Stir Q&A: writer Renee Sarojini Saklikar on the Poetry Phone, Vancouver’s first free poetry hotline
Surrey's inaugural Poet Laureate and prolific author curates the new 1-833-POEMS-4-U
Renee Sarojini Saklikar shares her poem "And the Dance Most of All" on Vancouver’s new, free Poetry Phone. Photo by Sandra Vander Schaaf
POEMS HAVE A place in the pandemic, with the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association having just launched the Poetry Phone. The free 24/7 hotline highlights the work of local writers and aims to lift people’s spirits amid ongoing social isolation.
By dialling 1-833-POEMS-4-U (763-6748), you can hear recordings of poems by 10 local writers: Christine Bissonnette (Rise"), Fiona Tinwei Lam ("Ode to Chopsticks, Ode to the Potatoe, Omelet"), Renee Sarojini Saklikar ("And the Dance Most of All"), Charles Demers ("Best Friend, What Not to Say"), Jennica Harper ("When you clean the aquarium"), Otoniya Juliane Okot Bitek (Gauntlet), Joìniìna Kirton (“Falling"), Joanne Arnott (“Hold”), Rachel Rose ("Feast”), and Dina Del Bucchia (“Celebrity Otter: Nyac, and Celebrity Otter: Milo").
Saklikar, Surrey's inaugural Poet Laureate (2015 to 2018), is the Poetry Phone’s curator. A former lawyer and communications consultant with a practice centered on health-policy research and civil litigation, she’s a writing instructor and prolific author whose books include Listening to the Bees (Nightwood Editions, 2018) written in collaboration with bee scientist. Mark Winston; and children of air india (Nightwood Editions, 2013), which won the 2014 Canadian Authors Association Award for poetry and was a finalist for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize.
Stir connected with Saklikar to hear more about the Poetry Phone and her work.
Before we get to the Poetry Phone, what are you up to these days?
Thanks for asking! I’m currently working on a new book, Bramah and the Beggar Boy forthcoming this year from B.C.’s NightWood Editions. My book is the first in a series of books that comprise a project I’ve been working on for 10 years: a verse novel/sci-fi poetry epic that deals with eco-catastrophe, saving seeds, and yes, even a bio-contagion.
Renee Sarojini Saklikar. Photo by Allison Taylor Creative
The hero, Bramah, is a British/South Asian locksmith, who turns out to be semi-divine, but she doesn’t yet know it and she befriends an orphan beggar boy. Together, they have many adventures. I’m so grateful to be able to work on this project as I work from home. Bramah is “brown, brave, and beautiful” and working on her story has brought me much comfort during these tough times.
I teach creative writing, and law and ethics for writers and editors, for both SFU and VCC. It’s a privilege in this pandemic to have work and creative projects.
And this year, just before the pandemic hit, I was commissioned by VCC to create a new writing course, “Writing to Heal Your Life”, and little did we know how relevant this course would be. I’m currently honoured to be teaching it online and the students are incredible: as you may know, my first book, children of air india (Nightwood Editions, 2013) dealt with the trauma of the Air India Flight 182 bombing and in writing it, I came to see writing as a practice to help with the tough times. So, in this course, I share that experience, as well as tips and suggestions for how writing can help heal.
Tied in with my new book, I’ve been collaborating with BC artist Debbie Westergaard Tuepah and we’ve been commissioned by the Surrey Art Gallery to create face masks that combine her artwork and a snippet of one of my Bramah and the Beggar boy poems. The masks will be available for online purchase via the Surrey Art Gallery giftshop.
As well, I recently joined the boards of two wonderful organizations: Turning Point Ensemble—the ensemble has collaborated with me on music/poetry projects in the past—and Poetry Canada, a new group working to create a national poetry centre.
In the fall of 2020, I had the chance to do something special as part of my role as director for the board of the Surrey International Writers Conference: we took our very successful conference, one of Western Canada’s largest professional development writers conference, totally online. A huge amount of effort lead by our brilliant team (Kathy Chung is the Coordinator). It was a hit! We had folks attend (all on zoom) from over 17 countries and I learned so much about doing things online. Steep learning curve, amazing outcomes.
What is the back story of the Poetry Phone? How did it come about?
The program is the brainchild of the very talented Clare Warner, coordinator of public spaces and placemaking, under the leadership of the Downtown Vancouver BIA and Charles Gauthier, its CEO and president. Clare approached me in 2020 about the concept, which I believe she heard about in Ireland. Full props to Clare: she did a lot of research and came up with this great model and asked me to help curate. As soon as she told me about A Poetry Phone, I was in!
Clare and I had connected earlier, in pre-pandemic times, when she was doing outreach to poets for a series of summer downtown Vancouver events. I am one of the co-founders of the popular lunch time Poetry Reading Series, Lunch Poems at SFU, and help curate that reading, thanks to the good folks at SFU Creative Writing which sponsors the program.
It’s one of my great pleasures: reading, researching, and thinking about how to pair poets from all the different poetic traditions and I think that enthusiasm communicated itself to the Poetry Phone project.
What makes poetry pertinent to, or helpful amid, the times we're living in, this period of isolation and worry?
I think like all art, poetry helps us connect: to our own emotions; to social issues; to the world around us.
The Poetry Phone project seeks to provide a connection to joy, to comfort, and also, like any good poem will do, to provoke and inspire.
The focus is on uplifting themes and also fun!
In curating the selections, what are you looking for?
We wanted poetry of excellence from local poets that represented a diverse range of talent and whose work spoke however broadly to the theme of connection, comfort, joy, fun, belonging, and we were looking for well crafted poems that were also accessible to a broad range of audiences.
What happens from here? Will the poems switch up every so often?
I hope so. I’m hoping we’ll get funding to allow the Poetry Phone to continue for at least a year.
I would like to add, I hope folks will support local independent publishers and bookstores and buy the books of their favourite Poetry Phone poems. I also hope folks reach out and share their experience of dialling in; many of the participating poets are on social media.
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