Colleen Thibaudeau Award
Posted by Daniela Elza on Apr 13 2024 | Comment now »
I was delighted and honoured to hear this week that I was awarded the 2024 Colleen Thibaudeau Award for Outstanding Contribution. This award is given by the League of Canadian Poets for contributions to poetry and the literary community and comes out in time to celebrate National Volunteer Week from April 14th to 20th!
I was asked to write a statement. I did and on a short deadline, so can already see how it could be better. :-)
Here is an excerpt:
____________________
It often feels that the work we do daily is never done and never enough, but it is. Rebecca Solnit says: “To hope is to give yourself to the future – and that commitment to the future is what makes the present inhabitable.” I volunteer because I want to keep building the world I want to live in. Hope is never misplaced when you are actively working on what is life giving, what creates spaces where one can belong. David Orr puts it nicely, “Hope is a verb with its shirtsleeves rolled up.”
____________________
To read the whole thing: click here.
Thank you to the people who took time to write letters to nominate me.
To all the volunteers out there: Happy National Volunteer Week 2024. Celebrate all volunteers this week during National Volunteer Week and every week of the year.
poetry at Joy Kogawa’s House
Posted by Daniela Elza on Apr 03 2024 | Comment now »
I am delighted to contribute to a poetry event with these power poets and writers. Click here to register for the event.
Featuring: Aislinn Hunter, Kevin Spenst, Kristina Bresnen, Fiona Tinwei Lam, Rachel Rose, Tariq Malik & Daniela Elza.
Eight poets will read for ten minutes each with four readers before and four readers after a refreshment break.
We will host in the intimate living room at Historic Joy Kogawa House with books available for sale and signing.
There is a small cover charge of $10. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Hosted in honour of Danny Peart, who has organized an annual poetry event each year for five years now. We are deeply grateful for Danny’s support of the writing program at Joy Kogawa House and for all he has done to live a life rich in poetry.
Please register at this link to save a spot.
on home and belonging
Posted by Daniela Elza on Mar 25 2024 | Comment now »
Looking forward to sharing the stage with Taslim Jaffer and Esmeralda Cabral in readings and a conversation on home & belonging.
On Thursday, April 18th at 7pm, join Massy Arts and Massy Books in welcoming writers Taslim Jaffer, Esmeralda Cabral & Daniela Elza for a panel reading and discussion on the theme “The Places We Find Ourselves”
This is a Free Event.
Massy Art Society appreciates it when people register.
But you can come even if you have not registered.
What does it mean to belong? Where do you feel you belong? We can belong to people and places and all kinds of spaces, groups, and communities. What are the places we find ourselves? Are these spaces real or imagined? In this reading event, we hope to spark discussion on this theme. The authors have all explored spaces of in-between-ness in their writing and invite you to join in the conversation.
The event will be of interest to those who feel “at home” where they are, as well as those who may feel alienated, or feel they do not belong, for a variety of reasons. Join us to explore this topic and continue the conversation together.
Thank you to The Writers Union of Canada for partial support of this event.
composed festival
Posted by Daniela Elza on Mar 25 2024 | Comment now »
I will be doing a reading/panel on the weather on Saturday April 20th at Composed festival titled “Whether the Weather” with Yvonne Blomer, Heidi Greco and John Vissers (supported by the League of Canadian Poets Poetry Month).
I am also facilitating a story workshop for youth, and a few poetry blue pencil sessions. It is all free, so book your spots as they do fill fast. There are a number of workshops offered and Blue Pencil edit sessions across genres. You can register for workshops and Blue Pencils here.
I am the judge for their poetry contest this year. Consider submitting. March 27th is the deadline. For more information and guidelines click here.
This is brought to you by a number of very hard working people in Delta/Ladner. So give them a shout out when you can. Please help spread the word.
poetic pairings
Posted by Daniela Elza on Jan 12 2024 | Comments Off on poetic pairings
I will be pairing up with Onjana Yawnghwe in this event of collaboration and connection between two poets. You are cordially invited.
Featured Poets:
Mary Duffy & Sita Carboni
Daniela Elza & Onjana Yawnghwe
J. C. Cortens & Timothy Shay
Thursday February 29, 2024
Time: 7:00 – 8:45 pm
Location: Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery,
Jewish Community Centre
950 41st Ave W., Vancouver, BC
poetry contest! submit!
Posted by Daniela Elza on Jan 08 2024 | Comments Off on poetry contest! submit!
I will be the judge for the 2024 Poetry Contest run by the Delta Literary Arts Society. It is now open for SUBMISSIONS.
Deadline is March 27. Check out the website (www.dlas.ca) for submission details.
The results will be announced on April 20th, 2024, during the COMPOSED Festival. The festival was previously known as UNBOUND Poetry Festival.
Good luck!
what do you do again?
Posted by Daniela Elza on Jan 03 2024 | Comments Off on what do you do again?
Happy New Year!
My essay on precarious work called: What do you do again? is finally out in the world. Just hot off the press in the latest/ winter issue of the Queen’s Quarterly, Vol. 130, #4.
It took a few years for it to find a home, but it is now even more relevant.
If you get a chance to give it a read, let me know your thoughts.
I wish you all a creative spirit which helps you thrive amidst the uncertainties, and work that skews the world’s arc toward justice.
Arc Award of Awesomeness
Posted by Daniela Elza on Oct 23 2023 | Comments Off on Arc Award of Awesomeness
My poem Vancouver, 2023 just won the September Arc Award of Awesomeness. Thank you to the judge Susan Gillis for selecting it. The theme of the month was “Haze.”
Susan Gillis said the following about the poem: “I love how “Vancouver, 2023” speaks to its namesake in the city’s own forms, crowding and blocking and isolating its ferocious language on the page. The glamorous natural setting is shoved into one short phrase; even the title, referencing a point in time, suggests the haze of alienation is trending toward obliteration. Wow!”
You can give the poem a read here.
The two honourable mentions are: “A 4-letter word meaning…” by Archer Lundy, and “unfinished” by Maria Gacesa.
October contest is open for another week. This month’s award is judged by Nancy Jo Cullen, and the theme is “Geographies.” Email them your poem(s) or hurry and pop them in the post with a toonie. All poems postmarked before the deadline will be considered!
con/versions
Posted by Daniela Elza on Oct 23 2023 | Comments Off on con/versions
A sequence of poems titled con/versions from my latest manuscript has made the long list of the Vera Manuel Award for Poetry 2023.
The First, Second and Third Place Winners and three Honorable Mentions will be announced on November 10th, and the awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, November 25 in Surrey, British Columbia. Each award promises $1000 for the First Place Winner.