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Image for event: A Discussion with Ariel Gordon, Yvonne Blomer & Sue Sorensen

Registration now closed

A Discussion with Ariel Gordon, Yvonne Blomer & Sue Sorensen

in partnership with Words Worth Books

2024-11-05 19:00:00 2024-11-05 20:00:00 America/New_York A Discussion with Ariel Gordon, Yvonne Blomer & Sue Sorensen Adults John M. Harper Branch - Program Room

Tuesday, November 05
7:00pm - 8:00pm

Add to Calendar 2024-11-05 19:00:00 2024-11-05 20:00:00 America/New_York A Discussion with Ariel Gordon, Yvonne Blomer & Sue Sorensen Adults John M. Harper Branch - Program Room

John M. Harper Branch

Program Room

Adults

Join us for a conversation with authors Ariel Gordon, Yvonne Blomer, and Sue Sorenson as they discuss their newest books, Fungal: Foraging in the Urban Forest (Gordon), Death of Persephone: A Murder (Blomer) and Acutely Life (Sorensen). The event will be moderated by author Mark Morton.

This program is presented in partnership with Words Worth Books.

About the Authors

Ariel Gordon

Ariel Gordon (she/her) is a Winnipeg/Treaty 1 Territory–based writer, editor and enthusiast. She is the ringleader of Writes of Spring, a National Poetry Month project with the Winnipeg International Writers Festival that appears in the Winnipeg Free Press. Her previous work of nonfiction, Treed: Walking in Canada’s Urban Forests, was shortlisted for the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award. Gordon’s essay “Red River Mudlark” was second-place winner of the 2022 Kloppenburg Hybrid Grain Contest in Grain magazine and other work appeared recently in FreeFall, Columba Poetry, Canthius and Canadian Notes & Queries. Gordon’s fourth collection of poetry, Siteseeing: Writing nature & climate across the prairies, was written in collaboration with Saskatchewan poet Brenda Schmidt and appeared in fall 2023.

Ariel's latest collection, Fungal: Foraging in the Urban Forest (Wolsak & Wynn, June 2024) explores her fascination with all mushrooms, not just those you can eat. In these engaging essays she takes the reader through ditches and puddles in search of morels, through the hallways of a mushroom factory, down city sidewalks and beside riverbanks as she considers things found and fungal. Along the way there are entertaining stories of the perils of mushroom identification, including mailed mushrooms that have liquefied, or terrifying thoughts of Canadian geese being fed hallucinogenic mushrooms as well as thoughtful analysis of the ways mushrooms knit our ecosystems together and the ways we knit our lives and communities together. Smart, funny and poetic, Gordon moves seamlessly from the natural world to the personal in these essays, examining the interconnectedness of all things and delighting in the rich variety of the world around her.

Yvonne Blomer

Yvonne Blomer is an award-winning poet and nonfiction writer who has edited five anthologies, most recently: Hologram: Homage to PK Page. Yvonne holds an MA with Distinction from the University of East Anglia and is the past poet laureate of Victoria, BC. She lives on the territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən (Lekwungen) speaking people.

Yvonne's sixth book of poems is Death of Persephone: A Murder, a mystery based on the Persephone myth, the noir mystery genre and the ongoing violence to girls and women. In Death of Persephone, the patriarchal myth of the maiden taken, raped, and made the potent and sexualized queen of the underworld is questioned, altered, flipped. Instead, we have Stephanie, a girl of seven, taken and raised by her Uncle H. who is obsessed by her, tries to control her, to keep her, to have her even as she blooms out from underneath him. In poems both lyrical and narrative, a woman paints Hecate on a building, a Hyacinth Macaw flies overhead, a detective bumbles from crime to crime. This is a city with a vast underground where bats hang and paperwhites bloom, a city where men still rule. Who sees what, who will pay, and who will survive in this ancient story altered at the core?

Her previous books include The Last Show on Earth, 2022, which explores grief, love and climate change. 

