Catherine Owen
@cowenwriter.bsky.social
Poet, writer, maker of things. Seventeen collections of poetry and prose. Born and raised Vancouverite now living in Edmonton. ANTI-artificial thievery. Editor, reviewer, teacher of poetic forms. Loves: books, cats, gardening, family, real life. #canlit
Over the past year of writing reviews for Canadian periodicals I have learned: one cannot make but a teensy living off it; one is only allowed to write once a year for many; if one cannot say all nice things one should not say anything; they will "endeavour" to pay at some point. Come on #canlit.
Klein:The moment we’re in, people are really mad and however mad you are, it’s not enough. Because there is something so profound about no longer believing in the future, about seeing no value in our shared home, in the natural world. They’re traitors to creation. www.theguardian.com/books/2026/s...
Naomi Klein: ‘Extreme wealth has a deranging effect. It turns you into a supremacist’
She’s tackled neoliberalism and the digital world, now the writer and activist is taking on tech billionaires. She explains how the super-rich are capitalising on climate and financial chaos in pursui...
theguardian.com
Looking for published Canadian poets interested in form poems to answer a few questions on form and give me the permission to use one of their form poems for a manuscript I am working on! Please contact me at catherineowenwriter@gmail.com #canlit. THANK YOU!
notional.space/z-event-page... Vancouverites! This is THE launch for Sixteen Homes with Kevin Spenst and Chika Buston! #canlit
KEVIN SPENST CATHERINE OWEN – Notional Space
notional.space
Hope: a tech worker who made artificial thieves leaves to "study poetry." True news story. I hold to every shred of transcendence. #canlit
A former student told me today she wished SO much she could take my Poetic Forms class again because she loved it SO much. And this is the kind of enthusiasm that keeps me going as a sessional instructor :) #canlit
Who knows about cortisol surges in peri-menopause? I didn't. And then I remembered my mother going to the hospital, thinking she was having a heart attack in the night. And I knew that is what this was. No doctors still have said a thing about this common symptom to me. Any personal tips?
"language is not enough, I get it, and I never said nature cares if I stick its loveliness in a poem" #TodaysPoem #poetry Sweetheart, I say to the river – good morning, beautiful Catherine Owen (@cowenwriter.bsky.social) Riven (2020 @ecwpress.bsky.social) howapoemmoves.wordpress.com/2020/04/27/c...
Catherine Owen, “Sweetheart, I say to the river – good morning, beautiful”
I haven’t set my alarm in six weeks. I’m still an early riser, though, and there’s something about my morning rituals in the (temporarily) quiet house that are comforting, even meaningful. It’s whe…
howapoemmoves.wordpress.com
I just finished doing the edits to this memoir out in a month, in time for Edmonton's Nonfiction Lit Fest on October 18th, and now feel relieved. Working with Noelle Allen off and on over the past two decades has always lifted my mind and given me the hope that the book will find its readership.
This is worth reading. I listened to a panel including Ben MacIntosh last week, and she is very articulate and committed. A joy to listen to. thetyee.ca/News/2026/09...
The Making of an AI Data Centre Warrior | The Tyee
Bek MacIntosh helped rally her Alberta town to kill a megaproject. The wider fight, she vows, is ‘just getting started.’
thetyee.ca
Basic income is our share of the capital we all helped build.
viff.org/whats-on/mar... also, I will watch any documentary on any poet. never a reader of Oliver as I am repelled by weak verbs ;) but she was a fierce inhabitant of the life she chose. #canlit
Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World | VIFF Centre
Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World takes us through the life of America's best-selling late twentieth century poet.
viff.org
gem.cbc.ca/beautiful essential doc on the need to stop allowing this artificial predator known as ALGORITHM to prey on our young. Meta, the "AT" (artificial thief), all of it is designed to empty us so we have nothing within us to live a full whole life with, nada to fight back from. #canlit
Beautiful | Movies | CBC Gem
A generation fights for survival as young voices expose the deadly cost of online perfection.
gem.cbc.ca
so tired of flakes. don't say you will be there and then not show. don't cancel things you have booked unless you are ill. don't presume the person dismissed by your lameness will shrug it off. I will never ever be a part of this "shrug society" :) and now to relish a lovely rainy Saturday. #canlit
Why o why are professors giving up in the face of the artificial thief's fascist tool? Create time for in-class writing! Those who plan to cheat will soon be ousted. And of course it is "hard to tell" that they have used these cheat machines: it is all human material stolen and regurgitated!
Brainstorming words they associate with poetry with my students. So good. Apart from my scrawl ;) #canlit
I get to teach some of the foundations of poetry and form today and seeing the students excited about reading and writing poems makes almost everything worthwhile in my life. #canlit
O how I loathe it when good and intelligent artists feel they have to silence themselves for the inane mutterings of the sad masses. Let's persist in saying what matters shall we?
Well it's Ginger Cat Appreciation day and the poet/farmer Wendell Berry has died so here is El Stevenson and a host of sunflowers and a cheers from a September garden in memoriam. #canlit
I hosted one of my house gatherings for artists events this weekend. It was awesome. But what wasn't was the artists who confirmed attendance then didn't show because they forgot the date when ALL the info was in the invitation. Makes me shake my head for the students I am about to start teaching!
Running home-based performance series is one of the most helpful things you can do to assist Canadians to get their work heard across this massive land. Three of the ones I have hosted in Edmonton are: 44th ave Troubadour (06-09), 94th st Trobairitz (2018-25) and the Impromptu series now! #canlit
litfestalberta.org/events/unear... Edmontonians! This is a one of a kind festival and I am honoured to be on a panel with Sharon and to do a zuihitsu workshop afterwards :) #canlit
Unearthing Home, feat. Catherine Owen and Sharon Butala - Litfest Alberta
Catherine Owen (Sixteen Homes, Wolsak & Wynn) in conversation with Sharon Butala (How to Breathe Water, Freehand Books) to discuss their latest memoirs. Join us for an incredible conversation about w...
litfestalberta.org
