Curious links for March 2015

A few events to steer us out of February's greys...

1) March 5th is a bountiful day for readings in the golden horseshoe. Hamilton Poetry Centre presents Karen Connelly and Mark Kempf at Bryan Prince Bookseller (details here). In Toronto, Livewords hosts the impressive line-up of Julie Joosten, Wanda Praamsma, Adam Sol and David B. Goldstein at their new venue (details here). The Echolocation Reading Series is also slated to feature Helen Guri, Stevie Howell and Nyla Matuk (details here). 

2) The Broken Pencil DeathMatch has reached its epic climax, as Talita Valle’s “My Life as the Reincarnation of Dorothy Parker” faces off against Nikola Jajic ’s “The Boogeyman”. Whether you’re interested in the stories or controversial reader comments, take some time to read and then vote for your favourite (once per hour, if passions insist) before all tallies are counted March 8th. 

3) VERSeFEST is back in Ottawa and wielding a mammoth schedule from March 24 - 30th. This poetry and spoken word roster is one-of-a-kind and features, among others: Anne Compton, Gary Geddes, bill bissett, Claire Caldwell, Amanda Earl, JC Bouchard, Lorna Crozier, Paul Vermeersch, and, well, I have to stop at some point. Check out the full schedule and order your passes for what promises to be an incredible week of poetry. 

4) You have a few extra days to prep your manuscript for the inaugural 2015 Metatron Prize. The Montreal-based publisher is offering a publication deal as well as past titles and a cash prize. The new deadline is Friday, March 6th — so get on it!