Courtenay’s 3rd annual Poetry Walk

POEM-PALOOZA & POP-UP POETRY BOOTHS
as part of the 3rd annual downtown Poetry Walk

April is National Poetry Month and Courtenay’s award-winning Poetry Walk is back for a third year, offering a sparkling selection of poems inspired by this year’s theme: “family.”

Twenty-five local poets, ranging in age from 12 to over 80, have written poems for twenty-five businesses located throughout 4th, 5th and 6th Streets, as well as Cliffe and Duncan Avenues. The poems will be hand-painted on shop windows by artist Kelly Everill for people to enjoy while strolling downtown throughout the month of April. Recordings of the poems, read by their authors, will also be available to listen to on the Downtown Courtenay BIA website.

This year, the Poetry Walk has also expanded to include two free, family-friendly events, with opportunities to meet some poets and experience poetry live.

POEM-PALOOZA, on Saturday, April 5th, consists of an interactive poetry booth, from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m., where you chat with a poet who then writes you a brand new poem to take home, followed by a showcase reading by Poetry Walk poets from 3:00 – 4:30 p.m., both at the Courtenay Library.

POP-UP POETRY BOOTH is a second opportunity, to meet and talk with poets and get a brand new poem written just for you, this time at Gladstone Brewing Company on Saturday, April 12th from 2:30 – 4:30 p.m.

The Poetry Walk, an initiative of the Downtown Courtenay BIA, won the 2024 “Best in the West” Award from the Business Improvement Areas of B.C., in recognition of the event’s inventiveness, ease of repeatability, community engagement and relationship-building between business and the arts

List of Poets with Matched Businesses