Arts Event

VERSeFest, Ottawa’s International Poetry Festival, returns for its fifth annual edition Tuesday, March 24 through Monday, March 30, 2015 to host seven days of the planet’s best local, national, and international poets. Fusing language and rhythm in an eclectic mix, VERSeFest’s lineup features written and spoken word, emerging and award-winning voices, English and French. Highlights include 2014 World Slam Champion Ikenna Onyegbula (a.k.a OpenSecret) and internationally renowned poet Daphne Marlatt. Programming will include two evenings featuring strong female voices, including Halifax’s poet laureate El Jones, as well as a slam event, two Governor General Award winners – Anne Compton and Quebec’s leading experimental poet Nicole Brossard, eclectic sound poet bill bissett, the charged poetics of Gary Geddes, master classes and more. The high-profile roster also includes Chilean poet Raúl Zurita, who won the Chilean National Prize for Literature in 2000, as well as celebrated international poets from Ireland and the United States. Join us for a spectrum of dynamic readings, interdisciplinary performances, experimental eclecticism, and workshops. Tickets and info at versefest.ca