Verses of Transformation at VWF

October 25 I got to attend The Vancouver Writers Festival with my two sisters and poet Jessica Lee McMillan.

We listened to a truly "awe-inspiring lineup of poets—Guest Curator Canisia Lubrin, Billy-Ray Belcourt, Junie Désil, Cecily Nicholson, Danez Smith, Karen Solie, and Paul Vermeersch—as they read and reflect on a secret question drawn from a bag on-stage and posed, one poet to the next, in a carousel-style reading and fireside-style chat."

I already knew and appreciated Lubrin, Belcourt, Désil, and Solie.

Nicholson, Smith, and Vermeersch were new to me.

All of the poets contributed tough questions on the nature of writing, poetry and life. They read some of their breathtaking poems and managed to give thoughtful, authentic answers with humour and spontaneity.

If I wasn't experiencing persistent concussion symptoms, I could give you more details.

Next year just make sure you're there.