VERSeFest (Ottawa) 2023 : Volunteer Appreciation Night, March 4, 2023! w readings by Latour, Dumont, Andrews + Roach,

VERSeFest, Ottawa’s glorious poetry festival returns!

Join us Saturday, March 4, 2023 (6:30 door/7pm reading) at Cooper's Creative Kitchen, Embassy Hotel & Suites, 25 Cartier Street, Ottawa, for an evening of poetry and drinks on us! (Yeah, we said drinks). Every year, VERSeFest is a huge success because of the tireless work and effort of our amazing volunteers. We couldn’t do it without you. This is our way of giving back and saying thanks for all that you do, you incredible beings you!

lovingly hosted by rob mclennan
With readings by:
current Ottawa poets laureate Gilles Latour and Albert Dumont
and poets Kimberly Quiogue Andrews and Leslie Roach

Now thirteen years old, our 2023 festival runs from March 18 to 26!
(details to appear on the website soon)

Win PRIZES! Books, tickets, and more…

Why volunteer for VERSeFest? Not only will you get to attend the planet’s most exciting poetry festival FREE on nights you volunteer, but you also get to meet your favourite writers, work with a fun crew, and attend awesome events like this one. Oh, and if you volunteer at more than one event, you get a free pass to the ENTIRE festival. Sweet, right?

We're looking for people who are willing to help out during the reading, tend bar, (wo)man the door and merch table, etc.

Bring your friends! Bring your flatmates! Bring your loved ones!

Author biographies:

Kimberly Quiogue Andrews is a poet and literary critic. She is the author of A Brief History of Fruit, winner of the Akron Prize for Poetry from the University of Akron Press, and BETWEEN, winner of the New Women’s Voices Chapbook Prize from Finishing Line Press. She teaches creative writing and American literature at the University of Ottawa.

Albert Dumont, Algonquin, Kitigan Zibi: Presently Albert is Ottawa's English Poet Laureate. He is an activist, spiritual advisor, volunteer and a poet who has published 6 books of poetry and short stories and 2 children’s books. Initiated poetry contest 'I am a Human Being' as English Poet Laureate for Ottawa in 2022, resulting in an anthology of the poems submitted. Albert has dedicated his life to promoting Indigenous spirituality and healing and to protecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Gilles Latour, poète franco-ontarien né à Cornwall (Ontario) a grandi à Ottawa, à Montréal et à Paris, a étudié la littérature et la linguistique à l'Université de Montréal et à l’Université McGill, et a travaillé pour des organisations humanitaires et de développement international en Afrique, en Asie et en Amérique Latine. Il a aussi travaillé dans l’enseignement, comme expert conseil en développement international, et comme traducteur et rédacteur technique. Et aussi, brièvement, comme opérateur technique dans une raffinerie, comme plongeur dans un café, et comme chauffeur de taxi. Il vit à Ottawa depuis plus de quarante ans et a dirigé la collection Fugues/Paroles (poésie) aux Éditions L'Interligne (Ottawa) pendant quelques années. Après avoir publié des poèmes dans quelques revues québécoises pendant les années 70, 80 et 90, dont Éther et Trois, il a publié Maya partir ou Amputer aux Éditions L'Interligne en 2011, Mon univers est un lapsus (L’Interligne, 2014), Mots qu’elle a faits terre (L’interligne, 2015, finaliste au Prix Trillium de poésie, au Prix de la Ville d’Ottawa et au Prix Le Droit), de même que À la merci de l’étoile (L’Interligne, 2018, finaliste au Prix Trillium), et Débris du sillage (L’Interligne, 2020), finaliste su Prix de la Ville d’Ottawa et Feux du naufrage (L’Interligne, 2022). Ses poèmes ont également paru dans plusieurs recueils collectifs dont, entre autres : Poèmes de la Cité (David, 2020), Poèmes de la résisance (Prise de parole, 2019), et Cohues (Paris, 2014). Il est actuellemet Poète lauréat francophone de la Ville d’Ottawa (2021-2023).  

Franco-Ontarian poet Gilles Latour was born in Cornwall (Ontario), grew up in Ottawa, Montreal and Paris, and studied literature and linguistics at the Université de Montréal and at McGill University. He has spent most of his working life with humanitarian and international development organizations in Africa, Asia and Latin America, but he has also worked as a teacher, a consultant in humanitarian affairs, a technical translator and writer and, briefly, as an oil refinery operator, a café dishwasher and a taxi driver. He has lived in Ottawa for four decades, where he was poetry editor for Les Éditions L’Interligne for a few years. During the 70s, 80s and 90s his poems appeared in Quebec Literary journals such as Revue Éther and Revue Trois. His first collection, Maya partir ou Amputer, was published by Les Éditions L'Interligne in 2011, followed by Mon univers est un lapsus in 2014, Mots qu’elle a faits terre in 2015 (nominated for the Trillium Poetry Prize, the City of Ottawa Book Award and the Prix Le Droit), as well as À la merci de l’étoile in 2018 (finalist for the Trillium Prize) and, most recently, Débris du sillage in 2020 (finalist for the Ottawa Book Award), and Feux du naufrage in 2022,  all published by Les Éditions L’Interligne. His poems have also appeared in several collective publications and anthologies, most notably in : Poèmes de la Cité (Éditions David, 2020), Poèmes de la résisance (Éditions Prise de parole, 2019), and Cohues (Éditions Cohues, Paris, 2014).  He is currently Ottawa’s Francophone Poet Laureate (2021-2023).

Leslie Roach is an Ottawa-based poet and writer. Born and raised in Montreal to thoughtful and loving parents who immigrated to Canada from Barbados, Leslie has lived and worked in Italy, Mali, Tanzania, Kenya and Senegal, shaping her perspectives and worldview. She then moved to Ottawa, working for the International and Interparliamentary Affairs directorate of the Parliament of Canada, the Supreme Court of Canada and the National Gallery of Canada.

As a lawyer, she previously worked for the United Nations for 10 years in law and HR, specializing in conduct and discipline related to sexual, physical and psychological abuse.

 

She started writing and journaling at a young age as a form of therapy to process the racist experiences she had growing up.

 

In 2020, she released her debut book Finish this Sentence, a collection of poetry about healing from the effects of racism, finding one’s voice and power, and claiming your human right to be happy. She has been featured on major media platforms, including CBC and CBC Books, and has partnered with national brands like DeSerres.

 

Today, she is an advocate for finding your power through practicing mindfulness, both at work and at home, as a way to respond effectively to situations. She is also a workshop facilitator on journaling and mindfulness at work, and journaling to find one’s true calling and purpose.