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The mission of the Okanagan Institute is to contribute to the quality of creative engagement in the Okanagan through publications, events and collaborations. » Home » Events » Publications » Collaborations » The Institute » Contact  Kelowna BC Canada Telephone 250.870.2690 Email: Click here  Click here to help us improve our programs. |
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How to Write (AND READ) A POEM » Tuesday 13 July 2010 | 5 pm » Hooked on Books, 225 Main Street, Penticton An informal afternoon hour showcasing ideas and people in the Okanagan creative economy. Join us on a journey into the heartland of poetry, and of the writing practice. Don't miss this opportunity to learn how poems are written, who writes them, what and where inspires them, and why some become immortal. Bring your own poems to read. » $2 at the door. Refreshments will be available. » Seating is limited, please reserve yours HERE The Secrets of Poetry To Be Revealed at Writing Workshop In his book Poetry as Insurgent Art best-selling modern poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti states: "Don't ever believe poetry is irrelevant in dark times". He believes that poetry should be used ahead of the personal and be a political statement. "Your poems must be more than want ads for broken hearts. The state of the world calls out for poetry to save it, by transforming consciousness." In his Populist Manifesto, Ferlinghetti goes on to write, "Poets, come out of your closets, open your windows, open your doors, you have been holed up too long in your closed worlds ... poetry should transport the public to higher places than other wheels can carry it." On Tuesday, July 13th at 5 pm the alternate weekly Okanagan Institute Outlook series at Hooked on Books in Penticton presents How to Write (and Read) a Poem. Join us on a journey into the heartland of poetry, and of the writing practice. Don't miss this opportunity to learn how poems are written, who writes them, what and where inspires them, and why some become immortal. Bring your own poems and read them. Poems can be an indicator of the society or time they're written in - as much as newspapers. Confucius taught his disciples: "By poems you can stir people and you can observe things through them; you can express your resentment in them and you can show sociable feelings". Some poets decide to write about general subjects such as nature or love, others prefer to be actors in the life they are living and denunciate the injustices that they encounter. The Irish poet Kevin Higgins, for example, gives a good description of the situation in Darfur, by including quotations from eye-witnesses of the war between his own verses - thus making his poem more visceral and powerful. There are those who think poetry is irrelevant because it hasn't managed to attract a mass audience. Why should it be required to have one? Nevertheless, Ferlinghetti sold over 1 million copies of his collection A Coney Island of the Mind, and 100,000 copies of the poem Tell me the Truth about Love by W.H. Auden were sold in just one year, thanks to a reading in the movie Four Weddings and a Funeral. Poetry might not be as "popular" as fiction or other literary forms, but that does not make it irrelevant. FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER ONLINE CLICK HERE  How to Write (and Read) a Poem takes place at Hooked on Books, 225 Main Street, Penticton. This is the 6th event the Okanagan Institute has held there, and the 153rd public presentation offered in the Okanagan since 2007. Outlook is hosted by Robert MacDonald. The Institute has played host to many Okanagan luminaries, including former deputy secretary general of Amnesty International Derek Evans, artists Lee Claremont and Gary Pearson, BC Book Award nominee Don Gayton, CBC Literary prize winner poet Harold Rhenisch, distinguished editor and author Jim Taylor, poet laureate and professor John Lent, creative entrepreneur Nikos Theodosakis, animator and filmmaker Jim Cliffe, community activist Don Elzer, dancer David LaHay, architect Jim Meiklejohn, culinary artist and writer Heidi Noble, broadcaster Marion Barschel and many others from a wide range of creative fields.
Our mission is to ignite cultural transformation, catalyze collaborative action, build networks and foster sustainable creative enterprises. We invite the participation by all members of the creative community.
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