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London Open Mic Poetry Archive

Featured Poet David W. Janzen to kick off 2017-18 Season

8/14/2017

London Open Mic Poetry is delighted to present David W. Janzen as our featured poet on September 6th, 2017, the opening night of our 2017-18 season.

David Janzen is a writer and social philosopher. He also writes and performs music under the moniker Local Haunts. His work has received creative and academic awards, including a National Magazine Award (Honourable Mention), the EVENT Non-fiction Prize, and the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Award. Born and raised a prairie kid, David now lives in London, Ontario.

David's reading begins promptly at 7:00 p.m., so please arrive early. His reading will be followed by a Q&A session and a short intermission. The Open Mic segment of the evening begins right after the intermission.

WHEN: September 6, 2017. Poetry begins promptly at 7 pm. Come anytime before that.
WHERE: Mykonos Restaurant at 572 Adelaide St. North, London, Ontario. The restaurant has a large, covered terrace just behind the main restaurant, which comfortably holds 60 poetry lovers. Mediterranean food and drinks are available. Overflow parking is available across the side street and in the large lot one block north, in front of Trad’s Furniture.

OPEN MIC: Following the featured poet, 15 open mic poets will read until 9:30 at the latest, with an intermission at about 8:00. Each poet has no more than five minutes at the mic. If you'd like to read, please put your name on the list of readers, which is at the book table at the rear of the room.
COVER: By donation. Please pay what you can by placing your donation in the jar at the book table at the rear of the room. Donations are our only source of income to cover expenses.
RAFFLE PRIZES: Anyone who donates at the event receives a ticket for a raffle prize. Tickets will be drawn and prizes given out during the intermission. The prizes consist of poetry books donated by The Ontario Poetry Society.

A mid-summer open mic at Mykonos

8/9/2017

The Ontario Poetry Society (TOPS) is holding its annual gathering and open mic at London's Mykonos Restaurant Aug. 27th.

Everyone is invited, members and non-members alike. If you've enjoyed London Open Mic at the same beautiful venue in the past, you can get another taste of it, and read at the open mic as well before next season opens on September 6th.

A similar TOPS event in Sarnia was the original inspiration for the founding of London Open Mic Poetry by Stan Burfield five seasons ago, in 2012. He has now handed over his role as London Open Mic's organizer to Mary Dowds and Kevin Heslop, and will perform his very last duty as a co-host at the August 27th TOPS event.

WHAT: The TOPS Sultry Summer Poetry Gathering
Members Readings, Open Mic & Free Admission

WHEN: Sunday August 27th 12:30 PM. – 4:00 P.M.

WHERE: Mykonos Restaurant,
572 Adelaide St. North,
London, Ontario

FEATURING: The Heat Wave Raffle with many exciting prize packages of brand new books to win!
Sponsored By
Random House of Canada, Guernica Editions,
Vallum Magazine, Brick Books,
Serengeti Press, HMS Press,
Quattro Books, Creative Vocalization Studio,
The Azrieli Foundation, Snowapple Press,
Dundurn Press, Hidden Brook Press &
The Canada-Cuba Literary Alliance

Summer Poetry Salon - August 11, 7:00 p.m.

8/8/2017

Joan Clayton, our London Open Mic Emcee, is hosting a summer poetry salon on
Friday, August 11th at 7:00 p.m. at 513 Princess Street.
"The more the merrier," says Joan -
the event is open to all.

Thames River walks with London's Poet Laureate

7/24/2017

The River Writes Through Us. Walking the Antler with Tom Cull
Saturday, July 29, 2017 at 1:00 pm to 2:30pm
Cost: $5.00
Join London’s poet laureate as he takes you along the Thames (first called the Antler) and through a series of creative writing activities inspired by the walk. Take home a completed poem. New and experienced writers welcome!

Register through Museum London

Walks run twice each Saturday, 10:30 to 12:00 noon and 1:00 to 2:30 pm Cost: $5 per person

Sneak peek at the upcoming 2017-18 season

7/21/2017

UPCOMING FEATURED POETS

Sixth Season (2017-2018):

September 6, 2017: David Janzen

October 4, 2017: Kevin Shaw

November 1, 2017: Joshua Shuster

December 6, 2017: John "David" White

February 7, 2018: Beryl Baigent

March 7, 2018: Blair Trewartha

April 4, 2018: TBA

May 2, 2018: TBA

June 6, 2018: Annick Laura Leontine Macaskill

Many thanks to Kevin Heslop for organizing this fabulous lineup of poets.

These events take place on the rear terrace at Mykonos Restaurant (572 Adelaide Street N)
from 6:30-9:00 p.m. and include twenty minutes of readings by a featured poet followed by roughly an hour of open mic. Admission is by donation (pay what you can).
Nearly all of the roughly twenty five Londoners with published books have agreed to read at Poetry Open Mic Poetry nights. We are deliberately interspersing the more well-known with the lesser-known poets. Anyone whom we have not contacted, please talk to us at London Open Mic Poetry Night.
Occasionally we will feature something different than a single published poet. In the past, we had four senior UWO English students read poems they'd written for the occasion. If you have an idea for a special feature, something locally oriented, please feel free to share your suggestion.
If you have a book to be released during the next two years and would like to feature your work at a London Open Mic event, we'd like to schedule your reading as closely as possible to your book launch. Please contact us at mdowds1111@gmail.com

A month ago, on June 7th, the very last London Open Mic of my five seasons as organizer was held at Mykonos Restaurant, our usual venue. 45 people came out to hear me read my poetry as feature, and to read theirs in the open mic.

Several things stood out to me: first, my wife Linda, who is shyer than I was when I started London Open Mic (partly to help rid myself of my own shyness), introduced me with her first-ever stage presentation before any audience ever in her life. Amazingly, she didn't pass out from the stress, or worse. I had been quite worried. Actually, she handled it quite well. And the audience appreciated her for it. Linda had not told me what she was going to say in advance, so when she said nice things about me, like how much affection she has for me, it was moving, not only for the audience. She did make a few factual errors in my bio, but considering that she put it all together from memory years after hearing the stories of my past, she did a pretty good job.

