52 Films by Women #8 – Where Have All the Poets Gone (Sook-Yin Lee)

Hello lovelies.

Another documentary for you with a special shout out to all my poet pals.  I’m glad I know where YOU are.

Me and the Raggedy Man watched this one yesterday and quite loved it.

I was especially thrilled to learn about Phyllis Webb, a poet and ground-breaking broadcaster who worked for the CBC back in the sixties.  It was an archival copy of an episode of her television program about poetry (Extension) that piqued Lee’s curiosity and sent her on a quest to find the savvy woman with the amazing bee-hive.  On a side note…Webb was also the creator of IDEAS – one of my favourite CBC Radio programs.

I am so glad that Lee was able to contact her and to hear that she now painting and is about to have her first exhibition out on Salt Spring Island.

I was also happy to see poet Liz Howard, who I have never met, but hope to… one day.  Word is she’s from Chapleau and that makes me smile.

The doc also features poets BpNichol, bill bissett, Stephen Collis, Shad, Irving Layton, Samantha Bernstein, Ronnie Clarke, Vivek Shraya, Lena Suksi, Elana Wolff and Malca Litovitz.

The material on Malca Litovitz is especially touching.

You can watch the video doc over on the CBC site – HERE or HERE (the Exhibitionists page).

It also aired on DNTO on March 25th as a radio doc, so you might be able to find a podcast version as well.

Here’s the blog post by Stephen Collins that led Sook-Yin Lee  contacting Phyllis – Phyllis Webb at 85

And a Short Interview with Liz Howard by rob mclennan.

Here’s to more poetry in our lives.

go easy ~p