Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Vertigo with Beach, Bautz, Harris and Villalta

Great entertainment at the Vertigo Series on Monday night — readers from Alberta and Saskatchewan, with music from El Salvador. 

I try to attend this monthly event in Regina, Saskatchewan, to cheer on the writers (this week Kimmy Beach, Sheila Bautz and Susan Harris), and see what treats host Tara Dawn Solheim has in store for us. 

And so musician Danilo Villalta was a wonderful surprise. 

An artist, poet and researcher of traditional Central American music, Villalta is currently in Regina with his collection of hand-crafted ocarinas, clay wind instruments that capture the sound of wind, birds and trees, and echo with eerie resonances. 

(And yes, he made these himself... He demonstrates the process in a YouTube video on making ocarinas. And yes, I understand Spanish, so his performance made me very happy.)

L: Hand-crafted clay ocarina, made by Danilo Villalta, playing at R. © SB

And the writers were also highly entertaining, just as I'd hoped...

Kimmy Beach (she's the Alberta guest) read several pieces, including "The Last Temptation of Miss Moneypenny" (a tale of virtual reality simulation from The Last Temptation of Bond...) Well, let's just say, Hot.

Kimmy Beach reads Bond. James Bond. © SB

Susan Harris read from her new history of (and eulogy for) the Canadian penny, Little Copper Coins. (Good to meet you, Susan!)

And Sheila Bautz read from Walking the Cutline, her in-progress memoir/investigative non-fiction book on workplace safety laws and the work-related death of her husband.

(If memoir/investigation is not a category yet, it should be! And good to see you again, Sheila!)

In all, a fascinating evening with a wide range of creative talents on display, and thought-provoking stories to tell — in English, Spanish and more.
Sheila Bautz
Susan Harris
  ~~~~~

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Saskatchewan Book Awards: Regina Reading

Today's book pix: Allison Kydd and Garrett Wilson at the reading of their 2013 Saskatchewan Book Award short-listed books on Saturday in Regina, with SBA director Carol Todd.

Garrett Wilson, Allison Kydd,  Carol Todd; photo © Shelley Banks; all rights reserved.
Garrett Wilson, Allison Kydd, 
Carol Todd © SB

Kydd's Emily Via the Greyhound Bus, published by Thistledown Press, is up for a First Book Award; Wilson's In the Temple of the Rain God, published by CPRC Press, is a contender in three categories: Non-Fiction Award, Regina Book Award, and the Publishing Award.

A third short-listed author, Heather Smith (Hansen-Ross Pottery, Moose Jaw Museum and Art Gallery), was snow-bound elsewhere; Todd read an excerpt of her work, which is also in the running for the Publishing Award.

The Awards will be held in Regina, September 27, 2013. For tickets and information, visit the Saskatchewan Book Awards site.

~~~~~

Saturday, March 23, 2013

J. Jill Robinson, Katherine Lawrence, and friends

Writers J. Jill Robinson and Katherine Lawrence read from new and published work at Luther College, University of Regina, this week. 

My thanks to their host, poet/teacher Gerry Hill, for inviting others to join students from his English and Creative Writing classes to hear Jill's and Katherine's poetry and fiction!   

J. Jill Robinson and Katherine Lawrence. © SB

J. Jill Robinson, who now lives in Banff, has four collections of short stories and a new novel, More in Anger. 

Katherine Lawrence, now a resident of Regina, has two poetry collections, Ring Finger, Left Hand and Lying to Our Mothers

And what a great audience, too, of amazing fellow writers, a few of whom are in the photo below... 

