Over to Wax Mag
All Passion Pitch information is now available at Wax Poetry and Art Magazine. Hooray!
Why you ask? Wax Mag and Passion Pitch are intimately connected — and one site is easier to manage than two. 
Passion Pitch events in March
The best way to stay informed is to join the Passion Pitch Facebook Group. To be added to the email list, please write us at calgarywax@gmail.com.
Passion Pitch Events in March
Click the event to see complete information on the Facebook invite.
March 14: Salon: A Gathering of Word Artists
March 20: Storytellers: A Game of Chess
March 26: Province of Poets
Poets, ft. Helen Hajnoczky and music by Amy Thiessen
Poets
ft. Helen Hajnoczky
and music by Amy Thiessen
December 18, 7 pm
$3 to $6, sliding scale; students $3
Auburn Saloon – 163, 115 9 Ave SE
passionpitch.wordpress.com
kirkramdath@yahoo.ca
Passion Pitch presents Poets, ft. Helen Hajnoczky and music by Amy Thiessen.
Helen has a newly published book of poems called Poets and Killers: A Life in Advertising (Snare Books) and will be in town for the holidays, so come on down for your pre-Christmas poetry fix. Plus hear some excellent music by local songbird Amy Thiessen. Of course, the evening opens with the spectacular and diverse assortment of poets on the open mic.
Open mic poets, please come down early to sign up.
This evening will also be the launch of Wax #2, so all attendees will receive a free copy of Wax Poetry and Art Magazine.
Featured Artist Bios:
Helen Hajnoczky holds a BA Honours in English and Creative Writing from the UofC, and is currently working on an MA in English at McGill. Her work has appeared in fillingStation, NoD, Matrix, Rampike, and Speechless magazines, as well as in a variety of chapbooks. Her first book, Poets and Killers: A Life in Advertising, is now available from Snare Books. She is the former poetry editor of fillingStation, and a contributor to the literary blog Lemon Hound.
Calgarian singer/ songwriter Amy Thiessen continues to take her Soul folk music to people around the country with her genuine open hearted nature. This wandering artist has travelled the world studying different music and spiritual traditions; revealing her voice and her intention. “Music brings people together in community and enables them to delve into themselves and into that community.” “Its healing.” says Thiessen who shares her enchanting voice and compelling lyrics to communicate her inspiration. Drawing from a number of influences Thiessen is particularly motivated by those artists she feels inspire the human condition such as Ani DiFranco, and Michael Franti…. and other course many, many others.
Storytellers, ft. Alyson Fortowsky and music by Summer Abney
Storytellers ft. Alyson Fortowsky
with music by Summer Abney
Sunday, December 5, 6 pm
$3 to $6 sliding scale, students $3.
Auburn Saloon 163 – 115 9 Ave SE
Contact: kirkramdath@yahoo.ca
Come on down to our second installment of Storytellers, a literary event for the narrative minded. This month’s featured reader is Calgary’s Alyson Fortowsky. We will also be graced by the musical presence of Summer Abney.
Open mic fiction writers and storytellers, come down to share your writing with a great audience at a great venue, hear some great music, and drink some great beer. All styles welcome.
The Auburn is on 9 Avenue between the Calgary Tower and 1 St. SE. The Auburn is an all ages, licensed venue.
Alyson’s Bio:
Alyson Fortowsky is a Calgary short story writer who is published in magazines across Canada. She is also the editor of Laser! Magazine, a local small-run literary rag.
Poets, featuring Bruce Rout and music by Mike Elliot, November 27
passion pitch presents
Poetry Open Mic
ft. Bruce Rout
and his epic poem, “Ode to the American Cheeseburger”
Saturday, November 27, 7 pm
$2 to $5 sliding scale, students $2
Auburn Saloon (163 – 115 9 Ave SW) all ages, licensed
kirkramdath@yahoo.ca
When Bruce Rout came to me and said he wrote an epic poem about the cheeseburger, I said I’ll bite. Come on down to the Auburn on November 27 to have taste of Bruce Rout’s poem for a lost America. Zero calories with no artifical sweeteners! No cows were harmed in the making of this poem.
