It’s 7am and Sonia Blackman, 36, boards the subway train at St. Clair station to head to downtown Toronto for work. She stands at the platform as the train approaches, the doors chime open and she quickly gets in and finds a seat. The thought of being on her feet all day crosses her mind …
A gallery showing highlights from the And The Crowd Goes Wild! book launch that took place on November 9 in Toronto. The event, celebrating the release of a new anthology of sports poems for children, was hosted by the book’s author, Carol-Ann Hoyte and featured appearances from five of the book’s contributors, as well as …
Pamela Mordecai was overcome with sorrow when she received the news that her brother had been murdered. It happened in 2004 in her homeland of Jamaica where he lived. She was grief stricken and found solace in expressing her pain with poetry. One of the poems she penned was “Litany on the Lane,” a poem …
Sealed in an airmail envelope with no signature attached, onlookers pass by Toronto’s parks and playgrounds to stumble upon seemingly ordinary letters. But Lindsay Zier-Vogel ensured that these letters are full of words encouraging people to see the glass half-full. “We decided to slip our little exercises into these little airmail envelopes and just leave …
As 25 year-old Whitney French flips through a copy of 3 Cities, her debut book, the sense of achievement is spelled out on her face. She wrote and edited the poems in the collection; she chose the weight of paper for the well-worn pages; she even applied for the ISBN number on the back. And although …
Following the success of his first book, David Seymour was well equipped to handle the rejection that followed when he submitted his next manuscript to publisher Brick Books. “It wasn’t really in a finished state and so they turned it down,” he said. Instead of languishing, Seymour wrote another manuscript, putting the previous one on … Continue reading
A new anthology of sports poems for children was launched at the Toronto Public Library’s Yonge and Eglinton branch in Toronto on November 9. MUSE was on the scene to check out what the book is all about and how poetry can help children to learn about the world they live in. Continue reading
R.I.S.E Poetry held their final edition of R.I.S.E Mondays at the Scarborough Youth Resource Centre on November 26. The prominent poetry group from Scarborough hosts the event weekly, where they offer workshops and open mic sessions for young people in the community to share their creativity. With over 100 members to its credit, the group … Continue reading
A grandmother’s tough love weighs on the mind of JonArno Lawson as his strained relationship with her triggered feelings of resentment. Though remnants of that tension remain, Lawson bridged the lines of communication with two tools: A pen and a sense of humour. “I wrote a silly poem just to do something completely different,” he … Continue reading
Silence fills the air like a fresh scent as Randell Adjei, 21, delivers sweet words that create an aura on a cool Toronto night. But there’s one particular set of lines that gives listeners a whiff of reality. “Why do you put ceilings on dreams when life has no walls? Why do we choose to … Continue reading
Her eyes seem to dart at your very soul, somehow bringing to life her stoic, yet free-spirited demeanour. The blends of violet and azure enshrine her body. Nestled in an alleyway along Queen Street, the colours pierce the darkness of night and complement the sun’s rays by day. Arms folded, she seems to be leaning … Continue reading
“Although we can’t all be Sinclair-voyant, we can trust in logical Matheson. Where there’s a Wilkinson, there’s a way and this one’s prepped for the photo booth. Even if victory is captured by the slimmest Schmidt, this achievement is Tancredi-ble.” (Excerpt from ‘The Bronze Age,’ by Priscila Uppal) With two-dozen mini Canadian flags woven into … Continue reading
R.I.S.E Poetry had their weekly R.I.S.E Mondays initiative on October 15 in which some of the group’s members spoke on why this initiative is an inspiring development for youth in Scarborough. Continue reading
MUSE 