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Sneak peek at the upcoming 2017-18 season

7/21/2017

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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


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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. 
​

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"STAN BURFIELD"--a poem by Martin Hayter

6/19/2017

1 Comment

 
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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.​

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

6/5/2017

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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.

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"Thanks, Don"

5/31/2017

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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.




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FOUNDER STAN BURFIELD TO FEATURE JUNE 7TH

5/14/2017

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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. 

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Showing Mary the ropes

3/28/2017

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

3/21/2017

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​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

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Mary Dowds takes a huge load off Stan's shoulders

3/19/2017

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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". .

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​“THANK YOU, RON STEWART!”

1/27/2017

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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.
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This is my last season: HELP WANTED!

10/28/2016

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This 5th season of London Open Mic Poetry will be my last as organizer. I’ve had a good run, and accomplished what I wanted to, both in terms of personal growth and helping to build a poetry community in London. But I have other things I want to accomplish that will require all my time and effort in the future.

Our committee right now doesn’t include anyone who can pick up where I leave off. It would be a shame for London Open Mic to die, or even to fizzle away in a half-hearted fashion. So we desperately need someone to step forward before the end of the season: June, 2017.

Job requirements:
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• You must be able to plan ahead, continually. Not everyone can handle this. Since London Open Mic is a series of events, two events have to be prepared for simultaneously, first in finding featured poets, then in making sure everything else is done in proper sequence and on schedule: writing and posting ads on the website and social media and other platforms, doing interviews with the features, hosting the actual event, getting photography and videography done, writing and posting summaries and photo galleries. Consequently, a strong sense of responsibility and an ability to manage time are necessary. 
• You need to persuade other volunteers to do as much of the work as possible. This is also important because the open mic is a social event, and so should be run by a social group, which then forms one of the seeds of the community it is promoting. 
• You have to do any work yourself that other volunteers aren’t getting done. 
• You must communicate with all parts of the community: featured poets, open mic poets, poetry aficionados, other poetry organizations, city agencies, etc. 
• You must search not only for new featured poets, but for other possible kinds of features, and also for new ways of involving the organization in the community--then make them happen. 
• You must inspire others. 
• You must use your position to do as many good things for individuals as you possibly can. This is more important than all the rest.


Organizing London Open Mic Poetry has been a very rewarding adventure, ridding me of a debilitating shyness and, at the same time, involving me productively in my community.

I’m hoping that someone else will want to carry it forward. If you’re just curious but not likely to go for it, please ask me about it anyway. If you know someone else who might be right for it, suggest it to them. It isn’t for everyone, but it may, in the end, be perfect for someone who doesn’t think so at first glance. That was certainly true for me when I started it.
I’m happy to talk about it: 

Stan
burfield@live.com
519-204-1792

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What is event success? A new idea.

8/7/2015

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To someone with a long retail background, which consisted of the day-to-day attempt, over 18 years, to make a flower shop successful, it’s second nature to see ever-larger numbers as the big goal. And that’s a hard rut to get out of. So if 40 come to a event, it’s twice as successful as one that only attracts 20. 

However, people keep telling me that the open mic’s success has nothing to do with size, but more with art, ideas, poets appreciating each other’s work, liveliness, life expressed, expression itself, a breakthrough of expressing one’s self, to others, being part of a community. 

And those are all good points. 

But this summer I’ve discovered a new guage of success. So far I’ve taken part in (organizing and/or reading) three very small open mics. Two of them consisted of a small number of poets essentially reading to each other. But in each case, something good happened. For instance, a young lady who was very anxious and initially afraid to read a poem she considered too “dark” was encouraged to read it anyway, and applauded afterwards for her courage. In these small events, unexpected communication can happen, at least with me the organizer. I and others have more time to help each other with unusual problems that might not otherwise be expressed. And so on. 

I came home from these tiny, supposedly unsuccessful events very satisfied. And with this new idea: If one good thing happens at an event, then not only was it a success but I could go one step further and say that the event had a purpose and now its purpose was fulfilled. For me, everything else that happened at the event became simply the things that were required for that good thing to happen. And that makes strong sense to me because when everyone goes home, most will go back to their carry-on lives, to some degree as if the event hadn’t happened at all. But that one person will be changed.

