So this weekend is the second annual Naked Heart: An LGBTQ Festival of Words (basically, a queer/trans literary festival), and I am sooo excited to be attending and performing/speaking at it. I’ve already carefully planned my best spoon-usage and spoon-support for the weekend, so I can take in as many events as I can, enjoy the fuck out of the awesomeness, and still be an awake sparkly human at my events. You should all go! It’s going to be sooo good, with over 100 queer and trans writers sharing their words, wisdom, and teaching skills. And there are parties on Friday and Saturday nights, where you can basically hang out and bask in a space where the majority of the room are people like you: queer, trans, and/or gender-divergent. I’m looking forward to that basking!
Information on Naked Heart, including listings of events and entry fees for events, including one-price festival passes is here: https://nakedheart.ca/ . (Additional info for fellow poor folks: a number of subsidised passes were set aside for poor people. If they haven’t all been claimed, you might still be able to get one! Email erickson@gladdaybookshop.com for more information.) Also, Naked Heart’s facebook page lists detailed event pages for the myriad various offerings. That’s probably the easiest way to find out the where, when, who, and access info. (Both Saturday and Sunday, all sessions happening at Buddies in Bad Times between 10:30am-6:30pm will have ASL interpretation! And all spaces are wheelchair-accessible.)
About my participation:
I’m speaking on a panel on Sunday at 7pm at Buddies, titled “Multiple Tongues: When English Is Not Your First Language”. As an immigrant poet, who wrote poetry for years in my first language, and after arrival in Canada struggled for a while with transitioning into writing in English, my third language, which has very different literary strengths and weaknesses, not to mention struggled to be taken seriously as a writer, since English was my third language, I have many thoughts on this — and I so look forward to hearing others’ experiences! It’s not a common literary event topic. https://www.facebook.com/events/1828606577353222/
And I’m performing my poetry, also on Sunday, at 9pm, at Glad Day Bookshop, as part of a reading titled “Grit Lit”. Find out what that means: https://www.facebook.com/events/994516027319065
Please note: both events are designated scent-free, as I (and some fellow performers/attendees) have severe scent sensitivities. So if you want us well enough to speak and perform, please leave your scented products off for tonight. (More info on being scent-free: http://www.peggymunson.com/mcs/fragrancefree.html)
Wishing you such a queer time!