Music, art and a good cause?
Sounds like a good way to spend a Friday night.
There's a Music for Art fundraiser at the Columbia Theatre on Friday, Sept. 20, running from 7 p.m. to midnight.
Audience members can enjoy live performances by local bands while supporting the posAbilities ninth annual INCLUSION art show - which showcases the talents of artists with developmental disabilities.
Tickets for the fundraising night are $12 per person, available at the door or online at www.thecolumbia.ca.
The art show will then be held Oct. 29 at the Heritage Hall in Vancouver.
For more information, contact [email protected].
posAbilities is an organization that works to empower people with developmental disabilities. Check out the website at www.posabilities.ca for more information.
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Poetry lovers, take note: The lineup for the fall season of Poetic Justice has been announced, and there is plenty of talent to be heard.
Poetic Justice sessions run Sunday afternoons from 3 to 5 p.m. in the backroom at the Heritage Grill, 447 Columbia St. Each one includes three featured readers and an open mike session.
Sept. 22 will be hosted by Franci Louann, featuring Ashok Bhargava, Jennifer Suzanne Getsinger and Bonnie Nish.
There's no Sept. 29 session because of the Word Vancouver festival, but it resumes Oct. 6 with host Kyle Hawke and featured poets Candice James, Deborah Kelly and Sylvia Taylor.
After closing Oct. 13 for Thanksgiving weekend, it's back Oct. 20 with Franci Louann, Darrell Shee and Janeen White.
A "Dead Poets" session follows for Oct. 27, hosted by Deborah Kelly and Janet Kvammen.
Keep watching these pages for more as dates draw closer.
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Another special literary event is set for this Sunday, Sept. 22.
The Royal City Literary Arts Society is hosting a special membership drive from noon to 3 p.m. in the backroom at the Heritage Grill, featuring readings by Fred Wah, Richard Olafson and and P.W. Bridgman.
Wah is the current Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate and an officer of the Order of Canada. His recent collections of poetry include Sentenced to Light (2008) and is a door (2009), both from Talonbooks.
Olafson is most widely known as the publisher of Ekstasis Editions, a literary press in Victoria that he has owned and operated with his partner Carol Ann Sokoloff since 1982.
Bridgman's short stories and flash fiction pieces have appeared in various literary publications and included in anthologies. His first book of short fiction, Standing at an Angle to My Age, was launched in May 2013 by Canadian publisher Libros Libertad Publishing Ltd.
The event is free. All memberships for people who sign up as members at the event will be discounted from $28 to $20.
Check out www.rclas.com for more details.
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And still more fun for poetry lovers ... World Poetry New Westminster is starting up its "Night Out" events again.
The next night out is on Wednesday, Sept. 25 at the New Westminster Public Library, 716 Sixth Ave.
The event is being held on the theme Smiling in the Face of Adversity, and will feature poets Heidi Mueller, Kwame Yirenkyi and Ariadne Sawyer, with featured musician Laura Kelsey.
Frederico Gordo and Naji Hussain will be on hand for special open mikes, and there will be a regular open mike session as well.
Refreshments are offered. For information, call 604-526-4729.
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And one more for writers ...
The Writers Discovery Group is inviting newcomers to join them at their monthly meetings.
The group meets at the New Westminster Public Library on the second Wednesday of the month from September through June. The next meeting is Wednesday, Oct. 9.
The meetings run from 10 a.m. to noon, and members have a chance to share their new work - short stories, poems, articles, drafts of novels or plays - and get feedback.
Once a year the group publishes a collection of members' works, called En Route.
The group has been meeting in the library for close to 20 years, and everyone is welcome to join them.
Stop by their next meeting to find out what they're all about.
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Got an idea for Lively City? Send arts and entertainment tips to Julie, [email protected]. You can also find her on Twitter, @juliemaclellan.
