© The League of Canadian Poets 2003.
David Clink is the Artistic Director of the Art Bar Poetry Series (artbar.org). As well, he is the co-publisher of believe your own press, and is webmaster of poetrymachine.com, a resource for poets. His poetry has appeared in Analog; Cicada, The Dalhousie Review, Descant, Grain Magazine, The Literary Review of Canada, Midwest Poetry Review, On Spec, and The Prairie Journal.
[Top]Developing and promoting a reading series is not as easy as it looks. There are many complex issues to consider but I think anyone willing to devote the time and effort into organizing a reading series must begin by asking themselves the basic question, "Why?"
I believe that a reading series - if it is to last beyond that first flush of enthusiasm - must have a raison d'être that sets it apart, that makes it unique. Get together and set down a clear and concise mission statement, one that might even be featured on the bottom of your event posters. It is important to set out concrete goals for your series: numbers of readers, numbers of events, audience attendance, support from funding agencies... Reviewing these quantifiable factors from time to time will tell you if you are achieving what you set out to do.
The question of "who" you are presenting readings for is just as important as "'why" you are presenting them. Whether you are conscious of it or not, a cultural event such as a regular reading series becomes part of a larger cultural matrix within your community. It is crucial to know who you think your "prime" audience is. Write a profile for your own benefit, and one that you can pass on to the funding agencies that support the series. Your description may be wide and inclusive or somewhat channeled depending on the mission of your series.
Have a free door prize raffle once a month and collect names of those who enter. Have a check on the ticket where people can indicate if they want to receive information on the reading series through email or regular mail. Build up a "mailing list" of people who have an interest in the series, then begin build a relationship with them. Send out a one-page newsletter once a month during the series season. Ask your audience to contribute names of poets they would like to see at the series. Involve them, and they will stay involved. Let them know what your mission is, and why you value their interest.
Programming a reading series can be a bit like divining for water; you have to go with your instincts, and back up your choices with knowledge of your audience. It is important to take risks from time to time, with a first-book poet, or a poet that doesn't seem to lend themselves to your series, because you may learn something new about your audience.
Promotion is often the biggest factor of success for your reading. Each event should have a distinct "promotion plan" that in some way focuses on the uniqueness of each reader. Ask yourself, "If this reading were a book or an anthology, how would I promote it to readers." I know a reading series which titles each reading based on the writers involved. The title, like the title of a book, develops a sense of mystery and interest in their audience, and the theme is carried into the night of the reading.
While focusing on your actual audience it is also important to spend some time thinking about potential audience members in your community. If you are presenting a "work-poet", talk to the local labour federation, to see if they will help promote the event. If you are presenting a writer from the South Asia community, make certain you have contacted culture groups in that community who have an interest in getting the word out to their members. When you have one or two successes in working with "non-literary" organizations to promote your events, you will begin to see opportunities for promoting the series in places like farmers markets, and multicultural fairs. I believe that every poetry event has a hidden audience, people who might have been there if they were shown how it fits into their cultural world.
While there are rewards for the organizers of a poetry reading series, it is also a lot of work. Allow yourself the time and the space to reflect why you do it and whom you do it for. Be persistent and don't let anyone talk you out of pursuing what you know to be a great idea for a reading series. In the end, whether you planned to or not, you will be engaged in building community.
Paul Wilson is a poet and cultural worker who has organized over two hundred readings in his home province of Saskatchewan.
Due to numerous queries to the League of Canadian Poets as to how to set up a reading or a reading series, this collection of articles from experienced hosts across the country has been assembled in order to provide information (and perhaps incentive) to those who are interested but unsure as to how the process works.
A frequent question is: how does one approach a poet? I tend to answer: very carefully; from a distance; preferably wielding a whip and a chair, as they can be quite vicious and have been known to bite and spit. Naturally, this is not true. Your average garden-variety poet is, in the main, quite docile and invariably only too happy to be asked to perform. In fact, showing even the slightest kindness toward a poet (poets being unused to this sort of novel treatment) tends to have the opposite and perhaps more devastating effect - the poet will attach themselves to you; they might even try to follow you home. While perhaps more common among poets, this behaviour is similarly exhibited to a lesser or greater degree by writers in general.
OK, so I'm kidding, sort of. The basic premise, though, is this: writers spend most of their time in relative solitude creating the work and many are thrilled to be given the opportunity to share it in a venue, in front of an audience. They simply need an invitation. And don't worry how big the name is. As someone once quizzed bandleader Artie Shaw: "How did you get Lana Turner to marry you?" His answer? "I asked her."
My background as a host was with the popular, now-defunct, "Idler Pub Reading Series". It was a weekly event which I took over from Russell Smith, expecting to hang in for a year or two, finally passing the reins over to Stephen Humphrey ten years later. The series had no open mic. It was "features" only (as a rule, three per night given fifteen to twenty minutes apiece), the idea being that the audience was there to hear others, not themselves. Russell had booked readers for the next two weeks and I was on my own after that. Naturally, I approached writer friends first, then sent letters out to various publishers and writers' organizations saying that the venue was available for in-town or touring writers as well as book launches, special events, tributes, and the like. Through the letters and by word of mouth, the response was immediate and positive and soon I was hosting readers from across the country and, to some degree, around the world.
The series was a mixed bag of poetry, fiction, non-fiction and plays, which made for eclectic evenings and a diverse crowd over the years. While there were a few regulars and semi-regulars who attended, for the most part the audience varied depending on the bill of fare. There were always new faces, some of whom never returned, even though they'd come up to me later and tell me what a great time they had.
