VIU Poets on Campus series broadens scope – next reading Oct. 18

Organizers are exercising literary licence for the fifth season of Vancouver Island University’s Poets on Campus series.

“We’ve decided to interpret ‘poetry’ a little more broadly,” said Marilyn Bowering, professor of creative writing at VIU and one of the co-ordinators of the series.

“We have several poets who also write fiction, a non-fiction author, Alan Twigg, who is soccer-mad (and is going to sing,) and one writer—the unclassifiable, Erin Moure—who writes through the medium of invented poets who compose verse in foreign languages.”

Susan Juby, also a VIU creative writing faculty member, opened the series in September with a presentation she described as “non-poetic”. In addition to reading from The Woefield Poultry Collective and her work-in-progress, Bright’s Purpose, she talked about writing for young adults and switching between genres.

The series continues 4 p.m., Monday, Oct. 18 with Vancouver writer Evelyn Lau. Lau has published ten books, including five collections of poetry. Oedipal Dreams was nominated for a Governor-General's Award, You Are Not Who You Claim won the Milton Acorn Award, and her poems have been selected for the Best American Poetry and Best Canadian Poetry series.

Her bestselling memoir Runaway: Diary of a Street Kid, published when she was 18, was made into a CBC movie starring Sandra Oh. Lau's prose books have been translated into a dozen languages worldwide. Her most recent volume of poetry, Living Under Plastic, has just been released by Oolichan Books.

“We’re proud of this line-up of writers who are working at such a high level from the traditional to experimental,” Bowering said.

She added that it’s a particular pleasure to have Lau read from her latest book.

“Some years ago, before Evelyn had published a book, she entered a BC Federation of Writers contest,” Bowering said. “I was the judge, and the moment I read her entry I knew there was a formidable new addition to the Canadian literary conversation. In case you’re wondering—she won.”

Lau will read in the Library Writing Centre at 4 p.m. Admission is by donation.

In addition to VIU sponsors, the Poets on Campus series is supported by Canada Council for the Arts, the League of Canadian Poets and the Writers’ Union of Canada.

For more information on the six readings in the series, visit: http://www.viu.ca/poetsoncampus/schedule.asp

Evelyn Lau on YouTube:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKcqfI6kuZM


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJWAOpkhg1s