Theatre Projects Manitoba invites you to join us for a very special night of Canadian Poetry!
When: January 9, 2024. 8:00pm – 11:00pm (doors @ 7:30pm, first reading @ 8:15pm).
Where: Darling Bar (171 McDermot Ave)
On January 9th, Theatre Projects Manitoba will celebrate Canadian poets from the past and present through a Speakeasy/Coffee house-style Poetry Night.
This event will be used to build community engagement and promote our upcoming play among men, a play about the lives of Canadian poets Al Purdy and Milt Acorn, which we are co-producing with the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre.
We are hoping to create a fun night of poetry appreciation and creativity that cross-pollinates the theatre, literature and poetry communities in our city! We hope this event gets people excited about the rich literary culture that surrounds us here in Winnipeg as well as our broader Canadian poetry landscape.
Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at the door; advance tickets are on sale now!
Theatre Projects Manitoba’s Poetry Night
Performances/Poetry readings by local Poets
In a partnership with Contemporary Verse 2, 5-6 local poets will share their works with our guests.
A Live Poetry Collage
Guests will be able to participate in the creation of a group poetry collage, facilitated by a local visual artist, using recycled printed materials provided by ArtsJunktion.
Our poetry night will be catered by Darling Bar and there will be a cash bar!
Design process of the among men set, and the history of the Al Purdy A Frame Writers’ Retreat
Guests will get a sneak peak at the design work and research that went into the set design of our among men production along with the history of the writers’ retreat that still stands today created by Al Purdy and Milt Acorn. This includes diagrams, blue prints, hand crafted models and a VR interactive experience.
Meet the Poets!
Di Brandt
Di Brandt is one of Winnipeg’s most distinguished authors. She has pubished numerous award-winning books of poetry and collecitons of essays, fiction and literary criticism, as well as plays and innovative multimedia productions and translations, sometimes in collaboration with other writers and artists. She has received numeerous recognitions for her long time contributions to the Canadian literary scene at the regional, national and international levels. Di Brandt served as Winnipeg’s inaugural Poet Laureate in 2018-2019. She received an honorary doctorate from Grant MacEwan University in 2019, and the Manitoba Arts Council Distinction Award in 2023. She teaches Canadian Literature at the University of Winnipeg, and Poetry Workshops in the McNally Community Classroom.
Julian Day
Julian Day (he/him) is a poet and software developer. Originally from Saskatoon, he now lives in Winnipeg. He is the author of the chapbooks “Orbits” from Model Press, and “Late Summer Flowers” from Anstruther Press.
Social media: @julianday.ca on Bluesky, @[email protected] on Mastodon
Erin McGregor
E. McGregor is a Euro-Settler/Metis writer currently living in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Her poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction have appeared in numerous magazines including Room, The Dalhousie Review, CV2, The Fiddlehead, and others. She obtained a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia in 2022. Her first collection of poetry, What Fills Your House Like Smoke, is forthcoming with Thistledown Press in Spring, 2024.
IG: @capybarasrus
Yelani Peiris
Yelani Peiris (she/her) is a Sri Lankan poet residing in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She holds a BA (Hons) in English from the University of Manitoba. Notably, her work has been published in the CV2 Magazine 2SQTBIPOC issue.
@yelaninihara on instagram.
Spenser Smith
Spenser Smith (he/him/his) is a Winnipeg-based poet, essayist, and wildlife photographer. His first book of poetry, A brief relief from hunger, was published by Gordon Hill Press in 2023.
Social media: @spenserasmith (Instagram)
Jacquie Loewen
Jacqueline Loewen is an artist who works with many different disciplines and skill sets to bring ideas into the flesh. Predominantly working in physical theatre and Live Art making as a director, fight choreographer and performer, she has also written extensively for the past 20 years. She wrote sketch with the comedy group Hot Thespian Action, created content for CBC’s Content Factory, and has adapted Don Giovanni (Manitoba Underground Opera), but has had a personal fiction/poetry writing practice running under all of this.
She is very pleased to be able to give performance and voice to some of her poetries, for the very first time.
Meet our Visual Artist!
Jo Korving
Jo Korving (they/them) is a queer, interdisciplinary, mixed media artist currently studying fine arts at the University of Manitoba located on treaty 1 territory. They find themselves looking to make sense of their experiences and the collective experience of their community through their art and art-making processes.
