Somewhere between her graduation and her future, one of my favorite people is visiting Vancouver for a month. Tonight, she invited me to a poetry slam held at Cafe Deux Soleils on the Drive. I had never been to a poetry slam before, and although I had been meaning to check out some of the events Jon wrote about back in April, I never ended up doing so.

We got to the cafe early, and were able to get a table and dinner well before the 8:45 start. I don't want to make this a restaurant review, since the spoken word was far more spectacular than our burritos and chili. But I do want to mention that the food here is delicious and reasonably-priced, so I'll definitely be trying out more of it next time. During the course of dinner, more and more people began filing into the cafe, until finally the host announced that the house was full. He asked groups from the crowd to be judges for the competition, so the four of us agreed to take part. We weren't particularly qualified, and we called ourselves The Eastern Bloc. It was a good start.

The combination of Vancouver's new smoking bylaws and Amsterdam's recent crowning as literature capital of the world presents our citizens with an opportunity to create a new Vansterdam; one based on the on the strength of our of poetry, not our pot. I'm mostly joking, but regardless of whether or not you've contemplated visiting the Amsterdam Cafe, you should skip it tonight and head down to the Vancouver Public Library for some caffeine (pizza, sushi, whatever...) and some local versification.

The 'City Poets' series present an evening of readings with three hot local poets: Jordan Scott, Donato Mancini, and Stephen Collis. These are writers who are working right on the fringe of contemporary verse, and hearing their exciting work read live could be a great cap-off to National Poetry Month. Things begin at the central branch of the VPL at 7:30, free of charge. Some words on the work, some sample poems, and all the details after the jump...

Last week I introduced National Poetry Month by highlighting two well established Vancouver-based writers. As the world becomes increasingly prosaic (or multimedic), poetry of any kind has been relegated to a niche market. Regardless, part of our mission here at Beyond Robson has always been to highlight those artists who operate a bit farther from the mainstream... and if there was a monument to poetry in the heart of Robson street, it'd probably be dedicated to Mr. Birney.

One local writer who finds her subject and self situated about as far from Robson Street or the Birneyan world of UBC as possible (demographically, at least), is Sachiko Murakami. Her debut collection, The Invisibility Exhibit presents an inside-out view of Vancouver street-life; a brilliant meditation on the enigmatic attitude this city has towards the Downtown Eastside. I've spent the last few days absorbed in the volume, and it's essential reading for every denizen of the Lower Mainland. Some poems and details on readings after the jump...

Something that seems to have gone virtually unreported here in Vancouver is the fact that it's currently National Poetry Month. For the tenth year in a row, the month of April has been designated by the League of Canadian Poets as our nation's official time to safely abandon all syntax. With dread-locked molskiners milking lattes from Kits to Commercial, it's surprising we haven't heard the phrase 'Poetry Month' more often in the local media. Although Vancouver may not be the poetry capital of Canada, BC Book & Magazine Week is around the corner, the Vancouver Poetry Slam's weekly events have established it as an underground staple, and April will feature a spattering of special poetry readings around the city.

The Parliamentary Poet Laureate John Steffler is offering a poem per week (typically humble next to the American quota of poem/day). I figured the least I could do for the readers of Beyond Robson was share my own love of verse, and I hope to offer a selection of great Vancouver writing as the month rolls on. Suggestions of writers and submissions of work are more than welcome if you've got a piece/person you'd like to see us feature here at Beyond Robson. For now, enjoy some poetry after the jump...

Gay or straight, if you happened to catch the OUTloud reading last night, consider yourself lucky. It was an incredible event that showcased the tremendous diversity of some of Vancouver's best queer authors.

I try my best to be un-biased, but my friend Mette Bach was the first to take the stage and she nearly brought everyone to tears with her sweetly observant story about the complexities of all types of love and the curious friendships we forge with strangers.

Michael V. Smith made us smile with his wonderful poem about "hard love" in Toronto. A brief interlude with the lovely drag queen, Isolde N. Barron, felt out of place, but this was an organizational issue, not a performance one. Michelle Miller's excerpt from her foray into fiction helpfully coined the new phrase: "Soft-cunt confidence." The evening drew to a close with the remarkable Colin Thomas (Georgia Straight) who really did bring everyone to tears with his intimate and erotic four-part story about the unraveling of his 25-year relationship.

A photo slideshow of the night after the jump....

This is a shorty to keep y'all in the loop. Pulp Fiction Books on 2422 Main St. (near Broadway & Lugz Coffee Lounge, a block up, at 2525 Main St.), is now buying snazzy new books at US cover prices. What does this mean? It means their selection and stock has just taken a new turn towards new releases and publications that often cannot be found in used stock -- a lovely addition to what is still otherwise awesome inventory! If you've never been able to find this Virillio or that Deleuze book you've been seeking for ever, and if you refuse to support any chains, this is great news for you. Care to make requests for that Derrida book you've been unable to find anywhere? I do and...I have.