On June 28th I had a very fun evening with Victoria Poet Laureate, and friend, John Barton. I’ve known John as the editor of Canadian poetry journals Arc and, for the past fifteen years, The Malahat Review. He recently finished there and has begun a new chapter in his life as the poet laureate of Victoria, among other things.

We had a reading at 7:30pm at Bastion Books, but first we had dinner, and then official business. We attended a function at City Hall, where he read a poem. It was a sonnet called “The Loneliness of Everett Klippert,” about a queer man who was wrongfully imprisoned for many years.

After our trip to City Hall, we had a great reading at Bastion Books. There was popcorn and fizzy water, and a nice crowd. The proprietress, Alex Cruikshank, gave us a warm welcome. There was a brief Q&A afterwards.