There was never a cover charge for the evenings and I never passed a hat for donations. The single expectation was that everyone in the audience would spend a minimum of five bucks on food or drink in order to support the Pub and its staff. For this, the owner - Manny Drukier - would generously provide the featured readers with a twenty dollar bar tab, or, in the case of a large group, several pitchers of beer to share. As I learnt the ropes, and where possible, I did apply to various programs which provide funding to readers. Folks seemed happy with the arrangement for the most part.
Apart from the close friendships I made, the high points were often coexistent with the larger crowds, such as having to turn away people when Evelyn Lau or Susan Musgrave visited. Conversely, wonderful readings to small crowds by Theodore Enslin, Duo Duo or Don McKay. Or the fact that the series hosted several writers whose careers later took off: Anne Michaels, André Alexis, Steve Heighton, Andrew Pyper, Ann-Marie MacDonald and Christian Bök, to name a few. Or hosting to a crowd full of actors performing short takes from the SummerWorks Play Festival, or a Beat Poetry night, or Dub Poetry night or a tribute to Charles Bukowski…
The horror stories? Receiving nasty letters from people I turned down for the series is always a drag. Having to walk up on stage and forcibly remove people who have worn out their welcome by going way past the specified time limit is no fun. Putting up with demanding people, whether on stage or in the audience: "Would you go and tell the person at the bar to please be quiet?" I can try, but it is a public bar, after all, and so… The rare person who didn't show up, never called, meanwhile their fans are waiting.
Overall, though, a positive vibe and a grand opportunity to meet, hear and get to know many interesting people in the large, literary community.
Stan Rogal is a writer of fiction, plays and poetry. His latest collection of poems is "sub rosa", published in 2003.
Here is an overview of the readings we organize at the McNally Robinson Bookstore in Winnipeg. I do not have any anecdotes. I find that all the writers who come here are a fine bunch of humanity and I enjoy them all. In eight years I can count on one hand the number of "difficult" people I've met...but no difficult poets.
We hold launches and readings every weeknight Monday through Thursday. On Friday and Saturday we have live music. Sometimes I need to hold two events per evening. We have two great spaces, both wired for microphones (a very good sound system), podiums for each space, chairs for guests and a table to display books and later used for the purpose of author autographs directly following the reading. When I have two events, one begins at 7:30 pm, the other at 8:00 pm. On nights when there is one event, it begins at 8:00 pm. Authors are generally given twenty to thirty minutes to read from their work.
Readings can be arranged through the author or through the publisher, though when I book an event I contact the publisher and we arrange a co-op deal to cover expenses such as mailing invitations, providing beverages, producing posters and handouts. All of our upcoming events are listed in our newsletter and put on our web site which displays them in order for two weeks before the event date. I also send press releases every Thursday evening to all media in the city. Our events are listed in the local newspapers and the community papers and often we get calls from print, radio, TV when something tweaks interest for that particular person. We list our events on in-store coming events handouts which are updated weekly. We create posters by scanning the book cover or having the art work emailed to us. Our desktop person does an amazing job. Our display person puts up a display table of the author's books two weeks before the event in a prominent area of the store. We mail invitations to the author's family and friends and to any group of people who may have an interest in a particular author or book.
On the night, either I or my assistant Alicia Brown, hosts the event and remains with the author throughout. After the autograph session, we ask the author to sign a number of copies for store stock. Usually the book will make our best-seller list if it is a launch - including poetry books. The book will be then be featured on the "Best Seller" table.
We believe in events very strongly. My agenda is the same for the most noted Canadian author as it is for a first-time, self published author.
Louann Savage
"The Shoe String Reading Series" was born in 1995 in a small bar on Argyle Street. The bar itself had been named by the owner, Victor Syperek, after a beautiful neon sign he had found and affixed above the entrance. The sign flashes: "The Economy Shoe Shop".
Upon entering the building one sees a long narrow room with a bar on the left and high tables with stools on the right. At the end, in a more open area, sits a six inch high stage with handrails. The stage looks back the length of the bar, with a nook on one side and a cozy alcove on the other.
Over time, management added three dining/drinking bars. These are attached to "The Shoe Shop", but it's "The Economy Shoe Shop" which remains the cultural centre of the complex. Every month it has a new art exhibit on the stuccoed mustard-coloured walls. On the small stage there's jazz Monday nights and the reading series Tuesday nights. Readings kick off around 8:30 pm. The microphone is set, the music turns down and the stage lights go up. The MC warms the crowd - from a handful to standing room capacity - and the reader is introduced. One reader is usually featured, though sometimes two or three. Their names appear in the monthly menu and on the provincial Writer's Federation website.
Readers are found through publishers who usually contact the MC, or through canvassing writers either locally or out of town. Touring writers can give the series a boost, yet excellent writers may live only a few streets away.
Some venues prefer not to have an open mic. However, by setting a reasonable limit as to number of readers and time allowed, opening the stage can flush out some wonderful talent. More than a few times the open mic has been as successful as the featured reading, and has produced a list of readers to sign up later. The open mic has attracted local unknowns and even a dynamic slam poet from Ottawa. A Toronto man appeared one night. He had hitchhiked across Canada, from open mic to open mic, with a stash of poems in his backpack.
