Edmonton Poetry Festival

Festival Blog

August 27, 2008

Event Spotlight: The Killer Blinks

For the past two years, Edmonton’s Stroll of Poets Society, along with readers from other E-Town poetry clans, have kicked off the Edmonton Poetry Festival with an event called “The Killer Blinks”. That tradition continues in 2008 (check the schedule and slate of readers here). On Thursday September 11, 2008, 7:00pm at the Artery Art Space – 9535 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton – 45 poets will assemble to recite super-short “blink” poems. Just what is a “blink” poem, you ask? It’s a slab of verse lasting a mere 30 seconds. “It’s rapid fire poetry,” says Stroll President Gary Garrison. “Poets get on stage in groups and recite their poems to the beat of a live drummer. It’s quite something to hear that many poets in a short time frame.”

The event was conceived by the Stroll as a way of allowing a large-ish number of readers to have a voice in a unique and interesting way. It may sound easy to pen a poem that only lasts 30 seconds, but think about it. You have to convey a poetic thought in the amount of time it takes to write a few sentences. There’s a whole lot of editing and economizing that goes into the creation of “blink” poems. Haiku may seem like an easy way to rattle off a blink poem or two, but a good haiku – one that Basho himself would be proud of – can take weeks or months to hone. Brevity and economy aren’t easy things to master. What’s the best way to write a blink poem? “Start with a decent-sized block of verse,” says Garrison, “and chop away every syllable that doesn’t communicate. You’ll get there eventually.”

This years event will continue the tradition of offering a potluck-style array of snacks and food items. Participants are encouraged to bring quality food items (no bags of Doritos, please) to share. Alcohol and soft drinks will be served by the friendly and outgoing Artery staff. As well, a door escort will be provided for those worried about the safety of the surrounding area. There’s plenty of well-lit free parking within 100 meters of the venue, but if you would like accompaniment from your vehicle to the venue door, just ask. Our friendly bouncer dude will be happy to provide cover from the flurry of rapid-fire verse that’s sure to be in the air.

Check out “Revenge of The Killer Blinks” at the Edmonton PoFest on Thursday September 11, 2008. The Artery Artspace, 9535 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton. Doors at 6:30, show at 7:00 (slate of readers).

Breaking News – This Just In

Signups for the PoFest have been closed for a week now, but it seems that we’ve made a scheduling whoops! We thought the Blinks event was at capacity, but it turns out WE WERE WRONG. We have TEN additional spots open as of 8/27/08. They’ll be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis. Contact us if you’d like to get in on the action..

— Michael Gravel

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August 23, 2008

The Clouds Are Like Headlines...

…across a new front page sky. So sayeth the poet Tom Waits in his classic Shiver Me Timbers. We may have a few clouds, and our boys and girls in Beijing have surely grabbed a few headlines, but at the PoFest offices we have some solid headliners. Liners of the head. Burrowers into the depths of human creativity. Goers to those places that us mere mortals only muse about. We’ve got Christian Bök booked for our sound poetry extravaganza on Friday, September 12, 2008. We’ve got the “Big-B”, Brendan McLeod on Saturday, September 13, 2008. E-Town’s own reigning queen of poetry, Mary Pinkoski, will be joining us on Saturday as well. You can see them all on the newly constructed headliners page.

We’ve got a few more names that are 90% confirmed. Just waiting to nail down a few pesky details. We’ll let you know when they’re booked.

— Michael Gravel

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August 16, 2008

Thanks for signing up!

Hello all who have boldly signed themselves up for Edmonton’s party of words – The Edmonton Poetry Festival. We’ve received over one hundred signups! A hundred! That’s super cool, and we thank you for making this festival a beautiful thing. If you haven’t heard from us, don’t panic. We have received your signup requests and we’ve received all your inquires and emails too. At this time, we’re wading through our inbox. We’ll shoot you an email within the next week or so to confirm the details of your sign up AND to answer and inquiries or questions you may have.

We’re leaving signups open for a few days, just so we can accommodate any stragglers or holidayers who may have missed the call and deadline. So if you haven’t signed up yet, please step this way and submit the form.

Once again, thanks too all those who have signed up. We’ll get back to you soon with details. Watch this space for more news as it pops up.

Talk to you soon.

— Michael Gravel

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August 11, 2008

Strap Your Hands Across These Engines

Well, it’s been a busy one. Funny how a month can go by in the snap of a paw. Here we are, August 11, 2008 and the Edmonton Poetry Festival website is in need of a little love, maybe a caress on the backside or a kiss on the nape of the neck. THIS FRIDAY, August 15, 2008 is also the TOE TAG DAY for the PoFest event sign up! We’ve got three killer events that YOU can participate in! If you haven’t thrown your name into the ring for the biggest, coolest word party in E-Town, what are you waiting for? A ballad crooned from the crooked jaw of an alley bound lover with a heart dented by your past-life cruelty? That’s a pretty pedestrian excuse isn’t it? Signup deadline is Friday, August 15, 2008. Now go forth and sign your ass up.

