Two Currents Meet in Ottawa: Mekyle Ali Qadir Launches Crescendo at Octopus Books July 7, 2026 – Posted in: Highlights, Poetry, Readings & Excerpts

Some launches announce a book; others announce a voice. The launch of Crescendo, Mekyle Ali Qadir’s debut poetry collection with Mawenzi House on June 29, 2026, at the Mauril-Bélanger Social Innovation Workshop (The Atelier) in Ottawa was firmly the latter. The evening drew more than forty readers, writers, scholars, family and friends, with thirty copies of the collection finding new shelves by night’s end. Mekyle opened with a reading of the collection’s introduction, “Two Currents,”…