Author: Chaucer

Strollers, at last the time has come. We will be kicking off our new Haven season:

7:00-8:30 PM, Monday, September 18th
Upper Crust Cafe.
10909 86th Ave
Edmonton, AB
T6G 0W8

In honour of the 30 Year Anniversary of the Stroll of Poet’s Society, our theme will be 30 & Thriving: Where To From Here.

The evening will feature an open mic for the entire evening, and we ask that each person sharing their work to keep it to a maximum of 2 minutes.

We look forward to smelling the sweet scent of the flowers that are your poetry.

To check out the available dates and sign up for reader and volunteer spots please use this link to access the Haven Reading Series sign up page: signupgenius.com/go/10c0d48a5ae2fa7f8c43-haven3#/.

The Stroll of Poets board of directors hope that you are having a terrific summer but we are also excited to announce that the Haven Reading Series 2023/2024 season will be commencing in only one month at the Upper Crust Cafe with an all open mic engagement once again.

We’re pumped and hope that you will be there and/or also join us for our Haven Reading Series this season. The readings will continue on a biweekly schedule with an additional couple of dates at Audrey’s Bookstore in November and March. One of four 10-minute featured reader spots will be available at each of these subsequent Haven Reading events for all Stroll members who have paid for their yearly membership, whether or not you contribute a poem to the yearly anthology (one reading spot per person per year only please).

Also, please remember that each session will require additional volunteers to mic host and to assist as a door host so we ask that you sign up for one of these spots as well if you can. Once you have signed up, confirmation and reminder notices will be sent to you via email.

To check out the available dates and sign up for reader and volunteer spots please use this link to access the Haven Reading Series sign up page: signupgenius.com/go/10c0d48a5ae2fa7f8c43-haven3#/.

The board of directors for the Stroll of Poets Society would like to wish all members a very happy and safe summer. We would also like to express our appreciation for your participation in the Haven Reading Series and all of the other events staged by the Stroll over this past season.

Thank you to all Stroll members who were involved with organizing and executing those many wonderful events. The return to live participation was welcomed and successful as the engagement of our members has proven. We are proud of the accomplishments of this past year and plan to expand our opportunities further in the next season.

The sign up for next year’s Haven should go live late in August or early in September so stay tuned for the announcement in our Newsletter. In the meantime we also encourage you to explore the addition of the Stroll historical archives added to our website. We look forward to reconnecting with you all in September.

In peace and poetry;
Max Vandersteen.

Look Back              –            Look Ahead
Over the path to here         To the road from here

You are invited to retrace the steps of the Stroll’s 30 year journey to this point and to set a course for its future direction.

Saturday, June 17
2:00 pm
Unity Edmonton Centre
11715E – 108 Avenue N.W.

Announcing the rollout of The Stroll of Poets historical archives which will be made available on the Stroll of Poets website. Join us for coffee, tea, wine and a dessert potluck event at Unity Edmonton Centre (11715E – 108 Avenue N.W.) at 2:00 PM on Saturday, June 17th as we preview archived historical events, publications, memorials, press coverage, and social media posts of the past 30 years of The Stroll of Poets Society.

After a short intermission we will continue with round table discussions of future initiatives and possible pathways for our poetic community to explore.

Historical Stroll memorabilia will be available for purchase. There will also be door prizes and a raffle.

Come and join in the thirty Year Anniversary Celebration!

The Stroll of Poets board of directors and the Haven committee would like to express our appreciation to all members of the Stroll who signed up to read, mic host, and/or door host during our Haven Reading Series 2022 – 2023 season.

The return to in-person gatherings was a bit of a gamble and a big change from the past couple of seasons where readings were held online. Thanks to all of you for your response to this pivot.

While we were able to meet again with our friends and fellow poets to listen to so many entertaining readings, it was a terrific year with a remarkable conclusion. Attendance was high throughout the year, and Fresh Verse was exciting and an enjoyable note for every one to end on.

A round of applause goes out to our Haven committee members who worked diligently to ensure that the season ran with very few glitches:

• John Leppard
• Janis Dow-Durnin
• Naomi McIlwraith
• Loren Marsden
• Anne Gerard Marshall
• Max Vandersteen

See you all again in September!