From now on, I’m not going to worry so much about numbers, and instead try to become more sensitive to what’s happening, and maybe what needs to happen. 

Stan


The next small event to look forward to is this Saturday morning, a poetry reading at the Mantis Eco and Arts Festival at Boler Mountain. We read at 11:00 am. If you’re into nature, as I am, you should enjoy it.   http://mantisfestival.blogspot.ca/

Then, the last summer event I’m working on (organizing and hosting) will be Aug. 16 at Mykonos Restaurant, The Sultry Summer Poetry Gathering, put together by London Open Mic and sponsored by The Ontario Poetry Society TOPS, at 12:30 pm. There’s an open mic to read at, and you can get the idea of what TOPS is, and if joining would be of any benefit to you. http://www.theontariopoetrysociety.ca/Poetry%20London%2015.htm

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The Sultry Summer Poetry  Gathering -- Mykonos

8/2/2015

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From The Ontario Poetry Society
& London Open Mic Poetry Night


THE SULTRY SUMMER POETRY GATHERING

Sunday August 16, 2015
12:30 p.m.
Mykonos Restaurant
572 Adelaide St. North, London

OPEN MIC will follow readings by society members

Attendance: free

Featuring Th


Read More
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New idea: Less music, more chatting time

10/24/2014

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I've been tossing a few ideas around lately about how to make the open mic more responsive to the needs of the poetry community, specifically the desire of those who come to socialize with each other. 

My last in a series of ideas along these lines since the beginning of the open mic was to reserve the side room at the Wortley Roadhouse once a month and send out an invitation to all of our features, past and future, plus some others, to just come for conversation. No agenda. The more I thought about it, the more excited I got, because all it would take on my part would be to make the reservation and send out the invitation. But then I started looking at the cup half empty and concluded that no one would come, for any of umpteen reasons. 

My last idea (with thanks to John Nyman) is a little less radical: simply make it easier for people to talk at the open mic. John frequents the different readings in Toronto and says many of them have no music at all, just the buzz of conversation. I think that now, after two seasons, we also have reached the point of not having to provide entertainment to get people to come.

We're going to experiment with it: I had decided to take January off from now on, to give myself a much-needed break in the middle of the season, but instead, at least for this season, we're going to have a totally-stripped-down, open-mic-only event, and see how that goes. No featured poet, with all the work that that entails for me, also no videos or photos to post, no summary to write, and, especially, no musicians--just Mykonos' normal piped-in background music. Only open mic readers the whole evening. And we'll try a little longer intermission: 20 minutes, instead of 15. 

That'll be a test run. If it goes over well, we'll cut the music altogether after that, but of course not the featured poets. 

What do you think?

Stan: burfield@live.com
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Impressions of the Oct. 1st, 2014 London Open Mic

10/4/2014

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PictureFeature Roy McDonald discussing a point of order with organizer Stan















Before Jef-something Brian Thomas Ormston (Jef) (who is much more humble than his name would lead you to believe) sat on his chair behind the mic and started playing that electric guitar like an orchestra of sound, a million bells, he said to anyone who was listening, “And now for my last piece”, and when that one was done, which was an astonishing rendition of Pachelbel’s Canon, with waves of notes scrambling, piling, sorting themselves out and upward, Jef said, again to anyone and no one, “Do I have time for another?” I thought, “He’s only started his set, what’s he talking about?” But big Bill Paul, London’s Town Crier, who has known Jef for ages, along with most everyone else in the city, leaned over and said, “Jef never knows how much time has gone by. It’s true. He really lives in the moment. You have to keep telling him he has more time.” I listened more carefully from then on, and yes got lost myself in some of those moments. 


