‘women & roosters’: A Poetry Launch with Fenn Stewart

Join us for an evening celebrating the launch of Fenn Stewart’s new work of poetry, , published by the incredible indie press, Book*hug. Stewart will be joined in reading by Laura Morales Padilla, and Afuwa will moderate a question and answer period.

Taking its title from ancient physician Galen’s claim that “all creatures are sad after sex except women and roosters,” Stewart’s semi-autobiographical long poem winds its way through topics as far-reaching as climate change, trail-running, settler nationalism, motherhood, love, loss and illness. The book revels and wallows in opposing forces. Cities, forests and oceans are sites of abundance and abandonment.

Humans, birds, deer, crabs, plants and trees thrive and multiply, and also get sick and die. Living things eat and are eaten, find joy and misery, run, fly, and swim — and meet natural and unnatural ends.

This is a free event, but please RSVP here, as capacity is limited. Books will be on hand for sale and signing.

About the author:

Fenn Stewart is the author of three chapbooks and the poetry collection, Better Nature, which was longlisted for the 2018 Gerald Lampert Memorial Prize. A former editor of The Capilano Review, she continues to serve on the magazine’s editorial board. Stewart holds a PhD in social and political thought, and teaches literature and writing at Capilano University.

She lives with her kids in Vancouver, on unceded Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), xʷməθkʷəỷəm (Musqueam), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) territories.

About the co-reader:

Laura Morales Padilla is a Bolivian designer and aspiring journalist currently studying at Capilano University. Moving abroad has inspired most of her creative work, as well as her research on the intersection of immigration and post-secondary education.

About the moderator:

Afuwa was born in Guyana, on Karinya, Lokono, and Akawaio lands, and makes art on Tsleil‐Waututh, Musqueam, and Squamish territories (Vancouver). Locally and internationally exhibited, her work encompasses language, the body, and diasporic memory, and has appeared in publications such as Room Magazine, PUBLIC, Asparagus, GUTS, The Capilano Review, The Feminist Wire, Briarpatch, West Coast Line, subTerrain, and in the anthology Performing Utopias in the Contemporary Americas (2017). Her multisensory painting/installation Still Salt, Dark Stories was included in Vancouver Art Gallery’s Vancouver Special: Disorientations and Echo.

More about Upstart & Crow:

Upstart & Crow is a not-for-profit creative studio and literary incubator that champions writers, readers and stories, and the role they play in shaping our lives. We develop original programs, support artists and revel in creative projects focused on literature in translation, climate solutions, poetry, civic dialogue, community and skills building, all with the aim of elevating the role of literature and storytelling in our lives. Find us on Granville Island, Gibsons and online at upstartandcrow.com.

Accessibility:

The main studio of our shop is accessible for folks with mobility aids. There is a washroom on the main floor available for attendees.

Questions: hello[at].

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