Almost time to burn the effigy of Guy Fawkes! and the evenings are closing in - just right for a snuggly poetry reading! I'll be doing a couple of them in Toronto:

Thursday November 4th, 7:30 pm
LiveWords
Black Swan Tavern
154 Danforth Ave

Sunday November 14th, 12.30 pm
Ontario Poetry Society – Warm Hands, Deep Pockets Poetry Party
The Rivoli
332 Queen Street West

So come and feel cozy! And don’t forget December 1st – Worlds AIDS day – CBC Radio 2 will broadcast Dark Star Requiem on the Signal at 10pm.

Decompressing after the fabulous Dodge Poetry Festival in Newark, NJ. Actually quite a lovely little city, and really wonderful weather!! The venues for the Dodge included the New Jersey Performing Arts Centre and churches and hotels around the core, including the lovely old First Baptist Peddie Memorial Church which is full of beautiful wood and a domed ceiling with stained glass 'skylights'.

Highlights included a poets laureate conflab between Rita Dove, Billy Collins, Kay Ryan and Mark Strand - and guess what?! same problems for all of us Laureates! Also Amiri Baraka playing with his brilliant band Blue Arc, Rita Dove reading from her new book Sonata Mulattica, Kwame Dawes being Kwame Dawes and Martin Espada talking about craft.

Then a couple of days in Manhattan where I went to see one of my favourite dance troupes, Sankai Juku perform their latest creation 'Tobari' at the Joyce theatre. Check out the review here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/arts/dance/07juku.html.

It's always good to get away for a few days, especially when poetry is involved!

The Dodge Poetry Festival is looming in the horizon and I'll be tooting down to Newark on Thursday to catch all the fun. It's been a busy time (working for money) but when I return from NY and a good dose of poetry I expect to kickstart my projects - the Malletkat, Dion McGregor, the memoir and finding a husband to put together my IKEA purchases! More as it comes!