Listings for 2013

Here is a new list of regular poetry readings in the Metro Vancouver area (and a couple on the Island) compiled by RC Weslowski and Daniela Elza.

These are good to go as of January 1st, 2013.

VANCOUVER POETRY SLAM
Every Monday of the month at Café Deux Soleils on Commercial Drive
Featured readers, poetry open mic and poetry slam
4th Monday of each month is the YOUTH POETRY SLAM
Occasional Wednesday themed slams.
Jessica Masson-Paul is the slammaster touchmeirock@gmail.com
RC Weslowski looks after the youth slam rcarcee@yahoo.ca
Email for info about featuring at the slam. @vanposlam on Twitter

SLAM UBC
Where: 2505 West Broadway, Benny's Cafe, Vancouver
When: 2nd (Standard Poetry Slam) and 4th (Anarchy Slam) Tuesday of every month; Sign-up at 7:30 Open-Mic/Slam at 8
Cover: Entrance by Donation  poetryslam.ubc@gmail.com
Twitter: @ubcslam  Facebook: Slam UBC

TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Second Wednesday and Fourth Thursday of every month (Except August)
Usually there are two features and about nine open mic spots that fill up on a first come first serve basis. Open mic spots are 5 min. max.
Time: 7pm-9:30pm (sign up for open mic 7pm)
Location: Cottage Bistro, 4470 Main Street (at East 29th), Vancouver
Hosts: Bonnie Nish, Daniela Elza, Timothy Shay
Suggested Donation: $5.00 at the door
Contact: blnish_pandoras@yahoo.ca

THE ABUNDANT MUSIC AND WORD FESTIVAL
Third Thursday of each month Prophouse Café—1636 Venables Street
7pm doors and sign up for open mic
Featured reader and musician each month
Carlos Joe Costa rennlos@yahoo.ca  Eva Waldauf 778 227 3275
$5 suggested donation

HOGAN’S ALLEY OPEN POETRY READINGS
Hogan's Alley Cafe, The corner of Gore and Union in Chinatown.
First Wednesday of every month Host: Timothy Shay 
Time: 6PM - 8PM No Cover
Featured reader and 6 minute Open Mic sets. Sign up at the event.
Or contact Timothy to be on mailing list: tshay1952@gmail.com

SPOKEN INK READING SERIES
Spoken INK is a reading series presented by the Burnaby Writers' Society on the third Tuesday of each month (except July and August). For more information, visit www.BurnabyWritersNews.blogspot.com  or contact bwscafe@gmail.com
Poetry and prose readings for features and Open Mic
Sign up at 7:15 show at 7:30
La Fontana Caffe, 101-3701 East Hastings in North Burnaby @ Boundary

DEAD POETS READING SERIES
 The second Sunday of the odd months of the year,
(Jan, Mar, May, July, Sept, Nov)
from 3-5 pm at Project Space, 222 East Georgia St. in Vancouver.
Suggested donation of $5 but no one turned away www.deadpoetslive.ca

LUNCH POEMS @SFU
Third Wednesday of every month
12:00 -1:00pm @Teck Gallery, SFU Harbour Centre, 515 W. Hastings
Lunch poems @ SFU hosts well-known and up-and-coming poets on the third Wednesday of every month www.facebook.com/LunchPoemsAtSFU.
Free admission, no registration required.

TWS READING SERIES
First Thursday of every month.
If you get on their mailing list the call for readers goes out the month before and then about eight or nine readers are scheduled with 10 min each. There is usually one feature. No open mic.   8:00-10:00 p.m.
Cottage Bistro, 4470 Main Street (at East 29th), Vancouver
Hosts: Ivan and Karen  twsreaders@sfu.ca
ROBSON READING SERIES 
3rd Thursday of the month during the academic year, Sept-May/June at UBC Robson Square   If authors are interested in sending in a pitch, they can contact the Robson Reading Series at robson.readingseries@ubc.ca
and the team will review submissions.
Website: http://www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca

THE VANCOUVER STORY SLAM
3rd Tuesday of the month starting in 2013 Show starts @ 8:00.....5 bucks at the door.
At the Cottage Bistro you must pre register to tell your story and you m ust have attended at least one Story Slam ahead of time to compete
Contact Clint Wilson to read via Facebook  or Vancouver Story Slam Facebook group, or by email at chilliwackchoppersbc@shaw.ca

