January 4, 2015

2.00 pm “Winter Metaphor”

What spiritual effect do Canadian winters have on us?

Readings from E. E. Cummings, and a musical setting of T. S. Eliot’s “Journey of the Magi,” by Peter Skoggard. Robert Missen, tenor, and Paul Chant, piano.

September 27, 2014

5.00 pm 100 Thousand Poets for Change. Elora was one of over 700 sites throughout the world for this annual event. Poets Daniel Kolos, Jerry Prager and Morvern McNie read from their recent works. Muddy York-Anne Lederman and Ian Bell-performed music of the Canadian Underground Railroad.

June 28th: 3.00-5.00 pm. Fish Quill Poets & Good Hearted Women Singers & Drummers. Poets Leigh Kotsilidis, Linda Besner, Asa Boxer, Abigail Lapell, Jessica Moore
.
6.00-7.00 pm “The Tree of Inspiration”: Asa Boxer’s poems set to music by Peter Skoggard. Marion Samuel Stevens, soprano; Brett Kingsbury, pianist.

We thank the following people for their invaluable support: Grand River Conservation Authority & Open Book Ontario, for the continued support they have given to Fish Quill. Other patrons who have made this event possible: Ross Skoggard, Ian Skoggard, Geoffrey Stevens, Zehrs Market, Fergus, L & M, Elora, Elisabeth Easterbrook, Hilltop Acres Poultry Products, Dars Country Market, Olive Grove (Elora).

June 21st: 12.00-5.00 pm “Doors Open.” The Elora Poetry Centre participated in this event, leaving the exhibit from the previous week, “East Meets West,” available for those who might be interested.

June 28th: 3.00-5.00 pm. Fish Quill Poets & Good Hearted Women Singers & Drummers. Poets Leigh Kotsilidis, Linda Besner, Asa Boxer, Abigail Lapell, Jessica Moore
.
6.00-7.00 pm “The Tree of Inspiration”: Asa Boxer’s poems set to music by Peter Skoggard. Marion Samuel Stevens, soprano; Brett Kingsbury, pianist.

We thank the following people for their invaluable support: Grand River Conservation Authority & Open Book Ontario, for the continued support they have given to Fish Quill. Other patrons who have made this event possible: Ross Skoggard, Ian Skoggard, Geoffrey Stevens, Zehrs Market, Fergus, L & M, Elora, Elisabeth Easterbrook, Hilltop Acres Poultry Products, Dars Country Market, Olive Grove (Elora).

June, 2014

June 14th, Noon: : the initiative came from our cruel winter that broke many trees, boughs, branches and left the area looking destitute. Artists Geoffrey Stevens, Jerry Prager, Elana Levine, Jim Reed and Peter Skoggard collected materials from many sources, such as objects from the freezing spring waters of the river, logs and other pieces of wood, rocks, dogwood twigs and pine cones, to create unusual forms.

Later in the day visitors arrived to view the opening of “West Meets East,” an exhibition of Western and Eastern artworks produced in collaboration with poets of the 1950s-1990s.

June 21st: 12.00-5.00 pm “Doors Open.” The Elora Poetry Centre participated in this event, leaving the exhibit from the previous week, “East Meets West,” available for those who might be interested.

June 28th: 3.00-5.00 pm. Fish Quill Poets & Good Hearted Women Singers & Drummers. Poets Leigh Kotsilidis, Linda Besner, Asa Boxer, Abigail Lapell, Jessica Moore
.
6.00-7.00 pm “The Tree of Inspiration”: Asa Boxer’s poems set to music by Peter Skoggard. Marion Samuel Stevens, soprano; Brett Kingsbury, pianist.

We thank the following people for their invaluable support: Grand River Conservation Authority & Open Book Ontario, for the continued support they have given to Fish Quill. Other patrons who have made this event possible: Ross Skoggard, Ian Skoggard, Geoffrey Stevens, Zehrs Market, Fergus, L & M, Elora, Elisabeth Easterbrook, Hilltop Acres Poultry Products, Dars Country Market, Olive Grove (Elora).

October 6, 2013

An Evening at the Elora Poetry Centre with the music of The Elora Jazz Trio.
While it was regretted that illness forced the cancellation of Bill Berkson’s poetry presentation, the scheduled reception went forward for supporters of Beaver House and guests. The Elora Jazz Trio played through thunder and rain, featuring Mark Heine on bass, Howie Southwood on drums and Dave Thompson on guitar. Thanks to all who made this a memorable evening.

June 15, 2013

FISH QUILL POETRY BOAT and The Good Hearted Women Singers

On 15 June Beaver House hosted an event with exceptional readings and music by the Fish Quill Poetry Boat and a moving performance by the Good Hearted Women Singers.

Fish Quill’s 2013 tour proved a great success, kicking off in Toronto but actually beginning here in Elora with a launch from the low-level bridge in the Elora Gorge Park, adjoining the property of the Elora Poetry Centre. The year’s participants, in addition to Linda and Leigh, were David Seymour, Gillian Savigny, Andy McGuire, and the singer/songwriter Grey Kingdom. Gillian’s performance was sponsored by The Writers’ Union of Canada and The Canada Council for the Arts.

The stirring Fish Quill performance was framed by The Good Hearted Women Singers, who opened and closed the event. Formally called the “Mino Ode Kwewak N’gamowak,” this indigenous group sings, drums, and dances as an opportunity for healing and to form and strengthen new relationships.

September 24, 2011
Christopher Dewdney

Dewdney’s reading was part of San Francisco poet, editor, and environmental activist Michael Rothenberg’s world-wide 100 Thousand Poets for Change. Over 400 events took place on that day.

Among the poems Chris read was The Elora Gorge Suite, from Radiant Inventory, which was nominated for a Governor General’s Award

Christopher Dewdney was born in London, Ontario, in 1951. His father was the renowned archeologist, author and historian Selwyn Dewdney. ” Because of my father’s concerns, I grew up with a prodigious amount of national history, natural history, and there was as much art around the house as there was science”.

Peter Skoggard

Peter read from poems used for the libretto of his two-hour Dramatic Oratorio called Bayt Lahm. The words for the libretto come from the poetry of women: Palestinian, Lebanese, Iraqi, as well as an Israeli mother. The voices of the Canadian diplomat and poet R.A.D. Ford and British poet W.H. Auden are also heard. All these reveal different aspects of suffering in varying proximity to and witnessing of the effects of the use of power.

Peter Skoggard is a composer, poet, and playwright living in Elora, Ontario. He was born in 1953 on Long Island, New York, to a family of painters, writers, and inventors. He moved to Canada with his family in 1969.

10 June 2011

Arpine Konyalian Grenier:

An Armenian-American presently centred in Los Angeles, Arpine Konyalian Grenier has published poetry, essays and translations in prestigious international magazines and journals, including Sulfur, and several anthologies. A former scientist, musician, and financial analyst, she holds graduate degrees from the American University of Beirut and the Milton Avery Graduate School for the Arts, Bard College, New York. Arpine also studied poetry under Clayton Eshleman at Caltech.

In her visit to Beaver House, she read primarily from her fourth published volume, The Concession Stand: Exaptation at the Margins, a collection that Daniel Bratton reviewed in jacket2.