NFOTA’s Opening Weekend–What Fun!

Northumberland Festival of the Arts opened with a fun-filled evening of music Friday at Victoria Hall. Cobourg’s Poet Laureate Jessica Outram MC’d the event. NFOTA president Gwynn Scheltema welcomed everyone to the festival. And Parliamentary Poet Laureate Louise Halfe – Sky Dancer shared her thoughts about our human need for the arts, and how everyone…

What’s on at the Festival: Words on a Wire and Parade of Poetriots

Discover two more events for you, your friends and family to enjoy at the Northumberland Festival of the Arts, September 16 – October 2, 2022, taking place in Northumberland County’s picturesque towns and beautiful countryside. “It’s only poetry that does it for me. Words have a knack for being elastic. They also love to tell…

Summertime Poets by Wally Keeler

Film Access Northumberland recently hosted the 2nd annual Eye2Eye International Film Festival in the grand Concert Hall in Victoria Hall in downtown Cobourg. A full roster of all genres of film was presented, all under the theme umbrella of “What Unites Us.” Summertime, directed by Carlos Lopez Estrada, is a film that is hectic frantic…

Why Poetry? by Kate Rogers

A lot of writers and artists make Northumberland County home! One important reason my husband and I chose to settle here after two decades abroad is the many poets and visual artists who practice their craft here. What is poetry? According to Margaret Atwood, “Poetry is condensed emotion.” Poets often focus on epiphanies—flashes of understanding…

April is Poetry Month by Mia Burrus

Festival Readers: April is Poetry Month!  It started with Katie Hoogendam’s launch of her new collection, Spring Thaw, as part of Let’s Talk Books’ spring series, which continues Sunday, April 10, 2 PM, with Stuart Ross and Bruce Whiteman. https://www.facebook.com/letstalkbookscobourg/events/ Katie says it best herself: I’ve described the area behind Let’s Talk Books in Cobourg…

Letter to a Poet: an exchange between Jessica Outram and Gwynn Scheltema

The following exchange appeared in Writescape.ca and Cobourg Now. Letter to a Poet There’s nothing better than words of encouragement that arrive seemingly out of nowhere. That recently happened to me when my long-time friend, Jessica, sent an email with a link to the local online newspaper, in which she had written a letter addressed…

Free Workshop on How to Write a One-Act Play

Last week NFOTA put out a call for submissions for one-act plays. To support and inspire those who may be interested in writing a one-act play, Jessica Outram is offering a short workshop that goes over the basics. Big Ideas: Form: Why a play? What is story? Process: What is the process? Craft: What’s important…