2026
July
I am thrilled to share that I have been asked to serve as Poet Laureate of Calgary's Bow Valley Ranche Historical Society!
The Bow Valley Ranche Historical Society
The Bow Valley Ranche, designated as a provincial historic resource in 2001, is a spectacular historical site nestled in a serene meadow 17 minutes from downtown Calgary in Fish Creek Provincial Park.
The Bow Valley Ranche Restoration Society brings together recreational space, interpretive walks, entertainment and education ares for students, the community and general public, and stewardship opportunities to honour our heritage and culture.
I am so thrilled to be part of this thriving Society and to bring poetry to the Park.
Save the Date: August 22, 2026
As newly inaugurated Poet Laureate of the Bow Valley Ranche Historical Society, I am pleased to announce our first event: Poetry in the Park. Circle this in your calendars: Saturday, August 22, from 2 to 5 pm: some instruction, some inspired words from a group of exceptional poets, time to wander and write, time to share around the PoetTree in Fish Creek Park.
On Sunday August 16, I will be presenting at Calgary's annual literary festival, When Words Collide.
9 am A Quiet Hour of Reflection and Poetry
July
I was invited as one of the feature readers for Anne Elgie's online presentation Cheers to Divorce and the Courage of Fresh Starts. Sponsored by the Canada Council for the Arts.
Honoured to be a feature poet for the Parkland Poetry live event in Calgary, a first! I have been a part of this reading society since the early covid days, have read with them online and in Stony Plain and finally having a Calgary gathering was fantastic!
Also in July, the proof version of my latest work, Late to the Sky, a collaborative collection of poetry created with Charles S. Cobean as co-author, has arrived. Our poems intersperse, speak to each other, create a universe bigger than one. We are planning a multi-city, US-Canada launch. Publisher Gold Wake Press.
A poem sees continued life: If Words Were Enough is being included in this new collection in the US:
Turning Poetry into Food: A Collection of Poetry X Hunger Poems
From the AgArts website (https://www.agarts.org/turning-poetry-into-food/)
If Words Were Enough by Josephine LoRe
The poem featured in this video was chosen by Feed the Children for their Public Service Announcement: Feed the Children & Poetry X Hunger. This PSA has been viewed almost a million times.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWZvdTV0XGM
June
I featured online at the Oakville Literary Cafe' in Ontario, on June 28.
It was a blast to participate in the launch of the Caffe Beano Anthology 3 in Calgary upon my return from Europe, to be in the embrace of so many friends and poets! Thank you Eugene Strickland for making this happen! The anthology includes my poem To the Unnamed Patron Saint of Coffee.
While visiting Canada's Sunshine Coast, I participated in an afternoon of poetry and community at Sechelt, BC.
What a delight to receive the Summer 2026 edition of the Fixed and Free Quarterly , published by Billy Brown of New Mexico. It includes my poem Lost in Sound, written in Liege Belgium after a visit to Monet's house and gardens in Giverny, France.
May
I travelled to Italy to participate in the Association of Italian Canadian Writers conference in Viterbo, about two hours north of Rome.
I read from The Moon and All Her Faces, and presented an academic paper entitled Trecce, Braidings, on how we use poetry to create legacy. For this paper, I studied the work of Italian-Canadian and Italian-American writers Tommi Avicolli Mecca, Marissa Prada, Anna Romano Milne, Giulio Magrini, Greg Friedman, and Daniel Scarcello.
On the topic of academic papers, this on the Fulbright Scholars website, the paper I delivered on Nino Ricci's trilogy at the 2024 Bridgewater State University conference:
Fulbright Canadian Scholars 2024-25
Josephine LoRe
“Creating and Elaborating Mythologies in a New World”
April
On April 27th, I took to the stage to read my poetry in French and English at Le Chat Noir in Paris !
April took me to Ireland to participate in the launch of Unsinkable: the Titanic Anthology. I was honoured to have my poem A Loss of Titanic Proportions included and doubly so to be there for this maiden voyage in the company of the three editors Sandy Yannone, Susana Case and Margot Taft Stevens. Publisher Salmon Press. I read in ten cities over the course of fourteen days in the company of contributors from the US, Ireland, and England.
We started at the Salmon Press bookstore in Ennistymon in County Clare, then travelled to Cobh, the last point of departure of the ill-fated Titanic. From there, we went south to Cork, north to Lahardane, and Castlebar, southwest again to Skibbereen, east to Dublin, and finally west to Limerick. We also zoomed a reading for CultivatingVoices Online Poetry. Unsinkable made it onto the Bestseller's List for Ireland!
I also zipped to Athlone to read, thanks to my long-time virtual and real-life friend Amy Barry.
It was the chance to meet in person so many poets with whom connections were made through the covid years, and make new friends ... an opportunity of a lifetime!
