Michael Gravel Edmonton Writer

The Raving Poets Ride In February

The Raving Poets are set to ride again on February 21, 2007. The name of the series is top secret until later this week, but I thought I'd leak a few key details. Firstly, you should see our poster. WOW. We contracted Annie Leibovitz (of Rolling Stone / Vogue notoriety) to take shots of the founding fathers. No shit. It cost us a bundle. Like, high five figures. She managed to make us look very cool, which isn't easy. Especially with an ugly bastard like Trofimuk in the crew (kidding, I love the guy, he knows that).

Secondly, this series will be the longest that we've mounted in a few years. We've decided to shit or get off the pot, as the saying goes. We'll be busting it out at Yianni's Kasbar Lounge every Wednesday night from Feb 21st until the end of May. Then we're taking the summer off, and coming back in the fall after the Edmonton Poetry Festival (which is a BIG animal this year. Huge. You won't believe it). We'll be recording every night and, of course, keeping up with the Raving Poets Podcast, which is a cool fucking thing, I tell ya.

Thirdly, we're changing things up a bit. Making things interesting. There are a few key things that will combine to make the night more enjoyable (in my opinion, anyways). First off, we're opening the signup sheet at 7:30 and starting the show at 8:00 (you'll hear the official word on this in a few days, but keep this in mind). We're also cutting the list from 20 people to 16. And we're choosing list positions by random draw. The big question will be WHY? Why change all this shit? All of this is being done to make a tighter, more enjoyable RP experience. I, for one, am tired of marathonic (close to four hour) lit events. Personally, I don't think that one can honestly take in that much spoken word / poetry in one night. A long night isn't fair to the readers at the end. Or to anyone, for that matter. I realize that these changes mean that some people won't get on the list. That's OK. It's good to come and listen on occasion.

We will be continuing some established traditions. The opening poem of the night will still be from one of the greats. Every few weeks we'll do "the 'ol swictheroo', in which the Ravers can read each other's work. I'll be returning as MC and officiant. And of course, the tradition of picking on Phillip Jagger will continue unabated. You should catch it, if you can. Look for the Official Announcement later this week.

Entry #38 · January 30, 2007 in