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2020/2021 – Annual Report

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royalcitylit

Non-profit Society, Literary Arts.
POETRY OPEN MIC NIGHT (In partnership with Groove POETRY OPEN MIC NIGHT (In partnership with Groove Cat Books and Records and Royal City Literary Arts Society) Thursday, April 16 from 7:00 PM-9:00 PM Location: Groove Cat Books and Records 775 6th Street, New Westminster, BC Phone: 604-553-0929 Free 2-hour parking, Wheelchair accessible. Bring your poetry to share! 5 min slots, sign-up starting at 6:50pm “Admission is free, but please support our hosts with a minimum $5 purchase — think of it as fueling the poetry with books, vinyl, and good vibes.”  Bring a new poem to read, or dust off an “oldie but a goodie”! Don’t really think yourself a poet but LOVE poetry? You could share a famous, or even a not-so-famous poem that you LOVE! Or, just come to listen! That works, too — Be there or be square! PEACE! #RCLAS #GrooveCatBooksandRecords #poetry #openmic #iheartnewwest #newwest #newwestevents
BIG NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT! Our COGSWELL AWARD has a b BIG NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT! Our COGSWELL AWARD has a brand new submission period. It will be opening up on April 1! We are also thrilled to announce our 2026 Judge is Kevin Spenst!!! YAY!!! #CogswellAward #rclas #poetry #bookawards #CanLit #canadianpublishers
Celebrate UNESCO Poetry Day Join us in celebratin Celebrate UNESCO Poetry Day Join us in celebrating the beauty and power of poetry! Bring a poem to read and enjoy lively dance performances by the Ilocano Group and Forever Young. There will also be time to socialize, share ideas, and enjoy light snacks together. Venue: Moberly Arts & Cultural Centre Date: Saturday, March 21, 2026 Time: 2:00 – 4:00 pm For more information, please contact: Ashok K. Bhargava or Janet Kvammen, Bonnie Quan Symons
Join us for a wonderful evening celebrating the ne Join us for a wonderful evening celebrating the new book by Celeste Snowber featuring poetry inspired by the art of Suzi Morris. Location: ANVIL CENTRE | STUDIO 417 MARCH 26, 2026 THURS 7:00-8:30 pm Portals: The Colours of Our Longing, published by Hurtwood Press, London, is a visual and poetic conversation between a painter and a poet/performance artist. Lyrical texts sit alongside images at once delicate and intense, as words and paintings enjoin the reader to consider how body and spirit can dance together. This collaboration creates something personal and universal, which brings beauty to a troubled world. Celeste Nazeli Snowber is a poet, dancer, and multidisciplinary artist whose work, through her writing, teaching and site-specific performance, explores embodied forms of inquiry. Suzi Morris is an artist whose paintings question ideas of the sublime body, most recently, through her affiliation with the School of Medicine at Imperial College, in response to the new science discipline of genomics. Link to FB event - https://www.facebook.com/share/1B3HqmXeKj/ #Poetry #RCLAS #poetryandart #booklaunch #NewWest
Last evening 😊 Thank you to Winston Le. RCLAS was Last evening 😊 Thank you to Winston Le. RCLAS was pleased to offer this fun workshop all about neologisms and language-making. Many of the writers who attended had no past experience with this and really appreciated learning more about it. The word "fascinating" was heard more than once. This has opened up a whole new world and creative vision to explore! Thanks, Winston. Follow here @winstonladdle Thanks to RCLAS Director Jessica Lee McMillan for hosting. Best from Janet K. Thanks to the City of New Westminster and Anvil Centre.