When I finished my reading and the Q&A, I stepped down to take my seat and was shocked by everybody else standing up. At first, I didn't get what was happening and it just seemed odd, until I realized it was a standing ovation! Wow. That felt as good as it was unexpected. It's nice to know that people appreciate and like the open mic that much. Thanks, everyone!

In the open mic section after the break, Martin Hayter surprised me by reading a beautiful poem he called "Stan Burfield". Martin and I have come to know each other pretty good since our days attending Ron Stewart's excellent workshop before I started the open mic. His poem described me so well that it was like looking in a mirror. Better, actually, because as I listened to Martin read it was like seeing a reflection not of how I look but of the real me inside, which, to a shy person, is the only "me" that matters. Thanks for the experience, Martin! Watch Martin read it. (It's the third poem).

See the SLIDE SHOW and SUMMARY for the June 7th open mic.

See the VIDEO playlist: The videos include:

Featured reading by founder Stan Burfield, with introductions by new co-organizer Kevin Heslop and Linda Burfield, followed by a Q&A, some tributes from audience members (including Poet Laureate Tom Cull, Ola Nowosad, Ron Stewart) as well as some thank-yous from Stan. Stan also read a poem "for Stan Burfield" from Don Gutteridge.
Open mic readers: Martin Hayter reading his poem called "Stan Burfield", David Stones, Robyn Marie Butt, Chris Mantle, VJ Knutson, Meenal Rajani, Dan Lenart, Janice McDonald, Kelly Creighton, Claire Hutchinson, Paul Branton.
Watch any one of the videos or all of them.
Special thanks to volunteer videographer Sebastian Rydzewski. If you or anyone you know can use his videography or IT services, please contact him. Sebastian is trying to increase his client base and anything you can do for him will help to keep him with us. For enquiries: http://www.customprojectslondon.com/ Video describing Sebastian's services.

The climax of my organizing adventure was this astonishing dream:

What an adventure this has been, and so late in my life! Adventure is usually thought of as a young person’s thing, and I certainly indulged myself when I was young. But a life never stops changing, either willingly or unwillingly. So it makes sense that a person should jump into those changes whole-heartedly, making adventures of them.

In my case, I was dealing with lifelong high anxiety, that mainly manifested itself as shyness. My adventure of trying to rid myself of it consisted mostly of physical high-endurance adventures designed simply to make me feel stronger, physically and mentally. They did that, but it had no effect on my anxiety. It was only decades later, in my 60s, that I finally figured out how to tackle it properly: I would have to meet my fears of people head on. The climax of that adventure saw me becoming a social organizer, which was the last thing I would have ever wanted to be. It would either kill me or cure me of my shyness.

I started out by attending Ron Stewart's poetry workshop, and then, lacking a place where I could take that next step further into fear by reading my poems in public, I founded and organized London Open Mic Poetry. Well, it did it's therapeutic job: I survived it and am no longer nearly as shy as I was before these five seasons began.

Half way through, I experienced in a very dramatic way how far I had come--in an astonishing dream. All my life, my nighttime dreams have contained very few people, and those they did contain usually looked weird in some way, not quite human, or just poorly drawn, and anyway seldom represented actual people but were more likely to be symbolic of something else. Then, somewhere in the middle of my years as organizer, I awoke from a dream that was exactly the opposite, and to the ultimate extreme: it was full of people, beautifully real people, all socializing and all enjoying it. I had entered a large restaurant and was slowly walking through it, between tables full of people, all of whom were very detailed in their faces, expressions, their colourful clothes, even in their conversations, which I heard a bit of as I passed each table. There were no empty chairs. And no one in the restaurant was just sitting there bored. Everyone was part of some excited conversation, but each of which was unique, as were all the individuals themselves, as unique as they would be in the real world, excited, interested in each other, many laughing, or just talking, others listening. But the thing is, they were all socializing comfortably, in a healthy way. I was astonished, and walked slowly from one large room into another in the restaurant, each one full, enjoying it all. Until finally I woke up. This had been my subconscious talking to me, demonstrating it’s new attitude. Revelling in people for the first time. And SOOO excited about it. And I was amazed that my dream mind could create so many perfect, live people all populating only a couple minutes of real time. Ever since that morning I’ve enjoyed talking to people--strangers, friends, anybody.

So thank you to everyone who has come to the open mic, and especially to those who have kept coming, despite my many social faux pas (no truly shy person ever learns much in the way of social skills). You are the proofs my fearful subconscious needed, that no one was going to lop off my head each time I opened my mouth. And one thing I’ve learned in this adventure is that the subconscious can’t be argued with. It’s not reasonable. You can’t persuade it with beautiful logic. To the dream mind, logic is water off a duck’s back. The only thing it takes seriously is proof. And not just a bit of proof--lots of it. You open mic readers, you featured poets, you poetry aficionados, you were the proof my subconscious took seriously. Every time I stood on the stage and told a stupid joke that nobody laughed at, or introduced the event so awkwardly that my inner cringe was all I could feel, or simply spoke with such lack of speed and finesse that I felt like a beginner in my own language, you didn’t desert me. Nobody ever got up and stamped out. And you kept returning. That was the proof I needed. And after a couple years of that, I woke to that wonderful dream. So thank you from the bottom of my heart!

In the process, I've gotten to know a lot of people. Before this, I hardly knew, or wanted to know, anybody other than Linda.

And, in the process, I have an open mic to read my poems at.

And I've learned a LOT about poetry that I didn't know before, and become a much better poet myself.

And I've helped a local community of poets to form. All shy people have a dream of community in the back of their minds somewhere, and of being part of one. Well, after five years there is much more of a community here in London than there was before.

Success, and the proof of it!

Early on, I began to fantasize about London Open Mic fostering a poetry community in the city, to the point where I actually told a few people that I would consider us a success, a real success, when I heard of the first person moving here from elsewhere because of the poetry scene, instead of leaving for Toronto. Of course, nobody took me seriously. Someone said, "Good luck with that," and another, "You're kidding," and a couple just laughed.