Katherine Lawrence and J. Jill Robinson with, R to L:
Sandra Birdsell, Marlis Wesseler and Dianne Warren. 
© SB

Photo note: The black backdrop? This
classroom blackboard. The gray? Well, yes, fake...) 


~~~~~

Thursday, March 21, 2013

The Youngest Poet at Regina's Vertigo Series

A treat from last fall at Regina's Vertigo Reading Series: the début of one of Saskatchewan's youngest poets.

For those who missed it, Dominic — who would tell you that he is now 6 and a half — gave an impromptu performance of his poem, "One, Two, Let's Go to the Zoo!", followed by a rap he made up at school. (He created Zoo with his mom while running errands in the city. And yes, she's given permission to use his photo and first name here.)

He recited both from memory, with a little help from picture cue cards drawn by his sister, since he couldn't yet read.

One, Two, Let's Go to the Zoo!       © SB

There were other very talented readers and writers that evening (Anne McDonald, David Sealy, Coby Stephenson, and P.J. Worrell, with music by Shandee Noble), but Dominic's radiant smile captured the greatest applause.  

The next Vertigo Series features readings by Kimmy Beach, Sheila Bautz and Susan Harris, with music by Danilo Villalta of El Salvador. That's at 7:30 p.m., Monday, March 25, 2013, at Crave (1925 Victoria Avenue, Regina, Saskatchewan).

All welcome! (Truly, these are open, fun and public events at which writers and musicians share their work. For more info about past and upcoming events, see Vertigo's webpage, http://vertigoreadingseries.wordpress.com/, or track down the host, Tara Dawn Solheim.)

~~~~~

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

A Geography of Blood: Candace Savage

"The boundary between the banal and the momentous is often eerily thin," Candace Savage writes in her award-winning new book, A Geography of Blood: Unearthing Memory from a Prairie Landscape (Greystone Books, 2012).  

I love the prairies. However, perhaps because I'm relatively new to Saskatchewan (in one way, though in another, not new at all) — I have little sense of the history of recent settlement here.

To read Geography of Blood was for me to become immersed in a past so recent and violent, it felt it must belong to a completely different dimension. But it's ours. And it's shared by the wider world beyond the Cypress Hills country of Saskatchewan.
"The stories the hills have to tell are bigger than their pinpoint settings, larger than 'X marks the spot' on a map. At different times, in different ways, what happened here also happened everywhere else across the North American plains, from the Llano Estacado to the Grande Prairie. The Cypress Hills are a landscape that connects all the dots and offers its teachings to even the most fretful and unwitting of pilgrims."   
There is also great beauty and ....
"Better to go outdoors. Better to see the flash of warblers in the willows, to smell the spicy aroma of sage, to hear the bright gurgle of the creek as it speeds under the footbridge. Better just to be here and try to accept the solace of this land that refuses to let us forget."  
For an excerpt of Candace Savage's Geography of Blood, visit Greystone. And look for Candace Savage at Moose Jaw's Festival of Words this summer (2013).

 ~~~~~~

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Spring into Spring with Spring! reading

My autographed Spring. 
The 2013 issue of Spring, the Saskatchewan Writers Guild magazine promoting the work of emerging Saskatchewan writers, was launched tonight with twin events in Regina and Saskatoon.

The Regina launch featured poetry readings by contributors Linda Biasotto, James Trettwer, Courtney Bates, and Tara Dawn Solheim, with a short story by contributor P.J. Worrell. Managing editor (and poetry editor) gillian harding-russell hosted the evening, and artist Becky Thera, whose embroided piece appeared on the cover, also attended.

(And yes, it is time for Spring! Tomorrow, March 20, marks the equinox, when the sun crosses the equator heading north. And here, that's the beginning of Spring.)

Here are the members of the Regina Spring crew:

Spring! L-R: Debra Bell, Tara Dawn Solheim, P.J. Worrell, Becky Thera,
James Trettwer, gillian harding-russell, Linda Biasotto and Courtney Bates.

Spring 2013 also features work by Debra Bell, Belinda Betker, Lesley Washington, Brenda Peters, Cindy Clarke, Vijay Kachru, Julia Serena Ready, Micheal Chouinard, Carla Richards and Merrill Edlund. And, the Saskatoon launch was hosted by fiction and non-fiction editor, Sandy Marie Bonny. 

Copies of Spring are available from the Saskatchewan Writers Guild. (And congrats to all contributors! Great issue, gillian!)

