Editor’s Notes

Happy Poetry Month, dear readers.

I hope you enjoy April's issue. With the philosophy that quantity has nothing to do with quality, we offer you one poem, the fanciful and unique work of Emily Pearlman. Not surprisingly its author works in theatre. I'm always excited to see how much talent Ottawans have. All those numbskulls who claim we're a dull city are…well…numbskulls.

What else are you doing for National Poetry Month? After a fabulous week-long poetry extravaganza at VERSeFest in March, I'm taking it easy by writing a lot of poetry. Heh. But by the end of the month, I'll be right back in festival land with the Ottawa International Writers Festival. Hope to see you there.

Finally a note about the recent passing of Mike Heenan, an Ottawa poet who was actively involved in making Ottawa great. My husband, Charles and I had the pleasure of running into Mike on our regular walks through Centretown where he would talk to us about an upcoming poetry show he was involved in or his work in the Irish community. Bywords published Mike's work several times and he often came to our readings, a smiling face in the audience. I am very sorry to hear of Mike's death and I offer his friends and family my condolences. I will miss him.

Thanks to our selection committee this month:

Beth Ann Hubbert
Fiona Mitchell
Pamela Mosher
Kemisha Newman
Catina Noble
Claudia Coutu Radmore
Sarah-Grace Ross
JC Sulzenko

If you have comments, suggestions or a warm, spring day to offer, please e-mail me at amanda@bywords.ca.

For regular event updates, please follow us on Twitter or join our FaceBook fan page.

Amanda Earl