Monday, June 25, 2012, 7–9 pm
The Elmdale House Tavern
1084 Wellington Street West, Ottawa  Map »

Poetry by Pearl Pirie
Music by the percussion group Kunundrum

$8 / pay what you can
Benefit for the Peace and Environment News.

Brought to you by The Muses Reading Series. For more information contact Mike Buckthought at helios –at– ncf.ca.

RSVP to the Facebook event and invite your friends.

Featured readers and musicians:

Pearl Pirie’s poetry has appeared in more places than she has. She has two collections and edits phafours press which most recently published in air/air out: 21 poets for the Guatemala Stove Project. She is the author of been shed bore (Chaudiere Books, 2010), and her manuscript Thirsts won the 2011 Robert Kroetsch Award for Innovative Poetry. Her poetry appears in numerous publications including Arc, Bywords and Ottawater.

Kunundrum is a percussion group based in Ottawa.
Not to be missed! Kunundrum will get you dancing to the rhythms and songs of West Africa, Cuba and Haiti.

Photos by Brian Pirie and Barry Thoms.

Please contact us if you can help support Ottawa’s arts community. Your generous support is much appreciated.

For more information contact Mike Buckthought at helios –at– ncf.ca.
We look forward to hearing from you.

Monday, October 6, 2008
6 – 9pm at the Green Door Restaurant, 198 Main Street, Ottawa.

The Green Door is Ottawa’s oldest and best known vegetarian restaurant. There will be a feast of fine vegetarian food, followed by poetry and music by: Phil Jenkins, Mike Buckthought, Kera Willis, John Lloyd and Robin Macdonald.

Tickets $28 in advance, $35 at the door. Tickets are available at the following stores:

Mother Tongue Books (1067 Bank), Octopus Books (116 Third), Arbour Environmental Shoppe (800 Bank), Perfect Books (258A Elgin), Singing Pebble Books (202A Main), Collected Works (1242 Wellington St. West).

Note: most stores will only accept cash for ticket sales. Tickets are printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper.

Brought to you by The Muses Reading Series. For more information contact Mike Buckthought at helios –at– ncf.ca.

Featured readers and musicians:

Phil Jenkins is an accomplished writer and musician. He wrote An Acre of Time, which won the Canadian Author’s Association Lela Common Award for Canadian History (1997). It has been made into a play, which was nominated for a Governor General’s Literary Award (2001). He has written a number of other books, including Beneath My Feet, a biography of George Mercer Dawson.

Mike Buckthought is a writer, musician and community activist. He has been nominated for an Arc Poem of the Year award (2008), and has won a George Johnston poetry prize (2005). His poetry appears in Fire and The Delicate Art of Paper Passing. He honours his Mediterranean heritage through obscure references to Greek history and literature. He coordinates The Muses Reading Series.

Kera Willis is a local poet, writer, artist, musician, stilt walker, horse trainer, and traveller. Adopting various incarnations depending on the mood and season, she remains dedicated to creativity in all its forms – the alchemy of transformation. Her first book of poetry, Tenebrismo (2007), was published by Greyweathers Press. Her prose and poetry appears in Prairie Fire, Lichen, and Room.

John Lloyd and Kera Willis are members of OneBigSmile, an Ottawa-based collective. The band was formed several years ago and got its name from a description of a performance it gave. OBS plays music that is very much like a folk-rock door with bluegrass hinges swinging open to let anybody in. The set list often includes songs from any era and any style in the history of music.

Robin Macdonald is a recent transplant from northern Canada. She is rediscovering and smitten by urban life. Robin coordinates the Family Literacy Program at the Ottawa Inuit Children’s Centre and lives and teaches at the Ottawa Radha Yoga Centre.

Photos by Charles Earl and Mike Buckthought.

Thursday, May 29, 2008
8pm at Rasputin’s, 696 Bronson Avenue, Ottawa.

Poetry and songs by Phil Jenkins.

Admission is free, but donations are welcome – please help support the local arts community. For more information about The Muses Reading Series, contact Mike Buckthought at helios –at– ncf.ca.

Featured reader:

Phil Jenkins is the author of An Acre of Time, which won the Canadian Author’s Association Lela Common Award for Canadian History (1997). It has been made into a play, which was nominated for a Governor General’s Literary Award (2001). He has written a number of other books, including Beneath My Feet, a biography of George Mercer Dawson. Phil Jenkins is also an accomplished songwriter. We hope you join us for an inspiring evening of poetry and music.

Thursday, March 6, 2008
8pm at Rasputin’s, 696 Bronson Avenue, Ottawa.

Poetry by Cornelia Hoogland.

Admission is free, but donations are welcome – please help support the local arts community. For more information about The Muses Reading Series, contact Mike Buckthought at helios –at– ncf.ca.

Featured reader:

Cornelia Hoogland is the founder and artistic director of Poetry London. Her poetry has been published internationally, and produced on radio. Her poems have been shortlisted for the CBC Literary Awards. Recent awards include the Silver Hammer (2007), Lichen Arts and Letter (2007), and Basmajian Chapbook Award (2005).

