December update
We made it through November
Image description: view of snow off the balcony. Snowy covered rooftops.
November has been a busy month, but good busy. And as always, somewhat bittersweet as it reminds us of my near-death health crisis, which happened in November, 2009. Charles had a cold, which scared me because in November things go awry. He was fine though, just needed a lot of rest and time in front of Xmas rom coms.
The two readings I did were wonderful, well-attended and folks bought copies of Beast Body Epic. The first was a reading with a dear friend of mine whose first novel was just published last year. I organized the reading, which took place at the Lieutenant's Pump on the same Sunday as the Grey Cup. This does not typically cause a time conflict for the literary crowd :)
The other reading was organized by the Carleton University Poetic Society and took place at Haven. It was combined with an open mic. I had a lovely experience. The organizers and host were very welcoming. They even reserved seating for the featured performers, which was a nice touch. My reading from Beast Body Epic was once more well received, which surprised me because I felt that subjects like death and illness would not be of interest to young people. I was wrong in this case. I chatted with several audience members who felt a connection to the work. I guess these issues are universal. I enjoyed the other features and open mic performers greatly. In theory, the venue, Haven might be closing soon because CUSA (Carleton University Student Association) is moving all of its events back on to campus. I hope this doesn’t happen. It’s such a great little cafe.
Image description: I am standing at the microphone in Haven Cafe. Photo credit: Dylan Vinette , President of the Carleton University Poetic Society
Thanks to the generosity of the VERSeFEST board who comped our admission fees, we attended VERSeFest's fall mini festival and enjoyed going to readings and socializing with old friends, hearing lots of great poetry. I think it’s important to offer a pay-what-you-can or a free entry free for those unable to pay.
I've also been attending the Art House Cafe open mic every other week, reading my poetry and enjoying the music, poetry and camaraderie of other performers. One of them, a young musician named Benoit and I are working on a song together and Charles is helping us with the video. As regular readers know, I post photos of abandoned chairs on Instagram, using the hashtag "chairsofottawa." We wrote a song about the chairs and then we went out to sing the song near some abandoned chairs. it has been great fun working with Benoit and Charles on the song and video. i'll share the link with you when the video is out.
Image description: an upturned chair with a wooden back and a red cushion, fastened with studs. it is lying on the pavement.
In late October, The Writers Union of Canada accepted my application to be a mentor for a local poet. I have been working with her on her poetry manuscript, making editing suggestions and helping her figure out how to organize her collection. It's a lovely experience. We meet at Ten Toes Cafe and Laundromat on Somerset and Rochester every other week and spend two hours drinking coffee and talking poetry. Heavenly!
Image description: logo of the Writers Union of Canada, blue open book with feathered pen.
I will be spending much of the month on a new editing job, reading a novella. I am relieved that I have more editing work. Every cent goes toward my rent. I am still available for editing gigs. More info here. I am also available to help you organize your book launches. A book deserves to be celebrated in style.
I continue to write reviews in order to get free books, make some money while i’m waiting for editing jobs and promote and support literature and small presses and writers whose voices are ignored by literary canons. I have done two reviews this month of two very different poetry collections, and have one more to do for the new year so far and a pile of books to place for review. If you know of a literary magazine that pays for reviews, please let me know. Also, if you aren’t a paid subscriber of this Substack and can afford to be, i would really appreciate it if you got a paid subscription. I owe a debt of gratitude to all those who have done so.
I am always looking for relevant and not soul-destroying ways to make money to pay our rent. If you have any suggestions, please let me know ASAP!
While we were at the Manx Pub on the last day of November, at a VERSeFEST poetry reading, we received sad news about the death of a long term work colleague and friend of Charles’. it was sad and strange news. We are reminded once more of how important it is to enjoy moments with those we hold dear while we have them. And to cherish and savour our time on this earth…
Following up on my recent whining about winter, I am writing a long poem of winter. Yes, I am a paradox, aren’t I?