Celebrate Alberta Arts Days with four special performances at Government House on October 1 & 2, 2011. The Edmonton Poetry Festival and the Government House Foundation team up to present two inspiring afternoons in the beautiful Alberta Room, which is rarely open to the public. Visit the historic house with its fine art collection and share some special moments.

This is a Free event
Government House is located at 12845 – 102 Avenue, in the grounds of the Royal Alberta Museum.

Government House

Saturday, October 1, 2011

1:00 p.m. Falling Notes, Notes of Fall
Swing through autumn shadows with music and the muse. Words by Nancy Mackenzie, Kathy Fisher and John Leppard in a sensual performance with medieval-to-modern music by Donna Mae Mohrmann and Nigel Jackman.

3:00 p.m. The Edmonton Slam Team comes out swinging
“Spoken word” brings together the rhythmic melodies of storytelling, the beats of hip-hop, and the politics of rap. The 2011 Edmonton Poetry Slam Team presents a diverse and dynamic show that will demonstrate the full range of spoken word poetry from political statements backed by beats, to personal narratives cloaked in melodic storytelling. Join us for poetry like you have never experienced it before.

Sunday October 2, 2011

1:00 p.m. East Meets West in Lyric
The poet Misuzu Kaneko died in 1930 after a tragically brief life. Today, her gentle, haunting poems for a children are much loved in Japan but little known in the west. Come and hear the original poems set to music along with English translations. Misuzu’s poems will be sung by Bonita Lau to music composed by Tomoko Maeda and played on the piano by Melissa Gee, and Yukari Meldrum will share her English translations.

3:00 p.m. The Poetry Route makes a stop at Chinatown
Edmonton’s original Chinatown is a century old this year. To celebrate, Edmonton’s bus poetry project, The Poetry Route, will launch a round of bilingual poems in Chinese and English, from translations of classic poems to contemporary pieces by local writers. Come for a sneak preview of the selected poems, accompanied by traditional Chinese music.