What a joy and honour it was to gather with friends, family, former colleagues and other writers at Notional Space in Vancouver on March 24th for “An Afternoon of P.W. Bridgman”. I am so grateful to Marc Lindy for hatching the idea of this gathering and then pressing ahead, single-mindedly, with the realisation of it. And I am immensely grateful to all who participated and made the experience so memorable for me and the 75+ people who attended.
Mark Jacobs and Yoo-Mi Lee are the owners and hosts at Notional Space — a community amenity that they make available to artists, non-profits and activists for the purpose of enriching Vancouver’s cultural life. Notional Space is now a much sought-after venue for musical and literary events. You can read more about the “gift economy” ethos that lies behind Mark and Yoo-Mi’s selfless endeavour here.
Having one’s writings read by others in public is a special experience for any author. Your words land differently with you as a writer when they bear the varying cadences, emphases and inflections brought to them by other readers. You come away with thoughts and insights about your own work that you won’t have had going in.
I was blessed to have, at this event, a stellar group of readers read five-minute excerpts of their choosing from my poems and short stories. Those readers were Dana Cromie, George McWhirter, Donal O’Hanlon, Shauna Paull, Louise Schwarz, RC Weslowski, Sangeeta Wylie, Kevin Spenst and Marc Lindy. All of the readers delivered their selections brilliantly and their different styles gave the afternoon a rich and varied texture.
Marc Lindy did double duty as the event’s emcee and he performed with great style and aplomb in that role, moving the proceedings along with gusto and wickedly clever humour.
A few photos taken at the event will give a sense of the atmosphere during and afterward when readers and audience lingered to chat over refreshments.
This was an incredible experience that I will not soon forget!
(Donal couldn’t attend to give his reading in person; rather, he teleported in by way of a pre-recorded video link from Newry, Co Down, Northern Ireland. You can enjoy his spirited reading of my poem, “Lead Us Not Into Temptation” on YouTube by clicking on this link.)