Although held regularly for eight years, the readings are not popular with everyone. Apart from the normal kitchen sounds and bar ambience, some people talk at the far tables or they leave temporarily for the adjoining bars. However, there is a sizeable shifting group that creates a kind of writer's club. This group forms the cheerleaders of the reading nights. Most have read at the "regular" open mics, which are held about six times a year, they've heard each other's material and they serve as a kind of glue that holds the series together. Without them a writer with a big fan club would fill the place one week whereas the next, an unknown would recite to an empty bar. The readings would be based more on a known personality than on a love for literature.
The main conflict in the series has to do with the original concept of a fifteen minute reading limit and a reader wanting to stretch it to forty-five. So, performers are offered up to thirty minutes and then asked to check in with the audience. A rare double or triple reading can last an hour or more. One rarer open mic rounded off at a satisfying hour and a half without a break. Of course, the place was full, with at least a dozen readers and their entourage of friends.
"The Shoe String Reading Series" was started by Carol Sinclair, a playwright/actress, on December 5/95. Sinclair approached David Henry, the co-owner of the bar, with the idea of presenting "fifteen minutes of light reading" once a week. For several years the series was financed by The Playwright's Atlantic Resource Centre. Many of the performers were actors or playwrights trying out new material. Gradually, the readings were opened to other writers and poets. Eventually PARC stopped financing the series and The Economy Shoe Shop assumed this function, offering an honourarium to the readers and the MC.
David Henry has supported the series from the beginning, assisted for many years by Sherry MacKay. The list of MCs have been: Carol Sinclair with Carol Reed, Kim Goodson, Terry Pulliam and now David Rimmington.
Things have not always gone according to plan. On one occasion a barman lost all track of time and a party of two eating dinner at a stage table couldn't finish until 9:30, delaying the reading by an hour. Mic equipment has disappeared. A blown spotlight forced one eminent reader to take off his glasses and hold his book an inch from his nose. Another reader lowered her voice the more I raised the volume. "Louder," I whispered. "Louder." I was stood up by readers three weeks in a row. All phoned with perfect excuses, from a car break-down to being karate-chopped on the back of the head by a parking garage gate and taken to hospital. The unexpected happens! I realized before long that the MC should always have a bag of stuff to perform.
Booking people can be another problem. Some writers must be courted over a period of months before they'll agree to read. In one case I had an unusual phone conversation with an old poet who was a little beyond her lucid years. I entreated her to read. She rebuffed me by saying: "Why? Why would I ever want to read at a shoe shop?"
David Rimmington organizes The Shoe String Reading Series in Halifax.
The first reading series I helped run was with my then-husband, Chad Norman, in 1994. Held in a New Westminster Heritage building converted into a pool hall, The Corner Pocket Series played host to some unforgettable readings, from Miriam Waddington to Al Purdy. Over the years, until Chad and I parted ways in 2001, we collaboratively ran six initiatives: the Myles of Beans series (a Burnaby café], a Queen's Park Festival (New Westminster], The Frontroom Series [in Ernest Hekkanen's living room/gallery, Vancouver], Know Canada [Renfrew library, Vancouver], the Stoneroom Series [El Cocal Restaurant, Vancouver], The Studio Series [Pender Building, Vancouver] and several one-nighters at Café Deux Soleils [Vancouver] and Whitby's Books [White Rock]. During 2000, I also assisted in booking acts for the Corazon series [Vancouver], run by photographer, Karen Moe.
As the marriage dissolved, Chad and I were just starting to organize the Libra Room series [Vancouver], an event he continued to host into 2002. After taking a break to reassess the possibilities, I then found a new venue, an intimate performance space known as Placebo. I decided to focus on a range of local and traveling poets, and remain open to both funded readers and those willing to read for donations. Since September 2003, I have hosted 1-2 poets on the last Tuesday of each month, following their readings with a local musical act. The venue itself, though located a short distance from major thoroughfares, is ideal in its combination of café-style comfort [seating on couches for 30-40 and snacks/drinks provided at minimal cost] and library-quiet [no noisy latté machines or unaware customers to interrupt performances].
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On other days of the week, the venue owners show movies and offer classes. This provide both an audience base and further means for promoting the series through their list-serve, calendars and posters. The reading event is also promoted via handbills, ads in the Georgia Straight, newsletters like the Burnaby Writers' Society and my own list-serve, which aims to reach over 200 audience members.
The poets and musicians themselves are obtained through email or phone invitations or by word-of-mouth requests. Contacting League of Canadian Poets' members in your area is always a good start and approaching a poet is rarely as daunting as it seems. They are usually eager to read and only require clear directions to the venue, the length of time they should recite (20-30 min is most effective], and the mode of payment that will be offered. For the un-funded readers and all musicians, I have a donations watering can by the front door beside the photocopied stack of Event Calendars. The watering can is both eye-catching and suitably metaphorical!
I always make sure to greet guests and ensure their comfort. Is the light right for them? Do they need water? Would they prefer to recite sitting or is standing behind the sturdy lectern fine? Most importantly, I obtain a brief yet detailed bio from them before the event and rehearse it. Being able to pronounce names and book titles, as well as providing context, is respectful and assists in the fluidity of the evening. Maintaining a ritualistic aspect of the event also aids in cohesion and uniqueness. I choose to recite a poem from an international poet on the beautiful challenges of the writing life to begin the night. This routine also helps to quell (at least partially!) any nervousness I feel over public speaking. Afterwards, I connect with the performers again, commenting on their selections and thanking them. Evocative echoes are often established between mediums, creating a fruitful nexus.
