You’re probably familiar with the fabled Great Canadian Road Trip. It’s the trip that begins at Mile Zero in Victoria and ends some months or years later at Cape Spear, Newfoundland. It’s a helluva trip if you can do it. Truth is, this country of ours is simply too large for one person to explore fully. We get to know our own corners pretty well, and maybe a few other choice spots decently. The closest we working stiffs will likely get to the fabled cross-country jaunt is watching the brilliant and stirring documentary Over Canada, which is worth any price you’ll pay. It’s seriously awesome, and if you don’t get choked up at least once, you’re simply not Canadian.

We at PoFest Central are big fans of the road trip, but since we fancy ourselves iconoclasts (or pseudo-muckrackers at the very least), we thought we’d bring the nation to Edmonton. From April 21 – 28, Poets Laureate from across this great nation of ours will be convening in our fair northern city. For what purposes, you ask? That’s an easy answer:

We want to see what will happen when we jam this nation’s Poets Laureate (holders of the public heart; keepers of the beautiful) onto a single stage. We want to know what they can teach each other and us. We want to know how place has shaped their work, and how their work has shaped the places they live.

If you haven’t checked the schedule yet, get on it. And if you have not perused our author page, then you need to put down the Doritos and get to it. And hey, drop by our sponsors page and check them out. They keep this boat from sinking. They have our eternal gratitude.

More to come. Catch you on the flipside.