Surrey doesn't suck

The tagline from Love Story, a 1970 movie, was 'Love means never having to say you're sorry.'

White Rock residents played on that with the slogan, 'Living in White Rock means never having to say you're Surrey.'

Surrey's been home to more bad jokes than Poland, but I think things are starting to change.

Last week I went to a reading at one of Surrey's Kwantlen University campuses. Poet Matt Rader, an instructor there, had organized a reading featuring Elizabeth Bachinsky. Although it was great to hear both of these accomplished writers read from their work, I was most excited by what I heard at the Open Mic portion of the event.

This is Jill, reading from her detailed retelling of the Goldilocks tale, set to the rhythms and patterns of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" -- what an accomplishment!

The other photo shows Nick, who performed a most impressive rap -- a piece that employed exciting rhythms and language and presented a whack of meaningful political comment -- exactly what the best kind of rap is all about.

Both of these writers are clearly aware of poetic form, but are fulfilling its demands their own way. And if these two aren't exemplary of what contemporary poetry is, I don't know what might be.

Lots of hope here -- for poetry, for creativity, and for Surrey as a cultural centre worth bragging about.