June 29th was the final day of my Mean Game tour. Day 39! I’d met Kevin Spenst a few years before in Toronto, and we’d stayed in touch. When I told him I was coming to Vancouver he rolled out a kind of poetic red carpet for me: putting me in touch with every writer he could think of, arranging an interview for me on co-op radio, and offering to host a reading and workshop at his house! I even slept on his couch that night. (Thanks also to his marvelous partner, the artist and art therapist, Shauna Kaendo, for generously sharing the space with me.)

I gave a workshop on duende, and it was packed and wonderful. I got to meet some Vancouver writers I’d been in touch with, and had heard of, but had never seen in person.

For the reading, poet Alex Leslie read from their upcoming Book*hug collection of poems, “Vancouver for Beginners,” which was great. Kevin murdered us with a few poems, too. Then I, sadly, read for the last time for my Mean Game tour, 3000 miles away from my point of departure, Philadelphia.