Well, my idea is that London Open Mic and it's spinoff Couplets are two more big poetry events added to the two already here (Poetry London and London Poetry Slam), which means there are two more reasons for people to keep thinking about poetry, and writing it. If, every time they turn around, they see another poetry thing taking place, how can it not excite them, and once they’re into the idea because so many other people are, it could very well become a local fashion, and then the poetry itself will take over. It only needs to get its toe in.

But somebody moving here because of the poetry scene? Seriously? Well, at the June 7th open mic, after I had finished my Q&A and after Poet Laureate Tom Cull and Ola Nowosad and Ron Stewart and Mykonos-owner Heidi all finished saying a few kind words about me, a lady from the audience, Robyn Marie Butt, who has been driving in from Woodstock for some time now to read at the open mic, got up and said, "...I'm one! I'm planning to move to London and actually it's entirely because of the atmosphere and the culture of this event!"

YEAH!! SUCCESS!! And much laughter and smiles and happiness and peace. And all the other good things that come in the end.

"STAN BURFIELD"--a poem by Martin Hayter

6/19/2017

When Martin read this poem at London Open Mic (June 7th, 2017), it was intended as a tribute to me for founding the open mic and keeping it going these five seasons. But during that time Martin has come to know me so well--and is such a good poet--that listening to him read it was an astonishing experience for me, a bit like looking in a mirror, but much deeper, because what was being reflected wasn't the superficial me (which we introverts hardly notice anyway) but the inner me that I actually think of as myself. And it was so accurate! Here it is. --- Stan

STAN BURFIELD

Dreaming in science, he watches the brainwaves of REM sleep lining
the royal road to the subconscious, brighter with the logic filters off,
but from the eleventh floor balcony, he farms the nature of existence
in gardens of language, plowing through pages, his eyes lifting from

there to the sky, to gauge the rainfall, hoping for a harvest of poetry.
He shuffles through leaves, among the five pillars of wisdom reading
the trees, when his eyes stray to the discovery channel, where human
settlements line the tunnels of Mars, in computer-generated imagery.

Since his solitary pilgrimmages across Canada, exploring the foreign
parts of himself, since camping out rough in closed parks, wintering
in his own worst fear, and waiting for that wilderness inside to thaw,

still finding himself just shy of man, the dreaming scientist had found
instead the perrenial seeds of poetry, fielding memories into a prairie
with radiant horizons rushing out, taking him far from the farmhouse
his father built blind, to a tent and a book of poems read by flashlight.

And poetry became a kind of crop circle: he gathers people inside
the mystery of its existence, spiralling in its language, translating
the alien brought to earth, through poems tunneling, like black holes

filling with light: reasons here, for the readings on the event horizon,
and gradually shedding the husk of fear, he climbs storeys of stairs
to wonder again at the night sky, touching down in the dream state,

more accepting now of being, his apparent solidity, despite knowing
we're all just centres of gravity, where atoms constellate, with so much
space between, we could think ourselves alien, even unto ourselves

if we thought too obviously. Despite this, he hears what he listens to,
sees what he looks at, absorbs more of life now, keeping the ink wet
he once left drying in the distance, out of hearing of others who called

from so far away, he didn’t believe, and feared to believe, that they
were calling to him, until he circled back to claim his calling among us,
standing at the microphone, on the patio behind Mikonos, right here

the first Wednesday each month, for London Open Mic Poetry night:
his brainchild spoken for here. The farmer calls on the seasons of life
in generations of voices he announces by name, to a room in the world
his heart's made room for, marking his place in the leaves of grass.

No longer foreign on this mutual pilgrimmage to the podium, he reads
with humans he now stands among, paging the unknown, and moving
inward through prairies of poetry. Where we plant our feet can seem
a barren and solitary place of silence, but entering together, we bloom.

@@@

To read the summary of the event and see the slideshow.
To read the interview with Stan & three poems.

Stan Burfield

Guess who will get up on the stage to speak on Wednesday!

6/5/2017

A while ago, I was wondering out loud about whom I should ask to introduce me at my featured reading at the June open mic (on Wednesday). My first choice was Kevin Heslop, but no harm going over other names as well. I was startled when Linda suddenly became very serious, stood in front of me, looked me in the eyes, and said, "I've been thinking I would like to."

She is the shyest person I know. I was shocked. I said, "Sure! Of course, if you're up to it." I loved the idea, but I could also imagine the fear she would be feeling, and the courage it would take for her to get up there in front of that room full of people.

She said she would take lots of time thinking about what to say, and then writing it, which she's doing today. I suggested that if, at the last minute, she thinks she's going to freeze up, she could always ask someone else to read it for her. But just considering doing it is a huge thing for her. Not only is she shy, she's not very word-oriented either. So transitioning from her normal visual mind to reading words, in the midst of fear, is going to be hard.

One thing that will help her is that, over these five seasons of manning the book table, she's come to know a lot of the people who regularly attend. She's told me they feel like family to her now. That can't hurt.

"Thanks, Don"

5/31/2017

Don Gutteridge, who is currently Professor Emeritus at Western and was our Nov. 2016 featured poet, and who has over 20 volumes of poetry to his credit, sent me a letter last week as follows:

“Stan: When I read your biography about your upbringing in Alberta, your years in the flower shop, and your lifelong battle with shyness (and its torture), I was moved to write a little poem about your defiance and persistence and the role that poetry played.”

DEFY

For Stan Burfield

For more than a dozen years
you were surrounded by blooms
in your shop, a long way
from Alberta’s unlyrical
land, and when you tried
your hand at verse, were
your first poems for poppies
and their roaring red, sonnets
for sunflowers a-burst
in lavish light, lyrics
for larkspur and their passionate
purple, or pentameters
for peonies and their kissing cousins?
Did you let them speak
for you, go soaring through the
petrified petal of your fear?
For poetry is both bliss
and consolation, a way of speaking
to the world that subsumes
both shy and defy.