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Fortunately, my horror stories are few - a locked up Stoneroom Series venue, necessitating a quick shift to my living room with poet Eric Miller and the disconcerted audience; an inebriated accordionist hurling his shoes through an expensive plate-glass window during a launch at the Studio Series. Meanwhile, the events that proved amazing are uncountable.
Listening (at a recent Placebo event) to Joe Rosenblatt chant "Parrot Fever" with subterranean sonorousness alongside the bright counterpoint of guitarist Anna Baignoche, felt like perk enough to keep me plotting new series' as a primary means of creating community and celebrating Canadian poets.
Catherine Owen, Richmond BC
When I took over as host and organizer in 1999 of Mocambopo, a weekly poetry venue in Victoria, I have to say I didn't know what I was doing. I knew about the League of Canadian Poets and the Canada Council, but that was about it. Mocambopo had started in 1995. It was Jim Andrews' idea and he asked Claire Yoo, the owner of Mocambo Coffeehouse, if she would provide a space every Friday night to run a poetry series. She enthusiastically agreed, and at no charge. So began one of the most successful weekly poetry series in Canada.
There were other hosts and organizers, but the paper trail they had left was not a clear one. I had to find my own way and with the help of the League and the Canada Council, I was able to contact and book featured readers from all over Canada who arrived, poems in hand, prepared to delight audiences, week after week.
I set about publicizing Mocambopo by notifying the local daily and weekly newspapers, the CBC and posting notices of upcoming readings in the Creative Writing department at UVic. But I think word of mouth had a lot to do with the success of the series and I recognized that a visiting poet would get a larger audience being paired with a local poet.
Mocambopo begins each Friday night with an open mic and over the years, the quality of the poetry has become superb. There is a strong leaning toward narrative, lyric poetry. We don't have poetry slams. The poets at the open mic are allowed three minutes to read one poem. I think that it is the vitality of the open mic that fuels Mocambopo, that makes it an excellent breeding ground for new ideas, for hearing old forms of poetry read by new voices: glosas, sestinas, and pantoums are often read at the open mic. Also, there is a sense of community that is reinforced when those at the open mic gain enough experience to become featured readers themselves.
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Some featured readers are sponsored through the League of Canadian Poets, the Canada Council for the Arts or The Writer's Union of Canada. A $3 cover charge by the series goes to the unsponsored featured readers. If there is only one featured reader who is sponsored, the money goes into the Mocambopo account and is used to maintain our website, take poets out for dinner and for purchasing and developing film.
Some featured poets are invited back year after year because they are wonderful readers and superb poets. Naturally, I am always looking for new readers and this year I have a list of four Nova Scotia poets to bring to the West Coast. The League allows a venue four full readings or eight half readings each year. This past year, I've arranged for two secondary schools to run consecutive readings with Mocambopo, one on Wednesday nights, one on Thursday nights, then Fridays at Mocambopo. Having a second sponsored venue for featured readers allows for the airfare to be covered.
In 2001, Ekstasis Editions published Mocambo Nights, an anthology from the reading series. Anyone who had read there qualified to submit work and Patrick Lane was the editor. In the anthology, the poets are alphabetically arranged, meaning that Can Lit stars are sometimes next to someone who had never published before. This year, a Mocambopo prize will be awarded to an emerging writer, paid for by the royalties of Mocambo Nights.
My plan for this coming year (October 2004-April 2005) is to have three schools sponsor three poets and another two schools sponsor two more poets for their evening series', then have all the poets as featured readers at Mocambopo. For the schools, the ease in which to establish a reading series within the League's program is wonderful. It is important to apply early, however. The best part is that these school evenings are well attended, and give the poets wide exposure.
When poets come from out of town, we arrange lovely places for them to stay for free and I try to take them out for dinner before the reading. We treat our out of town poets as honoured guests. Our website address is: http://www.geocities.com/mocambopo and it is rich with pictures of poets from all over Canada and the U.S, plus pictures of the audience. The magic is there.
One night, just as the open mic got underway, there was a big fracas outside on Blanshard Street, which is a main thoroughfare in Victoria. Apparently, a car had cut a bicyclist off and the cyclist took exception to this. The car had stopped and the cyclist was in the process of shouting loudly while attempting to pull the driver out of the car. About fifteen of us ran outside. I stepped up to the cyclist and said (in a voice that no one could mistake for tentative), "Quit this right now! Don't you know there's a poetry reading going on?" He stopped. The open mic continued. Another night of delight at Mocambopo.
Wendy Morton
Since individual venues in Ottawa are difficult to find, I've been running literary readings for about twelve years in various places across the city, only the last few years putting all of my events under the SPAN-O banner (small press action network - ottawa). The idea being, that no matter where the event is, whether a reading at Collected Works Bookstore, Gallery 101, The National Library of Canada, Mother Tongue Books or elsewhere, or the semi-annual "ottawa small press book fair" (now going into its 10th year), the audience will (theoretically) be aware that it's all part of the same unit.
From summer 1994 to the end of 1998 I co-ran (with b stephen harding) the TREE Reading Series in Ottawa, one of the longest running (continuous) reading series' in the country, going back to 1980. There's always an advantage to running something with a history behind it; as long as you keep the series what it is, then it become difficult to mess the thing up. Readings were, and are still, held on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month, with a forty-five minute open set, followed by a featured reader. As long as the open set was held to its forty-five minutes, and featured readers varied from local/non-local, poetry/prose, and all the other considerations that go into picking readers, the readings were successful. There's nothing more foolish than changing the thing after success; a strong idea at the beginning of anything is essential, and best stuck to.
