Montreal Zen Poetry Festival

Meditations on the Meaning of Language

Mar 13, 2009 Kelli Hanrahan

During the pre-spring days in the city of famed poets, venues around Montreal open their doors for a weekend of poetry, poetics and the politics of Zen.

“Forget the Words!” proclaims the paradoxical banner for the Montreal Zen Poetry Festival, running March 6-8, 2009. The theme is taken from a verse by Chuang Tzu, the Chinese Taoist philosopher, which alludes to the interdependence of language and meaning, a familiar issue for zen writers.

The festival is part of the Centre’s “Zen Expression” programme that introduces the practice and cultural traditions of Zen Buddhism to the community-at-large. This outreach programme is part of the effort by Enpuku-ji/Centre Zen de la Main to establish a permanent home in Montreal.

Reading, Writing and Meditation

The festival opens with an evening of poetry readings and music on Thursday night, and is followed by a weekend of readings, lectures, workshops, panel discussions, conversations, book launches, and a literary brunch. Early Saturday and Sunday mornings offer free instruction in zazen, zen meditation, preceding the day’s events.

The festival brings together poets, writers, artists, publishers, scholars, translators, and zen practitioners to share thoughts, teachings, lessons, and questions on all matters zen, poetry, publishing and their practices. The 2009 edition is the second run of this biennial festival, hosted by the Centre Zen de la Main - Montreal’s Rinzai Zen practice centre - and its abbess, Zengetsu Myoko.

Festival Highlights

A highlight of the weekend’s activities includes the multi-book launch on Saturday afternoon, including readings by celebrated zen translator and storyteller Red Pine and teacher, poet, and translator Peter Levitt.

Excerpts from the compilation Words Have No Meaning, poetry from the 2007 Zen Poetry Festival are presented by members of the zen community. Published by the Zen centre under its press Empuku-Ji (and also the name of the Zen Centre’s future home) Words Have No Meaning also features poetry from Montreal’s most beloved poet and zen monk, Jikan Leonard Cohen (unfortunately Cohen does not make an appearance at the festival, as he is busy meditating his poetry on stages worldwide). The compilation is dedicated to zen teacher, Kyozan Joshu Roshi, who celebrated his 100th birthday just after the 2007 festival (and will likely celebrate his 102nd on April 1, 2009).

The Sunday Brunch

The festival concludes with a Montreal standard weekend activity: the Sunday brunch. Hosted by Myoko and soupesoup café the literary brunch, on the theme Visual Art and Poetry, features presentations by Stephen Addiss and his haiga, a poem/painting form, and Shin Yu Pai, on her work in translation in terms of visual/textual landscapes. Empuku-Ji, the new home of the Zen Centre in Montreal, is slated to open in its new location in the spring.

The copyright of the article Montreal Zen Poetry Festival in Literary Culture is owned by Kelli Hanrahan. Permission to republish Montreal Zen Poetry Festival in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

A Zen Moment of Tea and Poetry	Book Sale Table at the Zen Poetry Festival	Writer's Panel: Empty as a Zen Mind
Forget the Words: Zen Poetry Poster	Zen Philosophy in Translation