Save the Date: Royal City Literary Arts Society Save the Date: Royal City Literary Arts Society Annual General Meeting. 📍SUNDAY MARCH 15, 2026 at 1pm 📍RSVP secretary@rclas.com 📍Location: New West Public Library, 716 6th Avenue, New Westminster, BC We are always looking for volunteers. If you interested please send a note. Annual membership $35 Most of our events are free, and you don't need to be a member to attend ... but keep in mind that membership revenue helps to keep us going. Thanks for your support! PS you don't have to live in New West to be a member. #rclas #literaryarts #writing
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RCLAS Writing Workshop "to construe a frankenlang" RCLAS Writing Workshop "to construe a frankenlang" with Winston Lê 📍Date: Monday MARCH 9, 2026 📍Time: 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm  📍Location: ANVIL CENTRE | STUDIO 417, 777 Columbia Street, New Westminster. ✔This workshop is Free BUT registration is required. Email secretary@rclas.com Workshop Description:  A neologism is a new word or expression, or a new meaning for an existing word. Through this “coinage,” we’ll explore versatility and dynamic innovation of language-making. In this workshop, we will explore how morphology (texture, sound, shape), semiotics (sign-making, interpretation), and re-materiality (physical body/vessel to embody the neologism) can reshape and enhance and expand our lexical innovation onto our babbling world. This will be a workshop on innovative linguistic processes that will lead to the creation of a poem based on your newly-created word. This class will be both lecture and workshop base. We will begin by discussing the varying definitions and elements that make up a neologism, as well as how one might experiment with the concept further... Through three linked generative writing exercises, we will explore a “exquisite corpse” approach in writing a poem based on a neologism and by doing so, destabilize and decolonize the nature of the poem and language itself. We’re going to have fun stitching up some linguistic body horror!" @royalcitylit @anvilcentre @new_westminster
Royal City Literary Arts Society and Silver Bow Pu Royal City Literary Arts Society and Silver Bow Publishing present  Double Book Launch with poets T K Torme  “Silent Meow” and Candice James “10 PAK- 5 The Long Poems” Date: Saturday, March 7, 2026, Free Admission Time: 1:30pm to 3:30pm Location: New Westminster Public Library, 716 6th Avenue, New Westminster Downstairs Auditorium, accessible by elevator. *Poetry readings *Meet and greet *Book Signings *Engage in conversation with the authors *Door Prizes #rclas #poetrycommunity #poets #poeticjustice
Come by our table and say hello! Come by our table and say hello!
SAVE THE DATE: WordPlay New West is coming up Feb SAVE THE DATE: WordPlay New West is coming up Feb 19, a free drop-in writing session with Alan Hill. Unleash your creativity! 📍Date: Thursday, February 19, 2026 📍Time: 7:00 PM to 9 PM 📍Location: təməsew̓txʷ Aquatic and Community Centre, Multi-purpose Room 2,  65 E Sixth Ave, New Westminster Join local poet Alan Hill for a fun, casual evening of writing. Select your favourite writing tools (pen & paper or phone). Writing prompts will be provided. The event is free, no registration required and no experience necessary. In Partnership with Arts New West, City Of New Westminster & Royal City Literary Arts Society #RCLAS #wordplay #writing #ArtsNewWest #NewWest
CONGRATULATIONS! We are very pleased to announce t CONGRATULATIONS! We are very pleased to announce the Winner of the Fred Cogswell Award For Excellence In Poetry. Garry Gottfriedson – THE FLESH OF ICE (Caitlin Press) View on our website here (including judge's comments): https://rclas.com/2025-fred-cogswell-award/ Gratitude to our esteemed judge Cecily Nicholson for her diligence, dedication, and time. THANK YOU! RCLAS would like to thank all the poets and publishers who submitted work.
CONGRATULATIONS! 12th Annual Fred Cogswell Award CONGRATULATIONS! 12th Annual Fred Cogswell Award For Excellence In Poetry. Second Place: Kayla Czaga – MIDWAY (House of Anansi Press) View on our website here (including judge's comments): https://rclas.com/2025-fred-cogswell-award/ RCLAS would like to thank all the poets and publishers who submitted work.
