Poets Across Borders | Rhythm of the Heart | Honour Songs | Word! Symposium | Other Events | Credits

at Muttart Hall, MacEwan-Alberta College, Sept. 21-22, 2007

Word! A Symposium of Talk, Poetry, & Performance

Word! Symposium created connections between everyday life, poetry, art, performance and the spoken word through a series of speakers and panels. The wide variety of guests – from slam poets to traditional ‘page’ poets to scientist-poets – gave participants an opportunity to share a broad range of ideas.

The symposium took place in the elegant Muttart Hall at Grant MacEwan College’s Alberta College Campus overlooking the North Saskatchewan River. It wrapped up with a gala evening, including a full performance of the Honour Songs project and a range of other poetic voices.

See details about the various events and speakers at the Word! Symposium page & the Edmonton Cultural Capital web site.

Photos by Marc Chalifoux

	Thought Reactions, Science and Poetry Dr. Roald Hoffmann (New York) An Excerpt from Dr. Roald Hoffmann’s keynote address, comparing the Periodic Table to Blake’s “Tyger” Run Time: 4:33
Rewrit Dr. Roald Hoffmann When God made the sun he lay back on his white sand beach … click here to read the full poem
	Code Memory Dr. Roald Hoffmann … rope trick of a molecule, its rings’ sticky signposts tied to a backbone … click here to read the full poem
	Folding Chairs George McWhirter Vancouver’s Poet Laureate reads Folding Chairs by Gunter Grass (translated by Michael Hamburger) on teaching children about metaphor. Run Time: 2:03
	Continuations, #7 Douglas Barbour & Sheila Murphy Run Time: 5:50
On Concrete Poetry & E-Communications Sheila Murphy Run Time: 3:17
	Paying Homage to Women - Poem: “Long Wind Walk” Morningstar Mercredi Run Time: 5:34
Beyond Anne Simpson From her collection, Quick Run Time: 0:46		Excerpt from "The Shape of Poetry" Anne Simpson Click here to read the excerpt
	Dr. Meat Kris Demeanor Run Time: 5:17	Three Blocks West of Wonderland By Heather Haley click here to read the full poem
On Defining Poetry Jack McCarthy Run Time: 3:12
	Writing Under Fear Jalal Barzanji Edmonton’s First Writer-in-Exile (Iraq) An excerpt from his presentation Run Time: 3:32

Word!: Gala

The Gala featured the world premiere of Honour Songs, a fusion of Aboriginal poetry and art; Edmonton’s new Poet Laureate Ted Blodgett, the Spoken Word Youth Choir, Jack McCarthy, Jalal Barzanji, Alice Major, Pierrette Requier and Anne Simpson.