Catherine Owen
@cowenwriter.bsky.social
Poet, writer, maker of things. Seventeen collections of poetry and prose. Born and raised Vancouverite now living in Edmonton. ANTI-artificial thievery. Editor, reviewer, teacher of poetic forms. Loves: books, cats, gardening, family, real life. #canlit
So excited to approve the copy edits of my next book, Sixteen Homes: a memoir, today. In the meantime, enjoy these shots of the stunning Cirque Kalabante from Guinea/Montreal who performed in my neighbourhood this weekend! #canlit
September 21, 2026 at 4:04 PM
So excited to approve the copy edits of my next book, Sixteen Homes: a memoir, today. In the meantime, enjoy these shots of the stunning Cirque Kalabante from Guinea/Montreal who performed in my neighbourhood this weekend! #canlit
The annual Kaleido Festival in my Edmonton neighbourhood is a timely reminder that people will always need to create and gather. So much beauty, music, hilarity and warmth. #canlit
September 19, 2026 at 5:44 PM
The annual Kaleido Festival in my Edmonton neighbourhood is a timely reminder that people will always need to create and gather. So much beauty, music, hilarity and warmth. #canlit
I am making this shirt. It goes for $38 plus shipping. They are all Large and Unisex. Let me know if you want one. Will be taking a few on my mini-book tours too. Down with the artificial thief. Nothing it offers is what you need. #canlit
September 18, 2026 at 3:36 PM
I am making this shirt. It goes for $38 plus shipping. They are all Large and Unisex. Let me know if you want one. Will be taking a few on my mini-book tours too. Down with the artificial thief. Nothing it offers is what you need. #canlit
A flicker's skull after months under leaves.
September 16, 2026 at 5:48 PM
A flicker's skull after months under leaves.
Students in university are knitting and collecting bread tags and making up imaginary worlds on paper with groups of friends and dressing up stuffies and wanting poems to sing in archaic languages. They are sick of your empty fascistic machines. Let them be fully human. #canlit
September 16, 2026 at 3:20 PM
Students in university are knitting and collecting bread tags and making up imaginary worlds on paper with groups of friends and dressing up stuffies and wanting poems to sing in archaic languages. They are sick of your empty fascistic machines. Let them be fully human. #canlit
Also, it got frosty last night so I guess it's.....
September 15, 2026 at 3:21 PM
Also, it got frosty last night so I guess it's.....
Just so "you" know, when my book comes out I DO NOT want gushy blurbs masquerading as reviews. Obviously I don't seek silence but reviews that aren't intelligent, balanced, astute and willing to take risks are basically a waste of space. And patronizing. And robots? Stay away. Grrrrr. #canlit.
September 15, 2026 at 3:16 PM
Just so "you" know, when my book comes out I DO NOT want gushy blurbs masquerading as reviews. Obviously I don't seek silence but reviews that aren't intelligent, balanced, astute and willing to take risks are basically a waste of space. And patronizing. And robots? Stay away. Grrrrr. #canlit.
Over the past year of writing reviews for Canadian periodicals I have learned: one cannot make but a teensy living off it; one is only allowed to write once a year for many; if one cannot say all nice things one should not say anything; they will "endeavour" to pay at some point. Come on #canlit.
September 14, 2026 at 5:20 PM
Over the past year of writing reviews for Canadian periodicals I have learned: one cannot make but a teensy living off it; one is only allowed to write once a year for many; if one cannot say all nice things one should not say anything; they will "endeavour" to pay at some point. Come on #canlit.
Dragonfly: a triptych.
September 14, 2026 at 4:22 PM
Dragonfly: a triptych.
Reposted by Catherine Owen
Klein:The moment we’re in, people are really mad and however mad you are, it’s not enough. Because there is something so profound about no longer believing in the future, about seeing no value in our shared home, in the natural world. They’re traitors to creation. www.theguardian.com/books/2026/s...
Naomi Klein: ‘Extreme wealth has a deranging effect. It turns you into a supremacist’
She’s tackled neoliberalism and the digital world, now the writer and activist is taking on tech billionaires. She explains how the super-rich are capitalising on climate and financial chaos in pursui...
www.theguardian.com
September 12, 2026 at 3:40 PM
Klein:The moment we’re in, people are really mad and however mad you are, it’s not enough. Because there is something so profound about no longer believing in the future, about seeing no value in our shared home, in the natural world. They’re traitors to creation. www.theguardian.com/books/2026/s...
Looking for published Canadian poets interested in form poems to answer a few questions on form and give me the permission to use one of their form poems for a manuscript I am working on! Please contact me at [email protected] #canlit. THANK YOU!
September 11, 2026 at 9:07 PM
Looking for published Canadian poets interested in form poems to answer a few questions on form and give me the permission to use one of their form poems for a manuscript I am working on! Please contact me at [email protected] #canlit. THANK YOU!
notional.space/z-event-page...