What I saw and experienced over a 10-week trip to Europe (Ireland, France, Belgium, and Italy) is too vast to describe here. Photos and stories on my facebook at https://www.facebook.com/josephine.lore.7/
Started off April, Poetry Month, in Calgary with a feature at the Single Onion.
March
The power of the word: I was invited to submit to this anthology, Where Words Defeat Bullets and am pleased to have been accepted in such fine company. One of my poems was included in print, and I also submitted a video live reading.
We came together as a community to organize a poetic tribute to Calgary's Josh Forbes, who passed away in December, 2025. Josh was a vibrant and prolific member of our poetry community, and we were pleased to help his family establish in perpetuity a memorial prize that will be awarded to a member of the youth poetry community of Calgary through Can You Hear Me Now.
The March Single Onion Open Mic Poetry Night, Featuring Lisa Murphy Lamb. Group photo of all the poets that spectacular night! I am happy and honoured to serve on the board of the Single Onion, Calgary's longest-standing live poetry reading series.
On March12, I featured online at Parkland Poetry, a group from Stony Plain, Alberta.
I travelled to Edmonton to read in the Haven at Home series. I had read for this group many times online throughout and after covid; this was my first live experience with them!
In Edmonton, I picked up a copy of The Stroll of Poets 2026 Anthology, which includes my poems Revelstoke Morning, written over the Christmas break in Revelstoke, BC.
Additionally, I read from The Moon and All Her Faces at Audrey's Books in Edmonton with special guest poets Saraswoti Lamichhane and Susanne von Rennenkampff.
Always a pleasure to receive the Fixed and Free Quarterly from Billy Brown in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This edition includes my poems Hardware Store Fugue, and Zafferano & Canary Wine.
February
I travelled to Toronto to read as part of Books & Biscotti with fellow writers Silvia Falsaperla, Bruce Hunter, Josie Di Sciascio Andrews, and Mary Ferlisi Cicci. It was organized with the tremendous help of the Association of Italian Canadian Writers, and hosted by Villa Charities at the Columbus Center:
Celebrate Italian Canadian literature at Books & Biscotti
Enjoy an evening of poetry and music on Wednesday, February 4, 2026 at 7:00pm, featuring Italian Canadian authors Josie Di Sciascio, Silvia Falsaperla, Maria Ferlisi, Joe Giampaolo, Bruce Hunter, and Josephine LoRe, with musical entertainment by Carmen Spada.
Starting a new tradition at the Single Onion Open Mic Poetry Night, Featuring ... a group photo with the feature reader, in this case, Dorothy Bentley, Single Onion board members president Kirk Miles and co-host Paul Marshall, and the open mic readers. Held the first Thursday of every month, with a summer hiatus.
I was thrilled to be asked to host the Open Mic at the c-Space for the February 12 Showcase, with the theme of Love Letters.
February 13, as a member of the national program Poetry in Voice / Les Voix de la poésie, I went into a Calgary school to present a workhop to students on Des mots d'amour ... Love Notes. I also had the opportunity to deliver workshops to students in Saskatchewan, online. Challenging, but better than nothing. I could not see the enthusiasm in their eyes, although the teachers told me it was a wonderful experience for the students.
February 19, I had the honour of being the feature poet at CAPS, Calling All Poets Reading Series.
February 23, I learned that my submission to GutPunch poetry, the poem Elegy for My Beloved, had been accepted. Issue 2: Lost Child. It is now available through Amazon press, although I have yet to receive my copy.
January
I participated in the online launch of The Nuances of Love, the 40th year anthology put together by the Association of Italian Canadian Writers. Publisher Guernica Editions.
Also in January, I started work on my next initiative, a collection of multi-lingual poetry for a Calgary publisher! I am also working on a poetry and photography collection from my travels in Portugal, 2024.
Book Launch Party, an online reading of The Moon and All Her Faces, organized by publisher Marissa Prada of Read or Green Books, New Mexico.
In the mail, the Winter 2025 edition of the Fixed and Free Anthology out of Albuquerque New Mexico, featuring some of my poetry: Another Lullabye for Insomniacs, the setting of the old sun, and Mosterio de Santa Clara-a-Velha.
Also The Patron Saint of Lost Words, and Mater Dolorosa, A Basket of Roses, Stories in Stone, and Kaleidoscope.
The Volume 2, Issue 4 anthology also includes a review of The Moon and All Her Faces by editor Billy Brown.
Stay tuned ...
In October, Charles S. Cobean and I will feature at Brownstone Reading Series, hosted by Patricia Carragon of New York. We will be reading from our fresh collaboration Late to the Sky.
In November, I will feature at the Single Onion Reading Series with Tesoro founder, Stacy Ardis Dyson from New Mexico.
There will be a US and Canada -wide tour to promote recent and upcoming publications ... fingers crossed ...
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