A Good Panhandle

Sounds like the title of a camping poem, A Good Panhandle. But the Panhandling for Poetry workshop went off without anyone getting arrested, and it was quite the adventure.

First, thanks go out to Katherine Beeman and zoï kilakos who participated, and engaged unsuspecting Montrealers in a truly glorious demonstration of public poetry. Thanks also to CTV’s Paul Karwatsky and camera man, Louis.

zoï showing CTV her poem, 'almost ecstasy.'

zoï showing CTV her poem, 'almost ecstasy.'

As Katherine Beeman prepares to engage...

As Katherine Beeman prepares to engage...

Seeing how much fun the two poets were having, I had to join in…
Here I am, sensitizing the public to the poetic revolution.

Here I am, sensitizing the public to the poetic revolution.

It takes a bit of practice to successfully engage strangers, but it gets easier and I enjoyed it tremendously. I will have to do it again!!
The workshop began with me sharing, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Panhandling Poets.” To receive a copy, send an email to: publicpoetry(at)gmail.com
However, the real secret of poetic panhandling is perseverance. Just do it, again and again.
zoï (back to camera) shares her poem.

zoï (back to camera) shares her poem.

Just a reminder, the deadline to apply for the Montreal Public Poetry Festival is approaching: August 29, 2008. We appreciate early applications so we can estimate the number of venues required.

3 Responses to “A Good Panhandle”

  1. Chris Masson Says:
    July 16, 2008 at 6:24 pm | Reply

    This is a fantastic idea. One of the Throw Collective Poets, Kathryn Hogan, was doing this everyday for awhile. She was featured in an article in The Mirror for it…

  2. Alana Ronald Says:
    August 1, 2008 at 2:57 am | Reply

    This sounds informative and great fun.

    Poetry lives…and panhandling pays the bills???

  3. publicpoetry Says:
    August 2, 2008 at 7:37 pm | Reply

    The poetry panhandling was informative, was public, and was fum–a great promotion activity. And it almost paid the bills, won’t give up my day job yet.

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