Stroll of Poets Society

Greetings Strollers,

I hope the summer has provided you some opportunities to enjoy the warmth and abundance of green. Those who enjoy gardening must be truly savouring these bountiful days. Some of you may have experienced Deborah Lawson’s lovely yard and garden when you dropped by her place for our recent anthology distribution. We are grateful to her for offering her residence, as we are to her, Naomi McIlwraith and Audrey Brooks for their efforts to coordinate the event. Thanks also to the volunteers who assisted. Plans for further distribution of anthologies are being developed, and we will be able to share details in the near future.

The Poets’ Haven committee have been meeting regularly to develop a plan for moving our readings to an online format. Unfortunately, our venue partners will not be able to meet our needs for the foreseeable future. The Upper Crust Café can only seat eighteen safely and Audreys Books is limiting itself to pick-up orders of books. As far as the launch of a new Haven season goes, it looks like our original starting date of September 14 will have to be postponed. The challenges of structuring an on-line series have necessitated a longer development process for the volunteers involved. We will keep you posted on a launch date when more details are available.

In the meantime, my friends, take care of yourself and your families. Stay in touch with our weekly newsletter for the most current updates and don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns (leppardjohn@hotmail.com). All the very best from the board and associates.

Yours in verse,
John Leppard

Yes, it’s here—the day so many of us have been waiting for! The COVID-19 situation threw its wrench into our works about a week before our AGM, when we would normally have celebrated the launch of the Stroll of Poets Anthology 2020. Thank you all so much for your patience while the board worked diligently to determine a convenient, simple and safe way to get your copy of the anthology into your hands.

First and foremost, before coming to pick up your anthology, please make sure you are feeling well and have not had any exposure to the COVID-19 virus. The safety of all our members and their loved ones is paramount. We do not mind continuing to store your copy for you!

Pick-up Date: Saturday, August 15, 2020
Time: 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm

For complete details on location and safety guidelines please contact strollantho@writersguild.ab.ca 

Greetings friends,

We hope that you and your families continue to be safe and well as Summer officially settles into residence. Our 2020 AGM was successfully completed on Sunday, June 28, with 35 Stroll members in attendance. Our abundant thanks to Lisa Mulrooney for her exceptional technical support and Don Perkins for his masterful work as Returning Officer.

John Leppard happily returns as president and we are pleased to welcome Shirley Serviss to our leadership team. She brings her abundant energy, skill and experience to a returning group consisting of board members Alice Major, Anne Gerard Marshall, Janis Dow, Lisa Mulrooney, Naomi McIlwraith and Markus Eymann. They are joined by returning board associates Max Vandersteen, Josh Luukkonen and Audrey Brooks. We are so very fortunate to have such an amazing group of dedicated folks to guide our organization.

The new leadership team will hold its first meeting in July and high on the list of agenda items is consideration of possible strategies for safe distribution of our anthology. We will keep you posted in our newsletter on developments in this area. We are committed to running a Poets’ Haven reading series for 2020/2021. Whether that will be face-to-face or on-line remains to be determined. Our scheduled starting date is Monday, September 14 at 7 pm. We are really looking forward to a strong 30th season of serving poets and poetry, with the most vibrant and passionate membership anywhere!

Yours in verse,
John Leppard

Stroll memberships can now be renewed online! 

New and established poets, friends or fans of poetry are welcome to join. 

Membership entitles you to:

• Perform a 10-minute reading at one of the Poets’ Haven Readings
• Publish one poem in our annual anthology (having done a reading)
• Receive a copy of The Stroll of Poets Anthology for that year
• Vote at our Annual General Meeting in March. (Check out the Bylaws.)
• Receive the weekly Stroll Newsletter about upcoming poetry readings, events or volunteer opportunities

New members can join the Stroll HERE.

Returning members can renew their membership HERE.

All Stroll of Poets members are cordially invited to attend an on-line annual general meeting on Sunday, June 28. Registration will start at 1:30 with business beginning at 2 pm. Information regarding membership renewals will be shared at the meeting.

Details regarding how to join the meeting will be supplied upon request. To request information on how to attend the online AGM, please contact Ellen Kartz at ellen.kartz@writersguild.ab.ca by no later than 4:00 pm, on Friday, June 26th. 

We hope you’ll be able to join us!

2020 AGM Package: