Kevin heronJones is the first writer-in-residence for the city of Brampton. An author, poet, journalist, editor, actor, and lecturer, he is perhaps best known for his spoken word performances, as founder of the PoeticSoul poetry series, the Duel of the Iron Mic poetry series in collaboration with Unblind, the Iron Mic Slam at Ryerson [now Toronto Metropolitan University], the 1 Ness poetry series in collaboration with Al St. Louis, and When Words are Spoken. Kevin designed PoeticSoul as an organization dedicated to promoting the poetic arts scene, creating PoeticSoul Online Literary Journal in 2004 as the first online publication focused on the spoken word community in Canada. He also joined energies with AIM, the African Image Makers, an organization that has created scholarships for African students, organized fundraisers, and released a clothing line “with thought provoking designs and poetry that reflect the beauty of the Black Caribbean and African Community.” He writes “in the tradition of the ancient African griots who used stories and poetry to educate as well as entertain.”
Born in Toronto, raised in Muskoka; a resident of Elora, he is the author of several published and self-published books of poetry, historical research into the Guelph mafia, anti-slavery activism on the Grand River River; and has a book of monologues Echoes in the Timbers published in folio by the Elora Poetry Centre. Vocamus Press published his first chapbook, Rhythmic with Lyric, and recently produced his second, Skidding with the Quarrymen, which can be purchased through the Books for Sale link of the Elora Poetry Centre website. Jerry is also a playwright, former journalist, stone worker, and dancer.
The Elora Poetry Centre & Gallery once again participated in the annual global initiative 100 Thousand Poets for Change, which takes place in hundreds of international locales at the end of each September. We have been part of this worldwide celebration of poetry’s power to effect change since its co-founding in 2011 by the late Michael Rothenberg and Terri Carrion. As with last year’s event, we were also part of Centre Wellington Township’s Culture Days, with this year’s theme of “celebrating diversity and artistic expression in Centre Wellington” being reflected in our program featuring Kevin heronJones and Jerry Prager.
Kevin heronJones, who recently played Henry “Box” Brown in the Centre Wellington Black Committee’s production of BHM Awakened Voices Narratives at Melville United Church in Fergus, is the first writer-in-residence for the city of Brampton. An author, poet, journalist, editor, actor, and lecturer, Kevin is perhaps best known for his spoken word performances, as founder of the PoeticSoul poetry series, the Duel of the Iron Mic poetry series in collaboration with Unblind, the Iron Mic Slam at Ryerson [now Toronto Metropolitan University], the 1 Ness poetry series in collaboration with Al St. Louis, and When Words are Spoken. An exemplary Poet for Change, Kevin designed PoeticSoul as an organization dedicated to promoting the poetic arts scene, creating PoeticSoul Online Literary Journal in 2004 as the first online publication focused on the spoken word community in Canada. He also joined energies with AIM, the African Image Makers, an organization that has created scholarships for African students, organized fundraisers, and released a clothing line “with thought provoking designs and poetry that reflect the beauty of the Black Caribbean and African Community.” He writes “in the tradition of the ancient African griots who used stories and poetry to educate as well as entertain,” and his performance on Sept. 28 included both storytelling and poetry.
Jerry Prager really needs no introduction at the Elora Poetry Centre & Gallery, having performed his poetry here a number of times, premiered a table reading of Covenant Chains: A New Folk Opera (with music by Peter Skoggard), and created “The Composition of Anti-slavery” from wood, salvaged from the Chalmers Presbyterian Church in Elora, the remarkable sculpture that is now mounted behind Beaver House. Having recently returned to Elora, Jerry enhances our arts community with his varied and colourful experiences as a writer, poet, playwright, sculptor, dancer, and heritage stone worker. He has published three books on the history of the Underground Railroad in Wellington County and reprised a long poem related to this subject that has become a favourite at the Elora Poetry Centre, titled “Echoes in the Timbers.” This time Jerry read this remarkable poem at dusk in a Son et Lumière setting in which the acclaimed Elora-based photographer Wayne Simpson created a backdrop by providing lighting from within Beaver House, the Elora Poetry Centre’s 1832 log house that was part of the Canadian Underground Railroad in its original locale south of Aberfoyle.
This event was in conjunction with the national Culture Days initiative, with funding from Centre Wellington Township. Additional funding of Jerry Prager’s reading was from the League of Canadian Poets and the Canada Council for the Arts.
On 15 June 2025, Peter Bottéas and the Elora Poetry Centre organized an event featuring contemporary poetry of the Greek diaspora. Peter focused on his translation from Greek into English of recent poems by the Boston-based poet Vassiliki Rapti, collected in Bathed in Moonlight (2023). He also read poems by Despina Kaitatzi-Choulioumi and George Kalogeris, as well as a few of his own, spellbinding the audience. Prior to his reading, Georgia Perdikoulias beautifully sang a musical setting of Peter’s poem “Refuge,” as well as other verse set to music by the composer Kostas Rekleitis, with texts by Vassiliki Rapti. These were followed by 19th-century Greek art songs and some moving traditional Greek songs. Georgia was masterfully accompanied on piano by a familiar and distinguished friend of the Elora Poetry Centre, Irene Gregorio.