The sudden vocals on the next piece were a bit loud for some people, and I was scrambling to turn down the level when I realized it was one of my favourite songs from the Woodstock festival soundtrack, “Freedom”, which big, black, Richie Havens had opened the festival with, but which here was sung, just as deeply, by this scrawny little Jef-something. “Freedom, freedom, freedom, freedom, sometimes I feel like a motherless child, sometimes I feel like a motherless child, a long way from my home." Yeah. At home Linda and I listened to it again on YouTube. “Freedom is scary when you’re young, when you first have it,” Linda said, “but then when you’re older, after having so much reponsibility all your life, you can’t get enough of it.” Yeah that’s for sure. More, please. 

Our new co-host for this season, Joan Clayton, (me being the other co-host), thanked Jef and introduced Bill Paul (who really is London’s official Town Crier, but who goes by the name Laffmaster Bill on Facebook, for anyone who might want him to host an event or provide entertainment, or who might even want to be interviewed on his radio talk show, Straight Talk with Bill Paul, which, after 39 years, is the longest running talk show in Canada, on 106.9FM.)

It’s undeniable that featured poet Roy McDonald holds some fascination for people. He’s a bit of an old leprechaun, and maybe reminds us of Gandolph in Lord of the Rings -- that combined with street person, hippy, but mostly, being old but spry, he’s the embodiment of the mystery of aging. As I watched him do his well-rehearsed thing on the stage, booming out those old poems, which he’s practiced so often busking on the sidewalk in front of Joe Cool’s Fridays and Saturdays, I wondered how all the so-much-more-normal lives in the audience saw him. The other older people, like myself, where and why did we get off the bus? And why did Roy refuse to ever change after he’d returned from Woodstock? Is he the better for it, or are we? And the young poets in the audience -- are they seeing wisdom in him that they somehow haven’t acquired yet? Or just some archaic remnant of an age long lost? I think each one of the 65 of us in the audience tried to imagine being Roy McDonald to some degree, living his very unique life. As we compared our own to his we all became a little wiser. 

By the time Roy was into his Q&A, answering questions about the washrooms at Woodstock, (“you had to wait half an hour or an hour”), about his spirituality, about the influences on his poetry and his life, and about conversations he had had with Allen Ginsberg, Leonard Cohen and so on, there were still stragglers coming in, but they were finding only standing room at the back of the big enclosed terrace of Mykonos Restaurant, while the rest of us sipped our wine and munched on souvlaki and Greek salad. We had never had such a packed house before and my mind couldn’t figure out whether to be happy about it or just more anxious.

The open mic section provided again all the pleasures I’ve come to associate with it: the huge variety of people, all displaying the equally various intimacies of their inner lives sculpted into their word art. There was every age, poetic ability, sex, kind of person, and of personality. And the audience was also a microcosm of humanity. The one thing everyone had in common was the enjoyment of poetry in this room together. At the end of the evening, open mic reader John Nyman, whom we will feature one day, told me how much he enjoys our events and compared them to the readings he attends regularly in Toronto when he’s there. He said he likes the strong feeling of community we have, whereas in Toronto there are so many events to choose from, a number of them every week, that none attract very big numbers, and they tend to be more specialized in one way or another. 

I asked our new Internet Manager, Shelly Harder, for a few words on how the event went for her: "My first night at the Open Mic was all I'd hoped it would be,” she says. “Between the welcoming ambience of Mykonos, the pleasure of chatting with Roy McDonald, Joan's warm hosting, the passionate talent of the open mic readers, and Jef-something's guitar soundtrack, the evening was an exceptional one, and I look forward to many more!"  And the rest of us chime in, “Me too!”

By Stan B., Organizer

See  Interview with Roy McDonald

 

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Poetry Workshop Started by London Open Mic

9/27/2014

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A series of monthly poetry workshops open to anyone will commence on Wed., Oct. 8th, at the Landon Library in London’s Wortley Village.

The facilitator will be Kevin Heslop. 

Each workshopped poem will be read silently, then aloud by the poet, and will then be followed by a discussion. The workshoppers will try to see the intention of the poet, will comment on the poem’s strengths, and, with appropriate tact, on its weaknesses. The workshop should help the poet see the poem through the eyes of its audience. 

