Calling All Poets of the Regional District of Nanaimo

Our Nanaimo Daily News Column has finished, but we would still like to receive poems with a Nanaimo theme for them to be considered for the Poet Laureate’s Nanaimo City poetry map. The link is www.nanaimo.ca/goto/PoetryMap A pair of anonymous poet judges will look through the submissions and choose site-specific poems.

The rules are simple:

1. You should be a resident of the Greater Nanaimo area;

2. The poem should be solely written by you (If your poem is selected you will be asked to sign a declaration that the poem is your work alone and that you have the rights to it. Submissions from people under 18 will require a parent’s signature)

3. The poem must be about site-specific Nanaimo places and should be no more than 30 lines (200 words).  The places we need for the poetry map at the moment include: Newcastle Island, Protection Island, Mt. Benson, Westwood Lake Park, Bowen Park, Beban Park, Buttertubs Marsh, Cathers Lake, Bird Sanctuary, Piper’s Lagoon Park, Shipyard, Morrell Sanctuary, Duke Point, Churches, Railway Bridge, Cable Bay, ENR station, schools, Vancouver Island University, the malls.

4. The poems can be touching, funny, insightful, bitingly witty or angry, but will not be considered if they contain obscenities or promote hatred or prejudice

5. E-mail two copies of your poem as a pdf attachment (in Times New Roman, 12 point). One copy should have your name, address, e-mail, and phone # written above the poem; the other should contain only the poem

6. Send them to callingallpoets@nanaimo.ca with the words “poetry map” in the subject line

7. There is no deadline, so just keep those Nanaimo poems coming in whenever creativity strikes.

8 We will be using the poem for one-time. If we need it for other places, we will, of course, contact you for permission. The rights stay with you.

We thank all poets in advance for their submissions, but only those poets whose poems have been selected will be contacted. Keep a copy of your submission as it will not be returned to you. So calling all Nanaimo poets – Let’s celebrate poetry. Let’s hear your voices. Get creative about Nanaimo and send us your results.

WRITE WHERE YOU ARE

There you are, pen in hand, paper or computer in front of you, all good intentions on fire. How long do you sit, before you press pen to paper, finger to keys? How many Facebook peeks, dishes washed, to do lists made before the first sentence gets scratched out? This series of Monday evening workshops will help you get started on the “getting started blues” with writing prompts, ideas for sequence poems that will keep you going, and lots and lots of writing to build your mental muscles. We will look at some essentials of writing: imagery, metaphor, syntax, cadence, line length, using some model poems to inspire and guide. Finally, we will look at ways to revise and refine the drafts we write in class and at home.

Barbara Pelman is a teacher and writer with over thirty years experience. She has conducted poetry workshops in her home and in schools and is an active participant in the Victoria poetry community. She has two books, “One Stone” (Ekstasis 2005) and “Borrowed Rooms” (Ronsdale Press 2008) and a number of poems in literary journals. She has received awards for her poetry, including last year’s first prize with the Federation of BC Writers Literary Writes contest.

The workshop will take place in Barbara’s living room (somewhere near Victoria - details on registration), for five sessions of 2 ½  hours each, from 7 to 9:30 Monday evenings from January 11 to February 8, 2016. Cost of workshops is $125.00 for the series. Please contact Barbara at barbarapelman@gmail.com or 250-480-1081 to register.

Nanaimo City Poetry Map

Calling all poets

Looking for poems with a Nanaimo theme to be considered for the Poet Laureate’s Nanaimo City poetry map. A pair of anonymous poet judges will look through the submissions and choose site-specific poems.

The rules are simple:

1. You should be a resident of the Greater Nanaimo area;

2. The poem should be solely written by you (If your poem is selected you will be asked to sign a declaration that the poem is your work alone and that you have the rights to it. Submissions from people under 18 will require a parent’s signature)

3. The poem must be about site-specific Nanaimo places and should be no more than 30 lines (200 words).  The places we need for the poetry map at the moment include: Newcastle Island, Protection Island, Mt. Benson, Westwood Lake Park, Bowen Park, Beban Park, Buttertubs Marsh, Cathers Lake, Bird Sanctuary, Piper’s Lagoon Park, Shipyard, Morrell Sanctuary, Duke Point, Churches, Railway Bridge, Cable Bay, ENR station, schools, Vancouver Island University, the malls.

4. The poems can be touching, funny, insightful, bitingly witty or angry, but will not be considered if they contain obscenities or promote hatred or prejudice

5. E-mail two copies of your poem as a pdf attachment (in Times New Roman, 12 point). One copy should have your name, address, e-mail, and phone # written above the poem; the other should contain only the poem

6. Send them to callingallpoets@nanaimo.ca with the words “poetry map” in the subject line

7. There is no deadline, so just keep those Nanaimo poems coming in whenever creativity strikes.

8 We will be using the poem for one-time. If we need it for other places, we will, of course, contact you for permission. The rights stay with you.

We thank all poets in advance for their submissions, but only those poets whose poems have been selected will be contacted. Keep a copy of your submission as it will not be returned to you. So calling all Nanaimo poets – Let’s celebrate poetry. Let’s hear your voices. Get creative about Nanaimo and send us your results.

Naomi Wakan - Nanaimo Poet Laureate