An orange starburst against a blue background. In black text overlaying the image appear the words: "Thank YOU! For making VERSeFest 2026 such a glorious success!" In furthe black script, the words "And thank you as alwasy to our supporters!" appear above a grey band featuring the logos of VERSeFest's funders: Manx Pub, Carleton U, Arc Poetry Magazine, Riverbed Reading Series, City of Ottawa, Canada Council for the Arts, University of Ottawa, League of Canadian Poets, Writer's Uniont of Canada, and Perfect Books.

Thank you all so much for making #VERSeFest2026!
We had full houses every night for our funny, engaging, thoughtful, excellent #poets!

See you at future VERSe Ottawa events, and at VERSeFest 2027! <3 <3 <3

Monty at the mic, chatting to the audience. He's a balding man with an excellent beard, wearing a VERSeFest t-shirt under a black blazer, and very comfortable shoes. His glasses also have ornate frames. His VERSeOttawa Hall of Honour award is on the table next to him. The VERSeFest banner is in the background.

Monty at the mic, gesturing, chatting to the audience. He's a balding man with an excellent beard, wearing a VERSeFest t-shirt under a black blazer, and very comfortable shoes. His glasses also have ornate frames. His VERSeOttawa Hall of Honour award is on the table next to him. The VERSeFest banner is in the background.

Monty at the mic, chatting to the audience. His VERSeOttawa Hall of Honour award is on the table next to him. He's a balding man with an excellent beard, wearing a VERSeFest t-shirt under a black blazer, and very comfortable shoes. His glasses also have ornate frames.

Monty at the mic, chatting to the audience. He's a balding man with an excellent beard, wearing a VERSeFest t-shirt under a black blazer, and very comfortable shoes. His glasses also have ornate frames. His VERSeOttawa Hall of Honour award is on the table next to him. The VERSeFest banner is in the background.

Monty Reid, receiving his VERSeOttawa Hall of Honour award, and talking about - among other things - VERSeFest.

#Ottawa #VERSeFest2026 #OttPoetry #OttawaPoetryHistory #PoetryEvent #PoetryFestival #VERSeHallOfHonour #HallOfHonour

Susan McMaster - A short, frail-looking white woman with a halo of silver-white hair and a vibrant red gown - at the mic giving her thank you speech. Her VERSeOttawa Hall of Honour statuette is on the table next to her, and the VERSeFest banner is in the background.

Susan McMaster - A short, frail-looking white woman with a halo of silver-white hair and a vibrant red gown - at the mic giving her thank you speech. Her VERSeOttawa Hall of Honour statuette is on the table next to her.

Susan McMaster - A short, frail-looking white woman with a halo of silver-white hair and a vibrant red gown - at the mic giving her thank you speech. Her VERSeOttawa Hall of Honour statuette is on the table next to her.

Susan McMaster receiving her induction in the Hall of Honour, and talk about - among other things - starting Branching Out feminist magazine in 1972.

More about Branching Out here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branchi...

#Ottawa #OttPoetry #OttawaPoetryHistory #feminisms #womenspoetry #versefest2026

Okay.
Picking up what I can by Vera Hadzic and Hajer Mirwali at the book table.
The Happy Goat show is great.
Full house, too.

#versefest2026

The words "Pics from March 25, 2026 Early Show and VERSe x Arc" appear in white script appear against a dark blue background. Two small photos of show hosts Allison and Kayla.

Photos of: Claudia Coutu Radmore - A white woman with red hair wearing black clothes D.A. Lockhart - a Linape man with long grey hair and a wry sense of humour, reading from a blue book Gwen Aube - a 30-something woman with shoulder-length hair and an orange shirt, gesturing wildly while at a the mic

Photos of: Isabella Wang: A slight woman with long black hair, streaked with pink, wearing an orange toque, reading at a mic next to a music stand Lucia Farinon: A white woman with long, dark hair, and black clothes, reading from sheets of 8.5x11 paper and T Liem, a soft-spoken person with shoulder-length black hair and a grey dress shirt, speaking into a mic before beginning another poem

Pics from March 25:

Slide 1 - Our hosts
Slide 2 - EARLY SHOW ft Claudia Coutu Radmore, DA Lockhart, and Gwen Aube
Slide 3 - VERSeFest x Arc Poetry Magazine ft Isabella Wang, Lucia Farinon, and T Liem

#VERSeFest2026 #OttPoetry #CanPoetry #queerpoetry #indigenousvoices #PoetryFestival #ottawaevents♥️

Immune compromised? Feeling under the weather and don't want to risk getting someone else sick? Broke as hell this month and need a by-donation option? Have out-of-town friends who wish they could attend the festival?

@arcpoetry.bsky.social showcase is kicking off.

If you're not at Black Box Studio with us, you can watch it live at versefest.ca

#OttPoetry #Ottawa #OttawaEvents #Poetry #PoetryShow #PoetryFestival #VERSeFest2026

An extremely blurry photo of a Haitian-Canadian woman reading at a microphone. The words "l'enfant more assassine - MArie-Celie Agnant" appear in white text in the upper-left corner of the image.

A very blurry photo of Sanita Fejzic - a Bosniak lesbian in jeans and a red sweater, whose hair is very short - reading at a music stand. The words "...small and silent as a mouse / grade eleven / a girl throws me into a garbage bin..." (Sanita Fejzic) appear, in white text in the upper-left corner of the image.

Our two live readers at VERSeFest x Riverbed:
Marie-Célie Agnant (L)
Sanita Fejzić (R)

#VERSeFest2026 #ottpoetry #ottpoets #queerpoets #HaitianPoets #ottawa #ottawaevents

A petite queer Bosnian woman with very short hair, reads poetry at a music stand. She's wearing jeans and a red sweater. Lines from the poem she's reading - "small and silent as a mouse // grade eleven // a girl throws me into a garbage bin" ~ Sanita Fejzic - have been added, in white text, in the upper-left corner of this very blurry photo.

A photo from the very, very back of the room - thense the horrible blurriness - while Sanita Fejzić reads from her book, "Refugee Mouth", at VERSeFest x Riverbed.

#VERSeFest2026 #ottpoetry #ottpoets #queerpoets #ottawa #ottawaevents

Leanna Dias : 2026 VERSeFest interviews: Sneha Subramanian Kanta Born in Mumbai, Sneha Subramanian Kanta is an academician, editor, and award-winning writer residing in Mississauga. She is a 2026...

“Why does emotional care undermine intellectual growth in my colleagues’ minds?”

Leanna Dias interviews Sneha Subramanian Kanta:

periodicityjournal.blogspot.com/2026/03/lean...

#OttPoetry #Ottawa #PoetryFestival #VERSeFest2026