--Don Gutteridge

And only one day earlier, Don had sent me this message:

“Stan: I went onto your facebook page and saw that beautiful poem there. Gorgeous imagery and wonderful pace. … Anyway, poetry begets poetry. I sat right down and penned the attached poem, inspired by yours. I am looking forward to hearing you read on the YouTube video of your performance.”

MY TURN

Whenever I think of death,
I take a deep breath
and congratulate myself
on being alive, ever
since that day
long ago when I wished
my way out of the womb and uttered
my first articulate cry
and wondered how many
had come before me
in humanity’s slow bloom
all the way back to the
great apes and their generous
genes and the dinosaurs who groomed
the ancient foliage of the Earth
and finally the fish-churned
sea where something
grew anew, a birth
with no antecedent,
a blip in God’s thought,
and here I am against
the odds still living,
waiting patiently for my turn.

--Don Gutteridge

This is the poem Mr. Gutteridge had read:

CONCERNING OUR GLORIOUS FUTURE
.
As I lift the spoon
from this morning’s coffee
I feel the same long pull of time
that my father did
my mother
that their parents did
and theirs
a chain rattling down
into the well so far
I cannot imagine.
And up, out of that darkness
into this present,
all of it--
the slow ages of our reptilian forebears,
our fearful hominid ancestors,
the entire charging ascent of Man--
comes to a juddering halt
at this drop of coffee
falling
from this
spoon.

We are stranded here
immovable
at the endpoint
of time, banging
our heads
on the ceiling.

--Stan Burfield

Suffice it to say, I feel honoured. Thanks, Don!

Don has a new book of poetry out, Sands of Canatara, of which he is donating 19 copies to London Open Mic. If any of you who received one of his books from his feature reading would like one of these, gratis, email me and you can pick it up Wednesday. The remaining copies will be given away first-come first-served.

BIO: Don Gutteridge is the author of more than fifty books, including poetry, fiction and scholarly works in educational theory and practice. In 1972 he won the President’s Medal at The University of Western Ontario for his poem "Death At Quebec". Among his best-known poems are the mythic tetralogy: Riel: A Poem For Voices, Coppermine: The Quest For North, Borderlands, and Tecumseh. Gutteridge is best known across Canada for his historical fiction. He has also recently produced a series of mystery novels, The Marc Edwards Mysteries.

Don Gutteridge was born in Sarnia, Ontario in 1937, and was raised in the nearby village of Point Edward, Ontario. His high schooling took place in Sarnia and Chatham, Ontario. He attended the University of Western Ontario (UWO), where he graduated with a BA Honours in English in 1960. Gutteridge then taught high school English for seven years before joining the Faculty of Education at UWO in 1969. He is currently Professor Emeritus. He lives in London, Ontario with his wife Anne. He has two children, John and Kate, and six grandchildren.

Read our interview with Don Gutteridge, and three poems.
Read our interview with Stan Burfield, and three poems.

THE EVENT

WHERE: Mykonos Restaurant at 572 Adelaide St. North, London, Ontario. The restaurant has a large, covered terrace just behind the main restaurant, which comfortably holds 60 poetry lovers. Mediterranean food and drinks are available. Overflow parking is available across the side street and in the large lot one block north, in front of Trad’s Furniture.

WHEN: June 7th, 2017. Poetry begins at 7 pm. Come anytime before that and place your order.

THE FEATURED POET: Stan Burfield opens the event at 7:00, followed by a Q&A.

OPEN MIC: Following the featured poet, 15 open mic poets will read until 9:30 at the latest, with an intermission at about 8:00. 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: Pay What You Can (in jar on back table, or use Donate Button on website Donate Page). Donations are our only source of income to cover expenses.

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 The Ontario Poetry Society.

FOUNDER STAN BURFIELD TO FEATURE JUNE 7TH

5/14/2017

The featured poet at the June 7th, 2017 London Open Mic will be the organization’s founder and organizer Stan Burfield. The June event is the last of his tenure, the culmination of five seasons of work. He will be passing the torch to co-organizers Mary Dowds and Kevin Heslop. Before his featured reading, he will be introduced by his wife Linda.
.
BURFIELD’S BIO:

I was raised on a small farm in central Alberta. My first ambition, a very serious one, was to live alone in a log cabin as a trapper. That changed to farmer, then biologist, then journalist, then florist.

In Calgary, I studied biology, then journalism. Amongst numerous more-nondescript jobs, I was for two years a reporter.

Then, over a four-year period, I went on some extremely long, arduous adventures by foot, canoe and bicycle, hoping they would break me out of my life-long shyness and anxiety. No such luck. So, having read that poetry was a possible route into the subconscious, which I assumed was the home of my anxiety, I took a poetry anthology out into a closed provincial park near St. John’s, Newfoundland. For a month and a half, I read, wrote and memorized poetry until it floated across the sky in my dreams. But it did nothing for my anxiety.

In 1987, I married Linda, a flower designer, and we opened and ran a flower shop in Vancouver for nineteen years.

When we sold the shop and semi-retired, we moved to London, Ontario in 2008 to be near our children and grandchildren.

With more time on my hands, I revved up my poetry writing, and, as a form of shyness therapy, began attending Ron Stewart's excellent poetry workshop. When I got used to that, the next logical step in the direction of my fear was to find a place to read to an audience. Since there was no open mic for regular “page poets” in London then, I decided I would have to organize one. In doing so, the constant social contacts that were necessary turned out to be just the therapy I needed. The stress nearly killed me but I eventually got used to it, and by the fifth season had lost most of my shyness. After 62 years, I felt like I was stepping through a door into a completely new life.

In the process, my ability to write decent poetry has dramatically improved. And I have a place to read it!

RECOGNITION:

The 2014 Ted Plantos Memorial Award from The Ontario Poetry Society.
2nd Prize in the 2014 Poetry London Poetry Contest.

LONDON OPEN MIC'S FUTURE

5/10/2017

Future seasons of London Open Mic Poetry will be led by two organizers: Mary Dowds and Kevin Heslop. They will be backed up by an organizing committee.

As co-organizers, Dowds and Heslop will each specialize in specific aspects of organizing, and will share others.

