Brought to you by national poet laureate George Elliott Clarke

At the East and West Learning Connections

With debut of the song of special guest Leonard Cohen’s poem

And 4 remarkable poets and 2 stunning musicians!

Time: Friday, December 10, 2021, at 7-9 P.M. (EST)

Free Online event to the public

Zoom registration link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZApduCurz4jHNY2Cb1hp0DqIRIJrdgQu82A

Floor will open at 6:45 P.M.

For inquiries, please send email to: info@eawlc.org.

(Poster designed by Shirley Chen )

Poets:

Paul Zemokhol has unpardonably forged two chapbooks and one full-length book. In this fabrication, he has been aided by Luciano Iacobelli and abetted by George Elliott Clarke.

Luciano Iacobelli is a Toronto poet, publisher, and visual artist. He is the owner and editor of Lyricalmyrical Press, specializing in handmade poetry chapbooks. He was also a founder and owner of Quattro Books, which issues novellas.

Amatoritsero Ede won the All Africa Okigbo Prize for Literature–for his first book–in 1998; his second book was a  Nigerian Literature Prize nominee in 2013. In 2004, he won second prize for the inaugural May Ayim Award. Prof. Ede teaches English lit at Mount Allison U.

George Elliott Clarke was the 4th Poet Laureate of Toronto (2012-15) and the 7th P.L. of Canada (2016-17).  He’s writ 7 collections, 5 verse-plays, 5 story-suites, 4 epic tomes, 3 verse-novels, 3 libretti, 1 children’s work, and 1 title each in Chinese, Italian, and Romanian.

Special guest star Leonard Cohen (1934-2016) was a global superstar singer/songwriter, novelist, and poet.  His honours are legion: Induction into several musical Halls of Fame,  plus the Order of Canada at top rank, plus winning 3 Grammys, a Genie,  a Juno, the Glenn Gould Prize, the Governor-General’s Performing Arts Award, and the Prince of Asturias Literary Prize (Spain), etc. Cohen also won—but refused—the 1968 Governor-General’s Literary Award for Poetry.

Composer & Singer:

James Rolfe’s music has been performed by ensembles, orchestras, choirs, and opera companies in Canada and abroad, and recognized with a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Jules Léger Prize, and Dora and JUNO Award nominations.

 

Pianist:

Juliet Palmer’s music has found its way to a highway off-ramp, a swimming pool, a boxing ring, and to concert halls across North America, Europe, and Oceania. From Aotearoa New Zealand, Juliet makes her home in Toronto.

 

Co-Hosts: Giovanna Riccio and Jovial Si

Sponsors: George Elliott Clarke & East and West Learning Connections

 

Everyone is welcome.  Let’s mark this holiday season together with shining poetic, musical spirits!

 

This will be the last East&West Dialogue in the year 2021.  A monthly program (except for the winter and summer breaks) at the East and West Learning Connections, the Dialogue promotes life experience sharing among people of different heritages.  In this session, Urban Hero Honey Novick, and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medalist Ruth (Ruth) Stackhouse will tell their life stories, the ups and downs, achievements, challenges, and their passion about the Mad creativity!

Continue reading “East&West Dialogue: The Healing Creativity”

(Poster made by Shirley Chen)

Enjoy poetry in music, among friends in a theatre in Downtown Toronto (beer available at the bar)! 

Or, relax on the couch, have some wine, and listen to the poems and songs through the live streaming on our YouTube channel!

Thanks to national poet laureate George Elliott Clarke, the East and West Learning Connections are co-hosting this exciting in-person event for the first time since the year 2020. Continue reading “5 Poets Breaking Into Song -Live”

In collaboration with the Writers’ Union of Canada, we are thrilled to have three Italian- Canadian writers as guest speakers to discuss their stories of immigration. Woven into their stories will be the personal, social, historical, and political factors that influence how an Italian immigrant may “become” Canadian and what “being Canadian” means for the various generations.