Still, even while running TREE, there were always people coming through town or planning to, on dates that fell outside the regular TREE Tuesdays, so I started setting up other readings. Over the years, I've probably hosted a few hundred readings around the city, and am getting pretty good at it.
Unlike Toronto, which has WORD, the literary calendar, that Mike O'Connor at Insomniac Press founded in 1994, Ottawa doesn't have enough ad revenue to keep a local equivalent going. We started out with the same problems: local media that don't list every event, having to read every listing in every paper to find out what was going on. Because of this, the bulk of my publicity for Ottawa events (and various otherwise) are through an email mailing list. Over the last ten years, I've probably collected about a thousand emails just of locals interested in knowing about Ottawa literary events, calls for submissions, and other such things. Keeping to my rule of never handing out an email address, it's a pretty safe and effective way to promote, sending messages to both audience and media. It keeps venues such as my own ("poetry 101", now called "The Factory Reading Series"), and the TREE Reading Series at a pretty standard audience of forty people.
The physical parts are very simple. In bookstores and art galleries, unless the acoustics are completely awful, a microphone isn't needed, so set up is minimal. In bar venues, you start getting into the worry of equipment, as well as the need for people to set up the equipment, as well as folks in the establishment that aren't there for your event, so I find it best to avoid those altogether. If a series, best to hold roughly the same time every month, or every two weeks, for example. The one time we had to move a TREE reading to a Wednesday (to accommodate an out-of-country reader), only half the regular audience caught the date change.
As a working writer, I've always considered it my job to write reviews, host readings, and attend as many readings as I can locally. Otherwise, if I'm not willing to hear anyone else read, why should anyone come out to hear me?
I don't have any particularly good/bad anecdotes to tell. We did have to remove The TREE Reading Series from Irene's Pub after she (apparently arbitrarily, and without telling us) replaced the stage with pool tables, and got rid of the sound system. It was a much harder fight to have anyone be heard. Oh you don't need them, she said, even though she'd never actually been to any of the readings. The staff were stunned: we brought in up to eighty people on a Tuesday night, an evening that would otherwise be slow. The one reading we did have there during this, our featured reader left even before he got near to performing. Not that I blame him. We had him back a few months later, once we could confirm to him that our new venue was appropriate.
rob mclennan is the author of several books of poems as well as publisher of above/ground press.
I believe I have a singular distinction when it comes to organizing a reading: I may well have put together the worst evening of poetry this city has ever seen, and I challenge anyone to prove me wrong. Please. It's a burden I've carried around for over twelve years and I'd like to be rid of it. Oh, I've been to some pretty bad readings and I've even organized a few of them. I've witnessed supernovas of poetic self-indulgence and suffered through literary tedium that would rival any torture devised in the seven layers of hell. But on this night, at the Café May restaurant on Roncesvalles in the early nineties, my co-host Michael Holmes and I put on a reading that was so bad we should have been made to stand trial for it. At the very least we should have had to endure a ride down to Cherry Beach in a squad car, with the cops muttering: "If the courts won't teach you little pieces of crap how to put on a good poetry reading, then we're gonna have to do it for them" before they strapped pillows to our chests and beat us senseless with their nightsticks.
Perhaps I should offer a little back-story before giving you the details of our epic failure. The Café May Reading Series ran for about five years if I remember correctly, and for much of its tenure it was the only poetry open mic in town. The series had a UofT schoolboy thing going on, with its core organizers (founders Chris D'Iorio, Stephen Pender and Michael Holmes, and later just Holmes and myself) fond of an indelicate poetic mixture of Major British Authors (welcome to English at UofT), obtuseness (lots of poems about symmetrical fish - don't ask me, I'm not sure), Marxist politics (nothing says political liberation quite like poems about symmetrical fish) and a need to be contemporary and badass (which at the time meant Nirvana, Glenn Danzig and lots of flannel). The order of the day, however, was eclecticism... While the organizers had a peculiar aesthetic the series itself saw folks from all poetic climes; the small room was separated into as many cliques as there were tables. Here, budding avant-garders got to annoy a nascent spoken word crew with their cold poetic oddities ('Griffin' winner Christian Bök's first-ever reading was at the Café...complete with an overhead projector for the concrete poems), and the spoken worders got their revenge by emoting their detractors into submission. And one night there was even a fistfight over a newcomer's particularly sexist football poem - ah, the chivalry of the young.
But, back to our main story - my own culpability in the worst evening of literary entertainment ever foisted on an unsuspecting public. Our open mic rules at the time were pretty simple - we had none, save for a plea for respect and the suggestion that people read a poem of someone else's ("the cover poem") in addition to their own. The poets largely ignored these rules, for rules are to poets as Cheez Whiz is to chocolate. On this evening, however, our laissez-faire approach was its own recipe for disaster. People came, and they came, and like Christmas in Whoville it quickly became apparent that nothing was going to stop them. By the time we started, late as usual, the room was packed and we had forty-two people signed up for the open mic. Yes, forty-two unrelenting open mic performances. We didn't finish until nearly three in the morning, and I had a long ride on the Vomit Comet (the all-nighter bus across Bloor St.) to contemplate the magnitude of what I had done. How did this happen? It turned out that a rival series at the Gladstone Hotel had folded that month, sending its batch of spoken-worders flooding back to the only open mic left in town - ours. We were swamped, and had no rules to enforce. We changed our open mic policies that very evening, but not before I was left with an awful stain on my soul forever.