Mary Dowds will be responsible for most of the internet work and for keeping everything chugging forward as it should, making sure every aspect of the series takes place at it’s designated time. She has already carved out a very new job for herself as well, using her accurate reporting skills to write detailed summaries of the Q&As by the featured readers. Watch for her first one in her summary of Jason Dickson’s feature, to be posted shortly.

Kevin Heslop will put most of his energy into the community, into all the ways London Open Mic can promote poetry outside of its traditional venue. Of course, he will also continue to do what he is most known for, interviewing the featured poets.

Mary Dowds recently moved to London from Victoria, where she was involved in the local poetry scene. Luckily, she responded to our ad for help in carrying London Open Mic forward when current organizer/founder Stan Burfield retires this season. (June 7th at Mykonos Restaurant is his last event, at which he will also be the featured poet.)

From Mary’s bio: “Mary Dowds was previously a Court Reporter. Having written millions of other people's words, she now enjoys writing many of her own. Mary was also a live TV broadcast captioner "and always some kid's mom."

Kevin Heslop has been a member of London Open Mic’s organizing committee since near the beginning and has specialized in interviewing featured poets, researching them massively before posing his famously-appropriate questions. Within the organization, Kevin is known and highly valued for his ability to solve complex problems with finesse and subtlety. He also knows the community, not only the poetry community but also the institutions of the city and the proper ways of approaching them when trying to accomplish things. Kevin has been known to the public for his sometimes-astonishing poetry, but lately has been taking a break while he gets his acting career off the ground. He has just finished his third role on the stage, a starring role in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew at The Grand. See our review.

Kevin’s (earlier) bio: “Kevin Heslop is a twenty year old writer-in-the-making, currently attending Western University as an English major. He is heavily influenced by the poetry and prose of Charles Bukowski and Ernest Hemingway, the philosophical works of Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Neitzsche, the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh and Pablo Picasso and the music of J.S. Bach and Miles Davis. When not reading or writing, Kevin is either playing the drums, drawing with an 8B pencil and/or feeling distressed about not writing.”

----Stan Burfield, fulfilling one of my last duties.

Metaphor coming to Basic Poetics

4/30/2017

"Hast thou given the horse strength (by giving him sin)? Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?" Job 39/19

How's that for a metaphor? Powerful. Speaking of metaphor, that's the topic of our next meeting of the Basic Poetics Study Group, to be presented bySheila Deane on May 13th, 2-4. Everyone welcome. Just email me, burfield@live.com

Tom Cull & Erik Mandawe at Couplets

4/29/2017

Luckily, last night I made it to the Couplets Reading Series (#8) and had the pleasure of hearing Tom Cull read poetry and converse with the very interesting indigenous gentleman Erik Mandawe who spoke at length and drummed and sang in his "spirit voice". Beautiful and mind-expanding.

Tom and Erik's collaboration is a long-term thing, so I'm going to suggest to the future organizers of London Open Mic Poetry that they feature them together at some point in future. I suggested it to Tom and he was all for it. If you listen to Erik narrating and singing in this video, you'll get some idea why I'm so enthusiastic.

About Tom Cull & Erik Mandawe and the Couplets Reading Series

Our interviewer, Kevin Heslop, is also an actor.

4/16/2017

The Taming of the Shrew
Presented by Funeral Pyre Theatre in association with Squirrel Suit Productions

April 26 to May 6, 2017

McManus Stage

Director: Liam Grunté
Stage Manager Julia McCarthy
Producers Liam Grunté and Carlyn Rhamey
Starring Kevin Heslop and Ashley Fage
Also featuring Neva Gunther, Tristan Watts, Irene Paibulsirijit, Andrea Avila, Mya Matos, Gareth Ross, Holly Holden, Lyndsey Burns, Olivia Little and Kendall Robertson

“The Taming of the Shrew” is renowned as Shakespeare's most controversial play. It is a tale of mistaken identity, deception and complicated love triangles. The plot thickens as suitors of the fair Bianca convince a visiting stranger to marry her older sister Katherina in order to allow Bianca to be eligible to be wed. However, Katherina is not a willing participant in their plans.

Reversing the roles in this production brings a fresh perspective to an old yarn, allowing the audience to experience the story from alternative points of view.

FP Theatre is proud to announce that a portion of the proceeds from this production are being donated in support of the London Abused Women's Centre #ShinetheLight on Women's Abuse campaign.

Recommended for ages 14+

April poetry events (National Poetry Month) in London ON area.

4/1/2017

(We're posting them as they come in, but only if they're written in the compact style of the entries below.)

Wed. 5th: London Open Mic Poetry: Mykonos Rest., featuring James Deahl & Norma West Linder. Has open mic. 7 pm. Pay What You Can Event. http://www.londonpoetryopenmic.com/news/do-you-have-an-april-poetry-event
Sat. 8th: Basic Poetics Study Group, 1st edition on "line breaks", open to everyone, hosted by London Open Mic, each month one participant teaches the others about an aspect of poetics. 2 pm, Landon Branch Library, Community Room. Cost about $2 each to pay for room rental. http://www.londonpoetryopenmic.com/news/basic-poetics-study-group-meeting-1-sat-april-8th-youre-invited
Sun. 9th: Lois Marie Harrod Poetry Writing Workshop, ALL DAY, in 3 parts, from 10 am into the evening, at Forest City Gallery and Mykonos Restaurant. Included in workshop: writing small poems, creating origami poetry books, Ekphrasis poetry, followed by reading and open mic. Fee for the day is $50. (meals not included). Contact Frank Beltrano frankbeltrano@hotmail.com or Sharon Lindenburger slinden@rogers.com Learn more about Lois Mary Harrod.
Wed 12th: Open Workshop, hosted by London Open Mic, participants critique each other's poems, 6:30, Landon Branch Library Wortley Room, If interested, email Stan at burfield@live.com http://www.londonpoetryopenmic.com/news/join-our-new-poetry-workshop
Tues. 18th: Sarnia-Lambton’s 2017 National Poetry Month Celebration, readings by Kara Ghobhainn Smith, Sharon Berg, James Deahl, Norma West Linder, Carmen Ziolkowski, and Debbie Okun Hill, 7 to 9 p.m. at John’s Restaurant’s Famous Room, 1643 London Line in Sarnia. Admission is free. More information athttps://okunhill.wordpress.com/2017/03/23/sarnia-lambton-poets-prepare-for-npm17-celebrations/
Wed. 19th: Poetry London featuring ULRIKKA GERNES & JOHN NYMAN: Landon Branch Library, readings at 7:30pm, pre-reading workshop at 6:30pm
Fri. 21st: London Poetry Slam Finals: Aeolian Hall, 7:30, $10.00

Do you have an April poetry event?