Peter Bottéas
A native of Toronto, Peter holds a Master’s degree in Translation from the Université de Montreal. After a twenty-year detour as a psychotherapist in Boston, he has returned to one of his first loves: literary translation. He is co-host, with Vassiliki, of the podcast series Borders Unbound: Hellenic Poetry of the Diaspora and Beyond, as well as being an occasional voice-over artist, poet, and aficionado of French and Greek poetry set to music.
Georgia Perdikoulias
Canadian-Greek soprano and librettist Georgia Perdikoulias is an artist with a passion for storytelling through the creation and performance of new works. A graduate of the Graduate Vocal Arts Program at the Bard College Conservatory of Music, Georgia has found equal joy and passion in performing and debuting operatic and art song repertoire. Her performances at Bard included the premiering of art songs, one of which was Peter’s “Refuge” (composed by Kostas Rekleitis), and a new opera, My Wife is a Ghost. Georgia combines her love of writing and the written word with her passion for performing, employing a text-centric approach to new and canonical works alike. Georgia is also a published poet, having co-authored the poetry collection Mythopoesis (2022). In addition to her classical music training, Georgia is a traditional Greek folk singer and dancer with a love for performing and sharing her culture.
Irene Gregorio
Collaborative Pianist and Musical Assistant
Irene Gregorio enjoys a diverse and active musical life as a pianist, educator, and music director. As a pianist and chamber musician, she has collaborated with members of the LA Phil and San Francisco Symphonies. She has served as pianist for the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, LA Opera Education and Outreach, and the University of Southern California Chamber Singers, among others. Her performances as a collaborative pianist have taken her throughout North America, Europe, Cuba, and the Philippines, and she has also appeared on PBS, CBC Radio 2, and on film soundtracks in the LA area.
Dr. Gregorio has over 15 years of experience in the university setting, serving as staff/faculty in collaborative piano at the campuses of the California State University, East Bay and Los Angeles. She earned her DMA at the University of Southern California and recently returned home to Canada, where she serves as the Director of Music Ministry at Dublin St. United Church, and Sessional Instructor of Piano at the University of Guelph. Irene was named as the TMC Collaborative Pianist in August 2021 and was the pianist of the National Youth Choir of Canada in 2022.
The programme was presented in two parts with a short intermission, after which there was a Q & A session prior to breaking for the usual finger food and drinks.
An enduring friend of the Elora Poetry Centre, Tillia Kooyman performed a selection of musical pieces, which the audience could creatively set to words to be shared with the audience. Tillia played on different instruments, providing many opportunities for interesting thoughts.
Tillia’s bio:
Tillia Kooyman is an active solo, chamber and orchestral musician, with interests in contemporary music, interdisciplinary works and acoustic ecology. An advocate for Canadian music, Tilly has premiered many new works by Canadian composers at the World Bass Clarinet Convention in the Netherlands, the international Bohlen-Pierce Symposium in Boston, ClarinetFest in Vancouver, NUMUS Concerts and the Open Ears Festival in Kitchener-Waterloo. The most significant influence in Tilly’s life has been the over three decades in collaboration with celebrated Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer on his Patria Cycle, a series of monumental works often staged in unique settings
Tillia’s education includes a Master of Music degree from the University of Western Ontario, an Associateship from the Royal Conservatory of Music, and advanced studies at the Banff Centre School of Fine Arts. A former student of James Campbell and Robert Riseling, Tilly has also studied ‘Deep Listening’ with Pauline Oliveros and free improvisation with Casey Sokol.
Sorry for the delay in posting this blog, but the Elora Poetry Centre & Gallery promised to create a space for people to ask Khashayar (Kess) Mohammadi questions about their performance for the 100 Thousand Poets for Change event on Sept. 30. Those in attendance may recall that it was a busy day, Kess’s reading being followed by Dr. Gerard Yun playing the shakuhachi and then Choir in Motion performing in the garden, so we did not have the opportunity for a Q & A.
Anyhow, we thought we’d belatedly start things off with a query by a member of the audience that Carol received the next day, hoping that others will feel free to join the discussion:
In “Moes’ Skin.2.” [from Me, You, then Snow], “My head cradled sunlight to its resting place. / Did you ever have a face?” . . . What? I don’t get it. ”
However, the next day, this friend of the Elora Poetry Centre added the following: “Within the context of that particular poem, it makes ‘sense’ since it follows the changing countenance of his friend.” Does anybody have anything to add? Was this your reading, too?
Those of you who have a copy of Me, You, then Snow might want to have a look at this poem on p. 4 for the larger poetic context. Also, since the original question was later followed by a declarative sentence, perhaps it’s not the best way to open the Q & A, but we’re hoping that, in spite of the time that has passed, there might be some general questions about Kess’s poetics, themes, etc. His poetry has wonderful depths that we’d love to explore. Then again, those of you with access to the above collection and/or The Ocean Dweller, Saeed Tavanaee Marvi’s poems translated from the Farsi by Kess, might have some specific questions about individual poems.
Please leave your questions here and we’ll direct them to Kess for a response. We will then get back to you on this forum.
The Elora Poetry Centre & Gallery 