I’m so happy to announce that my new poetry book has finally flown the coop and is available on Amazon! I’ve started writing some of the poems in it a decade ago…while I was pregnant with my first rainbow baby, who is about to turn 10!!
It’s a crazy endeavour writing and editing a poetry book while in the midst of kid chaos, but I gathered poetry in the cracks, and have finally found the time and tech support to get my book launched.
You can expect poems about:
Rainbow babies
Nature
Family Life
Struggle
Friendship
Travel
Contemplation
Writing and Work
Today I went for a celebratory launch-lunch with my husband and toddlers…and plan to have some book launch get togethers in the future for those close by. I’ll keep you posted. Let me know if I should save you a copy of my book!
And for everyone…here’s the Amazon link so you can take a look!
Celebrate Story and Short Films with us at the COMPOSED Festival of Writing and Film this Thursday, Friday and Saturday! June 26–28, 2025
Join us for a vibrant weekend of literary and cinematic celebration at the 2025 COMPOSED Festival of Writing and Film. Saturday offers workshops in the daytime and the evening the COMPOSED Short Film Festival both at the beautiful North Delta Centre for the Arts.
Angela Rebrec, fantastic president of the Delta Literary Arts Society, and her faithful sidekick, me, the V.P.
This three-day community festival offers something for everyone—and all events are completely free! I’ll be teaching a poetry workshop, and my son Isidore has a stop-motion short film in the festival Saturday evening! Come see! Register for workshops and the film festival at http://www.dlas.ca.
Thursday, June 26 — Words on Fire: Festival Edition
My lovely friend Tiffany braving the mic to share a new poem!
6:00 PM | Douglas J. Husband Discovery Centre, Ladner
We launch the festival with a special edition of our beloved open mic series, Words on Fire. Enjoy refreshments and conversation following the readings.
Friday, June 27 — Poetry Slam Competition
The fabulous Kagan Goh
6:00 PM | Douglas J. Husband Discovery Centre, Ladner
Hosted by Delta’s own spoken word artist Linden Chow
Saturday, June 28 DAYTIME — Workshops
All events at North Delta Centre for the Arts (11425 84 Ave.)
Register at www.dlas.ca to secure your spot—workshop spaces are filling up
11 AM
Choosing Your Book Publishing Path 11am with Debra Purdy-Kong
A Journey Of Identity: reconnecting to your roots, culture, and heritage with Ladonna Hindmarch
12pm Songwriting 101 with Shelley Stevens
Writing Under Pressure: finding poetry in your messy, crazy life. 12pm with Anna Eastland
1 PM
Secrets of the 7-Day Screenplay with Jordan Stratford
Discovering Poetry with Marc Perez
Microphone Technique for Spoken Word with Lory White
2 PM
The Social Aspect of Writing and Performing with Marlo Browne
The Flaw: writing toward your light with Jude Neale
3 PM
Painting Words with Light and Shadow 3pm with Steven Kirby-Schwartz
Historical Fiction Hacks with Jordan Stratford
Live Performances – Saturday Afternoon
12:00 PM – The Boy Who Faked Kung Fu A bold, theatrical solo performance by Kagan Goh—this autobiographical tale is full of humour, pathos, and punch.
1:00 PM – Water Forgets Its Own Name Poet Jude Neale shares her poetic responses to the paintings of Nicholas Jennings, drawn from their collaboration exploring the beauty of Bowen Island. An immersive, interactive event.
2:30 PM – Spoken Word + Comedy with Kagan Goh Kagan returns for a spoken word performance of Disco Ball Mandala, followed by two stand-up comedy sets that explore mental health, identity, and resilience with humour and insight.
7:00 PM — COMPOSED Short Film Festival Screening
Some of the judges pre-screening films to make our selections. My son Isidore was not allowed to vote—as he has a film being shown! Congrats, honey!
Cap off the festival with an evening of poetic and literary short films—each under 10 minutes. Vote for the audience favourite! Red Carpet photos, free popcorn, cash bar and concession.
Reserve your free seats now at www.dlas.ca or via Eventbrite—seating is limited.
Thank you to our generous sponsors and volunteers!
Don’t miss this popular yearly literary event!!! Hope to see you there! Bring a friend or two…
I’m so excited to be part of this amazing project—to compile almost 200 poems for children from over 60 poets and present them in a gorgeous, fully illustrated keepsake anthology!
Here are some sample spreads to give you an idea what the book is like. I have three poems in the book, and many others are written by talented and lovely friends of mine from my online poetry group and writing classes at The Habit.
We are really honoured to have our poems illustrated by the talented Emily J. Person, whose work you see above. It’s really magical to have one’s poetry illustrated!
