WESTERN FRONT – Dear Friends &: Tina Do, Rhoda Rosenfeld, Gerry Shikatani

A hot pink monotype print with loopy red and white markings and that resemble cursive handwriting.

Western Front and The Capilano Review are pleased to present the next event in our monthly reading series Dear Friends &. Join us for an evening of poetry by Tina Do, Rhoda Rosenfeld, and Gerry Shikatani, hosted by Deanna Fong.

About the Artists

Tina Do is a poet based on the unceded traditional and ancestral territories of the Səlil̓wətaɬ, Skwxwú7mesh, kʷikʷəƛ̓əm, and xʷməθkwəy̓əm Nations (Vancouver, Canada). Her poetry, which delves into themes of introspection, love, relationships, and reflects on oft-inconsequential minutiae of life, grapples with questions such as: what does it mean to love the people and places around us? You can find her work in The /tƐmz/ Review, Best Canadian Poetry, Canadian Literature, Room Magazine, and Canthius.

Smiling, Tina Do stands in front of a huge patinated brass rhinoceros statue in a public park.

Rhoda Rosenfeld is a visual artist and poet born in Tio’tia’ke/Mooniyang (Montréal, Canada), and based on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Skwxwú7mesh, and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ Nations (Vancouver, Canada). Her work attends to perception, consciousness, behaviour, transformation, chance, and the indivisible.

Rhoda Rosenfeld gazes beyond the camera with her head turned to her left. She has silver hair and wears a black spaghetti-strap tank top. A river and trees can be seen in the background.

Gerry Shikatani is a writer based in Toronto, Canada. Since 1970, his works have ranged from the textual, visual, aural, performance to experimental film. He is the co-editor of the seminal anthology of Japanese-Canadian poetry Paper Doors (1981), and has created documentaries and commentaries for CBC Radio, and published articles on travel, sports, and gastronomy across Canada and abroad. An international dining critic and commentator and expert on all things Spanish, Shikatani is the founding director of a writers retreat in Granada, Spain honouring Federico Garcia-Lorca. He holds Spain’s Official Cross in the Order of Civilian Merit granted by The King of Spain.

Standing against lush foliage, Gerry Shikatani gazes at the camera with a closed-mouth smile. He wears round rimless glasses and a blue and red plaid shirt.

Accessibility

The Grand Luxe Hall is located on the second floor of Western Front, which is accessed by a flight of 26 stairs. While plans for a full building upgrade to facilitate access for wheelchair and scooter users are still underway, events in the Grand Luxe Hall are made available virtually via high-quality livestream (see link above). Further details about accessibility at Western Front can be found here.

Acknowledgements

Produced in partnership with The Capilano Review and with support from the BC Arts Council.

Jonathan Alfaro, Avocado Stones from the series Daylight Lover (2024). Courtesy of the artist.

Jonathan Alfaro, Avocado Stones from the series Daylight Lover (2024). Courtesy of the artist.
Portrait of Tina Do. Photo by Natalie Lim.

Portrait of Tina Do. Photo by Natalie Lim.
Portrait of Rhoda Rosenfeld. Photo by Linda Charyk Rosenfeld.

Portrait of Rhoda Rosenfeld. Photo by Linda Charyk Rosenfeld.
Portrait of Gerry Shiaktani. Courtesy of the artist.

Portrait of Gerry Shiaktani. Courtesy of the artist.

Western Front is a non-profit
artist-run centre in Vancouver.

We acknowledge the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations as traditional owners of the land upon which Western Front stands.