Sue Sorensen

Sue Sorensen was born in Saskatchewan and now lives in Winnipeg. The author of the novel A Large Harmonium and the non-fiction study The Collar, she is Professor of English at Canadian Mennonite University and the director of CMU Press. Acutely Life is her first collection of poetry.

In her poems, Sue Sorensen makes visits to the Village Vanguard jazz club in June 1961, to Freud’s study in London, to the novelist Henry James. Working her allusive and spirited way inside books and paintings, she has acute meetings with musicians, photographers, fictional characters—and most of all herself.

Programmer:  Ikhlas


Photography Notice: Please note that photographs and video may be taken at this event and may be broadcast, reproduced and/or made available in print or online. For individual or small group photos, staff will make attendees aware of their presence and will ask permission before taking photos.

For larger public events, please note that by attending, you are consenting to the use of your appearance, image and voice in print or digital productions created by the Waterloo Public Library for promotional use only. Please speak to library staff at the event if you’d like to be excluded from any photo/video.

AGE GROUP: | Adults 19+ |

EVENT TYPE: | Book Clubs, Writing and Authors |

TAGS: | Author Event | Adult learning |

John M. Harper Branch

Phone: 519-886-1310

Hours
Mon, Sep 08 9:30AM to 9:00PM
Tue, Sep 09 9:30AM to 9:00PM
Wed, Sep 10 9:30AM to 9:00PM
Thu, Sep 11 9:30AM to 9:00PM
Fri, Sep 12 9:30AM to 5:30PM
Sat, Sep 13 9:30AM to 5:30PM
Sun, Sep 14 Closed

About the branch

Located on the west side of Waterloo, the John M. Harper Branch shares a building with the Stork Family YMCA. It features soaring ceilings, dedicated study space (including 3 bookable study rooms), a large Community Room and an outdoor courtyard. 

Upcoming events

Sat, Sep 13, 10:30am - 11:15am
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For Families

Sat, Sep 13, 11:00am - 12:00pm
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For Families

Sat, Sep 13, 1:00pm - 3:00pm
Fountain St (Waterloo) - Between Spring St W & Central St
Community Event - Everyone welcome

Sat, Sep 13, 3:00pm - 4:30pm
McCormick Branch
For teens ages 13 to 17 years old.

Mon, Sep 15, 10:00am - 11:00am
Main Library
Do you need help with technology? Let a Waterloo Public Library Tech Coach help you!
This event is full

Mon, Sep 15, 10:30am - 11:15am
McCormick Branch
For kids ages 2 to 5 years old with a caregiver.

Mon, Sep 15, 10:30am - 11:15am
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For kids ages 3 to 5 years old with a caregiver.
Registration is now closed

Mon, Sep 15, 10:30am - 11:15am
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For kids ages birth to 5 years old with a caregiver.

Mon, Sep 15, 11:00am - 12:00pm
Main Library
Do you need help with technology? Let a Waterloo Public Library Tech Coach help you!

Mon, Sep 15, 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Main Library
Drop-in for help for technology questions

Mon, Sep 15, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
McCormick Branch
For Older Adults

Mon, Sep 15, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
Main Library
Do you need help with technology? Let a Waterloo Public Library Tech Coach help you!
This event is full

Mon, Sep 15, 3:00pm - 4:00pm
Main Library
Do you need help with technology? Let a Waterloo Public Library Tech Coach help you!
This event is full

Mon, Sep 15, 4:00pm - 5:00pm
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For kids ages 6 to 9 years old.
This event is full

Mon, Sep 15, 4:00pm - 5:00pm
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For tweens ages 9 to 12 years old.
This event is full

Mon, Sep 15, 6:00pm - 7:30pm
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For Newcomers to Canada

Tue, Sep 16, 10:30am - 11:15am
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For kids ages birth to 5 years old with a caregiver.

