Poetry in the Park, a celebration of poetry, music, and food, will take place August 28^th, 2021. VERSe Ottawa will be hosting this summer prelude to the fall festival with a full afternoon of bilingual arts programming and culinary delights in the natural surroundings of Strathcona Park.  

The event kicks off at 1:00 PM with a communal welcome lunch and will feature a number of Canadian poets, including Shane Rhodes, a politically minded visual poet; Frances Boyle, a poet and fiction writer topping numerous award lists; and Ashley Hynd, whose writing grapples with erasure, reclamation, and accountability.  Stuart Ross, a poet of sharp wit and whimsy; Ren Iwamoto, an important, emerging voice;Angèle Bassolé Ouédraogo, aTrillium Book Award winner and publisher whose work explores women and African themes; and Gilles Latour, the French-language Ottawa Poet Laureate, will also be reading. John Carroll, a regular fixture in The Chateau Lafayette lineup, will take the stage with a musical interlude of gritty folk and blues songs.  

All events are free.