The last Scream Literary Festival guided by A. Rawlings as a ghost in the Park!

The last Scream Literary Festival was held in Toronto’s High Park on Monday, July 11, 2011. Angela Rawlings as a mysterious ghost from the past, present, and future guided the lineups of talented Canadian poets and writers such as; Gary Barwin and Gregory Betts, Christian Bök and Darren Wershler, Margaret Christakos, Dani Couture, Sheila Heti and Misha Glouberman, Aisha Sasha John, Shawn Micaleff, Alisha Piercy, Angela Szczepaniak, Hugh Thomas, Nick Thran … and the last reader of this 19 year long festival was Mark Truscott who was my favorite of the evening. Simple, calm, rhythmical, simple, calm, rhythmical, simple, calm, rhythmical, … his subtle lyrics and “non emotional and almost numb” way of reciting them was so unlikely for “the last scream.” The stage setup seemed so simple with only two microphones and good sounding system … good poetry does not require anything but your imagination … Angela Rawlings on the other hand was almost like a diva or a witch and transcended this outdoor theatre into a time machine or cabaret or the Colosseum! The Scream will be missed by its fans … R.I.P.