Charles and I took the train on Sunday afternoon to Montreal and left early Monday morning, arriving in the dark and leaving in the dark. It was a whirlwind trip! We were there so that I could read at the wonderful Accent Open Mic/Reading Series, organized by Devon Gallant.
I am not cool. We got to the Bar La Marche à côté on Saint Denis very early because the time had changed and we needed to eat. Readers, we were the sole customers there.
The place got packed soon enough. I read after an excellent first open mic set, then there was an excellent second open mic set followed by my co-feature Jonathan Focht, who gave a brilliant set of short poems that were thoughtful and amusing. Then there was a third set. And then we had to go.
There was an excellent turn out. It was great to see friends I haven’t seen in person before or hadn’t seen in a long time, as well as an attentive audience. This was my first time reading so much of the book. I also read part of Fear of Elevators, my chapbook with Turret House Press, and the publisher, James Hawes, not only was in attendance he also read some fantastic poems at the second open mic set.
The series is bilingual so I read an adaptation of what I would call…the tone of Beast Body Epic. I had the generous and excellent assistance of dear friend and poet, Jérôme Melançon, who I sent the poem to beforehand. My French is old and rusty. Some of the francophones in the audience told me they liked the poem. I read three sections from Beast Body Epic. I haven’t read so much of the book to an audience before. It was an intense read, very satisfying to say all of this stuff about my health crisis aloud. Cathartic even.
The audience was lovely. Many came up and chatted with me. A few bought copies of the book. Thank you to all who were there, to Devon and Jerome for hosting (a different Jerome), and to the staff at the Marche à côté . It was a great venue.
About 11pm, it was clear the open mic was going to keep going, which was wonderful, but my ageing time changed body needed to be in a bed. It was midnight for me, and that’s about two hours past my bedtime!
We took the train both ways, riding the new Fleet trains, Economy class. It was ok, but I haven’t travelled outside of Ottawa since pre-pandemic, and this felt very cramped and crowded to me. Next time I hope we can stay longer.
As always, I am very grateful that my darling husband, Charles is such a wonderful travel companion. We had great fun. As we always do. It was a lovely trip.
Next up in the Beast Body Epic tour, the Zoom reading this Sunday at 2pm EST with Sandra Ridley and Christine McNair. Sign up via Eventbrite here.
Then it’s off to Toronto, once more by train to read on November 19 at 3pm at the Tranzac Living Room with Jim Johnstone, Kirby, Marcus McCann, Rasiqra Revulva and Dani Spinosa. I’m looking forward to both events very much.
Thank you to the League of Canadian Poets and the Writers Union of Canada for sponsoring these readings and to the Ontario Arts Council and the City of Ottawa for funding Beast Body Epic.