Mountain Poetry

Welcome friends of Poetry on the Peaks–Keep your ears to the new underground Mountain roots for Peak Poetry 2013 or contact us via email.. March 13, 2008

    Please see  www.youtube.com/vivian                                Video of Poetry on the Peaks.

This years festivities will take place Sunday July, 25th  2010  around 1pm. near Nose Mountain Firetower. Poetry on the Peaks is a community event organized with the help of many artists, poets and friends in Grande Prairie. Special thank you to poet Cat Mclaughlin for organizational assistance. It is with thanks to the creative people of Grande Prairie that Poetry on the Peaks continues. This year we will celebrate the United Nations International Year of Biodiversity. We will read an excerpt from Chief Dan George’s, My Heart Soars, and we will read our own poems related to the theme of biodiversity or poems that we have brought to share, enjoy biodiverse music and the mountain sky.  Please see below for more details and email nosemtn@yahoo.com.  Nose Mt. is a one and a half to two hour drive southwest of Grande Prairie. A truck or vehicle with sufficient clearance is necessary for the Nose Mtn. road and 4×4 is helpful if the road is wet. In case of big winds or rain, we will reschedule for August 1st. Look forward to seeing you on the Nose.

2009/08/07 POETRY ON THE PEAKS February 27, 2007

  In 2009, Poetry on the Peaks celebrated the United Nations Internation Year of Astronomy. We featured the work of, “Dangerous Astronomy” by Spokane/Coeur d’Alene Native poet Sherman Alexie, “Star Quilt” by Oneida Nation poet, Roberta Hill, and poems by Canadian poets, Susan Goyette and Mark Frutkin

In 2008, Poetry on the peaks celebrated poetry by Mexican poets  including Rosario Castellanos, Araceli Mancilla, Coral Bracho, Marcos, and Natalia Toledo. In 2007, Poetry on the peaks honoured the Russian journalist, Anna Politkovskaya. Ms.  Politkovskaya, who was murdered in October 2006, studied the Russian poet Marina Tsvetaeva for her PHD in journalism. In memory of Anna Politkovskaya and other journalists killed in the line of work,

we  read poetry by Marina Tsvetaeva including, “I Know the Truth.”  We met at the end of the Nose Mt. Fire Tower Road on Nose Mountain southwest of Grande Prairie.  For detailed directions, please email nosemtn at yahoo dot com

Celebrate Poetry and Mountains. Yawp! from the hills.

SEE www.youtube.com/viviandemuth for A  VIDEO OF POETRY ON THE PEAKS.

ABOUT NOSE MOUNTAIN February 16, 2007

 Nose Mountain has been the site of an annual summer Poetry on the Peak reading since 2002, the U.N.’s International Year of Mountains. Nose Mountain lies in the foothills of northwestern Alberta, Canada, south of Grande Prairie. The historic Peace River Trail, which runs from Hinton into the northern Peace country, winds along the 5000-foot-high Nose Mountain. For many centuries, First Nations people and European settlers used the trail and, before that, it was used by migrating buffalo herds. Endangered species of wildlife such as woodland caribou and grizzly bear still survive along the ridges of Nose Mountain. Logging and oil exploration occur in this area as do tree planting and a growing tourist industry. The Alberta Forestry Department has operated a Fire Tower on Nose Mountain since the mid 1900’s. To the southwest of Nose Mountain, the snow-capped peaks of the great Rocky Mountain Divide can be seen.  

Past Readings on Nose Mountain 

Organized by Vivian Demuth and Grande Prairie writers Catherine McLaughlin,  Dymphny Dronyk, Elroy Deimert, and Diane McDonald, the Poetry on the Peak readings begin with a different featured poem each year and then an open reading by Alberta poets, musicians, and other artists. The featured poems from 2002-2005 have included works by Iranian poet Forugh Farrokhzad, Muriel Rukeyser, Pablo Neruda, and Margaret Atwood. Performing musicians have included Arjun Roy, Kjetil Landsgaard, Susan Pickard, and Angie Maksymetz. The ridges of Nose Mountain have also provided a beautiful background for visual artists and children interested in coming up to draw or paint. 

The 2006 Poetry on the Peak Reading 

The 2006 reading will take place on Sunday, July 23rd at noon at the end of the Nose Mountain Road. (If the weather is too challenging on July 23rd, the reading will take place on Sunday, Aug. 6th.) The featured poem for 2006 will be “Rocks” by Jeannette C. Armstrong, coeditor of Native Poetry in Canada: A Contemporary Anthology. For more information and directions, email NoseMtn at yahoo dot com