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…

Meet the Faces behind NFOTA: Katie Hoogendam

“Art to me is the ground of being–not a noun, but a verb; something primordial that defies and predates the bounds of language.”–Katie Hoogendam. Writer and artist Katie Hoogendam serves on NFOTA’s Program Committee. Who are you? Hi, I’m Katie Hoogendam (“Merkat”). I’m a local writer, poet, playwright and interdisciplinary artist. Why do you believe…