The PEI Poetry Bash

PEI Poet Laureate Bren Simmers and Bookmark present the PEI Poetry Bash on June 17 at 7 pm at the Beaconsfield Carriage House in Charlottetown. 

The evening will feature three poets from New Brunswick—Fredericton Poet Laureate Fawn Parker, Ian LeTourneau, and Amber McMillan—alongside three Prince Edward Island poets: Chris Bailey, Yvette Doucette, and John MacKenzie. Bassist Adam Hill and guests will provide musical interludes between poets. 

The PEI Poetry Bash promotes the cross-pollination of poetry in the Atlantic region, celebrating local talent. 

From Frederiction, Ian LeTourneau is the author of two poetry collections, the managing editor of The Fiddlehead, and publisher of the chapbook press Emergency Flash Mob Press. Fawn Parker is a writer from Toronto, now based in NB. She is a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow in York University’s Mad Studies Hub and the current Poet Laureate of Fredericton. Amber McMillan is the author of five books. She is the winner of the UBC/Penguin Random House Prize for Fiction, and has been shortlisted for the Atlantic Book Awards and the NB Book Awards. She lives on unsurrendered Wolastoqey territory.

Closer to home, Chris Bailey is a commercial fisherman from eastern PEI. He is the author of the poetry collections What Your Hands Have Done and Forecast: Pretty Bleak. Yvette Doucette is an award-winning poet, memoirist, and performer. Her first book of poetry, How I Connect to You, is being published this year by Acorn Press. John MacKenzie lives in Charlottetown and is the author of Sledgehammer and Letters I Didn’t Write. 

Adam Hill is a bassist, composer, and curator of the Charlottetown Improvisation Laboratory. The host for the evening is PEI Poet Laureate Bren Simmers, author of The Work, and winner of the Pat Lowther Award. 

This event is free and all are welcome to attend. Books will be available for purchase thanks to Bookmark.