An intimate evening of poetry and music brought the downtown to life on Oct. 6 for the first of a new series called “Audio Affairs” by the Community Arts Council of Williams Lake.
Enter Raven/Tell of Time was the Oct. 6 event, which began with poetry read by author Heather Haley from her book, Skookum Raven.
Haley, a Vancouver-based poet, got her best crowd reaction reading a poem composed of excerpts from a long-running Georgia Straight Newspaper section readers send in titled “I Saw You.”
The column consists of people writing in about someone they saw, and hope to perhaps connect with — for those riddled with regret at a missed opportunity to ask for a phone number, a date or another chance to meet.
It includes the details of when and where and some tiny snippet of context or description — it is an often vague, romantic, and sometimes creepy section but fun to read and made for natural poetry.
The column was a beloved section by many readers, though I believe it may only appear online now, and provided some great content for a fun and funny poem.
Haley prefaced most of her poems with an anecdote or story, and it felt like she was letting us in, with both poetry and personality.
It was the perfect warm up to a cozy downtown date night event.
Shannon O’Donovan then took the stage for some music, mostly playing from her new album Pockets of Time, but adding a few different songs, including one which again, felt warmly personal, and opened a small window for us into her life. She told the story about the song coming to be from a text exchange with her songwriting friend about her eldest son and his horse.
The gentle, confidential, singing and songwriting of Shannon O’Donovan rounded out the night perfectly.
O’Donovan was joined by Cole Patenaude on guitar, Tanja Iwan on violin and Pharis Romero on vocals. Dena Baumann also joined them on stage for some wonderful harmonizing.
Donovan‘s personal manner and the friendly onstage banter brought the small audience along and felt like a house concert in the performer’s living room — complete with stage styling that included houseplants on stands.
It was a smooth introduction for the live Audio Affairs event series and we look forward to many more cosy evenings in the Central Cariboo Arts and Culture Centre this season and into the winter.
Read more: Beaver Valley singer-songwriter Shannon O’Donovan releases her first full-length album
Read more: Williams Lake reboots Performances in the Park for 2022
ruth.lloyd@wltribune.com
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