Local poet to speak at TWU

The English Department of Trinity Western University will be welcoming local poet Susan McCaslin for a poetry reading next Thursday, February 7.

At 1:10 PM in Block Hall, McCaslin, who is also a writer and educator at Simon Fraser University, will be giving a public reading and book signing as well as meeting with individual classes to discuss the art of poetry and its place in Christianity.

The Fort Langley resident has earned national attention for her work, winning numerous poetry awards. She has authored 11 volumes of poetry and edited numerous others. Her book Letters to William Blake garnered first place in the Mother Tongue Chapbook competition.

“I am drawn to the mystical traditions of many cultures and religions and experience poetry as a musicality arising from silence,” says McCaslin.

Critics seem to feel the same way about her work as she feels about poetry. One claims, “Any collection of contemporary Christian poets writing in English should include the poems of McCaslin.”

Choirs asked to perform at Cultural Olympiad

This spring, Trinity Western University choirs will celebrate Canadian culture when they participate in the Cultural Olympiad 2008, a seven-week event supported by the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Committee.

TWU student vocalists have been invited by the Vancouver Chamber Choir (VCC) to perform Puccini’s Messa di Gloria and Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater on March 21 with the CBC Radio Orchestra. The concert will be conducted by Jon Washburn of VCC, with whom TWU Choirs have established a long-standing relationship.

“To have this concert selected by VANOC for the Cultural Olympiad can be attributed in part to the strong collaborative bond that has been built between TWU Choirs and Vancouver Chamber Choir over many years,” says Wes Janzen, TWU’s Director of Choral Activities. “I am delighted that our singers have the privilege of singing in this concert.”

The Cultural Olympiad 2008, which includes more than 300 performances and 10 exhibitions that celebrate Canada’s cultural diversity, sets the stage for the Olympic Games which come to Vancouver in two years.