Poetry Slam - Not for the Faint of Heart

(Artery poets)

Poetry Slam!

Friday, October 8, 2010 @ 7pm  at Lakehead University in The Study

Admission is $3

The Lakehead University English Student Association is hosting a Poetry Slam on Friday, October 8, at 7pm in The Study. It's part poetry slam contest and part open mic.

For contestants, the competition consists of three rounds. First, contestants perform a poem that will be supplied to them; in round two, contestants will perform one of their own poems; after an elimination, contestants will perform another poem for round three. Lots of fun!

After the competition, there will be an open poetry mic, as well.

Also: The Artery is accepting submissions for its fall issue until October 15th. For information on submissions, check http://english.lakeheadu.ca.

E mail luartery@lakeheadu.ca if you have any questions.

Open an Artery

Open an Artery and head for the poetry.  I found good stuff in this issue.   I particularly liked Lake by Paula Theissen and the amusing  I Make You Hungry by Caitlin Atkinson.  Nolan Schmerk's poem Voices in the Wind describes the loss of cultural identity, a theme echoed in Holly Haggarty's work Let's Tog which starts "My father lost his first language on the day that his mother was taken away." My own story, Louis Riel's Grave, looks back at the history of the university.  It recalls an incident in the aftermath of the 1971 sit-in when many students protested the firing of Victor Wightman, a sociology professor.

The Artery is published twice a year by the English Student Association in cooperation with the Student Union and is sponsored by The Study Coffeehouse, a nice combo - coffee and poetry.  This issue features an interesting preface by editor Andrew Cannon who encourages would be writers to "keep writing. Don't stop."

Artery flows on

I dreamed of returning home last night, A dreamscape of sight and sounds...
From the poem Sleep-Walker by Megan DeRoover, published in the 2009 Artery.

I'm not good at much, but I'll think you under the table. From the poem napkin poetry - the ismization of civilization by Edward Pugliese

The launch of issue 4 of Lakehead University's literary magazine The Artery was held at the university last Friday. A warm welcome included the reading of poetry both new and old, and the best hot chocolate in town. The magazine is full of interesting, odd, lovely, intriguing stuff, a typical lit mag. A small, neat package which fits well in the hand, it's cover drawing, a collage of art deco pens by Callen Banning, extends the literary theme. Congrats to Paula Theissen for the imaginative design and a big "gosh, this is good!" to The Artery collective headed by Tamar Ibrahim, Jessica Brinkman and Sean Divine.

Students at L.U., faculty and alumnae can submit their writing at any time but a formal call for submissions will issue forth in February. Watch this space.

OPEN AN ARTERY

Publishing and literary activity in Thunder Bay just flows along...

The English Students Association invites you to The Artery Launch Party
Friday, December 4th at 8:00 pm at The Study.

Come out and celebrate as we unveil our long-awaited, much-anticipated literary magazine. Contributors will have the opportunity to come up on stage and read their own material from the magazine. The mic will be open to anyone who wishes to participate so, if you have a favourite poem, come up on stage and share it with us. The night is yours! There’s a $5.00 cover charge, which includes a copy of The Artery’s current issue. We’ll also be selling previous issues from last year’s submissions. This will be the ESA’s last event of the semester so you won’t want to miss it. Come be a part of the fun! We look forward to seeing you!
For more information please contact us at luartery@lakeheadu.ca