Stroll of Poets Society, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

The Stroll of Poets Now

As an art form, poetry is deeply rooted in oral performance, and there’s nothing like performing a poem to find out what works and what doesn’t.

The Stroll exists to provide poets with an opportunity to connect with an audience, both through the reading series and our annual printed anthology. We provide a range of opportunities for poets to learn and improve their craft through workshops. Finally, as a warm and friendly grassroots organization, we create a supportive community of artists that welcomes members of all ages and all levels of experience.

The Stroll was formed in 1991, when it began as a one-day festival of readings along Edmonton’s Whyte Avenue. Poets would sign up each year to take part in the afternoon readings and attend the preceding brunch. The Stroll’s programming switched to a weekly reading series in 2006. This series now provides the core of our programming, supplemented by a variety of other popular activities. (For more detail about the Stroll’s early years, see the article following, How Things Get Done ... “The Stroll of Poets Then”)

The Nuts and Bolts of the Stroll of Poets:

The Poets Haven Reading Series: This weekly series is held on Monday evenings from September through March at the Upper Crust Restaurant (10109 – 86 Avenue). Every member of the society is eligible to read at the Poets Haven, and each event includes readings by several members plus an open mic. A small cover charge ($5) covers the cost of refreshments at the Upper Crust.

Greenwoods reading series: Members are also eligible to read in this series, which takes place at Greenwoods Books on selected Sunday afternoons. These events are free of charge.

The Stroll Anthology: The Stroll of Poets society publishes an annual anthology to showcase the work of members. The 2009 anthology featured work by 88 poets Authors seeing their first poem in print to poems could find themselves face to face with well-established Edmonton writers like Shirley Serviss and Alice Major. Members receive a free copy as part of their membership fee, while additional copies are sold at readings and local bookstores.

AGM and Anthology Launch: The 2009 Stroll of Poets Anthology was launched at the Edmonton Public Library on March 29, in conjunction with the Annual Meeting. This afternoon includes readings, prizes and (of course) Stroll business.

The Killer Blinks: This evening of rapid-fire poems regularly kicks off the Edmonton Poetry Festival. Poets must stick to a 30-second time limit. In April, 2009, 86 poets rose to the challenge and made it a fast-paced, lively night at The Artery. Poems performed at the Blinks are collected into an anthology, another opportunity for members to see their work in a publication.

Workshops: The society offers workshops each year to help poets polish their skills and learn new ones. In the past year, sessions included:

Communications: The Stroll maintains its website and a weekly e-newsletter to update members on activities.

How things get done:

The Stroll of Poets operates with one part-time staff member and an active volunteer board.

Our staff member, Nicholas Mather, provides administrative support for the Stroll’s activities through an agreement with the Writers Guild of Alberta. This provides the society with consistent administration of membership lists and the organization’s archives, basic banking and the weekly e-newsletter. We also contract with a managing editor to supervise production of the annual poetry anthology.

Board members provide artistic direction for the programming and recruit the many volunteers required for activities ranging from hosting readings to chapbook stitching bees. Board members are responsible for grant applications, co-ordinating events (both the regular series and special events), scheduling readers, and organizing workshops.

The Stroll of Poets Then

In the 1990’s and early 2000’s, Stroll programming involved a major contribution from a group of dedicated volunteers.

The core events or programs included the two festivals and an anthology, which were all connected. The Stroll of Poets festival was held on the first Sunday of October. Any Stroll member who signed up by the end of July could perform at the festival. There were generally between one and two hundred poets taking part. Groups of four or five poets performed in one of a dozen or so venues in Old Strathcona over the Sunday afternoon -- five-minute performances.

Before the readings began, however, there was an annual brunch with a special guest reader to inspire and prime the poets prior to Stroll. This would bring out about a hundred people.

Each scheduled performer at the October festival could submit a poem on the day of the festival for publication in the Stroll of Poets Anthology, and could also enter that submission in a blind contest. The submissions were then judged by a jury of high-profile community members from different walks of life. The judges selected their 44 of their favourite poems, and the authors of these poems were then asked to take part in the 12 Days of Poetry, the second annual festival.

The 12 Days of Poetry would take place in the middle weeks of January. Four poets performed at each of the first eleven Days of Poetry -- ten-minute performances. The audience at each of these shows would then cast ballots on who they would like to see move on to the next step and perform at the 12th Day of the festival, the grand finale. The eleven poets chosen by audience demand from the first eleven Days give five-minute performances on the 12th Day. The 12th Day was a ticketed event, and it often included such features as Robbie Burns Day celebrations and a wrap-up dance.