Poetry Night at The Artists’ House

Join us for an open mic evening of poetry, connection, and creative expression in a warm, welcoming space. Whether you're reading, listening, or just soaking in the vibes, you'll be part of a vibrant literary community. Rotating hosts keep things fresh, and special guests—including featured authors and poet laureates—add a spark of inspiration. Come share your voice or be moved by others. All are welcome! Poetry books sales are welcome too.

Meet your August 15th Poetry Night Host

SUSAN WISMER lives gratefully on Treaty 18 territory at the southern shore of Manidoo-gitchigami (Georgian Bay) in Ontario, with two human partners, a very large dog and various cohabiting plants, trees and critters. Hand Shadows, a chapbook co-authored with Michele Green and Suzette Sherman, was published in 2024 (Wintergreen Press). Susan’s first full collection, Hag Dances (At Bay Press) came out in Spring 2025. On Instagram and Facebook @susanwismerpoet. www.susanwismer.com. 

Hag Dances-

---- a snippet….

SINCE I AM STILL HERE

How will I move through this time before?

Ruffed grouse, strawberries, the tall leaning spruce tree

across the back fence – constant

rhythmic, drumming,

below and above, fire

Earth’s centre, heat of the sun

 

Crab apples hang frozen on the tree through winter,

with each storm, frost and thaw, they soften, become

food for robins and a cedar waxwing

 

I still have so much to learn

 

Wonder and desire hold me here, and of course,

 

                                                                         Gravity

 

Advance Praise for Hag Dances:

“Words here push out of silence as if they’ve just been born, gleaming with newness and a startled beauty.” 

--Lorna Crozier, author of After That

 

"Astonishing to watch her “long song soar,” as this full collection lands and roosts.

—  Ariel Gordon, author of Siteseeing: Writing nature and climate across the prairies.

 

“Wismer’s poetry gleams like a light in a dark wood”— Mary Barnes, author of Moving Upstream

 

“…birth and death, wisdom and folly, love and loss”—Bianca Lakoseljac, editor Rudy Wiebe: Essays on His Works; author, Silence Is Full of Sound

“These barefoot poems swing through a muscular crone hagiography, shape-shifting their ways through all the best dances. Wismer’s poetic sparseness makes visible a filigreed layer of resilience”.—Tanis MacDonald, author of Straggle: Adventures in Walking while Female