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DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260527T173000
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SUMMARY:Electric Mermaid Live Reads Featuring: Cynthia Woodman Kerkham @Char's
DESCRIPTION:Electric Mermaid Live Reads Featuring: Cynthia Woodman Kerkham @Char's\nWednesday May 27th 2026 doors 5:30pm open mic 6-8pm\n \nCynthia Woodman Kerkham has published two full-length poetry collections\, one chapbook and one co-edited anthology\, Poems from Planet Earth.\n \nShe’s been a finalist for the CBC Poetry Prize\, the Gwendolyn MacEwen Poetry Competition and many magazine contests.\n \nShe’s won the John Lent Poetry/Prose Award\, the Malahat Review’s Open Season Award\, the FBCW Poetry Prize\, and has been selected for Poetry in Transit.\n \nHer latest book\, Water Quality\, was nominated for the DC Reid Poetry Prize.\n \nShe lives\, writes and teaches in Victoria BC on the traditional lands of the Lək̓ʷəŋən speaking peoples where she hasn’t found a body of water she doesn’t love.\n \nCynthia Woodman book\, Water Quality\, is for sale in all major bookstores\, including Munro’s\, Indigo\, and Russell Books.\n \nIt is also for sale online from the publisher: https://www.mqup.ca/Books/W/Water-Quality\n \nHere’s a review of Water Quality https://thebcreview.ca/2025/01/16/2425-levenson-woodman-kerkham/\n \nWhat to Expect: Whether you join the Electric Mermaid in person at Char’s Landing or via Zoom\, expect to enjoy an eclectic array of open mic readers sharing brief (5 minute max) samples from their literary\, and sometimes musical\, works\, along with a longer reading from one or more featured reader(s) sharing published\, or soon to be published\, work. Come engage with a dynamic and inspiring literary event that welcomes and encourages writers at all levels of development.\n \nThe Electric Mermaid is a hybrid literary event that began over 20 years ago under the banner of Words on Fire. First organized by North Island College creative writing students Fran Thiessen\, Vicki Drybrough\, and Libbie Morin\, monthly meetings took place in Smitty’s Restaurant on 3rd Avenue in Port Alberni with reader’s voices competing with the clatter of dishes emanating from the kitchen. After a brief stint in another café\, Words on Fire graduated to Char’s Landing where it persisted for a few years before its resurrection into its current iteration as Electric Mermaid\, named in honour of Luma\, a mermaid sculpture that illuminates the hall at Char’s. Covid pushed the event onto Zoom\, and it continues to thrive as a hybrid event enjoyed by audiences live at Char’s and across Canada and beyond on Zoom.\n \n \nElectric Mermaid: Live Reads from Char's Landing\, Port Alberni\, Vancouver Island\, BC\, Canada and via ZOOM !\nSpoken Word Open Mic\, last Wednesday of each month\, Char's physical doors open 5:30pm Pacific Time\, Live Reads 6-8pm
X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:Electric Mermaid Live Reads Featuring: Cynthia Woodman Kerkham @Char's\nWednesday May 27th 2026 doors 5:30pm open mic 6-8pm\n \nCynthia Woodman Kerkham has published two full-length poetry collections\, one chapbook and one co-edited anthology\, Poems from Planet Earth.\n \nShe’s been a finalist for the CBC Poetry Prize\, the Gwendolyn MacEwen Poetry Competition and many magazine contests.\n \nShe’s won the John Lent Poetry/Prose Award\, the Malahat Review’s Open Season Award\, the FBCW Poetry Prize\, and has been selected for Poetry in Transit.\n \nHer latest book\, Water Quality\, was nominated for the DC Reid Poetry Prize.\n \nShe lives\, writes and teaches in Victoria BC on the traditional lands of the Lək̓ʷəŋən speaking peoples where she hasn’t found a body of water she doesn’t love.\n \nCynthia Woodman book\, Water Quality\, is for sale in all major bookstores\, including Munro’s\, Indigo\, and Russell Books.\n \nIt is also for sale online from the publisher: https://www.mqup.ca/Books/W/Water-Quality\n \nHere’s a review of Water Quality https://thebcreview.ca/2025/01/16/2425-levenson-woodman-kerkham/\n \nWhat to Expect: Whether you join the Electric Mermaid in person at Char’s Landing or via Zoom\, expect to enjoy an eclectic array of open mic readers sharing brief (5 minute max) samples from their literary\, and sometimes musical\, works\, along with a longer reading from one or more featured reader(s) sharing published\, or soon to be published\, work. Come engage with a dynamic and inspiring literary event that welcomes and encourages writers at all levels of development.\n \nThe Electric Mermaid is a hybrid literary event that began over 20 years ago under the banner of Words on Fire. First organized by North Island College creative writing students Fran Thiessen\, Vicki Drybrough\, and Libbie Morin\, monthly meetings took place in Smitty’s Restaurant on 3rd Avenue in Port Alberni with reader’s voices competing with the clatter of dishes emanating from the kitchen. After a brief stint in another café\, Words on Fire graduated to Char’s Landing where it persisted for a few years before its resurrection into its current iteration as Electric Mermaid\, named in honour of Luma\, a mermaid sculpture that illuminates the hall at Char’s. Covid pushed the event onto Zoom\, and it continues to thrive as a hybrid event enjoyed by audiences live at Char’s and across Canada and beyond on Zoom.\n \n \nElectric Mermaid: Live Reads from Char's Landing\, Port Alberni\, Vancouver Island\, BC\, Canada and via ZOOM !\nSpoken Word Open Mic\, last Wednesday of each month\, Char's physical doors open 5:30pm Pacific Time\, Live Reads 6-8pm
LOCATION:4815 Argyle St Port Alberni BC V9Y 1V9
UID:e.4639.1471400
SEQUENCE:3
DTSTAMP:20260521T062709Z
URL:https://albernivalleychamberofcommerce.growthzoneapp.com/alberni-valley-events/Details/electric-mermaid-live-reads-featuring-cynthia-woodman-kerkham-char-s-1742805?sourceTypeId=Hub
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