CONGRATULATIONS! Third Place: Barbara Tran  – PRE CONGRATULATIONS! Third Place: Barbara Tran  – PRECEDENTED PARROTING (Anstruther Books|Palimpsest Press) View on our website here (including judge's comments): https://rclas.com/2025-fred-cogswell-award/
CONGRATULATIONS! We are very pleased to announce t CONGRATULATIONS! We are very pleased to announce the Top 3 Winners for the 12th Annual Fred Cogswell Award For Excellence In Poetry. First Place: Garry Gottfriedson – THE FLESH OF ICE (Caitlin Press) Second Place: Kayla Czaga – MIDWAY (House of Anansi Press) Third Place: Barbara Tran  – PRECEDENTED PARROTING (Anstruther Books|Palimpsest Press) View on our website here (including judge's comments): https://rclas.com/2025-fred-cogswell-award/
CONGRATULATIONS! We are very pleased to announce t CONGRATULATIONS! We are very pleased to announce the Top 3 Winners for the 12th Annual Fred Cogswell Award For Excellence In Poetry. First Place: Garry Gottfriedson – THE FLESH OF ICE (Caitlin Press) Second Place: Kayla Czaga – MIDWAY (House of Anansi Press) Third Place: Barbara Tran – PRECEDENTED PARROTING (Anstruther Books|Palimpsest Press) View on our website here (including judge's comments): https://rclas.com/2025-fred-cogswell-award/ With appreciation to our judge Cecily Nicholson for her diligence, dedication, and time. THANK YOU!!!! RCLAS would like to thank all the poets and publishers who submitted work. Thank you for your support! Best, Janet Kvammen #rclas #CogswellAward #FredCogswellAward #Poetry #bookaward #CanLit #canadianpublishers #CanadianPoets #booklovers #readmorebooks #artsnw #NewWest #IheartNewWest
Congratulations from all of us at RCLAS! shima by Congratulations from all of us at RCLAS! shima by shō yamagushiku (McClelland & Stewart | Penguin Random House) shō yamagushiku's work is grounded in a diasporic okinawan consciousness. He writes from the homelands of the Lekwungen and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples (Victoria, BC). His first poetry collection, entitled shima, reflects ancestors, violence, and tradition. #CogswellAward #BookAward #RCLAS #PoetryCommunity #Writing #Poetry #CanadianPublishers #CanLit
Congratulations from all of us at RCLAS! Scientif Congratulations from all of us at RCLAS! Scientific Marvel by Chimwemwe Undi (House of Anansi Press) The Parliamentary Poet Laureate of Canada(2025-2026), Chimwemwe Undi is an editor and lawyer based on Treaty 1 territory in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Her debut full-length collection, Scientific Marvel, won the 2024 Governor General’s Literary Award in Poetry. Having been an active member of Manitoba’s poetry community for more than ten years, Ms. Undi is the recipient of a CBC Manitoba "Future 40" award and a Winnipeg 150 Medal, among other awards. Her writing explores questions of identity, belonging, climate change, justice and the limits of language. Ms. Undi is an advocate in many senses. From 2023 through 2024, she served as the third Winnipeg Poet Laureate. In addition to her work in the literary world, she is a lawyer at Thompson Dorfman Sweatman LLP, where her practice is focused on professional regulation, labour and employment. Prior to studying law, Ms. Undi received undergraduate and graduate degrees in linguistics from the University of Manitoba and York University in Toronto. She lives in Winnipeg with a cellist, a kitten and a mutt. #CogswellAward #BookAward #RCLAS #PoetryCommunity #Writing #Poetry #CanadianPublishers #CanLit
Congratulations from all of us at RCLAS! Preceden Congratulations from all of us at RCLAS! Precedented Parroting by Barbara Tran (Anstruther Books | Palimpsest Press) Barbara Tran’s poetry collection Precedented Parroting was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award; shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Award and the Gerald Lampert Award; and  selected for the CBC's Best Books of 2024. Barbara authored the titular character’s narration of Madame Pirate: Becoming a Legend, a short, virtual reality film, which was nominated for Best VR Story at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. Her writing has been recognized with awards and fellowships from the Lannan Foundation, MacDowell, Ontario Arts Council, Pushcart Prize Fellowships, and the Canada Council for the Arts. Barbara is a member of She Who Has No Master(s) and AfroMundo collectives. Much of her writing is conceived while walking, playing, or sharing a tasty morsel with a rescue dog. #CogswellAward #BookAward #RCLAS #PoetryCommunity #Writing #Poetry #CanadianPublishers #CanLit
Congratulations from all of us at RCLAS! Weather b Congratulations from all of us at RCLAS! Weather by Rob Taylor (Gaspereau Press) Rob Taylor is the author of four previous poetry collections, including Strangers and The News, which was a finalist for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. He is also the editor of What the Poets Are Doing: Canadian Poets in Conversation and Best Canadian Poetry 2019. He lives with his family in Port Moody, BC. #CogswellAward #BookAward #RCLAS #PoetryCommunity #Writing #Poetry #CanadianPublishers #CanLit
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