading Series – Word UP! June 19, 2014

Since the demise of the Society of the Spoken Word, a number of local writers and poets – including some BWC members – have gotten together and are organizing a new reading series called Word UP! The first event will be held on Thursday June 19, 2014 from 7-9 pm @ Unity Market Cafe & Studio, located at 25 Toronto Street, Barrie.

 

Here’s a list of the poets and authors taking part. If you’d like to share your work you can take part in the readings, bring copies of your work to sell, or both.

 

Here’s a list of the people reading so far:

Deepam Wadds is a therapist and short story writer from Orillia.

Linda Laforge is a Barrie artist and novelist and founder of Word Up.

Jeremy Johnston is author of two chapbooks, a recent graduate of Laurentian in Barrie, and will be attending the University of Windsor’s MA program in September.

Aaron Reynolds is a Barrie author of short fiction and a contributing editor to PIE magazine. He’s also one of the organizers of Word Up.

Elizabeth Morley is a retired Anglican Church minister and is currently producing her first poetry chapbook.

Shane Dennis is a leader in non-profit social projects in Barrie, a musician, and a performance poet. He is also the owner of Unity Cafe.

James Tanner teaches at Georgian College and is a short story writer and a hockey blogger who has published in Sports Illustrated.

James Gray is a recent graduate of the Laurentian Barrie program and is a science fiction/fantasy writer who has studied his craft in England with major fantasy authors.

Glenn Weatherall is a familiar face on both the Barrie literary scene and at the Barrie farmer’s market. He is a farmer and inventor.

Damian Lopes is author of numerous books of poetry from Coach House Press and is currently completing a novel.

Bruce Meyer, the MC for the evening, is the Poet Laureate of the City of Barrie and author of 40 published books.

For more info, visit the Word UP! Facebook Page. Word UP! 

Society of the Spoken Word Gathering Jan. 25, 2014

Casa Cappuccino, located at 91 Dunlop St. E, Barrie, plays host to the winter gathering of the Society of the Spoken Word from 8 – 10:30 pm on Saturday January 25, 2014.

This event will feature a very special showcase from the exceedingly talented members of Meat Locker Editions and their newly published book! As always, the second half of the gathering is open mic and welcomes readers of both poetry and short prose.

For further information, please see the SOTSW’s Facebook page HERE.

Society of the Spoken Word Event: Tonight! 28/09/2013

Society of the Spoken Word – Event tonight, downtown Barrie @Casa Cappuccino 28/09/2013
8 PM – 10:30 PM

Tonight there is a  Society of the Spoken Word event at Casa Cappuccino in downtown Barrie.  This event is part of the official Carnegie Days Festival 2013 from the MacLaren Art Centre.

The lineup includes:

•  Anita Arvast
• Dr. Bruce Meyer, Poet Laureate of Barrie, Professor @Laurentian University, Barrie-Georgian Campus
• Royston Tester
• Deepam Wadds

The second half of the evening is open mic.  Feel free to share your poetry or prose, so come on down!  The theme is Fall, but you can read anything.

Casa Cappuccino

91 Dunlop St E  Barrie, ON L4M 1A6
8 PM – 10:30 PM

~Information provided by club member Leslie G.

~Sara

Monday May 6, 2013 @ the Barrie Public Library

From the Prez:

Monday, May 6, we will meet at the Downtown Library at 6:30 in the Angus Ross Room (60 Worsley Street, Barrie).

As we had Noelle Bickle do a short session on editing last Monday we will be doing readings and critiques.

Please bring pieces you are considering for the anthology–poetry in 24 or 50 lines; short stories up to 3,000 words (much shorter is good too). We welcome first or other chapters from works in progress.

The rest of the month we meet at Grace United Church, 350 Grove Street East, Barrie.

See you!

Evie

National Poetry Month Celebration

April is National Poetry Month, and what better way to celebrate it than to listen to some poetry from well-established poets. The Downtown branch of the Barrie Public Library is hosting the event on Thursday April 18, 2013 from 7 – 8 pm in the Angus Ross Room. There is no charge for admission.

The featured poets for the event are James Deahl and Norma West Linder. Both authors have numerous publications to their name and are currently on tour across Ontario reading their work.

Final Society of the Spoken Word Event

Wednesday April 24, 2013 marks the final event of The Society of the Spoken Word. Casa Cappuccino will be the venue for the event which takes places between 8 – 10 pm. Confirmed guest readers include Rocco De Giacomo:

Rocco de Giacomo is a widely published poet whose work has appeared in literary journals in Canada, Australia, England, Hong Kong and the US. His work has just been accepted for publication in Descant and The Malahat Review, and has most recently been published in The Fiddlehead and Queen’s Quarterly. Rocco’s poetry has also been featured on the CBC. He is the author of numerous chapbooks including, in 2008, Catching Dawn’s Breath. In 2009, his first full-length poetry collection, Ten Thousand Miles Between Us, was launched through Quattro Books. In 2010, Ten Thousand Miles was longlisted for the ReLit Poetry Award. In 2011, it was selected for Poetry NOW’s 3rd Annual Battle of the Bards. Rocco lives in Toronto where he writes and participates on the council for the Art Bar Poetry Series.

Casa Cappuccino is located at 91 Dunlop St. E, Barrie, ON.