Since there is no way to predict how many people will attend, and there won’t be time to workshop more than six poems in the two hours, if more people arrive at the Oct. 8th workshop, a second room will be opened. The two simultaneous workshops could then hold a maximum of twelve participants. On the unlikely chance that more than twelve arrive, each workshop will select its six poets by random ballot selection. The second room will be facilitated by Stan Burfield. 

If you want to have a poem workshopped, bring ten copies: six for the participants, and four for others to read in case more than the six participants come.

Time: Arrive before 6:30.

Location: In Landon Library, the room immediately past the large hall at the base of the stairs.
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Just about got us a photographer. 

9/23/2014

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I was (still am) sitting in Tim Horton's reading Frank Davey's latest review so I could send out an appropriate Tweet about it, and noticed a (1) on my email tab. "Hello Stan: 

"I’m a MA photography student with a passion for music and live photography. I have been part of the photography team of a rock festival in Switzerland, which was hard work but fun. I really enjoy capturing the atmosphere through the lens in a creative and vibrant way. In order to build up my portfolio and gain more experience I am always happy to volunteer and contribute my skills.

"I am reliable and focussed while working. 

"I’m looking forward to hearing from you."

The young lady included a link to her portfolio of obviously rocking musicians and fans. I thought this girl can really do it. What luck. 

So I replied: "If you're not busy right now, how about a coffee. I'm not too far from Mykonos Restaurant at the moment (in a Tim Horton's). We could meet there and I could show you the situation. 

"Stan

"Ps, your photos are great."

I thought she's sitting there looking at her computer right now and sees the (1) on her email tab and now she's reading me. 

I waited for her to think about it. 

And waited. 

Maybe she thinks I'm some old perv after her body. 

And waited. 

Went back to Frank's commentary about the problems of putting "found material" from the internet into poetry. Looked up the term "flarf" on google. 

(1)

"Hi Stan

"Thank you for getting back to me so fast and your kind words. Checking closer I realised just now that you are on another continent. I am in London, UK. What a pity... 

"Hope you find someone suitable "

Oh just damned GREAT!!

"Booo hoooo!! Yes, that's a problem we have now and then. We're a tiny copy of London, UK. Even our street names are from there. Our river is the Thames, and one of it's tributaries is the River Avon, which has a small city on it called Stratford, whose biggest industry is the Stratford Theatre Festival of largely Shakespeare plays. And on it goes. Most of our citizens are English, obviously. Ha ha. Oh well, we'll get a photographer eventually. You really had my hopes up though. Thanks for trying, 

"Stan"

I do go on. 

"I only realised when I looked closer on google maps! haha! the thames really got me confused! the british should have been more creative in giving names when they decided to invade the world. 

"Have a lovely day, Stan."

Oh well, cast out again.
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Valuable new addition Shelly Harder brings tech savvy and writing depth 

9/5/2014

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We have a new committee member: Shelly Harder.  Shelly will be taking a huge load off Organizer Stan`s shoulders, doing much of the open mic`s internet and computer work. Her youthful computer fingers move as fast as her flying mind, so what takes Stan`s trembling, arthritic digits hours to accomplish she will do in a snap. And she writes! And is a fine poet! (Stay tuned for Shelly`s blog.)

And so the open mic becomes ever more solid and stable. 

Shelly`s bio: I'm a twenty-something student of English literature and philosophy. When not occupied with one too many essays, I (try to) write fiction and poetry. I adore Virginia Woolf, am permanently inhabited by T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land, and feast on the works of Donne and Milton. I am, however, most entranced by the works of the great Romantic poets: Blake, Shelley, Coleridge, Keats. Immersed in such an illustrious tradition, I wonder each time I write how words I string together could say anything that has not been said better before. Still the inexorable drive to partake in this vast universe of word sends me scrawling, typing, tossing fragile scribbles into a plenitudinous void. And when not reading or writing, I may be found playing piano or taking a long walk. A final word: Beethoven renders all words void.

Stan: ``Yippee!!!``

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Clayton and Burfield to co-host season three. 

