Photos? Hell yeah, we got photos

We’ve culled the archives for the very best in pics from past year’s PoFests. We’ve gone under the loupe and examined every last scrap of photographic material relating to the EPF and thrown the best pics into a little gallery for your enjoyment. You can watch it here. All photos are courtesy of esteemed photographer, musician, movie maker, moneyman and all around nice guy Randall Edwards. I’ll bet you never knew that poetry could actually look cool, or that YOU could look so damn good reading it.

In other news, we’re putting the finishing touches on the reading schedule and hope to have a solid lineup posted some time this week. We’ve had some strange requests here at PoFest HQ. Some of you poets are downright odd – even scary, if I do say so myself. A selected list of requests submitted to our scheduling officer, some bizarre, some quite legit:

• “I like to read my poetry whilst holding a live platypus. I have a license for him and everything, I just need to make sure it’s OK to bring Percy to the Festival.” (It’s OK as long as you got tags and a leash for the guy. We’re all good with amphibious mammals.)
• “For the cafe readings, you say five minutes or one poem. Which is it?” (It’s one poem, running no longer than five minutes. If you’ve got two super-short ones, that’s OK, but be VERY aware of the five minute time limit.)
• “I’m afraid of the sun and don’t like to read with any direct sunlight hitting my skin. Do you have any darkened, sun-free venues for reading poetry?” (Uh, no.)
• “Will there be flagellation at the sweatshop, like there was two years ago?” (We can’t guarantee there won’t. If you’re in the sweatshop, be prepared for anything, especially riding crops and Jager shots.)
• “I hear Christian Bök is some kind of super-human figure with lasers mounted in his eyes. Is this true?” (Mr. Bök is quite human, we assure you.)
• “I’ve never been to the Artery before. Is that neighbourhood OK?” (We’ve staged many events there in the past and they’ve all gone off without any trouble.)
• “I think Rob McLennan is a total hottie. Will he be there?” (No. Mr. McLennan has retreated to the safe confines of Ontario.)
• “Will there be food at any of the events?” (Yes. The Thursday night event will feature a potluck, and the Saturday finale will feature catered munchies.)

Nice questions! Have any more? Drop us a line. OK. We’ll catch up with you later. Don’t forget to check out the photo gallery on your way around the site. Cheers!