Programs & Services

The core of  the Stroll of Poets Society is to provide opportunities for Edmonton and area poets to share their work in public performance, hone their skills as poets and give audiences ample opportunities to enjoy the high calibre of our local literary talent.

In this, our 11th year, we set out to build on the successes of our Year 2000 and 10th Anniversary celebrations by giving local poets more chances to perform, by increasing the number and variety of venues.

New this year were:

• A collaborative project with the Society of Northern Alberta Print-artists (S.N.A.P.) in creating a hand made book. Six poets and six artists created two works a piece with various print-making techniques and lead hand-set and computer-set type for a limited edition work as a fund-raisers for our societies.
• In the wake of the events of September 11th, a six week forum for poets entitled Peace Talks.
• A poetry and dance collaboration at our Stroll gala.
• An evening of poetry by new Canadians; a chance for the established Edmonton poetry community to welcome poets who have recently made Canada their home.

1.  The Tuesday Night Poetry Series was held at several Edmonton café's and bistros over a period of eighteen weeks from February until April, 2001. This series offered a relaxed atmosphere for both new and seasoned poets to recite their work to audiences.

2.  Writers Circle
The Writers Circle took place once a month. Dates were announced in our newsletter and Web site and an active member coordinates participants. The Circles are collective, leader?less exercises in reading and critiquing member’s works.

3.  The Stroll of Poets Web site (http://www.strollofpoets.com)  This is an online poetry journal presenting poems, an events calendar, extensive local and international poetry and reference links and Stroll lore. This site on the World Wide Web enjoys visits by ESL classes in Cairo and Tokyo, links in many literary lists, and poetry submissions from around the world with preference given to our local members. The National Library has chosen to place our Web site in their online archive.

4.  The Stroll Scroll newsletter  The communications lifeline of the Stroll, the Stroll Scroll is published several times per year as needed in order to inform members of opportunities and activities. It is mailed to all members.

5.  The Stroll 2001 Festival  

For our 11th annual celebration, we decided to build on the success of our 10th Anniversary Stroll and extend our usual one day event (on the first Sunday of October) to four days of poetry.
 

a.   Stroll Sunday
 
This is where the whole thing started eleven years ago. The Stroll this year took place on Sunday, October 14th in eleven venues, bistros and bookstores throughout Old Strathcona. All Stroll members wishing to participate were included, reciting at their designated venue. The festival was preceded as usual our Stroll Brunch at which our special guest, Bert Almon, performed.

Stroll day closed with a large social gathering, the "No Bards Barred Bar," at which poets and audience members mingled and enjoyed the casual program, which included music and a special “Survivor” Poetry Sweatshop.


b.  Raving Poets, Music & Female Saints – Thursday, October 11th, 2001
 

The book launch of acclaimed Edmonton writer Alice Major’s Some Bones and a Story (Wolsak and Wynn) featured dramatic readings by Major and a number of local actresses. Major’s compelling new work creates a personal pantheon of women saints.

Major’s collection, Tales for an Urban Sky won the inaugural Poets Corner Award, sponsored by Broken Jaw Press. She has recently won The Malahat Review’s long poem competition – one of Canada’s most prestigious literary contests.

Following the launch was the Raving Poets Open Stage, where the audience could hear why Todd Babiak of the Edmonton Journal called the Backroom Vodka Bar “the most interesting spot in Edmonton on Tuesday nights.”

The Raving Poets Band - responsible for supplying music for those red hot Tuesday summer nights – backed up Backroom poet favourites Kathy Fisher, John (Revy Man) Chalmers, Phil Jagger, Thomas Trofimuk and The Alberta Beatnik.
 
The Raving Poets Band was seen this summer on The Bravo Network!, in an hour-long documentary (Backroom Beat) filmed by Edmonton’s Frame 30 Productions.

c. The SNAP Gala: Poets, Artists  - Friday, Oct. 12th, 2001
 

The Society of Northern Alberta Print Artists (SNAP) & Stroll of Poets Society Gala

When the Society of Northern Alberta Print Artists (SNAP) & the Stroll of Poets Society got together, the idea was to marry the visual arts with the printed word. That marriage has turned out to be downright sensual. The precious “baby” created by this union – a deliciously special book of 12 images and 12 poems – was on display during this gala night of readings, refreshments and fine shmoozing.

Poets involved in this project included Shirley Serviss, Ryan Baier, Ellen Wells, Kathy Fisher, Alison Nichols and Gordon McRae. Artists involved included: Sean Caulfield, Tomoyo Ihaya, Ted Warszynski, Akiko Taniguchi, Charlene Wilderman and Greg Rusmussen. The project facilitator is Steve Dixon. Shannon Collis is the print technician.

 

Children, Dancers, New Canadians and a Special Guest from Toronto - Saturday, Oct. 13th, 2001

d. Poetry for Kids
 

This one was truly for children. Local poets and entertainers Alice Major, Sherilyn Jahrig and Bob Jahrig will kids just how fun poetry could be. Young writers between ages 8 - 12 were inspired to write horrible Hallowe’en haikooz, write a rhyme to release their “inner witch” and make a web of words for fall.


 

e. Poetry by New Canadians
 

Even during troubled times, the power of words cannot be diminished. This reading of poetry by a number of “new Canadians” was not about culture as much as passion, heartfelt emotion that transcends borders. Poets involved included Jalal Barzangi (Kurdistan), Henry Victor (Sri Lanka), Kenya Kondo (Kenya), Matthew Marcus (Nigeria), and the co-organizer of this reading, Leo Campos, originally from Chile.