To produce this quality of work takes a fair investment, so we are running a kickstarter to support the project, and are almost there!! We need to reach our goal by Tuesday, March 11th for this book to come alive; if we don’t no one will be charged as the project work go ahead. If we do, it will be published on time for Christmas this year!
If any of you would like to support the project from Canada, but prefer to avoid shipping, you can get an ebook version. I think it will still be delightful on a tablet or computer.
Here’s the link to our Kickstarter if you’d like to get yourself a copy or even just to spread word about the project in these final days of fundraising. Thank you! 🙂 🥰
I’m so excited to announce the inaugural Words on Fire Open Mic and Social for writers starting this Thursday, January 30th from 6-7:30 pm! I’ll be hosting this event on behalf of the Delta Literary Arts Society, at the Douglas J. Husband Discovery Centre in Ladner.
My friend Rosemary and I were brainstorming about ways we could make more community-building events for writers, we we could all feel more connected and encouraged in our creative work. We thought a spoken word open mic would be perfect! All forms of writing are welcome, from poetry and fiction to memoir and essay—the mic is yours for five minutes!
This event is free for anyone to share their writing and connect with other local writers. Speakers can register at the door. Listeners are also most welcome! We will have time for snacks and socializing after the performances so we can have a chance to chat.
I’ve been reading poetry at the North Delta Centre for the Arts Open Mic for about two years and it’s been such a wonderful and confidence-building experience. I’m so happy to now be able to encourage others to share their creative writing! The world is a more beautiful place with all our voices in it!
While all the world is twinkling with joy, here’s a poem for those who are sick right now at Christmas. A nasty flu ripped through our house last week, and here’s a rather delirious poem I wrote while recovering myself. I hope this ‘ode to the toilet bowl’ makes you laugh!
White Knight Fever
I am ravaged Wrecked Sleepless
Heat rises in my chest And I’m drawn to you
I throw myself on my knees Before you Reveal everything All the worst of me Wrenched from my guts Exposed to your calm gaze Received with silent acceptance Then washed away
My secrets are safe with you
The fever is gone And I lay upon the cold tile floor Relived but shivering Then crawl back into bed
Still sleepless Tossing and turning Writhing and churning Until the heat rises again And I run to your cool embrace Powerless to resist Your openness to all the dark things Hidden within me
It can be a hard thing to be a poet. To be every day pouring your soul out through your words, every day spinning them into magic like the tireless spider, each day hoping your silver net will catch a ray of sunshine in a dewdrop, and it that tiny microcosm, encapsulate a piece of your world.
And that is the fun part, the inspiration, the communing with the spirit that guides you…but after that, comes panning your river of words for gold among the rocks, the shaking of your pebbled poems, the cracking of them to see if they sparkle inside, the shaking off the dust and dirt that obscures them.
And this quiet work of refining can take years. Long enough for you to almost forget that you wrote the poems, that you spoke them into being with your sufferings and joys…and to wonder, now that you’ve squeezed out your soul, if anyone cares…or if everything you’ve said is outdated and unimportant.
And yet you yearn to hold this ethereal creation of yours in your hot little hands. To show it, to share it, to hold it up and say, “See? I have triumphed!” To celebrate it’s birth with the giddiness of a new mother and the delight of a child. And whether or not people buy this treasure of your soul (for less than the price of going out for lunch even) is …important, yes, but not essential…
No matter what happens to your book, now flown the coop of your computer, it has been created, and it is a victory. The bodiless angels themselves are marvelling at the human ability to tap their fleshy fingers, rumble air through their delicate throats and pour out song.
With these thoughts I comfort myself as the poetry project I’ve been working on for almost nine years comes to a close, and as the tenth anniversary of the loss of my daughter Josephine approaches, for whom I wrote my first poetry book, and for whose little siblings I’ve written this next one.
May my new book come into the light and fly away, so my hands will be free to write the next one, which is already printed on my heart.
I’m excited to share that I’ve had a poem published on The Amethyst Review today!
Hearth-Song was inspired by a book on Old English I’ve been reading called “The Word Hord: Daily Life in Old English.”
In examining poems like Beowulf and in other writings in Old English, it was clear how important it was to belong to the warm fellowship of the hall, safe from the perils of loneliness outside. My poem plays with these ideas, while emphasizing the importance of friendship, especially in encouraging each other to grow as artists.
Thanks to my great friends in The Habitations Poetry group for helping me refine this poem with your poetic wisdom, and to Sarah for sharing my work on the beautiful treasury of poems that is the Amethyst review!
Just East Of Crazy Land 