Writer-in-Residence Event: Poetry Scavenger Hunt at Koerner Library with Kevin Spenst
“How we exist in the world / depends on how we describe it,” Billy-Ray Belcourt writes in “Autofiction,” the first poem in his collection The Idea of an Entire Life
The creativity required in describing a meaningful life can be supported by the bounty of books in any library where a largess of perspectives awaits. Since poetry is where worldviews are most concentrated into words, that's where we’ll be doing our language-searching.
For this poetry scavenger hunt, we’ll be moving through the rows upon rows of poetry from authors here and around the world. Either solo or in partners, you will follow a sheet of directions to find words and phrases through a series of oblique-like strategies (yes, thank you, Brian Eno). The central premise of this activity is that fun and profundity can exist side by side. The weird, the wondrous, the funny and the poignant will pop up from the pages of the books you will be flipping through. After 35 minutes of scavenging, we will gather to write a response, using what we’ve discovered.
Location: Koerner Fireplace (Walter C. Koerner Library - 1958 Main Mall)
Date & Time: Thursday, October 15 – 3.00-4.30PM PT
- Date:
- Thursday, October 29, 2026
- Time:
- 3:00pm - 4:30pm
- Location:
- Koerner Library
- Audience:
- All All UBC Students Community
- Categories:
- Writer-in-Residence
- Presenter(s):
- Kevin Spenst
Writer-in-Residence
Kevin Spenst (he/him) is a poet, editor, performer, musician, and chapbook artist whose multidisciplinary practice explores the intersections of language, community, and creative expression. He is the author of four full-length poetry collections and nineteen chapbooks. His forthcoming book, Stanley Park Manor: A Collective History (Anvil Press, fall 2026), brings together lyric essays, neighbour interviews, and personal narratives to create a layered portrait of place and community. He is also a Poetry Mentor with The Writer’s Studio at Simon Fraser University, located on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, where he lives with Cheryl Rossi.