The Advice (if you haven't lost all respect for me by now):
Make some rules, and stick by them. Open mics are good things, but they're good in a karmic sense rather than an entertainment one. Writers need places to read in public, to hone their craft, to make mistakes, to find their audience and to get their ya-yas out. But, open mics can make for an excruciatingly bad show. So set some rules - one poem, a maximum two minutes at the mic, a limit ten readers on a first come first serve basis, or whatever. Just don't be afraid to enforce them despite the flak you'll inevitably take from writers for doing so.
Bill Kennedy, co-host of Lexiconjury Reading Series
The show runs on the third Sunday of the month, I host it, and we take December off. Performers are paid to appear, and though our $5 cover allows the show to break even, we have since sought sponsorship in order to pay writers better. What started off as an independent production is now sponsored by the Quebec Writers' Federation and the Canada Council for the Arts.
Probably the most important thing that makes this series run is the checklist, which breaks down into the following categories:
Venue
Probably the most important item. Does the place appeal to the crowd you want to attract? Who are the people who run it? Do you like them, and how interested are they in a literature show? Does the place have a stage and a sound system so that people can be seen and heard? These are some of the key features for making a show that works well for the venue owners, the performers and myself.
Our relationship with Casa del Popolo is excellent. They supply a soundman plus drinks for the performers. In exchange, we fill their space for the evening. They like and respect what we do, and we more than respect them, as they're singlehandedly responsible for bringing some of the best new music in North America to Montreal. I like to connect with them, know what's going on with them, and be sure that they're still happy with what we do. I also like to check in to make sure we both know the date we've agreed on, as occasionally something does go wrong. Similarly, I'll phone the person who handles the door to make sure they're available for showtime.
Writers & Performers
Who are the poets, writers and performers going to be? The list is ongoing, and connects with publishers and writers in other cities, established writers and performers in Montreal, new people coming up through colleges, universities and so on, as well as from requests and word of mouth about who's doing good work in the genre. Usually one spot is filled with someone we've applied to the Canada Council for, and the others depend on the season. We typically do three sets of about a half hour each, leaving room in each show for new performers and people who have never previously appeared. If the content of the show runs longer than an hour and a half, people stop listening.
Publicity
This is what brings people to the show. Most of it happens starting about two weeks before showtime.
Whenever I contact writers and performers, I ask for a one paragraph bio. I'll use these to assemble the press release, which gets sent out by email.
The weekly entertainment papers' listing deadline is ten days before showtime. This is also our deadline for the radio ad we do for each show.
The radio ad is our best publicity vehicle. It's a co-promotion with CKUT 90.3FM, a local public radio station. We mention their name and they charge us $34 to run an ad for ten days. They hit a lot of the university and alternative culture crowd, exactly the crowd our show appeals to. The nicest part of the computer revolution is that I can record and edit the ad on my computer and ship it to the station by mp3 without having to leave my desk.
Other TV and radio stations should know about a week before showtime, while daily newspapers need three to four days. Most of this is accomplished through email, though if there's a good angle for one of the media people, I'll probably phone them up specifically to tell them. It's fun and important to get to know all the media people involved in the local literary scene. They have the audience we need, and we try to build them shows the public needs to see.
The best tool we have is our email list. We put it at the front door before each show and anyone interested can add their name to it. We send out the next show info four days before showtime, sometimes repeating it the day of the show.
Showtime
The night of the show I like to get to the venue early so I can hang out with the people. It also means that if something's gone wrong, I have time to fix it. With the exception of the headline act—who'll probably begin either the second or third set—the rest of the spots are open, and choosing who goes when is like editing. I try to balance short pieces with long, music with words. The longest reading or performance will be twenty minutes; the shortest, five minutes. I also like to give first choice to writers and performers who arrive early and take an interest in the show. If they make my job easier, I'm happy to help them get a spot they prefer.
The ideal show puts everyone in a place they like, flows smoothly and keeps the audience listening throughout. Because it's literature, I have high expectations, and each year these get higher. This is because the best performers keep on getting better. My hope is that people will walk away inspired and changed. I also like to make performers feel comfortable and respected. I perform a lot myself, so I know the feeling from their side intimately.
As for horror stories, most have to do with writers who don't show up (not many) and surprise guests who do. Probably the worst was when an old acquaintance of mine asked if he could read a poem at the show. He said he'd been living by himself in the woods north of the city, in a cabin with no electricity and no water. So I got a little curious about what he might be writing and said yes. As he launched into an elaborate rape fantasy—with him in the role of aggressor—the only thing that saved me was that he was a bad performer, and caught few people's attention.
Running the show is hard work, but it's fun and I still enjoy it. Whenever I start to really burn out I try to find someone to host the show for me for a month. Often they'll bring in new content and a different crowd, and renewal is what keeps this show working.
Ian Ferrier is the organizer of the "Words & Music Show".
"To travel hopefully is better than to arrive." It's the business of the series organizer to give the lie to this world-weary motto, but all too often it applies perfectly to the experience of the invited reader. In his short story, "Travelling Northward", John Metcalf makes a bitter comedy out of the various inconveniences and humiliations that a writer can suffer at the hands of his hosts. Most of us can nod ruefully at descriptions of uncomfortable accommodations, scheduling mix-ups, dreadful venues. Most of us have had the experience of coming away from an event feeling diminished, insulted, wondering why we were invited in the first place. Or we have squirmed in our seats while a visitor endures a careless introduction, tries to read in a patently unsuitable or unpleasant venue, copes with a wretched sound system or an ill-placed or poorly constructed reading stand - or reads to a tiny audience. With a little care and attention on the part of those setting up the event, the reader can be spared these indignities.
