Organizing Team 2010
Alphabetically, Yo
Marita Dachsel
Membership Lister, Poetess Formidable. Marita is a writer of poetry, mother to boys, wife to playwright, drinker of tea, foe to winter, coveter of shoes, asker of questions, maker of lists. Her first full-length book of poetry, All Things Said & Done (Caitlin Press, 2007), was shortlisted for the ReLit Award. Her poetry has been published widely in Canadian literary magazines and one of her poems is currently riding the buses hobo-style in Vancouver for the 2008-2009 Poetry in Transit season.
Trisia Eddy
Poetess, mother, publisher; Primo organizer. Trisia Eddy spends most of her days managing the minute details of life with three delightfully boisterous human beings. In her spare time, she is the editor / publisher of red nettle press. Her own work, composed in the wee hours of the morning, has appeared in a variety of literary journals and several chapbooks. Current obsessions include Victorian-era taxidermists, abandoned psychiatric hospitals, and printmaking.
Gary Garrison
Stroll of Poets Prez; detail-man, wicked-good bicycle advocate. Gary Garrison's life work is playing with words and listening to people, including himself. He writes poems for patients at the U of A Hospital as part of the Artist on the Wards program and coordinates volunteer visits with prisoners at Edmonton Institution ("the Max"), a program of the Mennonite Central Committee. He is a spiritual director, facilitates workshops, and does freelance writing and editing. His interests include social justice, war and peace, the human person, masculinity, the Earth, cosmology, spirituality, creativity, music, and writing.
Michael Gravel
Raving Poets frontman; pounder of pavement and HTML. Michael Gravel is a writer based in Edmonton, Alberta. He's a founder and the frontman of Edmonton's Raving Poets, and he helped found The Roar Spoken Word Festival. He is the founder and past editor of Daily Haiku.org, an international online haiku journal. He is a freelance writer, web designer, professional presenter, and a master of the dance move known as "the typewriter shuffle". His website is michaelgravel.com. He lives in a wee house with his wife, stepdaughter, and two incorrigible hounds. He lives to write, code, and spend time with his family.
Alice Major
Festival Kingpin; Laureate Emeritus. Alice Major, first poet laureate for the City of Edmonton, got the Edmonton Poetry Festival started two years ago. She has published eight poetry books and a novel for young adults. She's been chair of the Edmonton Arts Council and president of the League of Canadian Poets. You can find her on the web here: alicemajor.com.
Nicole Pakan
Amazing organizer; great wordsmith. Nicole Pakan is an active member of the Edmonton literary community, performing and organizing events around the city. She is the Co-Editor for the international online and print literary journal DailyHaiku, and Art Editor for its sister publication DailyHaiga. Her writing has recently appeared or is forthcoming in: filling Station, Carousel, CV2, Other Voices, and the Blue Skies Home and Away Anthology. Nicole was also the winner of the 2009 Edmonton CBC Poetry Faceoff, placing third in the national competition.
Patrick Pilarski
Bringer of the subtle and intelligent. Patrick M. Pilarski is the co-editor of DailyHaiku, an international journal of contemporary English-language haiku, and poetry editor for its new sister publication DailyHaiga. His first full-length collection, _Huge Blue_, was released in 2009 by Leaf Press, and he is the author of one chapbook: Five Weeks. Patrick's writing has appeared in journals and anthologies across North America, Europe, Australia, and Japan, and on CBC Radio One as part of the CBC Poetry Face-off. He is Alberta-NWT representative for the League of Canadian Poets, and currently a post-doctoral fellow in computing science at the University of Alberta. http://www.pilarski.ca
Julie Robinson
Treasurer; volunteer wrangler. Julie Robinson is the volunteer coordinator for the festival – and a treasure of a treasurer. She is a Quaker, poet, wife and mother. Her poetry most recently appeared in Other Voices. Captive, a chapbook published by Red Nettle Press, was released in 2008. In 2008, she also published A Poet’s Encounter with Elizabeth Fry in The Woobrooke Journal. The issue included a research article along with poems. Julie loves canoeing on Islet lake and has managed to acquire many friends who are fabulously more outdoorsy than she is.
Shirley Serviss
Resident nurse, mender of hearts and much else. Shirley may be one of the best-known unknown poets in Canada. She has published three collections; her most recent, Hitchhiking in the Hospital (Inkling Press) is based on her experience as a staff literary Artist on the Wards for the Friends of U. of A. Hospitals. She is the current Writer-in-residence for the Canadian Authors Association — Alberta Branch, teaches in the Professional Writing Program at Grant MacEwan College, and facilitates workshops for the U of A's Faculty of Extension and The Cross Cancer Institute's Arts and Medicine program among others. She is on the board of the Writers Guild of Alberta and the Professional Arts Lodge Edmonton and is currently procrastinating on a number of writing projects.
Poetry Festival 2010
The Edmonton Poetry Festival: Found in Translation runs from April 19 to 25, 2010.
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