4/1/2017

I'm making a list of National Poetry Month events in the London area (out as far as Sarnia and Stratford). Yes, it's starting today. If you have something you would like on it, send it to me ASAP at burfield@live.com

Showing Mary the ropes

3/28/2017

At the cafe today, I was showing London Open Mic's new Internet Manager, Mary Dowds, what it takes to put an interview blurb together and post it, this one of James Deahl and Norma Linder, our April 5th features. I walked home smiling because this is the last interview I'll ever have to tackle! After five years of them. The very last one! YES!!! Thanks, Mary! Here it is: http://www.londonpoetryopenmic.com/…/james-deahl-norma-west…

Basic Poetics Study Group, meeting #1: Sat. April 8th. You're invited.

3/21/2017

Sat. April 8th, 2017: the launch of this series of get-togethers and learning sessions for London, Ont. poets who would like to learn more poetics, brush up on what they've forgotten, or just get to know some fellow poets.

(Earlier we announced it as April 1st, but, sorry, the room wasn't available.)

Group founder, Stan Burfield, will be the 1st episode teacher, discussing something he has forever been guessing at: line breaks.

The general idea behind the group:

1. This group is be mainly for poets (and poetry lovers) with less formal education in poetry than they would like to have. For example, yours truly.

2. Because poetry is like chess in that a person can become endlessly more proficient at it (because of its ancient lineage and because bright people have been studying it and writing and teaching about it for nearly that whole time), there is a God-awful lot to learn. Thus the world of poets can be divided into two groups: those with a formal university education specializing to some degree in poetry, and those without one.

3. The group's professors will be the group members themselves. Those who would like to will pick a topic from the world of poetics, research it, and present it, discuss it, show examples of it in poems, and generally get the group thinking about how, why, and when to apply it, and what happens if it's not applied, and so on. In other words, by the end of each session, everyone should have a new tool at their disposal to help them enrich their poetry. (And to help them read others' poetry.)

4. Topics will include especially the aspects of poetics most commonly employed in contemporary poetry, but not limited to them. Some examples: the major aspects of poetry, including lines, syntax, diction, trope, rhetoric, rhythm, meter, stanza and then some of the zillion sub-categories like enjambment, stress, scansion, allusion, imagism, metaphor, free verse, feeling, metonymy, allusion, abstraction, how to read a poem, etc etc.

Send me an email so I can put you on the invite list: burfield@live.com

Thanks, Stan Burfield

Mary Dowds takes a huge load off Stan's shoulders

3/19/2017

London Open Mic is happy to announce our newest committee member: Mary Dowds. Mary is in training to become our Internet Manager, just in time to take over that responsibility from Stan Burfield, the current London Open Mic organizer and series founder, as he is set to retire from active duty at the end of this season, June 7th, 2017.

Mary Dowds was previously a Court Reporter. Having written millions of other people's words, she now enjoys writing many of her own. Mary was also a live TV broadcast captioner "and always some kid's mom". .

Deciding about the future of the open mic.

3/15/2017

As organizer, I have a big decision to make before the end of April.

I want this to be my last season, and, if that turns out to be the case, there are three events left that I'm responsible for. But what comes after that? Well, at least we now know there will be a next season because we have a new volunteer who will be doing most of my duties, consisting of all the internet work (website, facebook, tweeting, newsletters, constant communication with people). Mary Dowds, whom I'm training now, is our new Internet Manager. Nobody else in our group either has the time or the ability to do this essential work. So, with Mary, the open mic will definitely be able to continue.

The big question in my mind is what form the administration of the open mic will take. The ideal would be a group of equals, with each member taking responsibility for a share of the work, and each excitedly trying to make the open mic work. Sounds good, and it's my #1 hope, but having researched it a bit, it seems committee-run organizations tend to get bogged down in rancour and conflict, often resulting in some members leaving, and even, occasionally, the demise of the organization.

I have till the end of April to feel out the volunteers who are actively working on the open mic now. If I decide by then that a committee-run system wouldn't work then I have two choices: to appoint someone to take over my position, or to stay on as organizer for another season to try to work out some lasting solution more gradually.

Reminder: Wednesday is our new POETRY WORKSHOP!

3/5/2017

London Open Mic is opening to the public a new poetry workshop. The Wed. March 8th workshop (at 6:30) is modelled after, and in honour of, the workshops pioneered in London by veteran facilitator Ron Stewart.

Each participant will bring copies of their poem, which will be read silently by everyone, then read aloud by the poet, then critiqued, first in terms of what people like about the poem, then in terms of ideas for possible improvement.

Participants aren’t required to bring a poem but can nevertheless join in the critiquing.

A maximum of six poems can be critiqued in the time allowed per session. From experience, twenty minutes allows us to get into each poem in depth. To accommodate more people, we are going to use a sign-up sheet. Everyone will sign up as they arrive and the first six will go first. Those who don’t make the cut will automatically be at the top of the sheet for the next month. If so many people come that even the sign-up sheet technique isn’t going to work, then we will start a second, Saturday workshop. The names left over from the first workshop will be at the top of the Saturday list, and then again at the next Wednesday list. If it’s no-show by then, they will be dropped.

Beginning March 8th, it will be held at 6:30 on the second Wednesday of each month at Landon Branch Library at 167 Wortley Rd. in London’s Wortley Village, in the downstairs room at the far end of the hall. If you would like to attend, bring ten copies of your poem (max. length, one page.)

