Hey writers, check out a youth poetry slam!

http://www.vancouverpoetryhouse.com/vanslam/youth-slam/

Youth Slam

The 4th Monday of every month is the Crackerjack Lipsmacker Youth Slam, composed of an open mic, a poetry slam and a featured performer. Sign up for poets is 7–7:30pm and the show gets underway after 8 o'clock. Check the VPH calendar for dates and details of upcoming Youth Slams.
It's open to poets 14-22 years old. All poetic styles are welcome and all levels of experience too. Admission is $3 for 18 and under. $6 for 19 and older.
Same poetry slam rules apply to the Youth Slam as the Regular Slam. No props, no costumes, no musical instruments. Poets have 3 minutes or less to perform their poem. The poet must be the primary author of the piece. 5 random judges or teams of judges chosen from the crowd to give scores from 0–10. In the first round, up to 12 poets perform their work. The top five highest scoring poets move on to the second round where they perform another, different poem (with a time limit of 3 minutes again). The poet with the highest cumulative score wins the slam, and qualifies to compete in the Youth Grand Slam, the big annual competition that determines each year's Youth Slam Team.
Café Deux Soleils: 2096 Commercial Drive.

Say what you think!

Even if your voice shakes.

Upcoming Author Visit

Get ready to welcome author Richard Scrimger to Moscrop! 

CBC Books - Canada Writes

CBC Books - Canada Writes

Ostwelve - "B. Medicine"

For Anti-Bullying Day

Shane's Poem "Beethoven"

www.shanekoyczan.com   

This Andrea Gibson's "Letter to the Playground Bully"

Andrea is a poet who uses her voice to effect social change. She is a poet to watch.  :)

Love the VOICE on these two!!!!

Some Team Performances for Your Perusal :)

 

This is Just Jamal and The Urban Legends Slam Team from Ottawa.

Cool Blog

Check out this blog I found with tons of great ideas for writing prompts! :)

http://ofkells.blogspot.com/

Canada Writes - Valentine's Day Twitter Challenge

Canada Writes - Valentine's Day Twitter Challenge 

i watched my mother's heart beating
i watched on the screen of the ultrasound machine
And there were sounds the pump, pump and a liquid gush amplified a rhythm she lives
she lives
her heart alive and pumping
beat after beat
the muscle compressing and expanding her heart
my mother's heart
alive
i recalled that sound
the warm rhythm life giving
i had heard it before this heart
i remembered how i listened and felt my own heart beating
double time in succession to hers my mother's heart 
i nestled
and listened      to my mother's heart        beating

With Regards to Love

I took this photo some time ago.  A bit cliche I think, but I was rather pleased with it.  Sunsets and beaches, couples gazing upon horizons; images conjuring romantic visions of love.  I like that stuff, sometimes.

Love draws contemplation. Allen Ginsberg saw it as a dirty sunflower near a railroad track. Shakespeare's  Romeo observed its oxymoronic complexities, while Emily Dickinson, perhaps, found it in solitude. 

Students at Moscrop, and in many highschools across the country are at present discovering the results of their Matchmaker quests.  We love, love and yet it often evades or troubles us.

It is a worthy subject though.  I recently asked my Facebook friends to answer the question, "What advice would you give students about writing a love poem".  Their answers were varied and are still coming in. Many say to avoid cliche, and to forget about words like "baby" and "soul".   One friend mentioned that you should never send a love poem until you've had it previewed by a near and trusted friend.  Others are writing in to tell me about the first time they fell in love.  I for one, still reflect fondly on the time Ross, my grade three playmate, built a blanket tent and we knelt beneath it to listen to records.    I think  my favourite piece of advice though, was a comment credited to Barbara Adler, who says, "Don't write about how it is, write about how it could be".


Whatever you write, write it with unembarassed verve! Give it heart and guts ~ enjoy!

Rough Drafts

Being a teacher of creative writing is both thrilling and somewhat nerve wracking.  I can't seem to reconcile putting marks to a student's experimental work, sometimes written so very close to the heart.   I am also often left in awe over what a student has written and I feel perplexed with  my role to judge or evaluate. I have a privileged view.

I suppose I know a few tools of the trade. I can point your way to a metaphor.  I can recite a line from Shakespeare.  I will spot a paradox, hear the oxymoron and enjoy sharing discovery of how a writer layers meaning and gives life to words.  I think now of: "how the boredom overtook us", and that "lovers and madmen have such seething brains" (Theseus from Shakespeare's, AMidsummer Night's Dream).

I also know that human beings are entirely complex and beautiful.  I know that people have been telling stories about people for all time.  Word and voice have power.  Stories, poetry, drama, all life in action, give us avenue towards understanding and enjoying our shared existence.

I invite you, students, to contribute to the multitude of voices creating and reflecting on . . . everything!  "Say What You Think, Even If Your Voice Shakes." Take risks, try things, study others, accept feedback, throw out what you can't use, and consider everything a work in progress.

I look forward to reading your work and growing as a writer with you. :)


P.s.
When bracing for the peer or teacher feedback, remember Alice after she fell down the rabbit hole and declared:  "Well, after this, I should think of nothing of falling down stairs" (C.S. Lewis, Alice in Wonderland).