Peggy Roffey is a Londoner, transplanted from Niagara Falls and Sarnia. She started writing poetry as a teen-ager, and, inspired by Western's first writer in Residence, Margaret Avison, and professor Stan Dragland, kept interrupting her essay writing to scribble down random poems. She interrupted her Undergraduate studies after two years to thumb around Europe with a friend, having various adventures in England, Scotland, Germany, Greece, Yugoslavia, and Egypt. She came back to London, married, had two delightful red-haired children and resumed her studies. She wrote her Masters in English Lit thesis on the works of London Poet, Colleen Thibaudeau, using a big sheaf of poems gathered from multiple journals by Jean McKay, London writer and one of the founding editors of Brick magazine. In 1978, the three-year old Brick Books publishing concern (operating out of the McKay farmhouse in Ilderton) put out a small chapbook of Peggy's poems, called From the Medley. A couple of years later, Brick Books also published The Renga, a collaborative poem, written in the course of one day, by Peggy, David White (London poet and Fanshawe professor), Patrick Deane (now President of McMaster University), and Sheila McColm (married to Patrick and happy horse-farmer, weaver, and fiction-writer).
After she had completed the course work and comprehensive exams for her doctorate, Peggy's four-year Canada Council Fellowship ran out, so, on her own with her two children by then, she entered a world of work quite inimical to poetry-writing. She worked on the Philosophy of Science Journal at Western, then became Manager of Educational Services at St. Joseph's Health Centre. While there, she married London fiction writer and Fanshawe Professor, Roy Geiger, had baby #3, and finally finished her PhD thesis, Technology and Reverence: George Grant and Dennis Lee. In 2000, she became Director of Learning and Development at Western, focussed on leadership development and culture change. At the time, old Renga partner Patrick Deane was Chair of the English Department. He invited her to tip her work load into the crazy range by adding a contract teaching position in the Department. While leading her team in Learning and Development, and teaching Leadership courses to Vice-Presidents, Deans, Chairs, administrative Directors, Managers, and Supervisors, Peggy also taught 19 courses in Renaissance Literature, Introduction to Literature, Contemporary Canadian Literature, and Shakespeare. She semi-retired from her "day job" in 2011, retired from it fully in 2013, and finally retired from her role in the English Department in May 2015. After being retired for a whole 5 months, she took on a little part time role at her nearby church, writing parishioner interviews for the newsletter and generally stirring things up.
While working at Western, Peggy often ran into friend John Tyndall, London poet and Open Mike featured poet. John bugged her about starting to write poetry again and invited her to write a poem and come as a guest to his poets' group, which has been going strong for over 20 years. Finally, in 2012, she wrote a poem, the group liked it, and invited her to join. Reading and commenting on poems and exploring great ideas with the likes of John Tyndall, Patricia Black, Susan Downe, Julie Barry, John B. Lee, Mark Tovey , Jennifer Hedeges, D'vorah Elias, Mike Wilson, and Alice Braun, has been nothing short of an utter joy. In fact, it's such a rich experience, she has also joined another group with poets Christine Thorpe, David White, Ola Nowosad, Kelly McConnell, David Huebert, and Frank Beltrano. Peggy writes poems mainly to explore her past and to try to hold on to moments in her present before they get scattered by "the whirly-gig of Time."
THE EVENT
WHERE: The Mykonos Restaurant at 572 Adelaide St. North, London, Ontario. The restaurant has a large, enclosed terrace just behind the main restaurant, which comfortably holds 60 poetry lovers. Mediterranean food and drinks are available. The terrace is open to the parking lot behind. Overflow parking is available across the side street and in the large lot one block north, in front of Trad’s Furniture.
WHEN: Wednesday, Dec. 2nd, 2015. Doors: 6:00 to 6:30 (It's a restaurant.) Event begins at 7:00
THE FEATURED POET: Peggy Roffey will open the poetry portion of the event at 7:00, followed by a Q&A.
