A unique anthology
of poetry, Not A Muse, made its Canadian debut recently with
a glittering launch in Toronto, bringing together the poetry of over
a 100 women from 24 different countries, including Lebanon, Wales, India,
Egypt and Guam, its themes ranging from Creator, Freedom Fighter, Lover,
Myth Maker, Aging, reflecting the inner lives of women. Described by
its Indonesian publisher as "seeing life through a woman's eyes",
Not A Muse also includes the work of Cobourg poet Deborah Panko,
who will be reading from it at the monthly public readings of the Cobourg
Poetry Workshop on Thursday evening July 16 at Meet At 66 King Street
East at 7.00pm.
"The idea behind such a book was compelling for me." says
Ms. Panko, whose writing is highly regarded at the Workshop. "However
one defines freedom of expression, or the horrific limitations of freedom
for so many women around the world, a book such as this is more necessary
now than it has ever been. So, when I heard of the call for submissions,
I submitted the maximum of three poems and they were accepted. It's
very rewarding to be able to share the thoughts and writings of women
on similar themes from around the world"
Joining Ms. Panko at the reading are Toronto poets Donna Langevin
and Kate Marshall Flaherty whose work is also included in Not
A Muse. "I knew one of the editors, Kate Rogers, who now lives
in Hong Kong, from a creative writing class at York University 20 years
ago." said Ms. Langevin, a retired English As Second Language teacher.
"We became great friends and have edited each others' poems and
issued writing challenges to each other over the years." Ms. Langevin
will also be reading some of her poems from Not A Muse, as well
as work from her forthcoming chapbook, The Middle-aged Man in the
Sea. Of Langevin, Ms. Panko says, "Her poetry is lyrical and
lovely in its images, especially of the Canadian landscape."
"It sounded intriguing to have an anthology of women's poetry from
around the globe." adds Kate Marshall Flaherty, a yoga and meditation
teacher. "So I promptly sent in some poems I thought would give
a variety of images of women in my life and history." Not A
Muse also includes poems by Canadian poets Margaret Atwood and Lorna
Crozier. With three books of poetry already published, Ms. Flaherty
will also be reading from a fourth, scheduled for publication this fall,
Commonality of Light.
Also making its Cobourg debut at the Workshop readings will be Ms. Panko's
recently published first book of poetry, Somewhat Elsewhere,
a volume of powerful and evocative poems demonstrating her caring for
humanity and the world around her. There is no admission charge to the
Cobourg Poetry Workshop readings.