Summer poetry readings

What a pleasure it was to read poetry under the glorious “Poet Tree” at Poetry in the Park outside Massey Theatre in New Westminster last weekend.

Here’s a photo of me by Janet Kvammen. It shows me outdoors reading into a microphone, framed by some branches of the Poet Tree with greenery in the background.

Thank you to Aidan Chafe, Janet Kvammen, the Royal City Literary Arts Society, my co-featured reader Brandon Wint, and the wonderful open mic readers and audience for bringing me into such a lovely community.

Coming up next, a very special collaboration:

Image collage, left to right: me (Carolyn Nakagawa) folding a dumpling and smiling; Erica Hiroko Isomura looking intently into the camera; Laura Fukumoto speaking into a microphone.

Erica, Laura, and I did an event two years ago at the 2019 Powell Street Festival where we read from our writing to a packed audience at the Firehall Arts Centre, hosted by Nicole Yukiko. We called it “re-pronunciaton: yonsei writing”, as a way of articulating the intersections of our respective literary practices as three yonsei (fourth-generation Japanese Canadian) writers. It was an extremely precious, emotional experience to read poems with two of my dear friends, surrounded by our Japanese Canadian and artist communities - like a dream come true.

This summer, we’re reprising our collaboration at Vines Festival, which takes place in parks across Vancouver. On August 11 at New Brighton, we bring you “yonsei writing: soft poems 4 hard times” alongside a wonderful interdisciplinary lineup of performers. You can get more info and free tickets here.

Special thanks to loyal Scorpio Erica who suggested we reunite artistically at Vines and did much of the coordinating involved in preparing us for the event, and also forwarded me Aidan’s call for readers for Poetry in the Park. Can’t wait to read alongside my beloved pals again.