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Derek Evans
CREATOR GLIMPSED SERVING TEA
» Thursday 22 May 2008 | 4:30 pm
» Hanna's Lounge, 1392 Water Street
An informal afternoon hour showcasing the people and ideas featured in Okanagan Arts. Join us as international mediator and author Derek Evans presents his new chapbook of powerful and personal poems, Creator Glimpsed Serving Tea.
» This is a free event. Refreshments will be available at a modest cost.
» Seating is limited, please reserve yours HERE
Sponsored by the Arts Council of the Central Okanagan, Wood Lake Books, UBCO-FCCS, and in support of Project Literacy Kelowna
International Mediator Reveals His Poetic Voice
It doesn't matter if it's a war between nations, a war between feast and famine, or a war between parents - at the end of the day it's really about the children.
"There are so few mothers/ For so many children / And fathers fewer still," Derek Evans writes in his just released poetry collection Creator Glimpsed Serving Tea.
Evans has sat at the table with government leaders around the world trying to broker peace and understanding. A professional mediator who has served two terms as Deputy Secretary General of Amnesty International, Evans has helped make deals that changed minds and lives.
But none of this comes without risk, without conflict, and it's those images that Evans reveals in this collection, published this week by Okanagan Chapbooks. The book release party from this uniquely politically-situated author takes place at the Okanagan Institute Express series, Thursday, May 22 at 4:30 pm.
"There's the intensity of the conflict that the victims deal with. They're suffering a lot, they're losing a lot, and their trying to deal with a new future for their families," he says. "The facts and the legal issues get reflected in the cold analysis that is put forward to the government or the international community, but there's another level to it - the personal world of emotions and relationships, and that's what these poems are about. They are an effort to honour the experience of the ordinary people, and to recognize the bits of beauty that created when people express care or love."
 Spanning the years of 1981 to 2006, Evans touches down in Tokyo, the Philippines, New Zealand, Yemen. He's met with warlords and victims of torture. He reflects on the global pain of 9/11. "Ancient memories rage in sacred lands/ Differences define distinctions; distinctions prevail. Children are destroyed/ Enemies are executed in their sleep. We are told we are safer," he writes in "Grinding Time".
Evans says he didn't realize until looking back at the collection that children, and their parents, were the overriding theme. It's perhaps through this unique bond that the tragedies of conflict are seen in stark repose.
"What happens is you notice things. For instance, the title poem 'happened' when I was negotiating an agreement in Japan. There was a lot at stake for the parties - money, power, lives - and it was quite tense. And then I noticed the woman who came in to serve tea, and the extraordinary way she created in that moment a whole world of beauty."
Derek Evans is a writer, teacher, scholar, and activist. His work in peace and human rights spans three decades and five continents, and bridges local and global concerns. He has led more than seventy international delegations conducting human rights investigations or peace negotiations. He is an international consultant in the fields of conflict transformation, human rights, and strategic development. He is an Associate of the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University, where he teaches in a specialized graduate program in conflict and negotiation. Evans is the author or co-author of some fourteen books, most recently Before the War and Dispatches from the Global Village . He is married to Pat Deacon, a homeopath in private practice. They are parents of three adult children.
This is the second appearance for Evans at the Okanagan Institute Express series of presentations. He last appeared in the fall at the launch of his highly acclaimed book Dispatches from the Global Village. We invite you to come out and share an intimate hour with a truly remarkable man, and hear him read and discuss his work. The limited edition chapbooks will be available for sale for $5, signed by Derek Evans.
Derek Evans: Creator Glimpsed Serving Tea is a free event, and takes place at Hanna's Lounge. This marks the 42nd event the Okanagan Institute has held since the Express series got underway last July. Since that time, the series has played host to many local luminaries, including artists Lee Claremont and Gary Pearson, BC Book Award nominee Don Gayton, CBC Literary prize winner poet Harold Rhenisch, animator and filmmaker Jim Cliffe, architect Jim Meiklejohn, and others from a variety of creative fields.
Express is sponsored by the Arts Council of the Central Okanagan, Wood Lake Books, UBCO Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, and supports the work of Project Literacy Kelowna.
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER ONLINE CLICK HERE
Okanagan Insitute at Hanna's Lounge A hearty feast of lectures, presentations, workshops and showcases celebrating our culture and community. Produced by the Okanagan institute in association with Wheat King Publishing magazines: Okanagan Home and Okanagan Home.
Expresss is a cultural tonic that refreshes the mind. Join us at Hanna's Lounge after work on Thursdays for a free hour of stimulation that will get your synapses tingling with new ideas and fresh images. Designed for inquiring minds looking for, among other things, the wild blue yonder.
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