Friday, February 8, 2008
8pm at Rasputin’s, 696 Bronson Avenue, Ottawa.

Poetry by Nadine McInnis.
Music by Kathleen Johnson.

Admission is free, but donations are welcome – please help support the local arts community. For more information about The Muses Reading Series, contact Mike Buckthought at helios –at– ncf.ca.

Featured readers and musicians:

Nadine McInnis is the author of five books of poetry, the most recent being Two Hemispheres and First Fire / Ce feu qui devore, one book of fiction, Quicksilver, and one book of literary criticism on the love poems of Dorothy Livesay. She lives in Ottawa where she teaches in the Professional Writing Program at Algonquin College.

Kathleen Johnson has been working for over 20 years as a music therapist in long term care, and one of her favourite spare time activities is to spend time in the studio recording. Her latest project was the release of her CD entitled “You Might As Well Live,” a compilation of poems of Dorothy Parker set to original music.

Friday, January 11, 2008
8pm at Rasputin’s, 696 Bronson Avenue, Ottawa.

Poetry by Kera Willis.
Music by Kera Willis and John Lloyd. Followed by an open stage.

Admission is free, but donations are welcome – please help support the local arts community. For more information about The Muses Reading Series, contact Mike Buckthought at helios –at– ncf.ca.

Featured readers and musicians:

Kera Willis is a local poet, writer, artist, musician, stilt walker, horse trainer, and traveler. Adopting various incarnations depending on the mood and season, she remains dedicated to creativity in all its forms – the alchemy of transformation.

Her first book of poetry, Tenebrismo, was published in the summer of 2007 by Greyweathers Press. Both her prose and poetry have appeared in various magazines, including Prairie Fire, Lichen, and Room.

In 2006 she launched the micro press Blue Riot Publishing, as another way to get her words into print. Her ‘tiny books in costume’ have appeared at the Ottawa Small Press Book Fair, Ravenswing Fair, and Canzine in Toronto.

Friday, December 7, 2007
8pm at Rasputin’s, 696 Bronson Avenue, Ottawa.

Chapbook launch, with poetry by Stephen Brockwell and members of the Pumping Irony Poetry Workshop.

Admission is free, but donations are welcome.

For more information about The Muses Reading Series, contact Mike Buckthought at helios –at– ncf.ca.

Featured readers and musicians:

Stephen Brockwell, Wendy Brandts, Mike Buckthought, Amanda Earl, Emily Falvey, Gwendolyn Guth, J.Y. Jancar, Robin Macdonald, Pearl Pirie, Roland Prevost, LM Rochefort, Janice Tokar, Jean Van Loon, and more!

"Pumping Irony" image by Janice Tokar.

Friday, November 16, 2007
8pm at Rasputin’s, 696 Bronson Avenue, Ottawa.

Poetry by Carlos Perez.
Music by drummers from Earth*tones.

Admission is free, but donations are welcome.

For more information about The Muses Reading Series, contact Mike Buckthought at 613.567.7244 or helios –at– ncf.ca.

Featured readers and musicians:

Carlos Perez is a Venezuelan poet who follows the great Latin American and Caribbean post-colonial poetic traditions. He has performed in Westfest, the riot-happy streets of Québec, the tropical city of Havana, and at conferences for social justice and human rights groups. In 2006, he represented Venezuela in the Gala of the Americas. His poetry appears in Araguaney (2006), a chapbook published by Dusty Owl Press.

Earth*tones is Ottawa’s community drumming circle. People drum and dance to rhythms inspired by the music of Africa, South America, the Middle East and First Nations. Earth*tones has been jamming with the djembes since 1999.

Friday, September 14, 2007,
8-10pm at Rasputin’s, 696 Bronson Avenue, Ottawa.

Poetry by Lisa Xing and Sean Zio. With the music of Tanya Janca.

Admission is free, but donations are welcome.

For more information about The Muses Reading Series, contact Mike Buckthought at 613.567.7244 or helios –at– ncf.ca.

Featured readers and musicians:

Lisa Xing is in her final year of journalism and psychology at Carleton University. This past summer she worked at CBC London, England and as a reporter at CBC-TV in Edmonton. An interest in travel, moments and the human anatomy inspire her writing.

A dying prophet blessed Sean Zio a crackpot poet. Since that time, he has pursued the prophecy as a performance poet at such events as Synesthasia and Outspoken in Ottawa in August 2006 and the Festival Voix d’Ameriques in Montréal in February 2007. In early 2007 he released his first audio collection of poems entitled “Remain Open” that was well received by friends, listeners, and local distros.

Tanya Janca is well-known for her blunt lyrics and crisp, high-energy guitar playing. She offers up folky pop-rock stylings, characterized by mild punk undertones and liberally sprinkled with political commentary and wry social observations. Tanya Janca has recently released “Recreate,” her fourth independent album, and has been writing, recording and performing folk music since 1998.