Literary arts

An Evening with the Poet Laureate

Edmonton’s Poet Laureate Shima Robinsson (AKA Dwennimmen)  invites you to come down to The Aviary for An Evening With The Poet Laureate.  This 2025 Edmonton Poetry Festival finale event will feature samplings of Dwennimmen’s unique flow and form, including: insight and presentation of works commissioned during her Laureate tenure; and a musical, collaborative exploration of Dwennimmen’s earlier work such as her first book Horn.

French Twist: Le Dixième Anniversaire!

C’est le 10e anniversaire du French Twist, présenté dans le cadre du Edmonton Poetry Festival !

Pierrette Requier animera la soirée dans les deux langues officielles, créant un pont linguistique et culturel, pour en faire une vitrine par excellence des diverses voix artistiques francophones, qu’ils soient dramaturges, musiciens, ou poètes.

It’s the 10th anniversary of the French Twist, presented as part of the Edmonton Poetry Festival!

Literary Editions

Literary Editions is co-hosted by the Edmonton Poetry Festival.

This annual poetry event will feature online readings from UAlberta Press’ newest collections: This Sweet Rupture by Omar Ramadan, When Whales Went Back to the Water by Lisa Baird, and Python Love by Shannon Arntfield, all hosted by Aaron Kreuter. 

About Books & Authors:

The Twenty Launch, Part One

Come celebrate THE TWENTY Youth Poetry Collection! The Edmonton Poetry Festival Society (EPFS) is launching a youth poetry book to showcase up-and-coming voices in poetry, as part of the festival’s 20th anniversary! The publication features 20 unique and thoughtful young poets responding to the prompt “my turn of phrase”. This event will feature 10 poets in the collection (along with another 10 at Part Two), plus opportunities for performance, connection and community for poets of every age.

How to Chapbook Workshop

Join the Edmonton Poetry Festival Society at The Society of Northern Alberta Printmakers (SNAP) Gallery for an exploration of why-wait-to-be-published-when-you-can-do-it-yourself chapbook production. Facilitators Big Al and Abbigail Ketsa offer a sample of some of the methods you could borrow or straight-up steal to create, decorate, and procreate your own unique chapbook. 

The Blinks 2025

The Blinks 2025 is not your robot’s poetry! This year is all about “Putting the Art in Artificial Intelligence”. This event is invented and presented by the Stroll of Poets at the Edmonton Poetry Festival and has been for 20 years, making it one of the Festival’s founding events — and our birthday twin!

Celebration of Poetry

Celebrate National Poetry Month with an afternoon of poetry, hosted by Regional Writer in Residence Anna Marie Sewell and featuring two local poets, Kayleigh Cline and Don Perkins. There will also be an open mic session for those interested in sharing their own work. This event is co-presented with the Edmonton Poetry Festival.

Registration: Free but limited. Visit https://scl.bibliocommons.com/events/67c7645aa8a83528000fc560 to reserve your ticket. 

Poetry in the Gallery

The Southern Alberta Art Gallery is thrilled to partner with Owl Poetry Club for a special open mic event inspired by our current exhibitions. We will open the event with a poem from writer and artist Jordan Baylon, inspired by Lan “Florence” Yee’s exhibition Do Weeds Still Grow in Heaven? after which we will host readings from the Owl Poetry club members and other guests. We invite you to join us to share your work or listen to the fantastic poets of Lethbridge. This event is free for members and poets. Light refreshments will be provided.