Mary H. Rykov

I was awarded the Charlotte and Isidor Paiewonsky Prize for first-time publication in The Caribbean Writer after “Puertorriqueña” was published this fall in Volume 28. I am honoured with a double blessing — a voice in my beloved Caribbean and payment for it. January begins the traditional reading period for publishers. The prize money will offset the printing, clean paper and […]

Many thanks to Art Bar Reading Series and David Clink for the 2014 Dead Poets Society Night. In response to many questions I post the sources for my Audre Lorde readings. From Lorde’s last collection, The Marvelous Arithmetics of Distance: Poems 1987–1992, I read “Speechless” and “Change.” I synthesized versions of the following statement she repeated numerous […]

8 pm, THE BLACK SWAN TAVERN (upstairs) 154 Danforth Avenue, east of the Broadview subway station, Toronto. 12th annual Dead Poets Society Night at the Art Bar Poetry Series Tuesday, December 16th, 2014. 8 pm. No open stage. A hat will be passed. 15 readers will be reading for 5-6 minutes each from the works of dead […]

I am providing an introduction to music-evoked imagery (MEI) at the 2014 League of Canadian Poets conference. MEI is a music-centred exploration of consciousness derived from pioneering music therapy research. During MEI dyadic sessions, various imagery forms — visual, auditory, sensory, memory, movement — are experienced when listening to music in an altered state of […]

Pulp Literature recently published my poem, “a Siren’s tale” in Issue 2. I am delighted to be included in this new and unique literary journal. Pulp Literature, dedicated to good writing, deliberately blends literary genres and mixes storytelling styles. They combine the fun of a dime-store pulp paperback with quality literature “for the price of a […]

TAMT is an informal network of individual MTAs who meet to share clinical, professional, and political issues relevant for music therapy practice in the Greater Toronto Area. Geographical boundaries set May 26, 2013, include Thornhill, Richmond Hill, Vaughan, Maple, Durham Regions (Oshawa, Whitby, Ajax, Pickering), Newmarket, Aurora, Sutton, Barrie, Mississauga, Oakville, Burlington, and Brampton. Join […]

The LRC July/August issue (Vol. 21, No. 6) placed a poem of mine that was submitted to their ekphrastic poetry call. Ekphrastic poetry is inspired by or comments on another art form, such as dance, art or music. Spoiler alert: sardonic opera content. Now, back to summer….

I read from Carousel 30 in the Live Words reading to launch Carousel 31 — and celebrate National Poetry Month: Thursday, April 4, 2013, 7:30 pm The Black Swan, 2nd floor, 154 Danforth Ave., Toronto, hosted by Livewords Poetry Reading Series. Carousel 30 is on newsstands now….

Leonard Cohen performs in Toronto this Tuesday and Wednesday, December 4th and 5th. We gathered on Saturday, December 1st, to feast, toast, and honour his legacy. Thanks to all who contributed food bank and warm clothing donations. And thank you, Lennie. Halleluya! We sang your honey when our youth was new. We will lean this way […]

Joni Mitchell was wrong. We can return. We did return. We gathered from hither and yon on Saturday, November 10, 2012, for Gone to SEED (the ’68–’70s reunion). And a mighty fine time was had by all. But first some history. Toronto in 1968 was home to ‘Jacques Brel is Alive and Well’, Barbara Streisand’s ‘Funny Girl’, […]