Tag Archives: Lucia Gorea

World Poetry Proudly Presents Sonja Grgar from Canada!

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Ariadne’s note: The World Poetry Cafe Radio Show with hosts Lucia Gorea and Israel Mota welcomed the talented poet Sonja to the studio. TO HEAR THE SHOW CLICK HERE!

Sonja Grgar writes poetry, essays, and short fiction. She has been a featured reader at Hogan’s Alley Café and the TWS (The Writers Studio) Reading Series in Vancouver, and at New Westminster’s Poetic Justice. She has both opened for the Surrey Muse Open Mic, as well as hosted the group’s meetings. Sonja also regularly contributes to Surrey Muse’s blog in her new capacity as the group’s Media Coordinator.

Sonja’s work has been published in an Ontario based anthology called That Not Forgotten (Hidden Brook Press, 2012), in the “Globe and Mail”, and has been broadcast on CFRC 101.9 FM Radio (Kingston, ON).

In the past year Sonja has created four short magazine style television stories for a Shaw TV program titled Local Connection. The latest of those stories is a profile of the Surrey Muse group, and can currently be found on utube. She has also been a guest on Shaw TV’s Money and You, where she spoke about her writing and her salsa dance classes.

Most recently Sonja co-hosted an episode of This Night Wounds Time, a radio program airing on CFRU 93.3 FM (Guelph, ON) devoted to avant-garde music. The episode Sonja was involved with explored Serbian music in the context of cultural identity and nostalgia. She was also just featured as the book signing author at Renaissance Books in New Westminster where she presented the That Not Forgotten anthology.

Olga
By Sonja Grgar

Her eyes have known
It all;
The silent cry of a
Child who doesn’t belong,

The lonesome lullaby
Of bodies hushed to sleep
Where the soul
Feeds a silent storm
All night long.

Her eyes have known
The will to
Make any seed grow,

To snatch it from the gloomy soil
And the hungry rain,
And have it reach
For itself again.

Her eyes have known
A wisdom others barely touch,
Which seeps from her
Like incensed breath,
Like water that carves
A love letter out of rock.

Copyright Sonja Grgar 2012

 

 

 

World Poetry Proudly Presents Deborah L. Kelly From Canada!

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Featured Poet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Ariadne’s note: The World Poetry Cafe Radio Show hosts Lucia Gorea and Israel Mota  proudly welcomed   the poet and World Poetry Peace Festival Volunteer Deborah L. Kelly to the radio show yesterday. To hear more o about the work of this exceptional poet CLICK HERE!

Deborah will also be reading her poems at the World Poetry Canada International Peace Festival, April 4-30th!

Deborah L. Kelly lives in North Vancouver with her cat, Tippi, and has been writing poetry for more than 40 years. Having begun writing poetry in her teenage years, she discovered that it helped her to cope with the conditions around her during her youth.

Over the years, she has written hundreds of works … but has only recently begun to recite and experience others aspects the wonderful and healing world of poetry. She currently hosts and features with Poetic Justice in New Westminster throughout the year, and is hoping to have her first book, Nature’Song,  published sometime in 2013.

Deborah has been the recipient of the International Society of Poets, Poet of MeritAward, and has had her works published in numerous anthologies, the Agoracosmopolitan News online, and also various book collections of poetry over the years. She has also been published in the Taj Mahal Literary Review in India, and Quill Books in the USA. Her poem, Lunar Love, is included in the Canadian Federation of Poets, Love Anthology.

“I am very blessed to have been given the gift of poetry. To be able to weave one’s heart into a tapestry, ink on paper, is to have learned how to tap into the Universal channel of love and light.

I truly hope that this gift which I possess, which I offer unto anyone who wishes to read, touches and inspires your life in, (even if only one word), a positive and encouraging way. For if I am able to do this, even if only for one person … then my life, indeed, has not been lived in vain.”

 

Earth Warrior by Geoff Howard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earth Warrior

Mother Nature rises in
her masculine form.
It has been eons since
he has heard her call.
Awakening from slumber,
he rises from the depths
of his warm bed of
earth and loam.
His voice echoes as he rises;
bearings strong and senses sharp
after so long in rest and solitude –
Tuned and balanced with
the female within.
She has called for her warrior,
and lo; he rises and
abides her request.
No sentient being, along,
can fight a struggle for
survival such as this.
With a great rumbling
his presence is known.
Her twin conscience,
her last hope for survival.
We shall bully and badger her no more
It has begun.

© Deborah L. Kelly

 

 

World Poetry Proudly Presents Jean de Dieu Hakizimana from Canada!

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Jean with Vancouver Mayor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 HOLD ONTO YOUR TONGUE, Experience International Mother Language Day!

