What prompted all this
Spot About me

About Spot of Poetry

I’m Berdene Owen, graphic designer and owner of Alivelihood Branding & Design. Poetry found me unexpectedly in 2019, and continues to delight, nourish and challenge me every day. One of the most joyful surprises has been the community of people I have met, starting with a local (Lunenburg, NS) poetry workshop presented by the wonderful Ben Gallagher. As the Covid pandemic unfolded, I discovered many vibrant online poetry communities and podcasts, all of which have helped to sustain and inspire me.

Spot of Poetry is about celebrating Joy in Words and the Community that gathers around them – locally (through in-person get-togethers) and globally (through a growing list of curated resources).

We are living though historic times of great polarization and uncertainty, let’s support each other with gentle but robust language that leaves room for questions, complexity and nuance.

“Poetry is really the only history we have of the human heart.”
Billy Collins

Explore my

Bookshelf

During the early days of the COVID pandemic, as many news and entertainment personalities were broadcasting from the personal settings of their homes, I was struck by how many of these backdrops included bookshelves. Who was reading what? What intimate that revelations! Bookshelves as book-selves.

Here are some of the poetry books on my shelf.