Some tips on organizing a series:
If you don't have the time to do it properly, don't take it on. Most of the problems with a series seem to arise because the organizer is too busy to attend to all of the little details that go into a successful series.
See that it is funded properly. The League of Canadian Poets and the Canada Council for the Arts, as well as your provincial and municipal Arts agencies may be sources of funding for a well-planned series. If you would like to set up a series featuring international writers, the writers' countries of origin may contribute some funding.
Plan the series well in advance, say, at least a year. Funding, venues, availability of writers, impact of publicity, avoidance of clashes with other literary events all depend upon advance planning.
Create a simple brochure for the series, listing dates and venues, and including brief bios and photos of the authors. This can be done using a computer and a photocopier if necessary. Distribute the brochure to appropriate locations (bookstores, libraries, university departments of English, writers‚ organizations‚ offices) well before the series begins.
Create a poster for each reading, including a brief bio of the author and post widely 7-10 days before the reading. Post the event on local computer newsgroups.
Give the writer as much information as possible about date and duration, the nature of the series, the expenses covered, the fee to be paid.
Once the reading is confirmed, ask the reader if he or she has any particular needs. Some readers are bothered by the absence of a reading stand; some are inaudible without a microphone.
Have a bookstore order the books of the poet well in advance; if possible, arrange to have the store sell the books at the reading.
Publicize the series early through press releases and interviews with you as host of the series. Advertise individual readings through notices in the various free arts columns on radio and in local daily and weekly newspapers, university gazettes, student newspapers and entertainment magazines. Groundwork here in the form of a press list with contact names, e-mails, faxes and mailing addresses as well as deadlines and format for each forum will reduce the labour when the time comes to send out your notices.
When writers comes to your city or town, don't leave them at loose ends. Consult with them beforehand and try to arrange an outing or a social event.
Try to set up a CBC interview for them or an interview with your local newspaper.
A suitable venue is crucial to the success of your series. The first requirement is quiet. The worst damage you can do to a poet is to have him or her read in a stew of noise: coffee machines, telephones, bar talk, traffic roaring in through thin walls. Comfort and a pleasant ambience are also desirable.
Art galleries, museums, public libraries are most likely to provide quiet and a pleasing environment, but cafes and pubs whose owners are willing to create a quiet atmosphere for the occasion are also possible. But consider alternatives to traditional arts venues: sometimes one can find a perfect venue in an unlikely place.
Check the venue out on the day of the reading to make sure that everything is in place: reading stand, sound system, seating, water jug and glass. If there is no bar or coffee service, arrange for beverages and nibbles to be provided. (Grace notes are possible: flowers if there are flowers to be had.)
Prepare a graceful introduction for the reader, taking care to name their books and accomplishments. If you aren't doing this yourself, ensure that the person doing the introduction understands what is required.
When thanking the reader, announce that the books are available. Invite audience members to chat.
Ensure that any forms are filled out immediately and that the writer is paid promptly. Write a thank you letter. Ask the reader for suggestions as to how the series may be improved.
Mary Dalton is the author of three books of poetry, most recently Merrybegot. She has organized readings series' for the Writers' Alliance and for the MUN Pratt Committee. She has read her poems in various readings series across Canada and throughout Ireland.
Readings series' in St. John's:
St. John's: The MUN Pratt Committee (as part of the Atlantic reading Series organized by Atlantic universities). Susan Ingersoll. singerso@mun.ca
The Writers‚ Alliance Reading Series (funded by the CCA) Libby Creelman, Executive Director 709-739-5215 wanl@nfld.com Current readings committee chair: Kevin Hehir <khehir@cs.mun.ca>
The Writers' Alliance Monthly Series ( for WANL members) Contacts: see above.
The Newfoundland Public Libraries Readings Series (funded by the CCA) Carol Seymour carolseymour@nlpubliclibraries.ca
Corner Brook:
The March Hare Festival and readings Rex Brown 709-639-9814 Randall Maggs rmaggs@swgc.mun.ca 709-637-6200, ext 6235
YARD began as an idea upon my arrival in Calgary in 2001. I immediately noticed that there were numerous readings that happened around the city on a fairly constant basis. There were widely published authors coming through town, and there were also a number of open mic nights plus nights with relatively un(der)published writers reading. It seemed there wasn't a lot of crossover happening in terms of the two sharing the same stage. I enjoyed the variety, but felt there needed to be a venue where both widely published writers and relatively un(der)published writers could read together. YARD formed from that perceived necessity.
My approach to the reading was to keep it small. I wanted to have an intimate night once a month with the focus on community instead of individual talent. This may seem counterintuitive to the purpose of a reading. However, if every reading tried to gather the largest audience, I felt that each would suffer a little from a need to compromise, sacrifice, etc. I wanted my series to be an alternative to the big night events hosted in a bar or gallery. I didn't want YARD to stand in opposition to these types of events, I wanted to add to the variety I'd already experienced in Calgary.
The perfect location for this particular reading series was my backyard. People brought their own beverages, seating was limited to my couch (which we brought outside) and blankets, pillows, etc. The first night, June 21/02 we experienced an eight minute hail shower and once that passed saw a double rainbow. The weather was more often than not adequate since it changes fairly frequently here in Calgary.