Open mic poets, come early to sign up. Please note we are starting a bit earlier to accomodate more poets on the open mic.
The Auburn is on 9 Ave between 1 st SE and the base of the Calgary Tower.
Bruce’s Bio:
Bruce worked as a journalist for 12 years in the late 60s and early 70s and is proud to say that he has been fired from just about every newspaper in Canada, including, the Calgary Herald, The Calgary Albertan, the Calgary Sun, the Edmonton Sun, the Toronto Sun, The Toronto Star, the Toronto Globe and Mail, the Regina Leader-Post, the Kamloops Sentinal, the Campbell River Courier and Upper Islander and, of course, the Williams Lake Tribune. Bruce has thankfully left journalism and lately returned to poetry and has written two books, Postage Due — deep from the depths of the sixties and Baha’i Poetry eh? as well as publishing an anthology of Calgary street poetry The First Book of Cowtown Poetry. Bruce’s latest work, which he is reading here tonight, is a love poem to a lost America written in the neo-classic spoken word style.
Fiction Open Mic ft. Colin Martin
passion pitch presents
Fiction Open Mic featuring Colin Martin
Saturday, November 13, 7 pm
Auburn Saloon 163 – 115 9 Ave SE
$2 to $5 dollars, sliding scale. Students $2.
kirkramdath@yahoo.ca
Calling all fiction writers!
Passion Pitch presents an open mic and feature series especially for the narrative minded. Story writers of all stripes, select your juciest excerpts and short stories and come down to the Auburn on November 13, ready to read!
The featured reader for this inaugural event is Calgary’s own Colin Martin.
The Auburn (163 115 9 Ave SE) is near the base of the Calgary Tower, a little bit to the left.
Colin’s Bio:
Colin Martin studies at the University of Calgary as a PhD Candidate in English. His dissertation focuses on the role of ephemeral literary production in Canada as a mode of community and identity formation. Colin writes poems and fiction and is well known in the Calgary literary community.
Poetry Open Mic *Halloween Edition* ft. Vivian Hansen, Oct 30
Passion Pitch presents
Poetry Open Mic *Halloween Edition*
featuring Calgary’s 
Vivian Hansen
October 30, 6:30 pm, $5
Auburn Saloon – 163 – 115 9 Ave SE
Contact: kirkramdath@yahoo.ca
The stars are aligned to bring you the first ever Halloween Edition of Passion Pitch. This month will feature well known Calgary writer, Vivian Hansen, as well as a plethora of amazing and amazingly diverse open mic poets, including you!
Costumes are encouraged, but not mandatory. Pages in Kensington has offered $30 in gift certificates as a prize for the person with the best costume! As well, we extend the invitation to all poets to become their favourite poet for a short time by performing a cover poem.
Please note, the start time is 6:30, slightly earlier than usual. Open mic poets, please arrive on time to sign up. All styles are welcome.
Cover is $5.
The Auburn (163-115 9 Ave SE) is a licensed, all-ages venue, with a great menu.
Special thanks to the Auburn and to Pages.
Vivian Hansen Bio:
Vivian Hansen is a poet and freelance writer. Her poetry, fiction, and nonfiction have appeared in a wide variety of anthologies and journals with work that has encountered women’s issues, the western landscape, work and immigration. Vivian’s work, “Angel Alley: Jack the Ripper’s Victims,” has been produced theatrically by Downstage Theatre.
passion pitch presents… Weyman Chan, September 25
–spead the word–
Weyman Chan is a Calgary-based poet whose writings have appeared in many Alberta anthologies over the last 2 decades. He won the Stephan G. Stephansson Award for his first book of poetry, Before a Blue Sky Moon. He was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award and the Acorn-Plantos People’s Poet Award for his second book of poetry, Noise From the Laundry. His new featured book at Wordfest is entitled Hypoderm, a collection of occasional apocalyptic verse. When he is not writing poetry at night, he is an electron microscope technician by day.
