Reprint: Word Ruckus 2013

So this came directly out of the (frenzied) brains of poet/prof/organizers Jake Kennedy and kevin mcpherson eckhoff. As such, I'm not going to do anything to it, except reprint it, because it makes me a little dizzy....:

Word Ruckus 2013: A Festival of Words & Community

On Saturday, March 23, 2013, from 4:00 pm to 1 am-ish, at the Laurel Packinghouse, Okanagan College, with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, will present Word Ruckus 2013: A Hootenanny of Words & Community.

What is a Word Ruckus? According to the organizers an Okanagan College English professors, Jake Kennedy and kevin mcpherson eckhoff, “Word Ruckus is an all-ages literary shin-dig, a pay-what-you-can writerly free-fer-all, a poetic hoe-down and a magical linguistical brouhaha.” 

In other words, Word Ruckus is not your grandfather’s poetry reading.
 
This year, Word Ruckus will feature 14 professional writers reading from their poems, stories, novels, and plays. The event will also showcase “that poetry car” that everyone can cover in words, a Poem Maker Machine, Alphagetti short story/poem contests, Kids Giving Adults Famous Author Haircuts Extravaganza, affordable wine and beer, free books, kids’ & adults’ typewriter and art area, open-mic slots, and couches and chairs for poetic people to lounge on. 

This year Word Ruckus will also be announcing the winner of the George Ryga Award for Social Awareness in Literature.
 
In the early hours of the Ruckus—from approximately 4:30-7 pm—all of the programming will be child-focused and will then highlight the literary creations of some of the Okanagan’s most talented young teens. The Ruckus begins at 4:30 with a number of live-on-stage literary performances and improvisations of under-10s including “sound poem speed racing,” “interpretive poetry dancing,”
and “kids judge books by their covers.” The Ruckus will then feature performances from several Kelowna Secondary high school poets, too.
 
 Okanagan College professor and book-maker, Jason Dewinetz, and some of his Writing & Publishing Diploma students, will also be present to hand-set letters of words on a flat-bed letterpress.
The night will also include rad music from the WR houseband—Murmur—and of course the spectacular literary performances of Angie Abdou, Annharte, Arlene Bowman, Kathleen Brown, Hannah Calder, Mercedes Eng, Ariel Gordon, Aaron Giovannone, Claire Lacey, Dorothy Lusk, Muriel Marjorie, Cecily Nicholson, Al Rempel, and Laisha Rosnau. 

Finally, the night will conclude with an open jam and Word Ruckus’ traditional prank calls to famous Canadian authors.
 
This year, the fifth year in a row that this big literary party has been thrown, the organizers are expecting about 300 people to attend maybe, so reserve your couch through karma! 

Admission is like pay what you can-can!