Government House

Important Notice September 20, 2014: Due to a governmental request, the venue for the Saturday events below has been CHANGED. Please read carefully!

Please join us as we celebrate the heritage and harvest of Alberta for Culture Days, with four two special performances at Government House on September 27th and 28th ONLY, 2014. Government House is located at 12845 – 102 Avenue, on the grounds of the Royal Alberta Museum. See below for updated venues for Saturday September 27. The Edmonton Poetry Festival and the Government House Foundation are pleased to present inspiring afternoons in the beautiful Alberta Room, which is rarely open to the public. Tours of the historic house with its fine art collection are also provided.

All events are free of charge.

Saturday, September 27, 11:00am

New Venue, Saturday morning session ONLY: Star Gallery on the second floor of the Royal Alberta Museum.

Storyteller – Wendy Edey
Wendy reaches into our hearts with stories that turn the most mundane human experiences into a cause for laughter and personal reflection.

Poet – Marilyn Dumont
Marilyn has been the Writer-in-Residence at the Edmonton Public Library, the Universities of Alberta, Brandon, Grant MacEwan, Toronto-Massey College, and Windsor. She has been faculty at the Banff Centre in programs such as Writing with Style and Wired Writing and she has advised and mentored in the Aboriginal Emerging Writers’ Program. Her newest collection, The Pemmican Eaters, will be published in the spring 2015 by ECW Press.

Saturday, September 27, 3:00pm

New Venue, Saturday afternoon session ONLY: Audrey’s Books, 10702 Jasper Avenue.

Marco Melfi – Chapbook Launch
presented in partnership with The Writers Guild of Alberta
Marco Melfi’s chapbook In Between Trains is winner of the Sharon Drummond Chapbook Award. Marco was born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario and has lived in Edmonton since 2008. He is a member of the Stroll of Poets and has had poems published in The Stroll of Poets Anthology, The Prairie Journal and the Rat Creek Press. He has read his work at the Edmonton Poetry Festival and other events in the city over the last six years.

In Between Trains is a set of poems collected from transit trips and bus stops. The poems capture small scenes that occur while waiting or riding between places. The activities, interactions and conversations lend themselves to anecdotes, memories, and passing the time playing with words.

Sunday, September 28, 11:00am

Sunday venue remains Government House.

Storytellers – Marie Anne McLean and Kathy Jessup
Marie Anne McLean has been honoured as one of Canada’s storytelling elders.
Kathy Jessup tells original stories and folktales at schools, libraries, concerts and festivals across Canada. She also performs internationally.

Poets – Four inspiring poets share an afternoon to showcase poetry from the local harvest. Their winning poems for the September flight of the Poetry Route remind us all to smell the flowers, grow our orchards and share our abundance.

Ann Sutherland

Ann Sutherland is freelance writer who also writes fiction and creative non-fiction. Once in a while she tries her hand at poetry.

Kim Mannix

Kim Mannix is a freelance journalist and aspiring poet, who spends most of her time rearing her two beautiful daughters. She is originally from Saskatoon, and after trying out 6 different Canadian cities, she and her family have now planted roots in Sherwood Park. She blogs sometimes at makesmesodigress.wordpress.com.

Stephen T Berg

Stephen T. Berg’s prose and poetry have seen life in publications such as Orion, Geez, Prairie Messenger and Earthshine, as well as in live theatre. A frequent contributor to the Edmonton Journal’s Religion page, he writes features and articles on issues of faith, social justice and peace. He blogs at growmercy.org

Shirley Serviss

Shirley A. Serviss is an Edmonton poet and non-fiction writer and the staff literary Artist on the Wards for the Friends of University Hospitals.

Sunday, September 28, 3:00pm

Sunday venue remains Government House.

Storyteller – Bethany Ellis
Bethany Ellis has been telling stories for three decades in schools, libraries, festival and graveyards. Her stories have taken her to Africa, Asia, and the wilds of Alberta.

Poet – Doug Elves
Douglas Elves grew up in Edmonton and acquired his BA in Classics, English and Romance Languages and a teaching certificate at the University of Alberta. He has travelled extensively, and in the eighties was an activist in labour and politics; but in 1988 resigned from Politics to return to Poetics. He had earlier founded a small drama troupe called Caliban Theatre, and in 1991 founded, and was treasurer of, the Stroll of Poets Society. Find his poems online at riverlines.ca.