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| Milton Acorn and Gwendolyn MacEwen |
The Love Poetry Festival is the brainchild of the poet
George Elliott Clarke, Canada's seventh Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate. Co-organizers George and Michelle Alfano, Founder of the (Not So) Nice Italian Girls & Friends Reading Series, worked together to create the first annual Love Poetry Festival in honour of Milton Acorn and Gwen MacEwen held on Centre Island, where the couple lived for a few years in the 1960s.
On August 6, 2016, the first Love Poetry Festival was held at the historic St. Andrew by the Lake Anglican Church before a generous and appreciative crowd that filled the beautiful church.
The second annual Love Poetry Festival was held at the exquisite new bookstore, Queen Books, in Toronto on July 29, 2017. The lineup was another exciting, inclusive gathering of those who knew Milton and Gwen and newer voices who came to pay homage to the poets as a couple and as poetic icons.
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George Elliott Clarke, 7th Parliamentary Poet
and co-emcee introduces the event |
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The multi-talented Charlie Petch
leads the first set |
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| Poet and musician Robert Priest |
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Poets James Deahl & Norma West Linder,
contemporaries of Milton and Gwen |
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| Lovely Norma reads ... |
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Bänoo Zan, founder of Shab-e She'r
poetry series |
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| Poet Pat Connors, the pride of Scarborough ... |
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| ... and all round sweet guy. |
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Descant Editor-in-Chief, poet, style icon ...
Karen Mulhallen |
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George concludes the evening
in his own inimitable way ... |
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Poetry lover Michelle Alfano, co-emcee
and co-organizer |
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Best ... crowd ... ever.
We acknowledge the support of the Toronto Arts Council and the League of Canadian Poets.
With special thanks to Alex Snider and her fantastic colleagues at Queen Books. |
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