Penn Kemp may be the writer-in-residence at The University of Western Ontario, but she is planning to take her experience and writing skills to the streets of London.
As the James A. and Marjorie Spenceley/Canada Council Writer-in-Residence for 2009-10, Kemp hopes to use her position on campus not only to inspire young writers but to give a visible presence for the program in the community.
“I think poetry is a really interesting form of creative expression in these times.”
“I’ve chosen to be much more active in the community as the writer-in-residence,” she says. “It’s just because I think the profile should be raised.
Each year Western adopts a Canadian writer to fill the position in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. The position has been held by many notable writers, including Alice Munro, Margaret Laurence and Joan Barfoot.
In the past, many writers balanced their role at Western with other commitments. As a London resident, Kemp feels she has an opportunity to take on a more public role and mentor students and aspiring writers at the university and in the community.
“Because of growing up here, I am very plugged into the community on different levels so it’s been very important for me to involve the university in the community,” she says.
She has been called ‘one of the foremothers of Canadian poetry,’ however she sees her writing “as just play.” She often participates in performance work, and her publications include more than 25 books of poetry and drama, 10 CDs of Sound Opera, eight video poems and Canada’s first poetry CD-ROM.
She has travelled the world and collaborated with various writers, artists, dancers and musicians. She is no stranger to the role of writer-in-residence, having served in this position in Buffalo, N.Y.; Labrador; Findhorn, Scotland; Flesherton, Ont.; University of Rondonia, Brazil; and in India at the University of Mumbai, S.N.D.T. Women’s University in Mumbai and the M.S. University of Baroda. She also adds playwriting and essayist to her resume.
“Poetry mostly comes from sound; it’s where the next word leads me. It’s the deepest for me and really home for me,” she says.
Her passion for writing began as a child, making it no surprise images from her hometown, such as the Thames River in London, make an appearance in her professional writing.
A self-described activist, Kemp says writing has always been an outlet for expressing her feelings and beliefs.
Through eco-poetry, she has found a way to marry her love of nature and the environment and her passion for the craft of writing.
“I have been very conscious of the earth as … magic,” she says.
Poetry is the perfect medium for Kemp to explore environmental issues, such as climate change, because it goes beyond the facts to establish an emotional connection to nature.
“I’ve always chosen creativity to express my activism and especially now I am focusing on eco-poetry,” she says.
“To get the depth of feeling, and to change people’s minds and hearts, you have to go to the emotional body and you reach that through sound.”
She also walks the talk through eco-friendly living. She eats organically, grows vegetables, and has a naturalize garden planted outside of her house, which is the same home she lived in as a child.
“I’ve had a gypsy life and I’ve learned to live with less,” she adds. “As a poet I have chosen freedom rather than security, but because it’s been my choice, I am happy with that.”
With a lengthy list of readings, appearances and a radio show on Radio Western CHRW, she is making her presence known on campus and in the community. Her next appearance is today (Oct. 22) at King’s University College, Wemple Building, at 5 p.m. for a reading as part of the visiting authors’ series, followed by a workshop with the Creative Writing Group from 6-7 p.m.
“I really adored my years at Western and yet I didn’t want to be an academic. So, this is a perfect solution,” she says.
Kemp holds office hours Wednesdays 12:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursdays 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in University College Room 171.
To book an appointment with Kemp, contact Vivian Foglton in the Department of English at 519-661-3403. For more information, visit www.uwo.ca/english.
A complete list of upcoming appearances can be viewed at https://mytown.ca/pennletters
