Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Poetry, Prosecco and Pasta - One


I confess: I'm not a big lover of poetry. Give me fiction or theatre. You know, something alive and dynamic with characters and a story. That I'll take any day of the week. But poetry, with all that imagery and, well, language that I'm supposed to appreciate for its beauty? And look interested while I'm doing it? Yawn.

If you're anything like me, Diapsora Dialgoues' poetry reading series - Poetry, Prosecco and Pasta - could change your mind. The series takes place over three Thursdays in July - the 8th, the 15th and 22nd. It puts together three poets and three moderators - who are poets themselves - for a discussion on poetry that has me thinking this might be more like theatre where the poets are the characters and the stage is the gorgeous Grano Restaurant.

(And speaking of poets. Check it out: Maya Angelou knows and loves this place!)

Of course, if you like poetry, you could go for the poetry itself.

And if you like edgy Italian, you could go for the food and stay for the poetry.

First up, on July 8th, is a reading by Molly Peacock from her latest book, The Second Blush, with a discussion to follow moderated by Olive Senior.

To learn about Molly Peacock, visit her website: http://www.mollypeacock.org/

And check out her poem "The Cup". Turns out that there can be characters in poetry, after all. Huh. Who knew?

To learn more about Olive Senior, go to http://www.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=455

From where I pulled this slice of her poetry.

perhaps as you sip your tea
at three in the afternoon
a bit incontinent
despite your vast holdings
(though I was gratified to note
that despite the difference in our skins
our piss was exactly the same shade of yellow
)

Oh, yes! This does promise to be fun!


WHEN: July 8 Doors open at 6:30 pm
(Don't forget Poetry, Prosecco and Pasta - Two on July 15th, and Three on July 22nd)

WHERE: Grano Restaurant, 2035 Yonge Street (at Davisville)

COST: $75 per evening - includes dinner, a drink, and a copy of the book under discussion. A $25 charitable receipt for single tickets can be issued upon request. Tickets are non-refundable and non-transferrable. Contact Natalie or Aisling on 416 944 1101 to purchase tickets. Due to limited space, advance booking is strongly recommended.

The line up:

July 8: Molly Peacock and The Second Blush, with moderator Olive Senio
r
July 15: Erín Moure and O Resplandor, with moderator Priscila Uppal
July 22: Daniel David Moses and Sixteen Jesuses, with moderator Moira MacDougall


Thursday, June 17, 2010

Brockton Writers' Series #10

Featuring: Mary Lou Dickinson, Heather Wood, Perparim Kapllani and Faye Guenther.

Tuesday July 6th, 7-9, at A NEW LOCATION THIS MONTH: the beautiful and historic St. Anne's Church.

Plus Open Mic! Don't be shy--sign up at 6:55 if you want to share a 5 minute piece with us during the open mic.

We pass a hat for the writers ($3-$5, pwyc suggested donation). Books and drinks available for sale. Lots of time for neighbourly chat.

fu-GEN Asian-Canadian Theatre Company @ The Waves Festival

When: Friday June 18 - Sunday June 20 (performance times vary)
Where: The Young Centre Library, 55 Mill Street

This event is freel


Check out Interim Artistic Director David Yee's "The Blind Woman" featuring the talents of Karen Ancheta, John Ng, Marjorie Chan, Nicco Lorenzo Garcia, Jenna Rodgers and Benny Min.

For more information, go to:
http://www.facebook .com/l/5baefCP7T xEBM2tzYKy3s821t 6w;www.youngcentre. ca/productions/ 10_season/ waves_festival. html>

Poetry, Prosecco & Pasta - a Poetry Series with a Twist!

Diaspora Dialogues invites you to get up close and personal with three celebrated poets Molly Peacock, Erín Moure and Daniel David Moses. and their work!

Where: Grano Restaurant, 2035 Yonge Street (at Davisville)

When: July 8, 15 and 22, 2010 – Doors open at 6:30 pm

July 8: Molly Peacock and The Second Blush, with moderator Olive Senior
July 15: Erín Moure and O Resplandor, with moderator Priscila Uppal
July 22: Daniel David Moses and Sixteen Jesuses, with moderator Moira
MacDougall

Cost: $75 per evening - includes dinner, a drink, and a copy of the book under discussion

(A $25 charitable receipt for single tickets can be issued upon request. Tickets are non-refundable and non-transferrable)

To purchase tickets or for more information, contact Natalie or Aisling at 416-944-1101.

