span-o, poetry 101 & The Factory Reading Series

It was in 1996, I think, when I first started hosting poetry readings at Gallery 101 on Lisgar Street, under the title "poetry 101," suggested by Fredericton poet Joe Blades. The idea was simple enough: regular readings by writers who probably wouldn’t have opportunities to read in Ottawa otherwise, whether local writers or those from further abroad. Despite the amount of activity in & around Ottawa over the past fifteen years or so that I’ve been paying attention, the bulk of activity has always been irregular, with very few actual regular events, whether the readings at the Manx Pub (focusing on out-of-towners), The TREE Reading Series (twice a month since 1980), or the Dusty Owl Series, which recently returned after a break of eight years.

Now under the umbrella of the small press action network - ottawa (which also hosts irregular readings at Mother Tongue Books & Collected Works, as well as the semi-annual ottawa small press book fair), some of the readers that have come through the doors of 101 to read for the series have been Joe Rosenblatt, R.M. Vaughan, Deanna Young, Sheri-D Wilson, Monty Reid, Robin Hannah, jwcurry, nathalie stephens, Stuart Ross, Chris Turnbull, Robert Priest, Jacqueline Turner, Gil Adamson, Joe Blades, Jill Hartman, derek beaulieu, maria erskine, Grant Shipway, Peter Norman & Stephen Brockwell. Now held at Gallery 101's Nepean Street location, this next season will include three readings, on Thursday nights starting at 7:30pm, starting with February 17th (Erin Bidlake, Shane Rhodes & Rob Winger, Ottawa), March 24th (Anita Dolman & Max Middle, Ottawa) & April 7th (Stephen Cain, Rachel Zolf & Mark Truscott, Toronto). More information can eventually be found here.

As well, span-o is hosting a chapbook launch by Eric Folsom (Kingston) & gregory betts (Hamilton) on Friday, February 25th at mother tongue books, 1067 Bank Street (at Sunnyside), starting at 7:30pm.

All events are lovingly hosted by rob mclennan.