March Madness!!!

March 4, 2011: Susan Tefler and Aurian Haller

Susan Tefler lives in Gibsons, BC with her husband and three children. She teaches high school English and Social Studies. Her poems have been published in literary journals across Canada and she is the recipient of the Gillian Lowndes Award, by the Sunhsine Coast Arts Council. House Beneath is her first book.

Planet Earth Poetry acknowledges the support of The League of Canadian Poets.

Aurian Haller is an award winning poet and singer‐songwriter. He is the lead singer in the aurian haller band, whose unique blend of folk, rock and jazz is supported by Haller’s haunting lyrics. Haller’s poetry has appeared in Arc, Descant, The Antigonish Review and in his acclaimed collection, A Dream of Sulphur. He has won numerous national awards, including a National Magazine Award for poetry and the Malahat Review Long Poem Prize. Haller grew up in the foothills of the Rockies and now lives in Quebec City.

March 11, 2011: Derk Wynand and Karen Enns

Born in Germany, Derk Wynand came to Canada as a child in 1952. He has published several translations of works by the Austrian writers, H.C. Artmann and Erich Wolfgang Skwara, and the German Poet, Dorothea Grünzweig. From 1969 to 2004, he taught Creative Writing at the University of Victoria, B.C., serving two three-year terms as Chair of the Department, and six years (1992-1998) as editor of 'The Malahat Review'. He lives in Victoria with his wife, Eva.

Karen Enns is from southern Ontario, where she was born and raised in a Mennonite farm community. Her poetry has appeared in The Fiddlehead, The Antigonish Review, Grain Magazine, PRISM international and The Malahat Review. She lives in Victoria, B.C.

March 18, 2011: Alice Major and Sheila Martindale

Alice Major’s eighth poetry collection, The Office Tower Tales, won the prestigious Pat Lowther award (for a book of poetry by a Canadian woman) and the Book Publishers Association of Alberta’s Trade Book of the Year Award. Her ninth collection, Memory’s Daughter, has just been published by the University of Alberta Press. She is past president of the League of Canadian Poets and past chair of the Edmonton Arts Council. She served as the City of Edmonton’s first Poet Laureate from 2005 to 2007.

Planet Earth Poetry acknowledges the support of The League of Canadian Poets.

Sheila Martindale was born and educated in England, and came to Canada in 1966, settling in Montreal, but moving westward to London (Ontario), Calgary and finally Victoria, BC in 2009. She was poetry editor of Canadian Author from 1982 to 1997, and Canadian editor of Bogg magazine (USA) from 1988 to 2008. She was theatre columnist for Scene Magazine (London, Ontario) from 1989 to 2007. She has taught at the University of Western Ontario and Fanshawe College, and has been on many arts panels and juries.