OPEN MIC: Following the featured poet, and an intermission at 8:00 pm, open mic poets will read to as late as 10:30. Each poet has five minutes (which is about two good pages of poetry, but it should be timed at home). Sign up on the reader's list, which is on the book table at the back. It's first come, first served.
COVER: This is a Pay What You Can event; you're welcome to come for free, but if you can spare some money to help us cover the cost of equipment (and whatever else), it would help us put on the show!
RAFFLE PRIZES: Anyone who donates at the event receives a ticket for a raffle prize, three of which will be picked after the intermission. The prizes consist of poetry books donated by Brick Books and The Ontario Poetry Society.
After she had completed the course work and comprehensive exams for her doctorate, Peggy's four-year Canada Council Fellowship ran out, so, on her own with her two children by then, she entered a world of work quite inimical to poetry-writing. She worked on the Philosophy of Science Journal at Western, then became Manager of Educational Services at St. Joseph's Health Centre. While there, she married London fiction writer and Fanshawe Professor, Roy Geiger, had baby #3, and finally finished her PhD thesis, Technology and Reverence: George Grant and Dennis Lee. In 2000, she became Director of Learning and Development at Western, focussed on leadership development and culture change. At the time, old Renga partner Patrick Deane was Chair of the English Department. He invited her to tip her work load into the crazy range by adding a contract teaching position in the Department. While leading her team in Learning and Development, and teaching Leadership courses to Vice-Presidents, Deans, Chairs, administrative Directors, Managers, and Supervisors, Peggy also taught 19 courses in Renaissance Literature, Introduction to Literature, Contemporary Canadian Literature, and Shakespeare. She semi-retired from her "day job" in 2011, retired from it fully in 2013, and finally retired from her role in the English Department in May 2015. After being retired for a whole 5 months, she took on a little part time role at her nearby church, writing parishioner interviews for the newsletter and generally stirring things up.
While working at Western, Peggy often ran into friend John Tyndall, London poet and Open Mike featured poet. John bugged her about starting to write poetry again and invited her to write a poem and come as a guest to his poets' group, which has been going strong for over 20 years. Finally, in 2012, she wrote a poem, the group liked it, and invited her to join. Reading and commenting on poems and exploring great ideas with the likes of John Tyndall, Patricia Black, Susan Downe, Julie Barry, John B. Lee, Mark Tovey , Jennifer Hedeges, D'vorah Elias, Mike Wilson, and Alice Braun, has been nothing short of an utter joy. In fact, it's such a rich experience, she has also joined another group with poets Christine Thorpe, David White, Ola Nowosad, Kelly McConnell, David Huebert, and Frank Beltrano. Peggy writes poems mainly to explore her past and to try to hold on to moments in her present before they get scattered by "the whirly-gig of Time."
THE EVENT
WHERE: The Mykonos Restaurant at 572 Adelaide St. North, London, Ontario. The restaurant has a large, enclosed terrace just behind the main restaurant, which comfortably holds 60 poetry lovers. Mediterranean food and drinks are available. The terrace is open to the parking lot behind. Overflow parking is available across the side street and in the large lot one block north, in front of Trad’s Furniture.
WHEN: Wednesday, Dec. 2nd, 2015. Doors: 6:00 to 6:30 (It's a restaurant.) Event begins at 7:00
THE FEATURED POET: Peggy Roffey will open the poetry portion of the event at 7:00, followed by a Q&A.
OPEN MIC: Following the featured poet, and an intermission at 8:00 pm, open mic poets will read to as late as 10:30. Each poet has five minutes (which is about two good pages of poetry, but it should be timed at home). Sign up on the reader's list, which is on the book table at the back. It's first come, first served.
COVER: This is a Pay What You Can event; you're welcome to come for free, but if you can spare some money to help us cover the cost of equipment (and whatever else), it would help us put on the show!
RAFFLE PRIZES: Anyone who donates at the event receives a ticket for a raffle prize, three of which will be picked after the intermission. The prizes consist of poetry books donated by Brick Books and The Ontario Poetry Society.
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