 Learn  more about it with Jean de Dieu Hakizimana,

You are invited to the free, entertaining annual event: HOLD ONTO YOUR TONGUE, a celebration of International Mother Language day, February 16, 2-4 pm. At the Roundhouse Centre.  Enjoy family entertainment, food, poetry. dance and music! Join special guests Evan Gardner and Dustin Rivers will present “Where are your keys. Play a game, Learn a language! Techniques for accelerated learning, community building and language revitalization.  World Poetry will be reading a Woven World Tapestry poem O Mother Tongue specially written for the event by Ariadne Sawyer and read in various languages. In addition, the Benefits of Bilingualism cards showing some of the latest research will be given out.  Also, on February 23, 2013, at the Downtown Vancouver Public Library for storytelling and fun activities. World Poetry will also be reading at the Atrium at the library with Yilin Wang, Jacqueline Maire, Duke Ashrafuzzaman and Israel Mota.

When the world loses a language we lose part of ourselves – Shashi Tharoor https://www.facebook.com/motherlanguagevancouver https://twitter.com/MotherLanguage1 http://youtu.be/WWc7LeyTDww

Mother Tongue Langauge Day poster.

And now for our Feature:

Jean de Dieu Hakizimana, Founder and Executive Director of Neighborhood Care International Association (NCI), a voluntary -not-profit organizational based in Vancouver with vision to cultivate a global and inclusive community that cares for its neighbors talks about his vision for International Mother Language Day.

 Background: “The idea to promote the International Mother Language Day (IMLD) with the mission in Vancouver, started on 2008, when I visited the UNESCO website, and I decided to write a proposal and has vision that will be celebrated in Vancouver.

Participation and Engagement Vancouver is an ideal city, location and partner to celebrate IMLD due to the diversity of the people who populate the city. The people of Vancouver speak a multitude of languages. Based on the 2008 Census figures, 50% (286, 710) of the city’s population identified English as their mother language, while 50% 9286, 175) identified a language other than English as their mother tongue. Other than English, the top ten other “mother language” are Cantonese (63,695), Mandarin (22,565), Punjabi (15,505), Vietnamese (10,440), French (9,290), Spanish (9,290), Korean (7,870), and Japanese (7,040). IMLD events hope to encourage and facilitate awareness and excitement of learning and retaining even the more marginalized languages such as with urban Aboriginal population and will work towards a broader acceptance these cultures.

Timeline: On July 29, 2010. Mr. David A. Walden, Secretary -General of Canadian Commission for UNESCO commissioned Neighborhood Care International Association to promoting and to organizing IMLD throughout the province. Mr. Gregor Robertson, Mayor of Vancouver and City Counsellors issued a proclamation and full supportof the event.”

Jean is an instructor, interpreter, career and vocational counsellor, and community organizer who brings energy, passion, and creativity to individuals and organizations while assisting them in implementing positive social change.

He has taught a wide variety of subjects related to community and business development, and currently holds a BA in Adult Education from the University of the Fraser Valley – minor of Indigenous Government from Nicola Valley Institute of Technology, a Diploma in Business Administration from CDI College, and an M. Div (pending) from ACTS of Trinity Western University. Currently, he is a student at Vancouver School of Theology in Master of Divinity program.

He is the initiator and partner with PHS Community Services Society to establishing the immigrant and refugee support group’s vision is to provide information and support services, include initial needs assessment, orientation and referral to community and government services in Downtown Eastside (DTES).

Ten years ago, he created a community space and engaged the British Colombians to dialogue and raise awareness about the socio-politico -economic for African countries and Diaspora.

 Jean de Dieu Hakizimana lists his key goals: a) to raise awareness of the diversity of language spoken and written in Vancouver today and historically

b) To encourage community partnerships

c) To encourage dialogue and learning of the diversity of languages and cultures in Vancouver

d) To provide forum celebration of distinct languages and cultures in Vancouver e) to create a model for an event which can be replicated in other communities through tout BC

f) To create avenues for participation and community engagement for marginalized social/cultural groups g) to raise awareness that holding and practicing one’s “mother language” is a “right” of all citizens of Vancouver and that civic agencies support this practice. Jean de Dieu Hakizimana is a visionary and an empowered promoter.

World Poetry is pleased to be a community partner of the Mother Language Event, February 16 and 23rd.

Great thanks to the Roundhouse and Lorraine Evans
Event Coordinator HOLD ONTO YOUR TONGUE IMLD 2013

Here is the poem that Ariadne wrote for  Mother Tongue Language Day  (IMLD) and which will be read as a group poem February 16th.

Mother Tongue

O Mother Tongue,
Come back, come back to us
Bring your vibrant rhythm,
Melodious liquid sound
Enhancing our words.

Bring your culture
Bursting forth
Many layered flowers
Opening  to the light.

Join hands
With the beautiful languages of the world.
Creating tolerance
Creating peace
Creating hope.

O Mother Tongue, don’t leave us.
Do not go to that land
 of dead and dying languages
 The neglected gravestones
Of disappeared tongue
Buried in oblivion.
Seeped in sorrow.

O Mother Tongue
We want you to stay
Empowering our minds
Reducing conflict
Increasing literacy
Holding off the aging decline

O Mother Tongue
Provide  the culture
Beauty and peace to our world.
Stay with us,
stay with us

O Mother Tongue.
Oh Mother Tongue

Ariadne Sawyer, MA, January 10th, 2013