THE NORTH SHORE WRITER’S ASSOCIATION PRESENTS
”Dare To Be Heard!” a Literary Cafe Evening
at Mollie Nye House 940 Lynn Valley Road, North Vancouver, BC.
7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. first Wednesday of each month.
Sonia Haynes, President sonia_n@shaw.ca Cathy Scrimshaw, VP cathys@telus.net

RENAISSANCE BOOKS READING SERIES, New Westminster
The second Sunday of each month, with some exceptions
Open Mic with Features
Location: #43-6th St, New Westminster, 1-3pm, FREE Admission
Host: Amy Girard or Janene White
Contact: Lavana La Brey, 604-525-4566, renbooks@telus.ent

POETIC JUSTICE READING SERIES, New Westminster
Most Sundays. (not 'holiday weekends')
Two to three features + Open Mic  3-5 pm @Heritage Grill,
447 Columbia St., New Westminster, BC
Contact Person is Franci Louann: flouann@telus.net   www.poeticjustice.ca

GOLDEN EARS WRITERS, Maple Ridge
@ the Maple Ridge Arts and Culture Theatre (The ACT) Free Admission
For more information please visit the Golden Ears Writers facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/GoldenEarsWriters
Or contact Katherine Wagner at educationwatch@gmail.com

ZERO to 360.
2nd Thursday of every month (though not December, July, August)
Sign-up for open mic spots at 7 pm; readings begin at 7:30.
Pelican Rouge Coffee House, SW corner of 16th Avenue and 152nd Street, White Rock.  All readers have Zero – 360 seconds (6 min) to read their poems a timer goes off if you go over.
Accessible via 351 bus which stops at the corner or, easy free parking as it's in a mini-mall. Melissa melissa@semiahmooarts.com
Sponsored by Pelican Rouge and Semiahmoo Arts Council

SURREY MUSE
Every Fourth Friday of each month except December.
Presenters (Guest Author, Featured Poet, Featured Artist/Performer), Book Signing, Refreshments, Book Table, Open Mic (5min).
5:30-8:30 pm @Room 418 – City Centre branch, Surrey Public Library
Events are free. Donations are welcome.
More Information: http://surreymuse.wordpress.com/meetings/

WORDSTORM! Nanaimo
WordStorm - Nanaimo's popular Spoken Word and Open Mike event now takes place at Demeter's Coffee Vault, 499 Wallace Street, Nanaimo on the last Tuesday of the month.
Consider coming early for dinner or a snack at Demeter's Coffee Vault 250-591-0776. For WordStorm itself, doors open at 6:30 and the program begins at 7:00.
To reserve for WordStorm, email David at ascentaspirations@gmail.com

PLANET EARTH READING SERIES
Fridays at 7:30pm.
@The Moka House, #103-1633 Hillside Avenue, Victoria, B.C., phone: (250) 370-2077
$3 at the door.
Planet Earth Reading Series is a launching pad for the energies of writers and poets established and not. It is a place where words are most important. A venue in which all manner of poets and writers are welcome; a place for excellence, innovation, collaboration, diverse projects and experiments The format includes an open mike and a featured artist. Visiting writers are encouraged to contact Yvonne Blomer at planetearthpoetry@gmail.com to arrange a reading.

Canada's Poet Laureate, Fred Wah on the show Dec 19th

Thanks to the amazing booking skills of Pam Bentley, Wax Poetic will be having Canada's current Poet Laureate, Fred Wah as our guest on December 19th.

This week we kick things off with a visit from a first time guest, self-described performance poet, Gary Buttedahl.  Pam and I met Gary on the Powell Street bus about 2 months ago and he overheard us talking about poetry, John Giorno to be specific and he joined the conversation and mentioned that he was a writer and performer of poetry as well.  We invited him on the show and now that our schedules align we're having him on.  I'm excited to hear his stuff.

On December 12th we have poet and musician, Carlos Joe Costa as our guest.  Carlos is a big soul of a man who is probably more widely known in these parts as a musician and an actor but he is also a poet.  And after hearing him a few times at the Abundant Music and Word Fest show at the Prophouse it was determined we should have him on.  He'll be bringing along a friend who plays guitar so that he has someone to accompany him for a change.

December 19th as mentioned above we have Fred Wah as our guest.

