Catherine Penny sent along this interesting little tidbit of local literary libation locale…
I thought you would like to know that Toronto’s longest running poetry workshop group, Toronto Renaissance Conspiracy, meets the second Thursday of every month in the top room of TKO’s (yes poetry above a sports bar/restaurant).
All are welcome to the workshops.
It has published three anthologies of work and a lot of poets/writers have worked through pieces which have subsequently been published or put to video or to choral work. The Larkin Singers just did Jim Lanthier’s body of work, Wife in Winter, that was performed on May 28, 2011 at Christ Church Deer Park. Valentino the Toronto Rapper/ Poet workshopped for a TheFullySick Rapper of Australia – a piece which was used for the advertisement promo for Ridley Scott and Kevin MacDonald in Day In The Life of You Tube. He wasn’t able to present himself so Valentino did it for him.
You can read and workshop, or just read a piece or just have a listen.
The group has had Goran Simac, Alice Major, David Donnel & Roo Borson read and present new work. Numerous chap books, awards and recognitions have been bestowed on poets that have presented work in a raw form and then with feedback altered, adjusted, fine tuned or did nothing to the pieces.
The criticism is constructive and compassionate as we all have a voice that needs to be heard and now I think our commnity needs to know that it exists.