9/4/2014

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London Open Mic will have two hosts for the first time, with Joan Clayton opening Season 3 on Oct. 1st and London Open Mic Poetry Night organizer Stan Burfield hosting the 2nd event on Nov. 5th.  Clayton and Burfield will take turns hosting throughout the season. 

Having two hosts will add variety to the reading series, but the main reason for Burfield taking on half of the hosting is that,“It’s time to take my shyness therapy to the next level.”

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Wanted: One Volunteer Photographer

7/16/2014

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London Open Mic Poetry Night needs a still photographer. If you love to take photos, this is for you. You will get to practice your portraiture. And refine your technique. For every monthly event, we need good photos of the musicians, the featured poets and the open mic poets, plus a couple of the audience enjoying the evening. 

Your duties would include not only taking several photos of each person (to choose a good one from), but also editing them (cropping, getting the exposure and colour right, and eliminating red eye), and entering them as galleries in the open mic website and Facebook page. 

What would you earn for all this work? The excitement of being an integral part of the local poetry scene, meeting people, taking part in decision making as a member of the London Open Mic organizing committee, having your own blog on the well-read London Open Mic website if you want one, and getting a good letter of reference if you should need it. 

Contact Stan at burfield@live.com
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Ron Stewart steps down from his poetry workshop

7/3/2014

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PictureRon Stewart
After seven years of facilitating his monthly poetry workshop at London’s Landon Library, Ron Stewart is stepping down to put more time into his own poetry. He and wife Jan will continue to support local literary events, partly through the now-traditional announcements on his extensive email list, which many Londoners have long depended upon. 

Stewart, a retired airline pilot, began the workshop as an essential finishing touch to the group of ingredients already supplied to the local poetry scene by the Poetry London Reading Series, also held at Landon Library. Since then, many poets have benefitted from his initiative and hard work.

Following are expressions of thanks by Poetry London and some of the local poets who have attended the workshop:

Ron and his wife Jan continue to embody the creative energy, hard work, and congenial spirit that has come to define the London poetry community.   We offer our congratulations and appreciation to Ron for initiating and nurturing such a successful workshop - one that has meant so much to so many writers in London over the past several years.  We wish him continued success with his own writing and all of his future endeavours in our poetry community. 
~ the Poetry London Reading Series

To the other sentiments expressed here by others, all of which are true, I would like to add that if not for Ron’s workshop there would be no London Open Mic Poetry Night, which is simply a spinoff of his workshop.  
~ Stan Burfield, organizer, London Open Mic

Ron-
I want to thank you so much for making the London (especially winter) nights seem so much more welcoming for your generous hosting of those wonderful poetry gatherings.
With much appreciation and warmth,
~ Cheryl Cashman

I think Ron is a wonderful poet, and a great supporter of other poets. His way of summarizing other’s poetry and encouraging them to write, is remarkable, heartfelt and full of spirit!!! 
~ Joan Clayton

Thanks, Ron. I haven't been to any workshops recently, but I have good memories of those flights of fancy. Arriving to find you at the end of the table ready for take off. Orienting us to the program. Apprehensive as to what this flight would be like. Excited about reaching for the upper ether of poetry. Hearing your calm confident gentle voice reassuring us it would always be a good flight (which it always was) and landing us safely at the end (which you always did). They were quite the trips. I miss them. Good luck with your solo flights. Bon voyage.
~ Martin Hayter

When I think of Ron, I see, when entering the clean, well-lighted room in the Landon Library underground, at the head of the long, peopled table strewn with poems, the welcoming smile, the articulate, white goatee, the glimmering eyes and freckled dome which I have come to know and trust. If there is any one secret to the endurance of his workshop, I think it is that trustworthiness which has compelled each of us to uncloak the vulnerability which in daily life we habitually deny, to communicate in all its shifty-eyed, anxious humanity a wish to express ourselves and be heard. Ron - thank you for listening. And thank you for having tenderly impressed upon each of us those four simple words which unfailingly conclude your summations: Live Life, Love Poetry.  
~ Kevin Heslop

The poet Muriel Rukeyser said, "Breathe-in experience, breathe-out poetry."  Ron Stewart helped us add a third dimension, share poetry.  He did so by creating a non-threatening, congenial poetry workshop.  Thank you for that, Ron.
~ Louisa Howerow