December 26th...no guest as of yet but Pam will be in studio for the show.  RC might be out in Abbotsford for Christmas. We'll see how it goes but it will be the last show of 2012 for us.  It's been an excellent year of programming (IMO) thanks in no small part to Pam and the chemistry that has developed between us.

Thanks for listening.

Upload away

Christmas has come early.  Most of our recent radio shows are now available on Itunes for Free.  Thanks to Chris Gilpin we have all our programs through Nov 21st up on the site.  They are all available for FREE.  Just go to the podcast page and search for WaxPoetic Radio or some variation of that name.

I'm posting this on Novembe 28th and our guest today is Floyd VB.  Floyd's star is rising quickly within the world of the Vancouver Poetry Slam.  Floyd is a current member of the Youth Poetry Slam Team along with being a member of the 2011 Hullabaloo Championship Team and the 2011 Hullabaloo Indie Champ too.  It should be fun.

We might be taking a break on Dec 26th but other than that we will be on the air every Wednesday afternoon from 2-2:30 at 100.5 FM in Vancouver or www.coopradio.org

And thanks for listening in.

RC

Halloween

Halloween falls on a Wednesday this year so we want to do a Halloween and Horror themed show.  So, if you have an MP3 recording of one of your poems that fits this theme then please send it to us and we will try and play it on the air.

You can email your MP3 to rcarcee@yahoo.ca

It should be a lot of fun.  We are scouring the world to find the perfect poems for our Halloween extravaganza.

RC

Frequency asked questions about the signal swap

"Why did you change frequencies?"
- our old transmitter was old (it was used in 1982 when we got it!) and dying
- our transmitter site rental fees were unsustainable (being raised by 900%!)
- this opportunity to change frequencies offered a solution that met our co-op's needs

"How does the station benefit from the new frequency?"
- new transmission equipment and back-up systems
- transmitter costs covered for 5 years
- 5 ad campaigns over 5 years
- financial support for the station which is being invested in projects that will increase the sustainability of the station

"How are you using the money that you got?"
- we consulted with members and other community organizations throughout 2011 in order to develop a plan
- our members wanted to make sure that 1) there was money left after 5 years and 2) the money was use to make the station more financially sustainable
- the money is NOT being used on operating expenses - that means we still need our members to keep the station running day-to-day!
- the money is being invested in projects that will help the station be more financially stable (e.g. new membership systems, implementing fundraising initiatives, etc.)
- we have already paid off our debt!
- the money helps but it is not a panacea - we are still member-owned and operated.  We cannot function without our members.

"How can I get involved in the station?"
- check out our website: www.coopradio.org
- come to a Station Orientation (3rd Tuesday of every month at 6:30pm)

"What is this station?"
- we are a community radio station
- we don't air commercials
- all of our programming is produced by volunteers
- check out www.coopradio.org for a listing of our 90 different programs

"Where's the Peak?"
- CKPK is now broadcasting at 102.7FM

100.5 FM

Wax Poetic along with all the other programs on Co Op Radio are now broadcasting on the frequency at 100.5 FM.  The flip happened on Monday Sept 10th at 1:02pm.

You will still be getting all of our eclectic radio programming and spoken word guests dropping by just at the spot on the dial.

Out first show at 100.5 is Wed Sept 12th with Jayson McDonald.  Jayson is currently peforming his new play UNDERBELLY at the Vancouver Fringe Festival and luckily for us he's going to visit on his day off.  Underbelly is an exploration of the life of William S. Burroughs written in the voice of WSB but with all new text created by Jayson.  It's a brilliant show and he'll be telling us all about it.

We continue to have a great mix of "page" and "stage" poets drop by our studios.  Pam has done an excellent job getting folks as guests.  This year has seen the likes of Billeh Nickerson, Elizabeth Bachinsky, Heidi Greco, Bill Bisset, Jason Sunder, Raoul Hernandez, Alberto Cristoffanini, Missie Peters, Julie Peters, Jillian Christmas, Sonja Littlejohn, The Vancouver Poetry Slam Team, Evelyn Lau and tons of others as our guests.

Upcoming guests include Rene Saklikar and hopefully Sandy Shreve

If U would like to be a guest on our show feel free to email RC at rcarcee@yahoo.ca to check and see if we are booked.

If you have a spoken word CD you would like us to play on the air please snail mail it to the address attached to this link c/o Wax Poetic  www.coopradio.org

Or you can send MP3s as well to the email address above.

Thanks so much for listening. We're excited to be on our new frequency.