Tue, Sep 16, 10:30am - 12:30pm
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For Older Adults

Tue, Sep 16, 6:30pm - 8:15pm
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For Adults

Tue, Sep 16, 6:30pm - 8:30pm
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For adults in their 20s and 30s.
This event is full

Wed, Sep 17, 10:00am - 11:30am
McCormick Branch
For Older Adults

Wed, Sep 17, 10:30am - 11:30am
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For babies ages 0 to 24 months with a caregiver.
This event is full

Wed, Sep 17, 10:30am - 12:30pm
John M. Harper Branch - Discovery Room,Program Room
For Older Adults

Wed, Sep 17, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
Main Library
Do you need help with technology? Let a Waterloo Public Library Tech Coach help you!
This event is full

Wed, Sep 17, 2:30pm - 3:00pm
McCormick Branch
For babies ages 0 to 11 months with a caregiver.
This event is full

Wed, Sep 17, 3:00pm - 4:00pm
Main Library
Do you need help with technology? Let a Waterloo Public Library Tech Coach help you!
This event is full

Wed, Sep 17, 4:00pm - 5:00pm
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For kids ages 7 to 10 years old.
This event is full

Wed, Sep 17, 4:00pm - 5:30pm
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For Older Adults

Wed, Sep 17, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
McCormick Branch
For Adults

Thu, Sep 18, 10:45am - 11:30am
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For babies ages 0 to 12 months with a caregiver.
This event is full

Thu, Sep 18, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
McCormick Branch
For Adults

Thu, Sep 18, 4:00pm - 5:00pm
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For kids ages 5 to 8 years old.

Thu, Sep 18, 6:00pm - 7:00pm
Main Library
Do you need help with technology? Let a Waterloo Public Library Tech Coach help you!
This event is full

Thu, Sep 18, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For Adults
This event is full

Thu, Sep 18, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Main Library
Do you need help with technology? Let a Waterloo Public Library Tech Coach help you!

Sat, Sep 20, 10:00am - 11:00am
Main Library
Do you need help with technology? Let a Waterloo Public Library Tech Coach help you!
This event is full

Sat, Sep 20, 10:30am - 11:15am
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For Families

Sat, Sep 20, 11:00am - 12:00pm
Main Library
Do you need help with technology? Let a Waterloo Public Library Tech Coach help you!
This event is full

Sat, Sep 20, 6:00pm - 11:00pm
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
Everyone welcome.

Mon, Sep 22, 10:30am - 11:15am
McCormick Branch
For kids ages 2 to 5 years old with a caregiver.

Mon, Sep 22, 10:30am - 11:15am
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For kids ages birth to 5 years old with a caregiver.

Mon, Sep 22, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
McCormick Branch
For Older Adults

Mon, Sep 22, 3:45pm - 5:00pm
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For Older Adults
This event is full

Mon, Sep 22, 4:00pm - 5:00pm
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For kids ages 6 to 9 years old.
This event is full

Mon, Sep 22, 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For Adults

Mon, Sep 22, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For adults in their 20s and 30s.
This event is full

Mon, Sep 22, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For tweens ages 10 to 13 years old.

Tue, Sep 23, 10:30am - 11:15am
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For kids ages birth to 5 years old with a caregiver.

Tue, Sep 23, 10:30am - 12:30pm
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For Older Adults

Tue, Sep 23, 6:00pm - 8:30pm
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For Adults

Tue, Sep 23, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For kids ages 6 to 12 years old.
This event is full

Tue, Sep 23, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
McCormick Branch
For Adults

Tue, Sep 23, 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Eastside Branch - Program Room
Everyone welcome

Wed, Sep 24, 10:00am - 11:30am
McCormick Branch
For Older Adults

Wed, Sep 24, 10:00am - 11:00am
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For Older Adults

Wed, Sep 24, 2:00pm - 3:30pm
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For Older Adults
This event is full

Wed, Sep 24, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
Eastside Branch
For Adults

Wed, Sep 24, 2:30pm - 3:00pm
McCormick Branch
For babies ages 0 to 11 months with a caregiver.
This event is full

Wed, Sep 24, 4:00pm - 5:30pm
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For Older Adults

Wed, Sep 24, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For teens ages 13 to 17 years old.