Ron’s workshop was unique and will be missed. It was one of a kind. 
~ Carl Lapp

A bit lost at the Poetry London Events, it was really Ron's Workshop that helped me feel at home in the London poetry scene. His gentle and positive leadership developed my confidence and introduced me to friends I hope will be in my life for a long time to come.  Thanks, Ron (and Jan)
~ Janice M. McDonald

For Ron-
Ron is an enthusiastic and talented poet whose presence enhances many events in London’s poetry community. His dedicated work has fostered and supported the growth of various venues. Particularly important is the monthly workshop (held at the Landon library) organized by Ron. This workshop series has provided London poets an opportunity to share and discuss their poems. Many thanks, Ron!
~ O. Nowosad

For Ron, who has, in the Open Poetry Workshop at Landon Library, created a safe and encouraging atmosphere for poems finding their perfection, a place of meaningful, good-humoured discussion, an evening from which we come away with both wits pencils sharpened. For Ron, who has faithfully and with such generosity led the workshop 10 months of the year, for so many years. To Ron, I offer my deep gratitude.
~ Christine Thorpe




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Stan Burfield Interview

2/4/2014

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Picture
Picture
Interview with Stan Burfield, organizer of
London Open Mic Poetry Night 


Interview for The London Yodeller (Jan. 31, 2014 issue) by Jason Dickson,  writer, novelist (three novels published to date), and bookseller at Attic Books.

J.D.   What inspired you to start a reading series?

S.B.   Shyness! That may sound contradictory, but it’s not. My wife and I sold our flower shop and moved to London in 2008. I decided it was finally time to do something about my shyness, which had caused me endless problems all my life. I had tried to deal with it before by going on extremely difficult adventures by myself, to toughen up, so to speak, but I eventually realized that did more harm than good. So now, being semi-retired and having more time, I started going in a social direction. I joined a poetry workshop, then tried to read my poems in front of others when I had the chance, which wasn’t easy, to say the least. Anyway, I accumulated a couple poetry friends and we went to an open mic reading in Sarnia. On the way home I wondered why they could have a monthly open mic in the town of Sarnia and there wasn’t one in London, which is so much larger. The answer was simply that someone had to organize it. My two friends didn’t have the time, And I thought there was no way I could do it because of my shyness. But then, on second thought, what the heck, if I don’t do something drastic now, at 61 years of age, I never will. So I took the bit between my teeth. How did it work out for me as therapy? Well, now, after our first one and a half seasons, I can get in the elevator in our building and CALMLY chat with people as we go up. For the first time in my life.


PictureJason Dickson
J.D.   Where was the first night held?

S.B.   They’ve always been at Mykonos Restaurant. A local poet, Frank Beltrano, showed it to me as a possible venue. I had been searching through dingy bars and so on, and as soon as I saw this place I knew it was perfect. It couldn’t be improved upon. In good weather it’s a large square terrace open to the outside at the back. In winter it’s enclosed and well-heated. Beautiful Greek atmosphere. The tables hold up to 65. (We’ve been averaging about 45 lately.)

J.D.   Tell me about the first night.

S.B.   Well, that was extremely stressful for me because I had to host, not just organize it, as I do now. (Our current host, the very confident Dawna Perry, hadn’t joined us yet.) Anyway, I did manage to get through it. We opened with a half hour of music (Bernie Koenig on vibraphones and Emma Wise, cello--what a combination!), followed by Andreas Gripp doing a feature reading. Then a musical intermission, and after that the open mic. It went well.   

J.D.   How did you promote it? Was there a good attendance?

S.B.   Well, I started out just Googling how to organize an open mic, then set up a website, then looked for poets to feature. I decided they had to have at least one book of poetry published. I think it was one of these poets who suggested I needed to have a Facebook page, so that was next, (and what a lot of work that turned out to be). Then I looked for all the places I could list the open mic for free, mostly online. Which I did. And finally made posters and put them around. I was surprised when 47 people turned up at the first event. For poetry, that’s a pretty good turnout, no matter how large your city is. 