Once the winter hit, we'd move into a local bar. The first bar we moved into had a lovely sculpture of a tree which fit nicely with the original impulse of the reading series. This venue proved difficult as it was very popular and housed within an old bank building. The high ceilings and large central space swallowed the sound and made performers difficult to hear even with amplification. Due to this circumstance, I moved the series into a pub that was built into an old house. This felt like a more perfect fit for YARD than any of the other bars in town since it guaranteed a certain level of intimacy.
Generally, I'd ask four readers to prepare something. More often than not, these were people I had a degree of involvement with, otherwise I'd approach them through email or through chance meetings. I'd loved to have been able to pay each of my readers, but without any external funding found this to be an impossibility. We usually had two people read, then a break, then the last two people. I think a break somewhere along the way is a good idea for any reading series. No matter how committed to the reading I am as an audience member, knowing a break is on the way helps ease the time during the readings should the need arise for a refill or a defill.
I followed the Lexiconjury reading series rule for what they call the open michelle. This format consisted of one cover poem and one original for the open michelle reader. Because of the intimate setting, this rule was flexible depending on the crowd's mood and the flow of the evening. I hosted all of the readings, with one exception - when I asked Jill Hartman, Cara Hedley, and Brea Burton to host while I was in Toronto. I aimed for a very low-key night with a smooth flow between the performers who often would read from where they sat in the backyard, or beside the May tree. I really wanted to offer something different from a bar or gallery reading, something intangible, maybe an intimacy with the performers, I don't know. My approach may have seemed extremely laid back to someone expecting a show, but my interests were not in showcasing, but rather in sharing. Each of the readers I selected were writing things I respected and was very excited about.
Jason Christy
One of my proudest moments was hosting Roy Miki while he was in town to read from his incredible book Surrender. The reading happened in The Triangle Gallery here in Calgary and because of that I was a little thrown off by the amount of seriousness I imagined the event carrying. I couldn't shake this feeling all night and only hope the reading was a success nevertheless. r rickey introduced Roy, then Janet Neigh introduced and moderated a discussion between Fred Wah and Roy. The night was a very special one.
I wanted YARD to occupy a special place for people where any literary pretensions that could be imagined to exist would falter because of a determination to avoid them. The crowd numbered around thirty each reading and I was fortunate to have such wonderful readers as Carol Malyon, Larrissa Lai, derek beaulieu, Rajinderpal S. Pal, Fred Wah, Nicole Markotic, Louis Cabri, and many more I can't think of right now, grace the YARD. It is to their credit that I owe any success the reading series achieved.
There are always poets who are dying to read at my events, and to that end they send me samples of their work, buy me drinks, stand on tables in the middle of crowded cafés and recite, write poems on the spot, offer to sleep with me. There are also poets who would rather drink Margaret Atwood's urine than read for me. Whether you're in the former or latter category, the impetus for wanting to do a reading is to have people listen to your work. Maybe you'll even sell a book or CD. Bonus!
Since poets are just like regular people (whether you like to think of yourself like that or not!) I expect to encounter the gamut of personalities. Some poets are just grateful for a reading, others never stop complaining, some demand top fees, some pay me! And I'm not a poetry snob, so long as you're a nice person (and sometimes when you're not) I don't have to personally like your work, because I know that I'm just the producer, not the audience. But the one cardinal rule, the one which in my world cannot be broken, is that you show up. If you don't show up there better be an excellent excuse, one that involves death of a loved one, or some kind of hospitalization-injury to your person. The height of rudeness, in my opinion, is a poet who, for reasons unknown (but which probably have to do with delusions of grandeur) doesn't show up for their gig. It's unprofessional, annoying and disappointing. So beware the irresponsible poet!
I'm older now (and being twenty-one can bring its own set of traumas…), I live in the countryside near Kingston, Ontario, but I can't seem to get over the bug. I still run a monthly reading series, 'Limestone Poetry', and each year I put together a festival, 'The Red School House Poetry Primer'. This present series harks back to my first, 'The Poets' Refuge', at the Free Times Café in Toronto. I program three performers each month, giving the audience an opportunity to experience different kinds of poetry from a variety of North American and International poets. The yearly festival is a bucolic, laid back event - which I like to think of as the next Geraldine Dodge Festival - where the audience can see all kinds of poetry, spoken word, musical acts as well as attend workshops.
Here in the country our audiences are varied, sometimes there are ten people, sometimes seventy people squash into the venue. However many, they are an audience comprised of academics, professors, artists, farmers, musicians and are all attentive and truly appreciative of the work, craft and presentation from the poet. 'Limestone Poetry' takes place in a bookstore/café - the old Harrowsmith Magazine building - in a village thirty minutes outside Kingston. 'The Red School House Poetry Primer's' home is an 1840's red wooden schoolhouse in the same region.
The venues and energy of my events may have changed for the moment, but the poet can be sure of receiving the best attention. They are fed, accommodated, and sometimes paid and fêted. They are treated with respect and admiration, their reading will have been publicized and they will have a good time. In fact, they are treated the same way in which when I am a poet rather than a producer, like to be treated, whether in a boxing ring, world music stage or classroom.
Jill Battson is an internationally published poet and performer. Her latest book is 'Ashes are Bone and Dust' and she will be seen In her shows 'Ecce Homo' and 'Trajectory' at a theatre near you this year.