Continue reading “East&West Dialogue: FROM PIAZZAS TO PARKAS — ON ITALIANS BECOMING CANADIANS”

Personal communication skills coach Eleanor James will be sitting in the clinic, and welcome our audience to ask questions they have when dealing with co-workers or bosses at work, peers or teachers in school, or neighbours, acquaintances, or even strangers on the street. Things like Continue reading “EAWLC Communication Skills Walk-in Clinic”

What if your life plan is different from the plan life has for you? At age 15, Kai Black learned he was going blind. What has he learned over time?… that we must let go of the life we planned and accept the one that is waiting for us. “Just say yes to new experience” offers Kai, who is now an Executive Producer at the CBC, an exciting career creating award-winning projects. Hear his story, with engaging audio and video of some recent projects. Continue reading “EAWLC Dialogue with CBC Music Executive Producer: Say Yes with Kai Black”

This dialogue will be conducted in Mandarin.  For English introduction please jump to next heading in English.

Frank对话方柏林：过剩时代的有效学习

不用提社交媒体和电子游戏的干扰，单单是丰富的学习资源，各种纷纷涌现的机会，已经让这个年代的人应接不暇，于是我们把这个时代称为过剩时代。如何有效地学习是当下困扰人们的重要问题之一。在美国大学担任教育设计专家的方柏林博士，也是《过剩时代的学习》和《知识不是力量》等专著的作者。机械工程学博士Frank Wang 倡导终身学习，业余时间从事教育专栏写作，对新时代的学习方法和专注力培养等问题非常关注。二位嘉宾将作客东西联学社，就“过剩时代的学习”以及学者专家们倡导的一些新学习方式展开对话与讨论。

欢迎朋友们前来听讲、参与讨论，也欢迎提前将感兴趣的问题发给我们。

Continue reading “EAWLC Frank’s Dialogue with Berlin Fang: Effective Learning in the Age of Surplus/Frank对话方柏林：过剩时代的有效学习”

East and West Learning Connections (EAWLC) has developed and adopted a series of general policies to serve as an expression of  its core values as a new, federally-regulated Not-for-Profit Corporation. Grounded in Canadian values of fairness, openness, and respect for human rights and equality, these general policies are meant to guide the behaviour of all those who gather under the umbrella of the EAWLC, to foster an environment of trust and mutual respect, and to celebrate diversity.

During the summer of 2021, the East a Continue reading “EAWLC Policy Information Sessions”

Before we take a summer break, the East and West Learning Connections will have a panel discussion on Youth Mental Health among an experienced psychiatrist and a group of young people with their unique perspectives, ideas, stories, and experiences on June 24, 2021!

As a youth, have you experienced uncertain and risky moments of vulnerability at school or in life? 

Do you crave for belonging at school?

Do you want to keep away from constant anxiety in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic as job prospects are uncertain?

Come and listen to what young people like yourself speak about self-identity, self-worth, and self-awareness. Get inspiration from their experience, share your own, and walk away with some advice from a caring psychiatrist, and youth mental health educator Who helps you explore Who You Are!

Continue reading “East&West Dialogue with Psychiatrist and Youth Panelists”

A poet, journalist, editor, and comparative religion scholar, Chime came to the East and West Learning Connections in 2018 and 2019, giving two lectures, respectively, one on Tibetan culture, the other on how to appreciate Chinese modern poetry.  His poems have won many awards across China, Canada and the US, including the second place award in the Flushing Poetry Festival in New York City, 2018.  Before he came to Canada, he was a senior journalist at Xinhua News Agency in China, known for his series reports of Tibetan antelopes in the Hoh Xil region to advocate for the protection of the endangered species.  In Toronto, he first worked as the editor of a Buddhist magazine.  He is now the founder of the Lakeside (Hu Pan) Academy of Canada, teaching Chinese language and literature, and organizing poetry workshops and salons for the public.

Continue reading “EAWLC Lecture on Tibetan / Han Family Life & Cultures”