This is the last event of this season for Garden Plot Reading Series, and we are ending it with a beautiful bang: Author Wanda J. Kehewin, Poet Kyle McKillop, Musician Enrico Renz, Poet Katheren Szabo and Host Fauzia Rafique. Visit us at the Plot Sharing Garden Saturday afternoon, 2-4 PM. More about the event is at this link:garden-plot-reading-series-august-24
Wanda J. Kehewin, Author
Wanda John-Kehewin is a Cree poet and fiction writer. The first collection of her poetry In The Dog House was launched by Talonbooks in 2013. Wanda has been published in Quills Poetry, Salish Seas, UBC’s Aboriginal Anthology and SFU’s Emerge. She has presented her work at various venues including Co-op Radio, The Writer’s Union of Canada, Word Arts LIVE! and Surrey Muse. Wanda is a graduate of Simon Fraser University’s The Writers Studio (TWS), and she uses writing as a therapeutic medium ‘to understand and respond to the near decimation of First Nations culture, language and tradition’. Wanda studies part time at the UBC taking Creative Writing courses while working on her new book of poems and short stories. More about Wanda:
talonbooks.com/authors/wanda-john-kehewin
Kyle McKillop, Poet
Kyle McKillop is a poet and teacher. As the president of the Surrey English Teachers’ Association, he helps organize learning opportunities for local teachers and students, including the SETA Writer in Residence program. He is a recent graduate of UBC’s creative writing MFA program, and his work has appeared in a variety of places, including CV2, English Practice, and the Sustenance anthology of BC food writing from Anvil Press. Find him on Twitter: @KyleMcKillop.
Enrico Renz, Musician
Enrico Renz is a delightful one-man band singing songs to interact with the audience. He plays guitar, bass, keyboards and drums, and he has performed at various literary and music events in Metro Vancouver. He has released a cd titled Skytrain as part of Secret Messengers. Enrico co-hosts a weekly Songwriters Open Mic with Lawren Nemeth and Lilija Valis in New Westminster. In his journey into music, he experienced a long period where he chose to withhold writing, composing and singing. Meanwhile, everything else was on the go including playing improvised music and chess(!) both entwined into the process of creating songs. View more here:
enrico-renz-surrey-muse
Katheren Szabo, Open Mic Opener
Katheren Szabo is a poet, arts activist and a vibrant community organizer. Her poems have been published in over 20 poetry chapbooks and theme-based ezines including We Are Newton, Hands & Heart, and Bulbs & Beauty. She is a co-founder of Cedar Bark Poets, a reading series that happens every month; and, she is a regular contributor to Friends of the Grove and community garden called The Plot in Newton, Surrey. At 11 years of age, Katheren began writing poetry as code to keep her diary safe from her siblings. ‘I have kept it all‘ she said, ‘and now have a large pile of dusty journals that hold my poetic life within. I am not a public poet and struggle to give voice to my words.’ Last year, she had said: ‘We shall embark together on breaking the mute silence of my writing on May 26th at Surrey Muse Event. See you there!’ since then, Katheren has presented at conferences, discussion groups and literary events to share her art and thoughts on issues around sexual violence, healing and environment. Visit Katheren on Facebook
facebook.com/katheren.szabo
Fauzia Rafique, Host
Fauzia is a novelist, poet, and an activist. She has published two novels and a poetry collection. Her novel Skeena was published in English (Libros Libertad, 2011) and Punjabi (Sanjh Publications, 2007). The Punjabi edition of Skeena has become Pakistan’s most sold Punjabi novel. Her second novel The Adventures of SahebaN: Biography of a Relentless Warrior was launched in 2016. She has printed two chapbooks of her poems, Holier Than Life (Purple Poppy Press, 2013) and Passion Fruit/Tahnget Phal (Uddari Books 2011). She is a co-founder and the coordinator of Surrey Muse, and, the project manager of Surrey Muse At Large (SMAL). Visit Fauzia’s web page:
gandholi.wordpress.com
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We gratefully acknowledge
that we meet on the traditional territories of
the Semiahmoo, Katzie, Kwikwetlem
Kwantlen, Qayqayt and Tsawwassen First Nations.
..
Art work by Miquel Barceló, 58/77cm, watercolor and sand on paper
in Neighbourhood Small Grants program
‘The Cove’ by Candice James, New Westminster’s Poet Laureate Emerita.
Ikebana by Vancouver Author Lydia Kwa.
Photo: Plot Sharing Garden and Medicine Wheel, Newton
The third and the last event of ‘Ages & Stages: Dreams, reality checks and things that go bump in the night’ exploring youthfulness, adulthood and golden years, will focus on ‘golden years’ with Author Virginia Gillespie, Poet Candice James and Performer Harvey Ostroff. 
Surrey Muse At Large (SMAL) 