Join us for an evening of poetry, prose, and music at BNA Burger! IWC is delighted to be hosting the launch of Norah Bowman’s newest book, My Eyes Are Fuses (Caitlin Press, 2024), featuring a Holiday Special Open Mic.

First, we will open with a holiday-themed open mic. Will IWC learn the true meaning of the holidays? Bring your festive writing and holiday outfits to find out! Next, local firedancer Alana Greenwood will offer a poetry performance. The evening will culminate with a reading and interview with author and artist Norah Bowman!

Entry is a $6-$10 sliding scale.

Copies of My Eyes Are Fuses will be available to purchase at the event.

About the book: Weaving together a modern retelling of Roman Empress Agrippina the Elder, a künstlerroman-inspired exploration of French sculptor Niki de Saint Phalle, and the contemporary portrait of an unhappily married mother, Bowman’s My Eyes Are Fuses is a bold exploration of tensions between freedom of art and the constraints of gender. Spanning centuries, these poems offer enchantments and antidotes, extract the poison from moments of pain, distil it down to a sweet elixir. Here, women are animals, witches, artists, rebels, imagined beyond their accomplishments, drawn together through time. With careful form, Bowman conjures a new chronicle for these women as time travellers, shapeshifters, goddesses akin to the three Fates, powerful beyond what their moments in time allowed of them.

About the author: Norah Bowman lives on Unceded Syilx Okanagan territory, home to ponderosa pines and bunchgrass. Norah is a poet, artist, and feminist writer whose interests include art, feminist movements around the world, equity for all, and protection of the earth. She is the author of Amplify! A Graphic Novel of Feminist Resistance (University of Toronto Press, 2019) and Breath, Like Water: An Anticolonial Romance (Caitlin Press, 2021).

Doors are at 6:30 pm, and sign up for the open mic begins promptly at 6:30p m with our hosts. We have 5 open mic spots available and are first come, first served. Both food and drink will be available from BNA.

There are two single user, gender-neutral washrooms available and the space is wheelchair accessible.

Our programming is made possible by the City of Kelowna, the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies at UBC Okanagan, and BNA Brewery.

We respectfully acknowledge that we live and work in the unceded, ancestral territory of the Syilx people. It is a privilege to be able to put on events as uninvited guests on their land.

Book description courtesy of Caitlin Press.

Join us for an evening of poetry, prose, and music at BNA Burger (in the BNA tasting room)! IWC presents our Open Mic! Entry is a $6-$10 sliding scale, and $5 for members.

Doors are at 6:30 pm, and sign up begins promptly at 6:30 pm with our hosts. We have 10 open mic spots, so bring your stories, poems, and music! Spots are first come, first served. Both food and drink will be available from BNA.

There are two single user, gender-neutral washrooms available and the space is wheelchair accessible.

Our programming is made possible by the City of Kelowna, the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies at UBC Okanagan, and BNA Brewery.

We respectfully acknowledge that we live and work in the unceded, ancestral territory of the Syilx people. It is a privilege to be able to put on events as uninvited guests on their land.

Join us for an evening of poetry, fun, and friendly competition at BNA Burger (in the BNA tasting room)! IWC presents our Open Mic and Open Slam! Entry is a $6-$10 sliding scale, and $5 for members.

Doors are at 6:30 pm, and sign up begins promptly at 6:30 pm with our hosts. We have 5 open mic spots and 5 open slam spots—with cash prizes for the open slam! Spots are first come, first served. Both food and drink will be available from BNA.

There are two single user, gender-neutral washrooms available and the space is wheelchair accessible.

Our programming is made possible by the City of Kelowna, the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies at UBC Okanagan, and BNA Brewery.

We respectfully acknowledge that we live and work in the unceded, ancestral territory of the Syilx people. It is a privilege to be able to put on events as uninvited guests on their land.

Join us for an evening of poetry, prose, and music at BNA Burger (in the BNA tasting room)! IWC presents our Open Mic! Entry is a $6-$10 sliding scale, and $5 for members.

Doors are at 6:30 pm, and sign up begins promptly at 6:30 pm with our hosts. We have 10 open mic spots, so bring your stories, poems, and music! Spots are first come, first served. Both food and drink will be available from BNA.

There are two single user, gender-neutral washrooms available and the space is wheelchair accessible.

Our programming is made possible by the City of Kelowna, the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies at UBC Okanagan, and BNA Brewery.

We respectfully acknowledge that we live and work in the unceded, ancestral territory of the Syilx people. It is a privilege to be able to put on events as uninvited guests on their land.

Join us for an evening of poetry, prose, and music at BNA Burger (in the BNA tasting room)! IWC presents our Open Mic! Entry is a $6-$10 sliding scale, and $5 for members.

Doors are at 6:30 pm, and sign up begins promptly at 6:30 pm with our hosts. We have 10 open mic spots, so bring your stories, poems, and music! Spots are first come, first served. Both food and drink will be available from BNA.

There are two single user, gender-neutral washrooms available and the space is wheelchair accessible.

Our programming is made possible by the City of Kelowna, the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies at UBC Okanagan, and BNA Brewery.

We respectfully acknowledge that we live and work in the unceded, ancestral territory of the Syilx people. It is a privilege to be able to put on events as uninvited guests on their land.

Join us for an evening of poetry, prose, and music at BNA Burger (in the BNA tasting room)! IWC presents our Open Mic! Entry is a $6-$10 sliding scale, and $5 for members.

Doors are at 6:30 pm, and sign up begins promptly at 6:30 pm with our hosts. We have 10 open mic spots, so bring your stories, poems, and music! Spots are first come, first served. Both food and drink will be available from BNA.

There are two single user, gender-neutral washrooms available and the space is wheelchair accessible.

Our programming is made possible by the City of Kelowna, the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies at UBC Okanagan, and BNA Brewery.

We respectfully acknowledge that we live and work in the unceded, ancestral territory of the Syilx people. It is a privilege to be able to put on events as uninvited guests on their land.

Join us for an evening of poetry, prose, and music at BNA Burger (in the BNA tasting room)! IWC presents our Open Mic! Entry is a $6-$10 sliding scale, and $5 for members.

Doors are at 6:30 pm, and sign up begins promptly at 6:30 pm with our hosts. We have 10 open mic spots, so bring your stories, poems, and music! Spots are first come, first served. Both food and drink will be available from BNA.

There are two single user, gender-neutral washrooms available and the space is wheelchair accessible.

Our programming is made possible by the City of Kelowna, the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies at UBC Okanagan, and BNA Brewery.

We respectfully acknowledge that we live and work in the unceded, ancestral territory of the Syilx people. It is a privilege to be able to put on events as uninvited guests on their land.