Poetry Gabriola Festival 2008 • november

The Poetry Gabriola Festival is an extraordinary celebration of literature in performance. Established in 2003, this week-long event investigates the intertidal zone between writing and performance, the moment of transformation when text becomes sound.

Held on an island with a population of less than 5,000, the longest-running spoken-word festival in Western Canada offers the unique experience of intimate venues and a dedicated audience in a pastoral setting.  Each November the island comes alive with poetry and performance, featuring some of the most accomplished writers, musicians, and interdisciplinary artists in the country—as well as representatives from Gabriola's own creative community.

The Poetry Gabriola Society values risk, innovation, and the spirit of adventure. We present many events throughout the year, and are committed to a culturally diverse program steeped in artistic excellence.

Upcoming Events

July 19- 20, 2008

Poetry Gabriola and pacifi-kana (of Haiku Canada) are happy to Present A Haiku Morning.

Sonja Arntzen will give a fresh look at the great master of haiku, Basho, in her talk on Basho's Inspiration - the old wise guy Chuang Tzu. This connection between haiku and Daoism offers new and creative research as to what made Basho such a great innovator and the fa the r of haiku as we know it today. Sonja is an authority on Japanese literature, so it is a rare opportunity to hear her speak on haiku.

Michael Dylan Welch, one of North America's greatest writers and advocates of haiku, the publisher of the haiku journal, Tundra, will follow Sonja with an audience involving-presentation, Haiku Targets: A liberating way to read and write haiku that will take a little of the difficulty out of haiku writing (and reading), while retaining its mystery; making it a poetry form in which anyone can, as he says, 'hit the target.'

A rich morning introduction to the haiku world for those of you who have always wanted to try writing one, but haven't yet and for those of you more familiar with haiku, it will open up new approaches and take you deeper into the haiku moment.

Place: The Commons (opposite the elementary school)
Time: Sunday, July 20th, 10-12am
Entrance by donation
Everyone welcome