George McWhirter, on the job as Vancouver's first poet laureate for a month now, spreads his wings–and his message that verse is for all–with a free talk about the places that have inspired his writing next Thursday (April 19) at UBC Robson Square (800 Robson Street) at 6 p.m. The campus setting is fitting; McWhirter headed UBC's creative-writing program for a decade, and has been associated with the university's PRISM magazine since 1968. For info about Off the Street: The Verse Beneath My Feet, phone 604-822-5812.