Vancouverites! This is THE launch for Sixteen Homes with Kevin Spenst and Chika Buston! #canlit
Vancouverites! This is THE launch for Sixteen Homes with Kevin Spenst and Chika Buston! #canlit
KEVIN SPENST CATHERINE OWEN – Notional Space
notional.space
September 11, 2026 at 12:27 AM
notional.space/z-event-page...
Vancouverites! This is THE launch for Sixteen Homes with Kevin Spenst and Chika Buston! #canlit
Vancouverites! This is THE launch for Sixteen Homes with Kevin Spenst and Chika Buston! #canlit
Hope: a tech worker who made artificial thieves leaves to "study poetry." True news story. I hold to every shred of transcendence. #canlit
September 10, 2026 at 3:16 PM
Hope: a tech worker who made artificial thieves leaves to "study poetry." True news story. I hold to every shred of transcendence. #canlit
A former student told me today she wished SO much she could take my Poetic Forms class again because she loved it SO much. And this is the kind of enthusiasm that keeps me going as a sessional instructor :) #canlit
September 9, 2026 at 1:23 AM
A former student told me today she wished SO much she could take my Poetic Forms class again because she loved it SO much. And this is the kind of enthusiasm that keeps me going as a sessional instructor :) #canlit
Who knows about cortisol surges in peri-menopause? I didn't. And then I remembered my mother going to the hospital, thinking she was having a heart attack in the night. And I knew that is what this was. No doctors still have said a thing about this common symptom to me. Any personal tips?
September 8, 2026 at 3:56 PM
Who knows about cortisol surges in peri-menopause? I didn't. And then I remembered my mother going to the hospital, thinking she was having a heart attack in the night. And I knew that is what this was. No doctors still have said a thing about this common symptom to me. Any personal tips?
Reposted by Catherine Owen
"language is not enough, I get it, and I never said
nature cares if I stick its loveliness in a poem"
#TodaysPoem #poetry
Sweetheart, I say to the river – good morning, beautiful
Catherine Owen (@cowenwriter.bsky.social)
Riven (2020 @ecwpress.bsky.social) howapoemmoves.wordpress.com/2020/04/27/c...
nature cares if I stick its loveliness in a poem"
#TodaysPoem #poetry
Sweetheart, I say to the river – good morning, beautiful
Catherine Owen (@cowenwriter.bsky.social)
Riven (2020 @ecwpress.bsky.social) howapoemmoves.wordpress.com/2020/04/27/c...
Catherine Owen, “Sweetheart, I say to the river – good morning, beautiful”
I haven’t set my alarm in six weeks. I’m still an early riser, though, and there’s something about my morning rituals in the (temporarily) quiet house that are comforting, even meaningful. It’s whe…
howapoemmoves.wordpress.com
September 8, 2026 at 1:16 PM
"language is not enough, I get it, and I never said
nature cares if I stick its loveliness in a poem"
#TodaysPoem #poetry
Sweetheart, I say to the river – good morning, beautiful
Catherine Owen (@cowenwriter.bsky.social)
Riven (2020 @ecwpress.bsky.social) howapoemmoves.wordpress.com/2020/04/27/c...
nature cares if I stick its loveliness in a poem"
#TodaysPoem #poetry
Sweetheart, I say to the river – good morning, beautiful
Catherine Owen (@cowenwriter.bsky.social)
Riven (2020 @ecwpress.bsky.social) howapoemmoves.wordpress.com/2020/04/27/c...
I just finished doing the edits to this memoir out in a month, in time for Edmonton's Nonfiction Lit Fest on October 18th, and now feel relieved. Working with Noelle Allen off and on over the past two decades has always lifted my mind and given me the hope that the book will find its readership.
September 7, 2026 at 7:52 PM
I just finished doing the edits to this memoir out in a month, in time for Edmonton's Nonfiction Lit Fest on October 18th, and now feel relieved. Working with Noelle Allen off and on over the past two decades has always lifted my mind and given me the hope that the book will find its readership.
Reposted by Catherine Owen
This is worth reading. I listened to a panel including Ben MacIntosh last week, and she is very articulate and committed. A joy to listen to. thetyee.ca/News/2026/09...
The Making of an AI Data Centre Warrior | The Tyee
Bek MacIntosh helped rally her Alberta town to kill a megaproject. The wider fight, she vows, is ‘just getting started.’
thetyee.ca
September 7, 2026 at 6:10 PM
This is worth reading. I listened to a panel including Ben MacIntosh last week, and she is very articulate and committed. A joy to listen to. thetyee.ca/News/2026/09...
Reposted by Catherine Owen
Basic income is our share of the capital we all helped build.
September 7, 2026 at 3:38 PM
Basic income is our share of the capital we all helped build.