Port Alberni poet Rachelle Mecca will be the featured reader at the next Electric Mermaid live reading event at Char’s Landing on Wednesday, Aug. 30.
Mecca is a poet living in Port Alberni who creates poetic art while running her tea shop, MeccaTea. She says she was first bit by the poetry bug in 2008 when she was 12 years old, inspired by music she listened to. She discovered her “voice” as a writer in 2014 through a Writer’s Craft class in high school. When she moved to British Columbia in 2019, she began to connect with the spirit of the land and, along with her love for tea, reflect deeper inside. She began using writing as a spiritual lifeline.
She has self-published two books of poetry: a collection of works all composed during 2020 (Chaos of Tao) and 2021 (Reverse Cycle, Repeat), and is currently finishing her third book of poetry composed in 2022 (Emptiness of the Way).
Mecca says her books express her journey throughout the year, with themes of nature, consciousness, worldly events, love, mental health, and tea. Mecca speaks with musicality, intent and a stylistic flair reminiscent of Freddie Mercury, with lines to shock the senses.
“Poetry to me is a journey,” she says. “It’s not just the sweet tales of finely crafted words. It’s a sensation that takes me by brute force, making me grab a pen and jot down the lines beginning to formulate in my mind. Write, or else I’ll crumble into despair over having missed a golden opportunity to preserve this moment that struck my heart.”
With host and emcee Derek Hanebury’s literary guidance, plus a host of authors through the open mic, Electric Mermaid promises to keep poetry and prose fans engaged.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and open mic runs from 6-8 p.m. Admission is $10. See www.charslanding.com/events to pre-register for the readers’ list and to select the optional Zoom link. Char’s Landing is located at 4815 Argyle St. in the former church at Fifth Avenue.