Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Saskatoon! Reading!

My Saskatoon reading June 10 was cooked up with the help of some of my favourite Saskatoon writers: Andréa Ledding, dee Hobsbawn-Smith, and Jeanette Lynes.

I've read in Saskatoon twice, both via the Tonight It's Poetry reading series.

Once was under Taylor Leedahl's tenure and was at the Flint with its awesome mix-and-match charcuterie platter. That was with Kerry Ryan, who I'd bullied into touring with me. (We even had t-shirts designed by her partner Jeope Wolfe!)

The second was with John Toone and Jonathan Ball just as the series was migrating to a more spoken-word focus. I stayed with Bernice Friesen, who has since moved to BC, but she made me very very strong tea and showed me her latest art/upcycling project.

All of which is to say that Saskatoon feels almost like home. But it was lovely to get to read with Andréa, who has always come to my readings and who is a whiz-bang poet/parent herself.

And with dee, who hosted myself and Tracy Hamon for a reading when she and Dave Margoshes - her sweetie - were in residence at the Stegner House in East End years ago. And with Jeanette, who edited Hump and then moved to Saskatoon, though I'm not completely sure those things are connected.

It was end of term for dee, Andréa and Jeanette - the former are students in USask's Creative Writing MA and Jeanette the instructor/administrator/major domo of said program - and I was sort of knackered after more than a week away from home, hauling all the luggage, etc.

But the reading went well, with a pile of poets and poet-lovers in attendance, and M and Aa, who were on a father-daughter camping trip of their own, arranged to meet up with me at the reading. (The girl only had to cover her ears during one poem...)

Thanks to City Perks for hosting our Poetry With Perks event. (And especially for the chai latte.)

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