Change font size

58 The Poetry Bash

George Bowering British Columbia	Tess Gallagher United States	Steve McOrmond Ontario
Erín Moure Québec	John Steffler Ontario	Anna Swanson British Columbia

George Bowering, British Columbia

George Bowering, Canada’s first Poet Laureate, was born in the Okanagan. He has taught literature at the University of Calgary, the University of Western Ontario and Simon Fraser University. A distinguished novelist, poet, editor, professor, historian and tireless supporter of fellow writers, Bowering has authored more than 80 books, including works of poetry, fiction, autobiography, biography and youth fiction. His latest collection of poetry is My Darling Nellie Gray. Read more

Close

Tess Gallagher, United States

Tess Gallagher is the author of eight volumes of poetry, including Dear Ghosts, Moon Crossing Bridge, Amplitude and the forthcoming Midnight Lantern: New and Selected Poems. She has also published two volumes of essays, Soul Barnacles: Ten More Years with Ray and A Concert of Tenses, and two collections of short fiction. The Man from Kinvara: Selected Stories was published in 2009. She currently divides her time between West Ireland and Washington State. Read more

Close

Steve McOrmond, Ontario

Steve McOrmond’s first poetry collection, Lean Days, was shortlisted for the Gerald Lampert Award. His second, Primer on the Hereafter, was awarded the Atlantic Poetry Prize. Originally from Prince Edward Island, he now lives in Toronto. His latest collection is The Good News About Armageddon. Read more

Close

Erín Moure, Québec

Erín Moure is one of Canada's most respected poets, and a translator of French, Spanish, Galician and Portuguese. She is the author of 13 books of poetry, has received the Governor General’s Award, the Pat Lowther Memorial Award and the A.M. Klein Prize, and has been a three-time finalist for the Griffin Poetry Prize. Her most recent books are O Resplandor, Expeditions of a Chimæra (co-written with Oana Avasilichioaei) and a book of essays, My Beloved Wager. Read more

Close

John Steffler, Ontario

John Steffler was the Parliamentary Poet Laureate of Canada from 2006 to 2008. His previous books of poetry include The Grey Islands, That Night We Were Ravenous, winner of the Atlantic Poetry Prize, and Helix: New and Selected Poems, winner of the Newfoundland and Labrador Poetry Prize. Steffler is also the author of the award-winning novel The Afterlife of George Cartwright. His latest collection of poetry is Lookout. Read more

Close

Anna Swanson, British Columbia

Anna Swanson studied creative writing at the University of Victoria and at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Her poetry has appeared in numerous literary journals, as well as in the anthology The Best Canadian Poetry in English 2008. She has paid the rent by planning festivals, selling books, serving drinks, making maps, walking on stilts, bowling with teenagers, writing press releases and watching for forest fires. She now lives in Vancouver and works as a children’s librarian. The Nights Also is her first collection of poetry. Read more

Close

Saturday, October 23, 2010 - 8:00pm
Performance Works
$25.00

Always a Festival favourite event, The Poetry Bash brings to Vancouver’s stage this year six poets, including two Poet Laureates of Canada, George Bowering and John Steffler, Governor General award winner Erín Moure and renowned American poet Tess Gallagher. The Festival is also a place to hear new and emerging voices. This year Steve McOrmond and Anna Swanson fit that bill, exciting us with the new directions of Canadian poetry. This is a formidable line-up, sure to please the ear of language lovers everywhere!