Edmonton Poetry Festival 2015
Spring brings bounty; new life. It brings yard-bound surprises and playful turns of phrase. Spring arrives with a rake in one hand and a Mary Oliver poem in the other. It brings light and soft weight. Buds, bulbs, blooms, buzzes. Senseless alliteration, and bold rhyme. It tells you to get moving. It says begin now.

Welcome to #pofest15, #yeg’s first big festival of the year, The Edmonton Poetry Festival! Our lovely early spring has made the arrival the Festival sweeter than usual. The community is jazzed and energized – maybe even a bit drunk on sunshine and warmth. Everyone is pumped to brush away winter’s sad leavings and bring on the beauty of the season. So let’s do this thing.

There are many great events at this year’s fest, and you should certainly check the schedule for the rundown. A few highlights:

Today, Sunday April 19: The day starts early with a Haiku Workshop at the Devonian Garden, then moves on to High Noon, a spotlight on some hot local talent. At 2pm, allow yourself the luxury of a Most Beautiful Deception down at La Cité Francophone. At 5 o’clock, you can catch some visual art and poetry at The First Metaphor, featuring poetry by Kelly Shepherd and woodcuts by BC artist Alison Kubbos. At at 7pm, take a trip to the inner city with Gary Garrison and friends at Gettin’ Gritty Inner City.

Monday April 20 holds two interesting events. Join Liz Withey, the Edmonton Public Library’s Writer in Residence, in an event called Build a Book as she and local poets publish their work using the EPL’s Espresso Book Machine. And Monday night brings our wildly popular Gone With The Blinks event, wherein 60 poets each crush out a 30-second poem. It’s an energetic way to spend a Monday evening!

We’ll have more as the week progresses – reviews, pics, previews, the lot. Keep ‘er locked here for your festival news!