RCW

What's up

I can't believe it's been two and half months since we last checked in and said hello.

Poetry month was super busy.  RC was away in Banff for a week at the Banff Centre for the Arts and the Spoken Word program created by Sheri-D Wilson.

The 2nd annual BC Youth Poetry Slam Championships aka Hullabaloo took place with South Delta Secondary coming out on top.  We had one of the featured poets of the festival, Mary Pinkoski on as our guests.

The next week Sean McGarragle and Sonya Littlejohn joined us to promote the Vancouver International Poetry Festival and Charles Hamilton joined RC in studio the following week to also talk about the festival and share some poems.

The month wrapped up with us digging in to the CD Tickle Trunk and playing some tracks from Jamie DeWolf, Janet Rogers and Shauntay Grant. 

The next two weeks of May are booked with Billeh Nickerson coming on the show May 9th and Heidi Greco joining us on the 16th.  We also have Bill Bissett confirmed for later in the summer as well as Sylvia Taylor.

Also congrats to Pam on getting her new job which allows for some cash flow and for her to still be part of the broadcasts.  And congrats to RC Weslowski for winning the Canadian Individual Poetry Slam Championships at VIP.

As always are shows are archived online at http://www.coopradio.org/ and you can downloads podcasts for free on Itunes under WaxPoetic Radio.

Poetry! Cake! Auction!

Congratulations to Pandora's Collective on their 10th anniversary.

About 65 people gathered at the Prophouse Cafe on Venables Street in Vancouver to celebrate Pandora's Collective, a writer's group that began with Bonnie Nish, Sita Carboni and Heather Neal.

These days Heather is on Vancouver Island, Sita is on a boat in North Vancouver and Bonnie is heading up the collective and board. 10 years goes by fast and in that rush you never know who you are going to impress upon and inspire. However with the stories told last night of inspiration and dedication it's easy to see how Pandora's DIY poetic grass roots activism has touched the lives of many people.

The show was a hoot. Jess Hill, CR Avery and Geoff Berner were the musical headliners while there was a list of guest readers about 20 people deep. 3 1/2 hours later everyone was smiling and reminising and enjoying the great vibes and energy. Personally it was great to see old friends Johnny Frem and SR Duncan get up and do their thing and I also really enjoyed Ruth Kozak's insights into Greek culture past and present. Ruth will be joining us on the airwaves in the next couple of weeks.

There was also an auction led by auctioneer SR Duncan and later on a chocolate Pandoras Box cake was brought out and eaten up while Geoff Berner sang about keeping the rent down low.

All in all a sweet night.

Coming up are a some key festivals...The Talking Stick Festival and the Poetry Gabriola Festival is happening this week through until Sunday with folks like George Bowering, Tanya Davis, Barbara Adler, CR Avery and Drek Daa participating. Congrats to Hilary Peach and her volunteers for another eclectic and excellent mix of programming.

Hello Again

Well it's taken quite a while but we're back up and running on the Wax Poetic blog. Thanks for your patience as we try and get your readership back.

First off I want to let you know that since last report Pam Bentley has joined me as co host of Wax Poetic now that SR and Dianne have retired from the show. We worked together for about 10 years and now the show shifts into a new era. I also wanted to thank Mark Steinberg for jumping on board as a co host for a few months last year. However Mark's acting career has skyrocketed and unfortunately he doesn't have enough time to dedicate to the show.

I want to also thank all the cool guests we've had over the past year including Christine Lowther, Wilhelmina Salmi, George Bowering, Sonja Littlejohn, Jillian Christmas, and Vancouver's latest poet laureate, Evelyn Lau.

We'll work to keep you up to date on poetry events happening here in Vancouver and around the Lower Mainland.

Along those lines I really want to let you know about a couple of cool events...The Pandora's Collective 10th anniversary show at the Prophouse Cafe. It happens on Thursday February 16th with performances by Jess Hill, CR Avery and Geoff Berner plus a whole slew of invited guests sharing stories and other words. 7pm. $10. The Prophouse is located on Venables Street across the road from The Uprising Breads bakery.

Also, this weekend, performance poet extraordinairre, Derrick Brown is performing at the Chutzpah Festival. Spoken word and dance mash it up. You can find out more behind this link.
Just google chutzpah festival to find out more.



As always go to http://www.vancouverpoetryhouse.com/ for more event info on select shows happening in the area.