Have you ever fallen in love with a place?
Of course you have.
A second visit to this visionary gem—my first [when I fell in love], reading with Don Pyle & Stevie Manning—I knew I wanted [had] to return to Niagara Artists Centre when she came out. Little did I know I’d have the grand good fortune to be flanked by poetry royalty [dear friends], Dale Martin Smith, Hoa Nguyen (kindly stepping-in at the last minute for R/B Mertz), & Hamiltonian main Ben Robinson, a ‘KFB Showcase.’*
NAC is an absolute fucking dreamspace for arts/artists, not unlike what you might’ve found Queen St W strip TO forty years ago, but even better because it’s today. I simply cannot gush enough over all the perfect details lovingly tended to by Steve and Natasha, Matt, James, Sahar, Dave (names I know) +++ The very same thoughtful, exquisite care we received ten-fold this evening, which in turn made the readings, entire evening, shine o, so bright. Pure magic. Deep thanks to the full house and uncommonly warm welcome.
*from KFB: Kirby She’s Having a Doris Day (2017) she (2024). Hoa Nguyen Ask About Language As If it Forgets (2019), She Who Has No Masters (2023, broadside). Ben Robinson Without Form (2020, with The Blasted Tree). Dale Martin Smith Sons (2017), Sons (broadside), Blur (2022), The Size of Paradise (2024).
Knife Fork Book 