I think both Councillors Spooner and Macdonald might recall that the last time I was at this dais I was offered a bottle of wine and, in exchange, I read a long poem. Your Worship, whilst I have been sitting here I have scrutinized the area of members of council and have not been able to detect any such offering. My address will therefore be short without rhyme but I hope not without reason.

There is a context to the proposal you have just heard. This summer the organization which we now call the Cobourg Poetry Workshop is nine years old. It has met regularly every month and for the last five years it has also held monthly readings at Meet 66 King East. In total well over 150 meetings with frequently as many as fifty people present. In Ontario's writing community the Cobourg presentations have become recognized as being equal to their Toronto counterparts and I think it can claim to be the most active organization of its kind outside the metropolitan area.

The Workshop came about through the initiative of a number of people including the late Councillor Douglas Sifton, who at the time held the Community Services Portfolio. Our first meetings were at the Library. People who came had different expectations of the project: all them valid and all of them interesting. Some had recitations of favorite works from old school anthologies, others wanted readings of contemporary poets and for some it was what in the end became the principal focus. That focus was writing in the modern idiom by members of the group. As with any other group of creative artists, it was soon to give public presentations. These are the monthly readings which always include a guest from other centers. They are our public face. Members of Council will be interested to know that each year the May presentation is unique. That is kept exclusively for student readers from our own high schools.

The organization has somewhat surprisingly survived. It has so far had three conveners - first, myself, then Alan Butcher, then James- each has been an improvement on its predecessor. It has a permanence without a constitution. It has no fixed rules, it has only habits. Those habits have provided an environment in which individuals have pursued initiatives which are largely independent of the group. There is a website, an yearly anthology and within the last two years, four of the members have published selections of their works.

It has been said that history is the unforeseen consequences of our actions. POW is such a consequence. Who would have guessed it and who knows what happens next? I think we can only commend James for his initiative and the considerable work that he has put into the project and wish him every success.

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Appendix 1

2000 July
Kim Williams, a young woman interested in writing song lyrics inquired whether the library could organize a poetry group.
Bonnie Symonds was the librarian. She asked the help the Councillor responsible for community services.
Councillor Douglas Sifton, who held the Community Services Portfolio, decided it is a task for the town's Poet Laureate.
Eric Winter, the Cobourg Poet Laureate convened the first meeting of the Cobourg Poetry Group.

2002
The Library was not the best venue for the meetings. Someone from the staff had to stay after hours, the room itself was not particularly comfortable and the meeting had to close promptly at 9:00 p.m.
Meetings moved to the Cobourg Book Room on King Street.
First Public Reading in the Cobourg Book Room.
The Book Room closes. Public readings move to the Human Bean coffee shop.
Workshops move to the upstairs room at The Cat and The Fiddle pub.

2004
Human Bean had some disadvantages, mainly from the noise of traffic on the main street.
Public readings move to Meet at 66 King East.

2007
"The Local Lot, Anthology I" published by Mark Clement.

2008
Web page launched - designed by Mark Clement.
"The Local Lot, Anthology II" published by Mark Clement.

2009
p o e t r y'z o w n 'broadsheets' launched by James Pickersgill, sold at 25 cents each.

Appendix 2

Publications by members since the foundation of the workshop.
Winter, Eric The Man In the Hat 2007
Panko, Deborah Somewhere Else 2008
Schlepp, Wayne The Darker Edges of the Sky 2008
Mark, Clement Islands in the Shadow 2009
All 4 works were published by Hidden Brook Press, Brighton Ontario.

Appendix 3

Conveners 2000 to 2009 (lengths of tenure are uncertain)
1. Eric Winter
2. Alan Butcher
3. James Pickersgill