“Many of these published poets have come to Canada from places torn apart by racism, fanaticism and war,” says Mark Kozub, Stroll President and co-organizer of the event. “Hearing them read their works reminds me that poetry is about more than words and imagery. It’s about the strength of the human spirit, about our ability to dream and paint with words the portrait of a better world so that maybe, one day, we can all live in that world. And live peacefully.”


f. A Saturday Night Special: Edmonton Favourites, Peter McPhee, and Poetry & Dance
 

Featured Poets

The Globe and Mail called him “a barefoot bohemian.” The Stroll of Poets Society was proud to present Toronto performance poet and author of Running Unconscious (Coach House Books), Peter McPhee. As a long-time innovator in the live presentation of poetry, McPhee has often pushed the envelope of the poetic vocabulary by augmenting his performances with a 13-piece band. (His indie CD The Sound of Filling Hollow was called “a benchmark in contemporary Canadian poetry recordings.” – Exclaim.)

Following McPhee’s brilliant performance were be a handful of recently-published, highly-acclaimed Edmonton poets, including: Shirley Serviss, David Huggett and Richard Davies.

Poetry and Dance

A daring collaboration, fusing the kinetic energies of local dancers with experimental Edmonton poets and musicians. This bold experiment was one of the highlights of the festival, bringing together two seemingly disparate art forms on one stage.
 


6. Raving Poets reading series  For the second time in the Stroll’s eleven year history, we held an open stage reading series in the middle of summer.  Four musicians offered their time to accompany the poets. Through the generosity of our members, audience favorites from the series finale were recorded and a CD was released of the work.

7. The Stroll Anthology  All participants in the fall Stroll of Poets festival were asked to submit a poem for inclusion in the Stroll Anthology. The Anthology, incorporating one poem and biography from each of 180 poets, will be launched in December in time to be sold during the Christmas season and during The 12 Days of Poetry

8. The 12 Days of Poetry  Our 10th Annual 12 Days of Poetry festival was held from January 4th to 20th, 2001. As in past years, the poets were selected for this high?profile, well?promoted winter series through a community?juried process. The board discussed and voted for a list of prominent Edmontonians to be invited to read the poems submitted by Stroll participants for the Stroll Anthology. Authors' names were removed, and the process was completed before the Anthology is published.

The seven jurors were from all walks of life: business, politics, literature, performing arts, sports, and so on. The "votes" for the 44 favorite poems were tabulated and the top 44 authors were invited to participate in the 12 Days of Poetry.

Each "day" was an evening reading by four poets at a favorite bistro or restaurant and the audiences cast their votes for the two poets they most wanted to hear again at the finale, the 12th Day of Poetry. The ballots of the first eleven days were tabulated and the six favorites invited to read again at the 12th Day at the SideTrack Cafe, which was a large social, poetic and even musical event which has attracted increasingly large numbers of patrons. The poets who recite in the 12 Days of Poetry each receive a fee of $20, and those of the 12th Day received $50 each.

9. Workshop Series   As in previous years, we held a series of four workshops for our members and the literary public on various aspects of the poetic craft.  Featuring the knowledge and talents of seasoned local poets and academics, our workshops touched on everything from how to use a microphone to how format publication submissions.
 

Community Relations
 

i) Support of Edmonton area artists

All poets who wish to participate in the Stroll are welcomed to join as members of the Society or guests at our open stage events.  No matter what the venue, our season provides ways to recognize merit and reward creativity. Through our numerous reading series’, our Web and print publications and newsletters, and through the pure value of providing opportunities for poets to learn and share, the Stroll has become a very welcoming place for both seasoned Edmonton poets and beginners from all walks of life.

ii) How we work and cooperate with other arts and community organizations.

No other literary organization in Edmonton focuses specifically on poetry. We do however, cooperate with the Writers' Guild and the University of Alberta insofar as we recognize them as the senior literary organizations in Alberta. The Stroll is open to all who wish to join, with the membership fee set at the nominal level of $10 per year. We were gain part of the Book Fair this year. I believe that our board can take some credit for focusing the direction of several literary organizations in renewing the book fair along local and democratic lines, rather than allowing the decision?making to be controlled by a Toronto?based "franchised" book fair organization.

In past years we have contracted musicians and a dancer/choreographer to interpret their selections of poems from the anthology through their own medium. Each year we pay a local artist for the right to reproduce an original work of art on the cover of our anthology and hire local musicians to perform at our Anthology launch.

Collaborative Firsts in 2001
 

1. The Stroll of Poets and Society of Northern Alberta Print-artists book project.  Six poets and six artists collaborated on a limited edition hand-printed book to be used as fund-raisers for our societies.
2. During our Stroll 2001 Festival, poets worked with members of the University of Alberta’s Orchesis Modern Dance Group to produce series of startling pieces combining movement and spoken word.
3. For the first time, we had a “poet exchange” with the The Society of Poets, Bards and Storytellers from Calgary. Each Society gave four honorary memberships to members from the other city. We each welcomed the other to read at our events. This successful sharing will be ongoing.

iii) The volunteer program

Our greatest resource is our membership. Finding ways to harness that resource is sometimes a task, however. Insofar as spreading roles amongst many, we are succeeding fairly well. Two or three years ago we evolved the goal of attempting to give the often enjoyable task of hosting events and introducing poets to as many people as possible. We actively sift through the membership list for names of new poets who would make good hosts. Volunteers have stuffed envelopes, distributed posters and leaflets, taken tickets at the door and done other small tasks.
Larger tasks are accomplished by event coordinators selected by our board of directors. Individual members edit the newsletter, edit the Web site, edit the anthology, convene the committee which schedules groups within the Stroll event, coordinate the writers' circles and so on. We are sensitive both to the need to avoid burning out activists and to the need to train others to succeed activists who eventually wish to move on.
 

 
 
 

Stroll of Poets Society
Box 35082, Oliver P.O.
Edmonton, AB  T5K 2R8