Further info: burfield@live.com167 Wortley Rd

JOIN OUR NEW POETRY WORKSHOP

2/23/2017

London Open Mic is opening to the public a new poetry workshop. The March 8th workshop is modelled after, and in honour of, the workshops pioneered in London by veteran facilitator Ron Stewart.

Each participant will bring copies of their poem, which will be read silently by everyone, then read aloud by the poet, then critiqued, first in terms of what people like about the poem, then in terms of ideas for possible improvement.

Participants aren’t required to bring a poem but can nevertheless join in the critiquing.

A maximum of six poems can be critiqued in the time allowed per session. From experience, twenty minutes allows us to get into each poem in depth. To accommodate more people, we are going to use a sign-up sheet. Everyone will sign up as they arrive and the first six will go first. Those who don’t make the cut will automatically be at the top of the sheet for the next month. If so many people come that even the sign-up sheet technique isn’t going to work, then we will start a second, Saturday workshop. The names left over from the first workshop will be at the top of the Saturday list, and then again at the next Wednesday list. If it’s no-show by then, they will be dropped.

Beginning March 8th, it will be held every second Wednesday at Landon Branch Library in London’s Wortley Village, in the downstairs room at the far end of the hall. If you would like to attend, bring ten copies of your poem (max. length, one page.)

Further info: burfield@live.com

“THANK YOU, RON STEWART!”

1/27/2017

London poet and workshop leader Ron Stewart is being honoured Feb. 1st for his longstanding support for poets and poetry in London, and for supplying the impetus for the creation of London Open Mic Poetry five seasons ago. Over the years, he has inspired many poets to write and keep writing by creating an inviting home in which poetry could be shared, learning take place, and creation flourish. The London poetry scene is in his debt.

See Ron’s bio, interview and three poems.

FRANK BELTRANO: “I really got to know Ron at the week long Bayfield Poetry retreats which he and his wife attended for several years. My wife made me promise that she wouldn't get stuck doing more than her fair share of dishes just because she wasn't writing poems on these retreats, so Ron and I did more than our fair share...but with Ron's wonderful repertoire of stories those were some of the most enjoyable times I have ever spent with hands in hot water. It is a miracle we didn't drop more slippery plates we were often laughing so much. Ron is the generous kind of guy who gladly does more than his fair share of the grunt work, and both Jan and Ron are a joy to live with in close quarters.” Frank Beltrano is a well-known and active member of the London poetry scene: https://www.facebook.com/frankbeltrano54

STAN BURFIELD: “When my wife and I retired and moved to London, I decided to try to deal with my shyness--by confronting my social fears. After months of working up the courage, I began attending Ron’s workshops to this end, which were a huge surprise to me. Shyness is essentially a fear of being judged negatively, and Ron ran his workshops in such a way that no one there ever feared that. His natural friendliness and sense of equality alone would have prevented it, but his facilitation techniques were also meant to make sure people felt unjudged, comfortable and open. Ron knew that it is difficult for poets who feel defensive and under attack to be receptive to suggestions on how their poems might be improved. Other attendees remarked to me positively about this aspect of the workshops, but for me it was an amazing and powerful treatment for my shyness, to such a degree that after a year or two I began to feel much more at ease with people in general. I even began looking for a more difficult way of confronting my fears, which turned out to be the founding of London Open Mic Poetry. The intensive social work necessary to make this happen and keep it going eventually reduced my fears to the point where, after five seasons, I am no longer shy. If not for Ron Stewart and his sensitive facilitation, this would never have happened and I would no doubt be hiding from people for the rest of my life.” Stan Burfield is a retired florist and journalist, an adventurer, poet, former farm boy, and now social organizer: https://www.facebook.com/stan.burfield, http://www.londonpoetryopenmic.com/stan-burfield-blog

JOAN CLAYTON: “What I love about Ron is the truly infectious joy of poetry that he exudes and shares with us all. I will always remember the first time I heard him recite The Cremation of Sam McGee. "There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold". It was spellbinding, and I quickly went home and memorized it myself. Ron has given so much to the Poetry Community in London with his workshops, opening his beautiful home for Poetry Under the Stars, and being part of the Bayfield Summer Writers Retreat where we challenged and entertained each other. His writing about being a boy, and the plane crash that changed his life, are heartfelt and eloquent, and I raise a glass to you Ron. Sic Itur Ad Astra.” Dr. Joan Clayton is a psychotherapist, novelist, poet, screenwriter and co-host of London Open Mic Poetry.

MARLENE LAPLANTE: “I attended Ron and Jan's workshops from the beginning. I had just started writing poetry and regular attendance kept me writing. The workshops provided encouragement and inspired me. Poetry under the stars allowed all to get together as friends and grow our mutual love of poetry. Thanks to Ron and Jan - for everything.” Marlene Laplante has been writing poetry for a decade and has attended Ron’s workshop for half of that time. https://www.facebook.com/marlene.laplante.9?fref=ts

JANICE MCDONALD: “As a London outsider, coming by myself, it could seem very intimidating getting to know people and feel comfortable. Ron's workshops on the second Wednesday of the month made that possible. His gracious manner in ensuring each poem presented received positive feedback, before any advice or suggested changes, meant you were not leaving crushed and the small group atmosphere was the perfect way to get to know a few London poets personally. It's hard at first to put a poem out there for public comment but Ron and Jan eased the process. I still value those workshops to this day though Ron has now 'retired.' I believe I wouldn't be the poet I am today without the feedback I received in those workshops and I would be staying in Ingersoll--not coming to London events--without the relationships I made in those workshops.” For years, Ingersoll poet Janice McDonald drove to London religiously to attend Ron’s workshop.

OLA NOWOSAD: “I know few people who love poetry as much as Ron does! For many years, I have had the pleasure of seeing Ron at many, many poetry events. Poetry workshops (whether Poetry London’s or those he led at Landon Library), Poetry Under the Stars, week-long poetry-writing retreats at Bayfield and more! He is always insightful about poetry and encouraging to poets. Ron’s tastes run wide, from Robert Service to modern poets. His own writing often merges history and humor. When Ron & Jan attend, poetry is more fun and accessible! Thanks, Ron, for your joy, experience, knowledge and friendship!” Ola Nowosad is a co-facilitator of Poetry London’s workshops and a teacher at Thames Valley District School Board.

