We are honoured to present our anthology, POEMS IN RESPONSE TO PERIL for @WordsLDN at Museum London on November 5, noon-1:30 pm, in person and on line. Ten contributing poets will read their own poems and others from the anthology!
Please register here: http://wordsfest.ca/events/2022/poems-in-response-to-peril.
Poems in Response to Peril: A Gathering of Poets for Ukraine
How do poets respond to precarious events in the world? Poets Penn Kemp and Richard-Yves Sitoski have co-edited Poets in Response to Peril, an anthology which brings together 61 poems by 48 of Canada’s activist poets in response to the current crisis in Ukraine and other perils afflicting our troubled times.
Words is very pleased to host an event to celebrate the anthology, featuring readings by Penn Kemp, Richard-Yves Sitoski, Robert Priest, Andreas Gripp, Jennifer Wenn, Karl Jirgens, Frances Roberts Reilly, Patricia Keeney, Shelly Siskind, and Susan Wismer. Profits from the book will be directed toward PEN Ukraine’s efforts to provide the Ukrainian cultural community with evacuation and resettlement help.
Remember, remember the Fifth of November!
Our readers are:
Andreas Gripp is the author of Selected Poems 2000-2020. He lives in London with his wife, Carrie Lee. He is the author of various poetry and art publications including Selected Poems 2000-2022 (Beliveau Books, 2022) and still and unstill (Beliveau Books, 2021). Original photos and artwork often accompany Andreas’ writings.
Karl Jirgens, Editor of the enduring and influential Rampike Magazine. Professor Emeritus, Dept. of English Literature & Creative Writing, U Windsor. Karl’s newest book, which he now touring, is titled, The Razor’s Edge (2022, Porcupine’s Quill).
Penn Kemp has participated in Canadian cultural life for more than 50 years, writing, editing, and publishing poetry, fiction and plays. She was London’s inaugural Poet Laureate and Western University’s writer-in-residence, 2009-2010. Her poem, “Cancel Culture” is in BEST CANADIAN POETRY 2023. Penn is honoured to again participate in beloved Wordsfest, presenting POEMS IN RESPONSE TO PERIL.
Patricia Keeney is a poet, novelist, arts writer and long-time professor of literature and creative writing at York University. Her latest novel is One Man Dancing (Inanna). Recent poetry volumes include Orpheus in our Time (NeoPoiesis) – ancient hymns and modern dialogue – and First Woman (Inanna).
Robert Priest is the author of fourteen books of poetry, 3 plays, 4 novels, lots of musical CDS, and one hit song. His words have been debated in the legislature, posted in the Transit system, quoted in the Farmer’s Almanac, and sung on Sesame Street. His latest album of songs and spoken word is Love is Hard. New poems, If I Didn’t Love the River, are out from ECW press.
Frances Roberts Reilly is a poet and filmmaker whose ethnicity is Welsh Romany/English. Now living in Kitchener, she has an international profile as a Romani writer. Her latest book is Parramisha: A Romani Poetry Collection (Cinnamon Press). She is Producer of Watershed Writers on Midtown Radio KW.
Shelly Siskind published Uncharted Corners of Consciousness, a Guidebook for Personal and Spiritual Growth with Gerbrig Berman in 2012. Her next adventure with, and for her grandchildren, Magnificent 7 Muses, blends the qualities, mishaps, and escapades of wonderful times together, collected and personified into her newest character– Magnificent Mimi.
Richard-Yves Sitoski is the indefatigable co-editor of POEMS IN RESPONSE TO PERIL, published by Pendas Productions and his Laughing Raven Press. He co-ordinated our excellent zoom launch and curates the ongoing Poets in Response to Peril, on his https://www.youtube.com/user/veggiemeister/playlists. He is a songwriter, a mesmerizing performance poet, the 2019-2023 Poet Laureate of Owen Sound and the Artistic Director of the Words Aloud festival.
Jennifer Wenn is a trans-identified writer and speaker from London. Her first poetry chapbook, A Song of Milestones, was published by Harmonia Press. Upcoming is her first full-size collection, Hear Through the Silence (from Cyberwit). She has written From Adversity to Accomplishment, a family and social history, and spoken at a wide variety of venues,
Susan Wismer is grateful to live on Treaty 18 territory at south Georgian Bay, Ontario, Canada with two human partners and a very large dog. She is a poet, mother, grandmother, gardener, dancer, hiker, activist and a former professor of environmental studies at the University of Waterloo
Penn’s reading is sponsored by the League of Canadian Poets and the Canada Council for the Arts. As were readings from our launch of POEMS IN RESPONSE TO PERIL at Art Bar Poetry Series, Toronto on October 11, to an enthusiastic full house, as seen here:
Penn Kemp 