J.D.   Why a published book? Why not a free-for-all?

S.B.   Well yes, it could be a 100% open mic. That’s about as close as we could come to a free-for-all. And that is one kind of poetry event for sure. In a big city like Toronto you could get enough attendance with that. But here you would find that some poetry lovers and poets -- any percentage is too high in a small city -- would only come out if they felt sure there would be at least one reader there they could learn from. I mean many of us who love writing poems are amateurs, like me for instance, in the sense that we love to be creative with words, and are good enough at it that it pleases at least ourselves. But poetry is like any other art; There are the Picassos and Mozarts, and then there are us dabblers. By having a featured poet, followed by an open mic, we can at least partially satisfy most everyone. Anyway, when I started this thing, I just made up this simple rule: To be a featured poet you have to have published a book of poems. I didn’t realize then that it’s next to impossible for a poet, no matter how good, to get published by a commercial publisher these days. There are far too many poets and very little market. And, on top of that, suddenly the internet came and took a huge cut out of what little there was. So nearly all poets are self-published now. The problem with that is that anybody can be self-published. So now I can see that this doesn’t really work as a criterion. I and the people on our organizing committee have reluctantly had to become judges to some degree.

J.D.   Tell me about some of your favourite moments so far. What has stood out for you?

S.B.   Favourite moments? There are so many. There are poems I`ve heard, from both the featured poets and the open mic readers, that have astonished me. And you never know when it`s going to happen. 

And all the poets are so different from each other. After a season and a half, I'm amazed at how different all these really good poets are from each other. And their poetry as well. Completely different. Well, it`s exactly the same with the open mic section, but much faster. Each person has five minutes. And you never know who`s getting up next. You just begin to get used to one poet`s character, clothes, look, reading style, and poetry, and then that person sits down and a totally different one gets up. It`s like that for an hour and a half. You don't even have to be into poetry to get a kick out of the variety. The thing is, in those few minutes you don't just see the person visually, as we do with most people we don't know, but from their poems you get a deep picture of their lives and who they really are inside, as well. I love it.

J.D.   Where is the series now, in your opinion, now that it has been going on for a while? What are your plans for the future?

S.B.   Now it’s beginning to fulfill one of its original purposes, which was not only to provide a place where local poets, and poets from the region, could read their work -- to fill that gap in the city -- but also to help form a community here. Due to the nature of the art, it’s easy for poets to find themselves working, and being, alone in their rooms. Thanks to our events, and our website, they’re at least starting to recognize each other. Some of them. They’re seeing each other’s abilities and styles. Some are being affected by others. Some are talking to others. 

Earlier in the series, most featured readers would just read that once and you would never hear them again. But lately, more and more of them are coming back, sometimes to read at the open mic. And many really good poets who have never yet been featured are also becoming known and appreciated from their open mic readings. During the last few events, the open mic section has really begun to shine, to come into its own. It’s becoming very exciting, and more open. Maybe people are just relaxing and getting used to it, but I think part of it is a growing enthusiasm. Also new people are always showing up, eager to take part.

My latest idea is probably the best I’ve had personally. It’s a result of always being aware of probably the only little negative at poetry readings, which is that you only get to hear a poem once. You can’t go over it the way you can in a book, and really get deeply into it. I keep trying to solve that problem, and this idea is one attempt. It’s to get the city to stamp poems into the sidewalk when they make repairs with wet cement. If they did, it would expose poetry to a lot of people who would never get into it otherwise, including children on their way to and from school. The number of poetry readers and writers would go up instead of down as it has for so long. Well, I Googled it. One other person has had the same idea, and consequently St. Paul, Minnesota has been stamping poems into their sidewalks for five years now, totalling over 700 impressions. So I made an initial presentation to the London Arts Council before Christmas and they were very enthusiastic. They want me to present it to City Council as soon as I can get it together.

J.D.   Tell me about Frank Davey's involvement.

