Poets from across the Sunshine Coast and beyond are preparing for four weeks of the second annual Spring Poetry Festival at the Creek Gallery in Roberts Creek.
The theme is Words and Music and features musical guests at each Sunday afternoon session. As Laurie Verchomin, one of the organizers, said, “We will be creating a listening field, a place for people to have authentic expression.”
Jane Covernton, the other organizer, is excited about bringing the big world of poetry to Roberts Creek. She set out not to exclude anyone who wanted to join — that’s how they ended up with 37 poets on four Sundays starting May 3 at 1 p.m. and continuing on May 10, 17 and 24. For more information, call Laurie at 604-885-8450.
Quilt show
Plan to go to the Sunshine Coast Quilt Show this weekend. It’s always a fabulous show of fabric artwork. It’s on from May 1 to 3 at the Gibsons and Area Community Centre. Times are: Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $6.
Coast Modern
The Coast Modern Design exhibit opens at Gibsons Public Art Gallery with a reception this Saturday, May 2 from 6 to 8 p.m.
“Coast Modern presents an exciting mix of product, textile and graphic design by contemporary designers who explore, problem-solve and create within a unique coastal milieu. From minimalist to functional, technological, rustic, serious and playful, our collective work addresses design in as much diversity as our individual experiences of our coastal habitat,” said Kez Sherwood, of ox and monkey. The show includes 15 contributing designers and it’s open Thursdays to Mondays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For further information, call Sherwood at 604-740-7220 or email: info@oxandmonkey.
RRU
Roots Roundup appears this Saturday, May 2 at the Roberts Creek Legion. Tickets are $10 for members and $20 for guests of members. Doors open at 9 p.m.
RRU was formed in 1985 by Barry Taylor and a few other cohorts in Vancouver who were writing and performing “world beat” music before it was named as such, a combination of reggae/afrobeat /ska /country/eastern/western. Please check out www.rootsroundup.com for more information.
Festival Highlights concert
The best of the best will be on stage this Sunday, May 3 as the 42nd annual Sunshine Coast Festival of the Performing Arts draws to a close. Festival participants showcasing piano, strings, vocal, folk instrumental, woodwinds, and dance will perform. The concert begins at 2 p.m. at the Raven’s Cry Theatre in Sechelt. The adjudicators in every discipline have praised the high level of expertise of the performers — who love an audience.
Art and poetry
Art for the Inner I: The Art of Visual Poetry led by Art Therapist Rose Clarke is this Sunday, May 3 from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Arts Building in Gibsons. You’ll be led through easy therapeutic art practices to bring out what lives inside you longing to be expressed, and learn more about your unique visual language. All skill levels are welcome. Fee is $50. Preregister at www.artsbuilding.org or call 604-740-7790.
Thomas Concert
Musician Anna Lumiere is excited to announce a concert featuring Adam Thomas at St. Bart’s Hall in Gibsons next Friday, May 8 at 7 p.m.
Thomas was one of the best students at Capilano College’s music program in part because of his incredible musicality. After his degree he studied with top players in the jazz world. Though he has sung in choirs from a young age, he trained mostly as a bass player. In recent years, he has also been active as a vocalist and he is an amazing singer — a jazzier version of Ray Charles — soulful and nuanced, with a sound that touches the soul.
Steve Giltrow on guitar and Lumiere on piano will accompany him. Tickets are $20 at Gaia’s Fair Trade, Gibsons, or The Medicine Shoppe in Wilson Creek.
Library workshops
The Gibsons Public Library is hosting two workshops led by Ben Nuttall-Smith next Saturday, May 9.
From Memoir to Novel runs from noon to 1:30 and Secrets of Selling Your Story runs 2 to 3:30. They are free for Sunshine Coast writers, sponsored by Federation of BC Writers. Between the sessions (at about 1:30) The Federation invites anyone involved in the craft of writing or the business of publishing to meet and greet and talk about the ways the Fed can help each other promote and develop your work. To register phone 604-886-2130.
Book Prizes
One of Harbour Publishing’s books was recognized with a BC Book Prize at the 31st Annual Lieutenant Governor’s BC Book Prizes Gala held in Vancouver on April 25. The Sea Among Us: The Amazing Strait of Georgia by Richard Beamish and Gordon McFarlane, received the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize, awarded to the author(s).
Two Sunshine Coast editors worked extensively on the book as well: Peter A. Robson, who has served as the editor of several magazines and is the editor of the Raincoast Chronicles 23 (Harbour Publishing, 2015) and Betty Keller, who was also honoured at the BC Book Prizes Gala with the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence.
Keep me posted
Send your notice of arts events by Tuesday at 5 p.m. for Friday’s newspaper to [email protected] or phone 604-886-4692.
