National and international poetry for National Poetry Month

Posted by on Apr 6th, 2025 in News | 0 comments

April is National Poetry Month in Canada!
Remember to be a good boy, or girl, or whatever, so the ghost of John McCrae can leave a stanza in your stocking. Then you can eat a big turkey dinner with your family while analyzing the poetry with Northrop Frye lit theory.

I’m involved in two online poetry events this month. Well, only one of them is actually based in Canada. But the other one is not American, so I’m not a traitor.

1. Ó Bhéal’s eighteenth-anniversary event – and launch of the eighteenth Five Words Anthology

Ó Bhéal, a long-running poetry organization in Cork, Ireland, is having its last hybrid event on the 14th. I’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of that community, however distant, for the last four or five years – attending its monthly hybrid event over Zoom. I even featured live at the series in Cork last November, and also performed virtually at its Winter Warmer Festival in 2022.

The event is also the launch of the eighteenth Five Words Anthology, in which I have three silly poems – all written in fifteen minutes and based on five words from the audience. The main features will be the three chosen Five Words competition winners for the year, and I assume I’ll be reading too, as at previous launches.

2. Oakville Literary Cafe

Back in Canada, I’ll be the feature at the Oakville Literary Cafe, in a few weeks. I won’t be going to Oakville, which is a convenient GO Train ride away, but performing over Zoom again. Followed by a brief open mic.

More info at the links on the right sidebar.

Finally, for National Poetry Month, here’s a classic gem from Leonard Cohen.
Just be thankful it isn’t “Hallelujah”.

Take off, eh.