Three Short Interviews With Reading Series

David Barrick: Antler River Poetry

TALI VORON-LEIDERMAN: Tell me a little bit about Antler River Poetry. And what’s one thing our readers may not already know?

DAVID BARRICK: Antler River Poetry has been hosting monthly poetry readings and occasional workshops for twenty-two seasons! T he series was originally envisioned and established by poet Cornelia Hoogland and librarian Carolyn Doyle in 2004, and then marvellously stewarded by former director Karen Schindler for many years; our ongoing partnership with the London Public Library has remained crucial to the success of the series. Readers may not know that our new logo—a stylized depiction of Deshkan Ziibi—was designed by the incredible local artist Katie Wilhelm.

TVL: Imagine our readers have never attended an Antler River Poetry event before. Set the scene. What is it like?

DB: Our home venue is Landon Branch Library in the Wortley Village in London, Ontario. When you walk through the doors, you’ll take the stairs or elevator to our lower-level room, which is a quiet haven away from the bustle of the main library. Inside, the far wall is decorated with large prints of birds by Ron Milton; the main lights are low over two sections of seating, about fifty chairs in all, and three orange lamps glow on the upright piano behind the podium. Our host librarian Ashleigh Hickey sets out water for the poets and double-checks the audio. As everyone settles in, our MC Misha Bower welcomes audience members with her charisma and warm humour, and then we dive into an evening of poetry and conversation.

TVL: What is your curatorial vision for the reading series?

DB: I think the basic curatorial vision for Antler River Poetry has been fairly consistent across directors: a diverse range of exciting poets working in Canada are put into dialogue with our local writers and poetry appreciators. Complementing the library’s equity, diversity, and inclusion mission, Antler River Poetry prioritizes platforming and celebrating authors from underrepresented and marginalized communities. We also aim to showcase a variety of poetic aesthetics, geographical voices, cultural backgrounds, and artistic career stages. With so many poets producing such incredible work right now, the biggest challenge is being limited to thirteen or fourteen feature slots per season.

TVL: Antler River Poetry is based in London, Ontario, running a monthly reading series as well as occasional poetry workshops. What role do you play in London’s literary scene, and how do you build community?

DB: Antler River Poetry has always been a place where people can discover new writers (or hear long-time favourites) and connect with local creators. I think community-building happens best through collaborative openness and mutual support among arts organizations/audiences. A recent example is our partnership with Spoken Culture (a grassroots poetry initiative founded by the brilliant Michelle Owusu-Ansah) in support of their annual Black History Slam at Museum London, an evening of spoken word poetry, music, and dialogue that celebrates Black History Month. We’re also starting to rebuild/reconceive some creative workshop opportunities for community members who are eager to share ideas and socialize, thanks in particular to the efforts of Misha Bower, Pujita Verma, and Kit Roffey.

TVL: What is something you’re excited about right now, and what was one of the most memorable events that you’ve hosted?

DB: I’m excited about Antler River Poetry’s current season! Among many upcoming highlights, we’ll be hosting a river-themed reading with sophie anne edwards, D. A. Lockhart, and Tom Cull in March 2026; I also can’t wait for our Poetry Month event featuring Blair Trewartha and Jody Chan. It is an honour that Jody will be judging our poetry contest this year.
With so many great memories, it’s daunting to narrow things down (but I’ll try). Last season, Luke Hathaway’s collaboration with singer Daniel Cabena comes to mind as a remarkably moving and mesmerizing performance. I’ll also mention one earlier event: Jordan Abel’s reading in April 2016, right around the release of Un/inhabited. He delivered what I can only describe as an experimental decolonial poetic DJ set, remixing and recontextualizing sound clips of his work on the spot. I still think of that amazing performance often.

DAVID BARRICK

is the author of the poetry collection Nightlight (Palimpsest Press, 2022) as well as two chapbooks. His poems appear in Best Canadian Poetry 2024, Grain, The Fiddlehead, Prairie Fire, ARC, and other literary publications. He is the managing director of the Antler River Poetry reading series and teaches writing at Western University.