it was fun. and exhausting. toronto's word on the street festival was difficult for me because i had strep throat and the lovely emily schultz had to read my poems for me on stage. it turns out she's better at delivering my poems than i am, so thanks emily! brian and emily then walked me to the emergency room where i got antibiotics and the doctor was amazed at the size of my swollen tonsils.
ottawa was perfect. sean wilson and rob mclennan made me feel perfectly at home and afua cooper and ronnie r. brown were great poets to share a stage with. three very different poets, illustrating the diverse influences and traditions that make up contemporary poetry -- what could be more inspiring than that?
NYC was brilliant. especially the st. mark's reading. stacy, the host, gave a clever and touching introduction to my work. And paul foster johnson, my reading partner (JPF and PFJ - live at st. mark's!) was charming and thought-provoking with his performance. the poet's house event with sina queyras, margaret christakos and a. rawlings was fun too, as i decided to mix diet coke and red wine before my reading. it led to an uneven performance but i was thrilled to hear my fellow coach house poets read so well. i am a lucky guy to be in the company of such fine poets and performers.
and a special thank you must go out to alana wilcox for being so patient with me all week. she is not only a great writer and editor, but i think she is also a saint. thanks for the conversations, the drinks and the mac power source, alana!
also: having drinks with sina is one of my favourite things in the world. how can i get her to move to montreal?
now i must mark 50 prose poems and 25 essays. and sleep would be nice.
1 comment:
hey jon. glad the tour was fun! it was nice to have randomly seen you at the Toronto Word on the Street. You'd better rest up! You have 3 more sleeps until I'm in Montreal! hee hee hee...
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