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Electric Mermaid: Live Reads from Char's Landing, Port Alberni, Vancouver Island, BC, CanadaEmcee: Derek Hanebury Moderator: Karl Korven ZOOM Producer: Charlene Patterson
Spoken Word Open Mic at Char's Landing, last Wednesday of each month
ZOOM Hybrid event. Char's physical doors open 5:30pm Pacific Time
Electric Mermaid Live Reads: Featuring Ronna Bloom @Char's
Wednesday January 28th 2026 doors 5:30pm open mic 6-8pm
Ronna Bloom is the author of eight books of poetry. Her work has been broadcast on CBC, recorded by the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, and translated into Bangla and Chinese. Ronna has brought poetry into health care, specifically developing the Poet-in-Residence program at Sinai Health. Her work has appeared several times in Best Canadian Poetry and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She has collaborated with filmmakers, choreographers, musicians, and architects and in 2018, her poem “The City,” was painted by PLANT Architects 35 meters wide on King Street in Toronto. Ronna launched her new book, In a Riptide, in September 2025 published by Brick Books.
FMI and BOOK purchases => www.ronnabloom.com
FULL BIO
Ronna Bloom is the author of seven books of poetry, most recently A Possible Trust: The Poetry of Ronna Bloom, Selected with an Introduction by Phil Hall published by Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
Her work has been broadcast on the CBC, recorded by the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, translated into Bangla and Chinese, and shortlisted for several Canadian literary awards.
Ronna has led initiatives to bring poetry into health care settings and into health professional education. She created the Poet in Community program at the University of Toronto and developed the first Poet in Residence program at Sinai Health. In these roles she offered students, staff, and health care professionals opportunities to articulate their experiences through poetry and reflective writing. She is a frequent guest speaker at universities, hospitals, community groups and institutions across Ontario.
Ronna runs workshops, mentors writers, and gives talks on poetry, spontaneity, presence. In her spontaneous poetry booths, she writes and prescribes poems on the spot. She brings twenty five years of psychotherapy practice to her work as a poet and facilitator.
A one minute film based on Ronna’s poem “Grief Without Fantasy” was made by filmmaker Midi Onodera and screened at the National Gallery in Ottawa. In a collaboration with PLANT Architects, her poem "The City" was painted 30 meters long on King Street in Toronto for the summer of 2018.
In 2025, Ronna’s new collection will be published by Brick Books called, In a Riptide.
FMI and BOOK purchases => www.ronnabloom.com
Electric Mermaid: Live Reads from Char's Landing and via ZOOM !
Spoken Word Open Mic, last Wednesday of each month, Char's physical doors open 5:30pm Pacific Time
We also welcome you to join us via ZOOM and click this automatic ZOOM link below:
https://zoom.us/j/93236999892?pwd=N2FLZkxGMUhyTk5ySGVOenhuZFcxdz09
see https://charslanding.com/ OR https://alberni.ca/events/17693 for more ZOOM options.
We encourage our guests to ZOOM in early and keep video on to enjoy the virtual social gathering.
Please engage the CHAT window for comments to the artists or to ask Karl to be added to the open mic list.
PayWhatYouCan cover in lieu of rental to help Char's Landing support the live arts gratefully accepted with our thanks.
Online bank transfers to http://[email protected] please include the event date and your email address
PayPal to https://www.paypal.me/CharsLanding please include the event date and your email address
OR text/call 250-730-1636 to charge by phone.
OR stop by Char’s Landing to pay by cash/cheque/interac
PRE-REGISTER and sign up for a 5-minute spot at the open mic at [email protected]
FACEBOOK GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/777940299452077
FACEBOOK PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/electricmermaidlivereads
SUBSCRIBE to Char's YouTube video list to see past events https://www.youtube.com/user/CharsLanding/videos
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Char’s Landing 19+ (accompanied kids welcome until 10pm)
4815 Argyle @5th Port Alberni, Vancouver Island, CANADA V9Y 1V9
Tel: 778-421-2427 www.charslanding.com
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4815 Argyle Avenue, V9Y 1V9, 4815 Argyle St, Port Alberni, BC V9Y 1V9, Canada
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