I was very honoured to be a part of #reelpoetryhoustontx this year. The poetry film, On the Margin of History created with Natasha Boskic and Mohamad Kebbewar’s collaborative poem, was shown as part of the thought-provoking curation of poetry films on the migration and refugee crisis put together by filmmaker, Sarah Tremlett. I was also thrilled to be asked to make a presentation on AR (Augmented Reality) and poetry and to give a hands-on AR workshop on the Sunday morning and evening of the festival.

Sarah’s Uprooted screening features an International collection of poetry films which are powerful and provide a great deal of food for thought. Local Houston poets gave live readings between the poetry films, highlighting both the universality of these issues as well as allowing the festival goers an opportunity to appreciate the local pool of talented Houston poets. The wonderful Fran Sanders, the amazing woman behind REELpoetry hosted a Talkback session both following the Uprooted presentation as well as on Saturday where artists and audience shared their appreciation and thoughts on the various poems and poetry films.

Dave Bonta, the man behind the treasure trove, Moving Poems, gave wonderful talks and shared some of his many haiku video poems. His presentation on how to create poetry films was chock full of tips and tools valuable for all poets, filmmakers, artists new to the field as well as for established filmmakers.

The AR workshop provided everyone an opportunity to explore how they’re work could be enriched with augmented reality. I have begun compiling a list of resources and apps on accessible media creation, tools and tips and a list of ways to create AR on the Community Resources page of RiverRevery.ca. I will be adding some of the presentation slides to that page so check there soon for these additional resources that are OER and free for you to use and to share, remix and more.