Wed, Sep 24, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
McCormick Branch
For Adults

Wed, Sep 24, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For Adults

Thu, Sep 25, 10:30am - 11:30am
McCormick Branch
Ages 0 to 5 years with a caregiver.

Thu, Sep 25, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
McCormick Branch
For Adults

Thu, Sep 25, 4:00pm - 5:00pm
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For kids ages 5 to 8 years old.

Thu, Sep 25, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For adults in their 20s and 30s.

Thu, Sep 25, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For Adults

Thu, Sep 25, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Main Library
Do you need help with technology? Let a Waterloo Public Library Tech Coach help you!

Thu, Sep 25, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For Adults
This event is full

Fri, Sep 26, 12:30pm - 1:30pm
Eastside Branch - Study Room 1
Do you need help with technology? Let a Waterloo Public Library Tech Coach help you!
This event is full

Sat, Sep 27, 10:30am - 11:30am
McCormick Branch
For families with kids ages 4 to 8 years old and their caregiver(s).

Sat, Sep 27, 10:30am - 11:15am
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For Families

Sat, Sep 27, 10:30am - 11:00am
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For babies ages 0 to 12 months old with a caregiver.

Sat, Sep 27, 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For kids ages 8 to 12 years old.

Mon, Sep 29, 10:30am - 11:15am
McCormick Branch
For kids ages 2 to 5 years old with a caregiver.

Mon, Sep 29, 10:30am - 11:15am
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For kids ages birth to 5 years old with a caregiver.

Mon, Sep 29, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
McCormick Branch
For Older Adults

Mon, Sep 29, 3:45pm - 5:00pm
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For Older Adults
This event is full

Mon, Sep 29, 4:00pm - 5:00pm
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For kids ages 6 to 9 years old.
This event is full

Mon, Sep 29, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For adults in their 20s and 30s.
This event is full

Mon, Sep 29, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For tweens ages 10 to 13 years old.

Tue, Sep 30, 10:30am - 11:15am
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For kids ages birth to 5 years old with a caregiver.

Tue, Sep 30, 10:30am - 12:30pm
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For Older Adults

Tue, Sep 30, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For tweens ages 9 to 12 years old.

Cancelled
Tue, Sep 30, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Main Library
For Adults

Tue, Sep 30, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For Adults

Wed, Oct 01, 10:00am - 11:30am
McCormick Branch
For Older Adults

Wed, Oct 01, 10:30am - 11:30am
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For Older Adults

Wed, Oct 01, 2:00pm - 3:30pm
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For Older Adults

Wed, Oct 01, 2:30pm - 3:00pm
McCormick Branch
For babies ages 0 to 11 months with a caregiver.
This event is full

Wed, Oct 01, 3:30pm - 5:30pm
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For Adults and Older Adults

Wed, Oct 01, 4:00pm - 5:00pm
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For kids ages 7 to 10 years old.

Wed, Oct 01, 6:30pm - 7:30pm
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For tweens ages 10 to 12 years old.

Wed, Oct 01, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
McCormick Branch
For Adults

Wed, Oct 01, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For parents and caregivers of youth ages 12 and up.

Thu, Oct 02, 10:30am - 11:30am
McCormick Branch
Ages 0 to 5 years with a caregiver.

Thu, Oct 02, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
McCormick Branch
For Adults

Thu, Oct 02, 4:00pm - 5:00pm
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For kids ages 5 to 8 years old.

Thu, Oct 02, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For adults in their 20s and 30s.

Thu, Oct 02, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For Adults

Thu, Oct 02, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For Adults
This event is full

Sat, Oct 04, 10:00am - 12:00pm
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For kids ages 3 to 9 years old with a caregiver.