DEBBIE OKUN HILL: “Supportive and kind! As a workshop leader, Ron Stewart made newcomers and guests feel welcome and part of a greater poetry community. He listened attentively and always found the right words to encourage an emerging poet. His caring personality warmed whatever room he was in. As a liaison and poetry promoter, he worked diligently, sharing poetic news with a variety of groups in London and outside the city. Reliable, dependable, and a treasure to know!” Debbie Okun Hill is a prominent Sarnia-area poet and former executive member of The Ontario Poetry Society. https://www.facebook.com/deb.hill.9?fref=ts https://okunhill.wordpress.com/

KAREN SCHINDLER: “I'm pretty sure most of us writing tributes to Ron will be using the words "dedication" and "community," because it's kind of impossible not to. It's meant a lot to me to get to know Ron over the last dozen years. With his infectious passion for poetry and his generous dedication to the local poetry community (see?!) he's been a particularly important motivating presence and role model for me. It was especially wonderful to get to know Ron a little better at the Bayfield "poetry camp," summer 2015. Hearing his stories - learning more about how he came to poetry and how it continues to fuel his life - has deepened my understanding of what poetry can do, and I'm thankful to him for that. For all the things you've done and continue to do - your workshop guidance, your contest judging, your support of your friends' poetic endeavours (mine definitely included) - thank you, Ron!” Karen Schindler is managing director of the Poetry London Reading Series and publisher of Baseline Press.

THE EVENT

WHERE: Mykonos Restaurant at 572 Adelaide St. North, London, Ontario. The restaurant has a large, covered terrace just behind the main restaurant, which comfortably holds 60 poetry lovers. Mediterranean food and drinks are available. Overflow parking is available across the side street and in the large lot one block north, in front of Trad’s Furniture.
WHEN: Feb. 1st, 2017. Poetry begins at 7 pm. Come anytime before that and place your order.
THE FEATURED POET: Ron Stewart opens the event at 7:00, followed by a Q&A.
OPEN MIC: Following the featured poet, 15 open mic poets will read until 9:30 at the latest, with an intermission at about 8:00. 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: Pay What You Can (in jar on back table, or use Donate Button on website Donate Page). Donations are our only source of income to cover expenses.
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 The Ontario Poetry Society.

After many delays, A BASIC POETICS STUDY GROUP is about to take off.

1/26/2017

Sat. April 8th, 2017: the launch of this series of get-togethers and learning sessions for London, Ont. poets who would like to learn more poetics, brush up on what they've forgotten, or just get to know some fellow poets.

Group founder, Stan Burfield, will be the 1st episode teacher, discussing something he has forever been guessing at: line breaks.

The general idea behind the group:

1. This group is be mainly for poets (and poetry lovers) with less formal education in poetry than they would like to have. For example, yours truly.

2. Because poetry is like chess in that a person can become endlessly more proficient at it (because of its ancient lineage and because bright people have been studying it and writing and teaching about it for nearly that whole time), there is a God-awful lot to learn. Thus the world of poets can be divided into two groups: those with a formal university education specializing to some degree in poetry, and those without one.

3. The group's professors will be the group members themselves. Those who would like to will pick a topic from the world of poetics, research it, and present it, discuss it, show examples of it in poems, and generally get the group thinking about how, why, and when to apply it, and what happens if it's not applied, and so on. In other words, by the end of each session, everyone should have a new tool at their disposal to help them enrich their poetry. (And to help them read others' poetry.)

4. Topics will include especially the aspects of poetics most commonly employed in contemporary poetry, but not limited to them. Some examples: the major aspects of poetry, including lines, syntax, diction, trope, rhetoric, rhythm, meter, stanza and then some of the zillion sub-categories like enjambment, stress, scansion, allusion, imagism, metaphor, free verse, feeling, metonymy, allusion, abstraction, how to read a poem, etc etc.

Send me an email so I can put you on the invite list: burfield@live.com

Thanks, Stan Burfield

Done! We presented our sidewalk poetry idea. Now we wait.

12/5/2016

On Dec. 1st, three English students from Western and I presented to the London Arts Council (LAC) our idea to stamp poems in fresh cement as it’s being poured in sidewalk repairs. The interest seemed to be there so we went away cautiously excited. Of course, the people responsible have to spend some time going over it, thinking and talking about it, before they can decide.

Andrea Halwa, LAC executive Director, Rachel Pennington, its Public Art Specialist, and Tom Cull, London's LAC-appointed Poet Laureate, listened as the three third-year English students made the presentation they had researched and written.

Jennifer Ball (L in the photo), Leizel Rafanan and Noelle Schmidt did the work as part of Professor Manina Jones' class "Canadian Literature, Creativity and the Local".

After the presentation, Andrea Halwa cautioned us about some of the difficulties, but the three of them, especially Poet Laureate Tom Cull, seemed quite positive nevertheless.

The presentation included discussion of some of the methods, processes and costs from the St. Paul, Minnesota project, which has been stamping poems 2008, with over 700 impressions in its sidewalks now. It also included ideas of our own, the results of a petition the students circulated, and a number of letters of support.

Jennifer Ball (L), Leizel Rafanan and Noelle Schmidt are getting a first-hand view of how poetry can be propagated outside of campus. They’ve been doing research, making petitions, asking for letters of support, refining the idea and writing the proposal.

New Don Gutteridge book for free!

12/3/2016

Of those who attended our last London Open Mic, over 30 people received ao free copy of feature Donald Gutteridge's latest book of poetry, which he was launching. Well, his next book has just come out, The Blue Flow Below, published by Black Moss Press.

Don has kindly donated some copies of it to us. Anyone who received his last book and enjoyed it, and would like one of these, also for free, can reserve a copy by emailing me at burfield@live.com

Oh, you have to come to the open mic Dec. 7th to pick it up.

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