I’d like to announce a few headliners:

• E-Town’s poet laureate Ted Blodgett will open the festival finale with his stirring and award-winning verse.
• All the way from Vancouver, the big “B”, otherwise known as Brendan McLeod, will be rocking the finale stage on Saturday night (September 13, 2008). If you’ve never seen Brendan in all his sweat off the brow awesomeness, you should. You will. Of course you’ll be there ‘cuz he’s awesome, and he’ll make you laugh, cry, and want to throw your clothes into the street and dance like the heathen that you truly are.
• E-Town’s own Mary Pinkoski will be shakin’ ‘em on down at the finale. Mary is fresh from her barnstorming world tour in support of her latest album, I Smoke Cigarettes Because I Don’t Believe in Marriage. She’s also the reigning Queen of the CBC Poetry Face-Off. She kicked ass all across this great nation of ours and she’ll be on the festival stage to show us all how it’s done.
• The legendary Raving Poets Band will be providing their finely-honed blend of poetic musical brinkmanship and high tolerance for malt liquor and imported beer.

Oh, don’t worry. There’s still more to come. Plenty more. Likely more than you can handle. It’s more that I can handle, anyway. Alice made me promise not to tell. So I’m not. Talk to you soon.

— Michael Gravel

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July 10, 2008

The Time Has Come...

…for you to sign up for this year’s PoFest.. September 11, 12, and 13, 2008. We’re getting’ this bugger cookin’ and takin’ names. The deadline for signup is Friday, August 15, 2008. Get your butt into the ring by then. You can throw your name in for any two of three different events: the irreducible “Return of the Killer Blinks”, the all-so-humble Coffeeshop readings, and the hard liquor madness of the Poetry Sweatshop. But man, there’s more than that happening. We’ve got the Blinks lighting the torch on Thursday Sep 11, a night of eardrum lambasting sound poetry on Friday the 12th, and a full day of astute poetic do-gooding culminating in the wine-soaked finale on Saturday the 13th. YOU can participate and YOU can swing with the big kids. We’ve got some solid headliners on the books with a few more to come. Stay tuned for data.

sign up now to avoid the face-crushing disappointment that will surely follow if you ignore this notice. You have your assignment. Go forth and sign up.

— Michael Gravel

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June 25, 2008

The EPF Is Alive

Yes! It’s 2008 and the Edmonton Poetry Festival (or, “Po Fest in the ‘Ton”, as we might like to call it) is proud to announce that we’re back in business this year. September 11, 12, and 13, 2008 – Thursday to Saturday. This is our third year! Happy birthday to us, and hey, buy us a drink if you can spare it. We’ve got a nice lineup for you this year, and we have to confess that it’s on a slightly smaller, more manageable scale. In 2007 this Festival was a huge, beautiful beast that nearly wiped out the org team. Thing is, we don’t want that to happen this year. We’ve got a small, dedicated crew of organizers who are committed to keeping the Po Fest momentum going. We’re aiming to be a small, well-run machine powered by little more than high-test lattes, dog-eared copies of Al Purdy’s Beyond Remembering, and some down-and-dirty, old-fashioned volunteerism. With big energy and a vanishingly slim bank account, we’re hoping to create a festival that will propagate through the ages and be talked about 50 years from now. That’s the plan, anyways.

Here’s a little teaser of what we’ve got cookin’ (you can check the schedule page for complete details). On Thursday, September 11, 2008 we’re presenting a little event called “Revenge of the Killer Blinks”. This event will start at 7:00pm and feature 50 poets reading 30-second poems in rapid succession. It’s a novel concept and a great event.

On Friday, September 12, 2008 we’re staging a sound poetry blowout that will feature some of the craziest and most talented sound poets in the country. This event will start at 7:00pm. If you’re not familiar with sound poetry, it’s like carving air with your windpipe. Repeated actions and phrasing produce some truly incredible sounds and feelings.

Saturday, September 13, 2008 will be a whole day of poetic brinkmanship starting with a series of cafe readings between 2:00pm and 4:00pm. 80 poets will each read for five minutes in several downtown cafes.

The notorious Poetry Sweatshop returns this year and runs from 4:30 to 6:00pm on Saturday, September 13, 2008. The police have been notified, and the Fire Department is on standby. Not for the fey or gentle, this reading will see poets drinking beer and writing on command.

The Festival closes with E-Town’s own Raving Poets Band. Saturday, September 13 – 8:00pm until the sun comes up. The world-famous Raving Poets Band backs up a half-dozen readers and some very special guests to close the festival in fine style.

Sounds fun, huh? More details on how to participate will follow. Won’t you join us?

— Michael Gravel

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