Walk with wild and witty words around the city's downtown Monday morning.
The Prince George Public Library's downtown Bob Harkins Branch is the stepping off point for the annual Poetry Walk, where local language artists apply their scribe skills to the city's core district.
"Let words become landscape and join UNBC creative writing students as they share their poems written about downtown Prince George," said a statement from the library's staff.
Participants are urged to dress for the weather and feel free to bring a notepad and pencil just in case the travelling performances inspire your own inscriptions.
"The Poetry Walk was originally conceived by Darcie Smith and Gillian Wigmore (both library staff members) a few years ago," said Rob Budde, the UNBC professor guiding the exercise.
"In the early versions, they collected local published poems that connected to certain spots downtown and then read those poems on the walk at the locations. This iteration, Darcie suggested my class (a UNBC upper-level poetry creative writing class of 20 students) write new poems about downtown, historical events and/or their personal connection to certain locations downtown."
Having so many writers apply themselves to the exercise meant Budde had a huge range of works to pick from and gave the students meaningful motivation for putting their pen to page.
"We will walk downtown reading those poems to anyone who wants to join us and also writing new responses as we walk," he said.
It will make for an all-original unique performance event and it will also add literary material that will forever speak for this city. These poems are works of art to the creator but eternal acts of documentation and historical interpretation for readers into the future.
"It is a way to articulate our complex relationship to downtown - our love, hates, and hopes for the place - and a larger poetic connection to this place we call home," Budde said.
Anyone wishing to tag along and enjoy the performances, word play and creative company is invited along for the free walk that sets off from the library at 10 a.m. It is scheduled to be a leisurely stroll of about one hour.
