London Poetry Slam

For the first time, London Poetry Slam is proud to partner with the Austen Berlet Campout for Mental Health on Saturday March 28th, 2015 in Victoria Park. We welcome poets to join our set from 5-6pm (please email [email protected] or contact us via social media if you wish to share a poem).

More about ABCampout:

“One in five Canadians are affected by mental illness, and that number jumps to 1 in 3 for Canadian students, and it #CouldBeMe. In 2009, it was Austen Berlet; an intelligent, devoted, and loving brother of Phi Gamma Delta with a bright future, who took his own life as a result of his bipolar disorder. We hold this event in his memory, and to generate awareness about mental illness for the Western and London communities, and raise money for the Canadian Mental Health Association.

Austen was a bright, beautiful person. He could never sit still, and he almost never stopped talking; he was the definition of lively. The only thing that surpassed his unbelievable skateboarding skills was perhaps his intellect. He used his passion for theoretical physics to attend a summer program at Perimeter Institute during the summer after grade 12, and even publish a paper entitled “The Formulation of Einstein Field Equation Through Curved Newtonian Space-Time” through the University of Texas while he was still in high school. We are all a little like Austen, and Austen was a lot like the rest of us.

ABCampout happens on March 28th, starting at 12pm, at Victoria Park, London. It’s a 24-hour event; we will be there all night, so bring your tents and help us keep warm, but you may also come and go as you please. Enjoy a day (and night) of fantastic local speakers/performers, great food, and amazing conversation with Western students and London residents alike. There’s also a Mental Health Walk around Victoria park during the event, a silent auction with some incredible items by our wonderful sponsors, and open fields for sporting events.

Last year, we were able to raise over $17,000 for the CMHA, and this year, our hopes are even higher. See you there!”