Participate in the InArms Project
Canadian Forces personnel, their families and friends are invited to contribute to In Arms. And hey, you don’t have to be a master wordsmith or a stunning writer. All you need is a desire to tell your story in words. There are a few ways you can participate in this project.
Contribute to this website
The easiest way to participate in In Arms is to contribute poems you’ve already written to this web site. Each week, a poem of the week will be selected to appear here. Poems will also be chosen for the Remembrance Day performance at the Royal Alberta Museum (more about that here). We’ll need your real name and contact info for our records but in the interests of protecting your privacy, we will gladly publish your work anonymously or under a pseudonym.
Work with a Poetry Mentor
If you would like to develop your writing through a conversation with one of our project team members, this is your chance. Don’t worry, we don’t bite (except for Michael, but he’s quite gentle about it)! This is done via email, and we can work with approximately 12 people this way to make their work shine. The work of mentored poets will be published in a chapbook (a small book of poetry).
Take Part in a workshop
What is a workshop anyway? Think of a workshop as a small class. A group of people come together under the direction of our team members and write poems together. Our team members are experienced workshop facilitators and can provide direction and stimulus for your work. Again, you don’t have to be a super-pro poet dude or girl! You just have to be willing to do some writing with us. We will be conducting several writing workshops in Edmonton, specifically for people on the base. This is ideal if you feel you have something to express but aren’t sure how to get started.