S.B.   I think it was Andreas Gripp who told me that Frank Davey was now living in Strathroy, part of our local territory. Frank is one of the most well-known and influential poets in Canada, considered to be THE poet who introduced post-modernism to the Canadian poetry scene. I asked him if he would consider being our headliner at our April National Poetry Month event. He agreed and we met for coffee to talk about it. Just as we were leaving the cafe it occurred to me that I had nothing to lose by asking if he would be interested in having a blog on our website. Well, It was a very lucky coincidence that right then he was in the midst of retiring from his lifetime work asf editor and publisher of his hugely influential critical literary journal Open Letter. And he hadn’t decided where to go from there. I told him I would support his blog to the utmost of my abilities, so he went for it. That blog has become a huge part of our website. About half of our readers come because of it. Anyway, Frank didn’t stop there. He has come and read at our open mic, and even joined our organizing committee. And one of our big ideas still sitting in the background came from him: the possibility of starting a publishing collective. Maybe, maybe not. If it did happen, it would be a separate thing from the open mic organization. We’re very slowly mulling it over.

J.D.   Finally, what role do you see the series playing in town? Where does it fit with, say Poetry London or the literary efforts at U.W.O.? 

S.B.   Without us, there is a huge poetry gap in the city. Poetry London, which I attend nearly every month and really enjoy, mostly brings in poets from elsewhere. It does a lot for the poetry audience here, but little for the poets. Likewise, the literary efforts at UWO are fairly insulated from the rest of the community. But we are there for everyone. The poetry lovers and the poets of the whole city. And area. We want to bring everybody together, to be an event they can all own. This next event, on Feb. 5th, is our first attempt to really involve the UWO community. Instead of having one feature, we are having four, all senior poetry students. They will do at least three rounds of poems. In the first round their poems will all contain the same three lines, and will be written expressly for this event. It should be fun. 


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Streamlining the Open Mic

1/15/2014

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Picture
Linda and Stan Burfield on Maui, in slower times.
When I launched London Open Mic Poetry Night in October, 2012, I had no idea how much time it would take out of my life. I found out very quickly, but plugged on, amid a flurry of second thoughts. 

So how did I solve the problem? I didn’t. I just made it worse, continuously, by hatching up a series of ideas that each added more work. 

Okay, if I were paid for all this, that would be one thing, but money is an incentive that simply doesn’t exist in the world of poetry. Sheer stubbornness has to make up for it. And lately I’ve been wondering how far stubbornness will take me. 

There are only two actions I can think of that might help ensure the open mic’s longevity. Most burdened organizers would take the first: Simply hire staff to do all the detail work. But in a volunteer organization with virtually no income, that’s not possible. Okay, then how about volunteers doing it just because it makes them smile? No way. Their own lives are already too full. 

That leaves streamlining. Streamlining has become my big thing. I`m on the lookout. My bright ideas now are not concerned with growth, but with pruning, hacking, ripping out by the roots. 

For instance, from now on, instead of posting a batch of poems by the featured poet, and then a while later an interview, I’m going to post the interview and the poems together. 

That doesn’t sound like much? Okay, look at it this way: That one extra posting has to be put on the website, on both its interview-&-poems page and its home page, also on our Facebook page, also on several other group Facebook pages, also on our email list. It also has to be written, revised and revised again and again, edited, combined with a photograph, and these posted together properly in both the website and the Facebook page, differently in each. Then there are all the keystrokes involved, the copying, pasting, entering, making mistakes and correcting them and on and on. And half a day has gone by. So you get the idea. One less batch of all this stuff is an extra year added to my life. 

But a much more blessed, happy-making, life-saving act of streamlining would be simply to shorten the season. So far, we’ve been taking a two-month break in the summer, which really isn’t more than a couple weeks considering the time it takes to do followups to the last event and preparation for the next. So here’s the big change: Now I’m cutting two more months, September and January. The first Wednesday of September is still really holiday time for many, and so is the first Wednesday of January, which this year was New Year’s Day itself, and so had to be moved. Moved twice, it turned out, losing many people in its wake. 

Now Linda and I can seriously relax in the summer, and maybe even head for warmer climes in mid-winter! She will bask in the sun, and I in her smile.
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