Inclement Weather is a two-part event, including a workshop and reading, that highlights how poetry can spark conversation about climate change and our energy future that is sustainable and socially equitable.

This event is Part Two of Inclement Weather - the Readings. Join Edmonton poets Alexis Kienlen, Kelly Shepherd, Marco Melfi, Jennifer Bowering Delisle, Kathryn Gwun-Yeen 君妍 Lennon, and Anna Marie Sewell read poetry that addresses the climate crisis, offering words of reflection, warning and hope. There will also be an open-mic portion, open to Inclement Weather - Workshop participants to share what they’ve worked on earlier.

Hosted by: Kim Mannix.

*Please note that masks are mandatory while attending events at this venue.*

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Alexis Kienlen - Originally from Saskatoon, Alexis Kienlen currently lives in Edmonton, Alberta. Author of two poetry collections and numerous works of fiction and non-fiction, Alexis works as a journalist for Alberta Farmer. Mad Cow is her first novel. Find her online on Twitter or at her website.

Kelly Shepherd's second poetry collection, Insomnia Bird (Thistledown Press, 2018) won the 2019 Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize, and was shortlisted for the 2019 Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry. Kelly has written seven chapbooks, and he is a poetry editor for the environmental philosophy journal The Trumpeter. He has a Creative Writing MFA from UBC Okanagan (with a thesis on the intersections of ecopoetry and work poetry), and an MA in Religious Studies from the University of Alberta (with a thesis on sacred geography). Originally from Smithers BC, Kelly currently lives in Edmonton, and teaches at NAIT.

Marco Melfi joined the Edmonton Poetry Festival Board in 2019. His poems have appeared in The Antigonish Review, The New Quarterly, Prairie Fire, The Arc Award of Awesomeness, Funicular, and FreeFall. His chapbook, In between trains, was published in 2014. Find him online on Twitter.

Jennifer Bowering Delisle's latest book is the poetry collection Deriving. She is also the author of two books of lyric nonfiction: The Bosun Chair and Micrographia (forthcoming in 2023). She regularly teaches creative writing and is a board member of NeWest Press. She is currently working on a collection of poetry responding to stock photography through the lenses of feminism, the covid 19 pandemic, and climate crisis. She is a settler in Amiskwaciwâskahikan/Edmonton in Métis Region 4 and Treaty 6. Find her online on Twitter.

Anna Marie Sewell is an award-winning multi-genre writer/performer, whose career has centred around collaborative multidisciplinary work, including Ancestors & Elders, Reconciling Edmonton (which featured the first ever Round Dance at Edmonton's City Hall), Braidings, Honour Songs and Heart of the Flower. As Edmonton's 4th Poet Laureate, Anna Marie created and curated The PoemCatcher public art installation. She founded and ran Big Sky Theatre, a three year training and performance project producing original Aboriginal (it was the 90s) theatre with urban youth. She is also a founding member of the Stroll of Poets, which has provided an entrée into Edmonton's public poetry community since 1991.

Kim Mannix (she/her) lives on Treaty Six territory in Sherwood Park. Her poetry and prose have appeared in Canadian and American journals and anthologies, as well as on Edmonton Transit. She is a contributing editor of Watch Your Head, a climate crisis anthology, and works as an entertainment and lifestyle writer for MSN. Find her online on Twitter.

Kathryn Gwun-Yeen 君妍 Lennon was born and raised in Edmonton/Amiskwacîwâskahikan, with mixed Hong-Kong Cantonese and Irish ancestry. She is (very slowly) working on a bilingual book of poetry, thanks to support from the Edmonton Arts Council. She is also the co-creator, along with Kyla Pascal, of Hungry Zine.