Sat, Oct 04, 10:30am - 11:15am
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For Families

Sat, Oct 04, 1:00pm - 4:30pm
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
Everyone welcome

Sat, Oct 04, 2:00pm - 3:30pm
Uptown Waterloo - Various Locations
For Adults

Sat, Oct 04, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For Adults

Mon, Oct 06, 10:00am - 12:00pm
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For Adults and Older Adults
Registration opens Monday, September 15 2025 at 7:00pm

Mon, Oct 06, 10:30am - 11:15am
McCormick Branch
For kids ages 2 to 5 years old with a caregiver.

Mon, Oct 06, 10:30am - 11:00am
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For babies ages 6 to 12 months old with a caregiver.
Registration opens Monday, September 15 2025 at 7:00pm

Mon, Oct 06, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
McCormick Branch
For Older Adults

Mon, Oct 06, 3:45pm - 5:00pm
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For Older Adults
This event is full

Mon, Oct 06, 4:00pm - 5:00pm
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For kids ages 6 to 9 years old.
This event is full

Mon, Oct 06, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For adults in their 20s and 30s.
This event is full

Mon, Oct 06, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For tweens ages 10 to 13 years old.

Tue, Oct 07, 10:30am - 11:15am
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For kids ages birth to 5 years old with a caregiver.

Tue, Oct 07, 10:30am - 12:30pm
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For Older Adults

Tue, Oct 07, 6:30pm - 7:30pm
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For tweens ages 10 to 12 years old and their caregiver(s).
Registration opens Tuesday, September 16 2025 at 7:00pm

Tue, Oct 07, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For Adults
Registration opens Tuesday, September 16 2025 at 7:00pm

Tue, Oct 07, 6:30pm - 8:30pm
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For adults in their 20s and 30s.
Registration opens Tuesday, September 16 2025 at 7:00pm

Wed, Oct 08, 10:00am - 11:30am
McCormick Branch
For Older Adults

Wed, Oct 08, 10:30am - 11:15am
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For kids ages birth to 5 years old with a caregiver.

Wed, Oct 08, 2:00pm - 3:30pm
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For Older Adults
Registration opens Wednesday, September 17 2025 at 7:00pm

Wed, Oct 08, 2:30pm - 3:00pm
McCormick Branch
For babies ages 0 to 11 months with a caregiver.
This event is full

Wed, Oct 08, 4:00pm - 5:00pm
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For kids ages 7 to 10 years old.

Wed, Oct 08, 4:00pm - 5:30pm
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For Adults

Wed, Oct 08, 6:30pm - 7:30pm
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For tweens ages 10 to 12 years old.

Wed, Oct 08, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
McCormick Branch
For Adults

Wed, Oct 08, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For teens ages 13 to 18 years old.
Registration opens Wednesday, September 17 2025 at 7:00pm

Thu, Oct 09, 10:30am - 11:30am
McCormick Branch
Ages 0 to 5 years with a caregiver.

Thu, Oct 09, 11:00am - 12:00pm
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For kids ages 2 to 5 years old with a caregiver.
Registration opens Thursday, September 18 2025 at 7:00pm

Thu, Oct 09, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
McCormick Branch
For Adults

Thu, Oct 09, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For Teens and Adults
Registration opens Thursday, September 18 2025 at 7:00pm

Thu, Oct 09, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For Adults
This event is full

Fri, Oct 10, All day
All library locations
For Families

Sat, Oct 11, 10:30am - 11:00am
John M. Harper Branch - Program Room
For babies ages 0 to 12 months old with a caregiver.

Sat, Oct 11, 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For tweens ages 8 to 13 years old.
Registration opens Thursday, September 18 2025 at 7:00pm

Sat, Oct 11, 3:00pm - 4:30pm
McCormick Branch
For tweens and teens ages 10 to 14 years old.
Registration opens Thursday, September 18 2025 at 7:00pm

Mon, Oct 13, All day
All library locations
All library locations CLOSED for Thanksgiving