Welcome to River Revery
A View from the Heart
Author photo by Mary McDonald
Poet, performer and playwright Penn Kemp has been celebrated as a trailblazer since her first publication of poetry by Coach House (1972), a “poetic El Niño”, and a “one-woman literary industry”. She was London’s inaugural Poet Laureate (2010-13) and Western University’s Writer-in-Residence (2009-10). Chosen as the League of Canadian Poets’ Spoken Word Artist (2015), Kemp has long been a keen participant/activist in Canada’s cultural life, with thirty books of poetry, prose and drama; seven plays and ten CDs produced as well as award-winning videopoems. In 2018, she is writer-in-residence at Caetani Cultural Centre, Vernon BC.
New poetry books in 2018 are
Local Heroes (Insomniac) and
Fox Haunts (Aeolus House). Recent plays have been performed and published celebrating London local hero, Teresa Harris. Quattro Books has published her poetry,
Barbaric Cultural Practice, and an anthology,
Jack Layton: Art in Action.
Artist photo by Kate McDonald
Mary McDonald writer and multimedia artist, lives and works in London. Mary is committed to telling stories in ways that mix the arts. Her work has appeared in such publications as
The New Quarterly and
Ocassus, and her play, “13 inches of closet space” was produced as part of the 2017 London One Act Festival. Mary’s multimedia animation exhibit, “Reveries and Truths”, was featured at The Arts Project as part of the 2018 Visual Fringe festival. Also in 2018, Mary launched an Augmented Reality art and multimedia animation exhibit,
The Dream Life of Teresa Harris, in collaboration with Penn Kemp. This was for the launch of Penn’s
Local Heroes (Insomniac Press) at Museum London and in July for a week-long exhibit at Eldon House Heritage Site. Mary McDonald is currently pursuing her Master’s of Educational Technology through UBC.
River Revery is a multimedia collaboration between Mary McDonald and Penn Kemp — commingling Penn’s environmental poetry on the Thames River, with Mary’s photo art, music, multimedia animation, and transmedia storytelling. We gratefully acknowledge the support of the London Arts Council through the City of London’s Community Arts Investment Program for our project exploring the Thames. River Revery reflects our ongoing concerns as artists deeply involved with our particular place and cultural community. Join us in celebrating our River.
#RiverReveryLdn