For full information, including biographies of the poets and the moderators visit www.diasporadialogues.com

word! sound! powah! - d'bi young

FREE TICKETS to see d'bi young in the final play of her monodrama trilogy, ‘word! sound! powah!’


d’bi.young will be showcasing the third and final episode in her biomyth monodrama trilogy called sankofa at both the fringe and summerworks festivals.

the trilogy charts the journey of three generations of afrikan-jamaican womben: mudgu sankofa, her daughter sekesu sankofa, and sekesu's daughter benu sankofa. in word! sound! powah!, the grand-daughter of mudgu negotiates her own identity to the backdrop of a mythologized revolution and the birth of dubpoetry in jamaica. dub, mysticism, lyricism, politics, love, stick playing, and courage frolic in this part-real, part-fiction universe of 1970s/80s jamaica.

for free tickets to the opening night performance of word! sound! powah! on wed june 30, 2010 @ 10:30pm be one of the first 30 people to arrive at theatre passé muraille. 16 ryerson avenue @ queen street west of bathurst. first come! first served!

http://www.facebook .com/l/1fa01b9Ur 7WP2haRRKr9yy8rM Lg;fringetoronto .com

http://www.facebook .com/l/1fa01Pc58 7bTd714Fru8LKF81 rQ;summerworks. ca

Replenish! A Pride Celebration

Michele Chai is a former emerging writer with Diaspora Dialogues!


‘A’ is for Orange - a reading series featuring queer Caribbean writers hosts

Replenish! A Pride Celebration

When: Friday, June 18, 2010, 8 pm (doors open at 7:30 pm)
Where: Palmerston Library Theatre, 560 Palmerston Avenue (two blocks west of
Bathurst, just north of Bloor)


Co-hosted by Michele Chai and Kyisha Williams, the evening will feature fresh faces and familiar favourites including trey anthony, D-lishus, Dianah Smith, Kim Quashie, Zakiya, Kyisha Williams, Kadeem Brown, tonya parriag and others.


Tickets are $8-10 sliding scale (No one turned away for lack of funds)

For more information contact Dianah Smith (Curator): d@aisfororange.org

www.aisfororange.org

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Invitation to Scarborough Arts Council Cultural Showcase & Fundraiser

WHERE: Centennial College Science and Technology Centre
(Ellesmere & Morningside)

WHEN: June 24, 7 - 9 p.m.

The event will feature a silent auction, light snacks and performances from:

* Fashion show from A.N.A.S.A. Collective
* Performance exploring mental health issues among youth by Elevated Grounds
* KasheDance dancer/choreographer Kevin Ormsby
* Pop/R&B artist Barry Szeto
* Duo from the Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra

Please visit http://www.scarborougharts.com/2010/03/20/save-the-date-starborough-is-coming-june-24/ If you are interested in purchasing tickets, please contact us at office@scarborougharts.com or 416-698-7322

The Plasticine Poetry Series

The Plasticine Poetry Series presents a night of poetry featuring: Jeanette Lynes, Moira MacDougall, Cathy Petch, Goran Simic, plus an Open Mic.

Hosted by Heather Wood.

When: June 27, 6 p.m.

Where: The Central, 603 Markham St. thecentral.ca

Cost: Free.

INTI RAYMI - Festival of the Sun

WHEN: SATURDAY, JUNE 19TH,12 PM - 10 PM
SUNDAY, JUNE 20TH,12PM - 9PM

WHERE: CHRISTIE PITS PARK (CORNER OF BLOOR AND CHRISTIE)

SAN LORENZO INVITES YOU TO EXPERIENCE
THE INCAN CELEBRATION OF THE SUN WITH DELICIOUS
LATIN AMERICAN FOOD
LIVE MUSIC AND DANCE

FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.sanlorenzo.ca 416-782-2953

Aubrey Dayle's "My id" is playing @ the Rex - TOMORROW!!

The band:

Rich Brown-Bass
Robi Botos- Keys
Aubrey Dayle - Drums.
Richard Underhill - Alto Sax

Where: The Rex Jazz and Blues Bar, 194 Queen Street West.
When: Thursday, June 10, 9 p.m.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

TOK: Writing the New Toronto, Book 5 (2010)

TOK: Writing the New Toronto, Book 5 is our latest anthology and it's available online!

It contains new short stories and poetry from Toronto's talented emerging and established writers who teamed up together throughout the year as part of Diaspora Dialogues annual mentoring and commissioning program. The program commissions established writers to create original Toronto-set work, while mentoring emerging writers.

Order TOK Book 5 and all other TOK books here. (http://zephyrpress.ca/catalogue.htm)