~~~~~

Friday, March 15, 2013

Talking Fresh 2013: Writing Canada

The Saskatchewan Writers Guild event last week, Talking Fresh 2013: Writing Canada, was highly entertaining. Good to see so many people — and the participants (Kimmy Beach, Joel Thomas Hynes, Noah Richler and Chrystene Ells) were great!

Some snaps from the evening readings:

From top left: Joel Thomas Hynes, Noah Richler, Kimmy Beach. photo, SB
From top left: Joel Thomas Hynes,
Noah Richler, Kimmy Beach. © SB 

Talking Fresh panel: Kimmy Beach, Noah Richler, Shelley Banks (moderator)
Chrystene Ells, and Joel Thomas Hynes. 

~~~~~

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Happy Pi Day — with Life of Pi

Waiting for Pi... © SB
To celebrate Pi Day (March 14... applying the first three digits of pi, 3.14, to the month.day date format...), here I am — early at the theatre, waiting for the Oscar-Award winning Life of Pi to start.

And yes, Pi really knows pi! Blackboards and blackboards full of pi!

The movie is based on the novel, Life of Pi, by Saskatoon writer Yann Martel, so its wins were the high point of Oscar viewing at the February writers retreat in Muenster, Saskatchewan.

This movie is also in 3D, hence the very large plastic glasses I am wearing, while waiting...

(I get hits on my blog each year for Pi Day, likely because of a Pi Day poem I used to have posted here, so I feel compelled to provide these random souls searching for "pome about pi day" and "creative poem about pi" with fresh updated content. And, to the person searching for "pi day poem villanelle" — congrats! Best search yet. Could be fun to read — though I won't be writing that one...)

~~~~~

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Marie Powell: A SubTerrain Lush Contest Winner

Marie Powell © SB
Congrats to Regina writer Marie Powell for her latest success, this time in SubTerrain magazine's 2012 Lush Triumphant contest!

Marie was named Runner-up in the Lush fiction category for her story, "Grid Lines."

Winners are published in the current issue of SubTerrain, #63 (on newsstands now, or available through the literary journal's website).

Congrats as well to the other winners (Carleigh Baker, Ashley-Elizabeth Best, Julia Zarankin and Susan Musgrave, aka my MFA thesis supervisor at the University of B.C.).

~~~~~

Saturday, March 2, 2013

June Mitchell: and i think to myself

Regina poet, June Mitchell. photo © Shelley Banks
Regina poet, June Mitchell. © SB
June Mitchell launched her new poetry collection, and i think to myself, to music and a standing ovation from the 80 people gathered in Regina today to congratulate and wish her well. (And buy the book!)

Mitchell, who is well known in local literary circles (among many others), writes about life from birth through old age, with stops along the way at peace, protests, going topless and more.
June Mitchell's poetry is a celebration of life — hers, and all of ours. Her poems positively crackle with the joy of a life well-lived. — Dave Margoshes, from the back cover of and i think to myself.   
Perhaps an autobiography in verse. Accessible, entertaining and thoughtful, full of June Mitchell's irrepressible love, humour — and yes, joy.

   what happened to the girl who
   stood immovable while bullets flew
   would gladly trade her
   reputation for a burning kiss
   threw poison phrases at omnipotence

   guardians of the prematurely old
   fill her with a head of steam
   to lift her off her bench
   send her like a rocket 
   into the world     spitting stars until 
   there's nothing left of her
   but joy. 

Congrats, June!

and i think to myself is available through the Saskatchewan Publishers Group and other locations.

Regina poet Bernadette Wagner, June Mitchell's
daughter-in-law, hosted the launch. 
© SB

June Mitchell, reading poems from her book
to a capacity crowd.   © SB

~~~~~

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