Charlie Wilkins to Row the Atlantic

It's all on the net - check out rocexpedition.com.

In his e mail , local author, Charlie Wilkins, said, " I am gradually getting ready... lots of training. The crossing was originally set to happen in early 2010, but for a number of reasons -- chiefly that the boat wasn't ready -- is now happening next December. Which is extremely good from my perspective, in that it gives me the time I need to get ready. It's a very demanding expedition, and I was aware by mid-autumn that I wasn't going to be nearly as fit as I'm going to have to be to properly contribute. So, I was secretly very happy about the delay, although some of the crew (who'd been training much longer than I have) weren't so thrilled. The boat will be ready by May, but because of the threat of hurricanes we can't cross till December. We're going to do an ocean trial in July, around Long Island and Manhattan, which will allow for some real experience and for the crew to work together and get to know one another.

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS

For Christmas, my sister sent me a 2010 Group of Seven calendar. I am marking it up already. Here are two workshop dates for the new year.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Holly Haggerty will present “The Rule of Three
(And Other Numerically-Linked Writing Concepts)”
7 – 9 pm in the Waverley Library Auditorium

Saturday, March 6
Dr. Bruce Meyer will present “Making Writing Visual”
2 – 4 pm in the Waverley Library Auditorium

NOWW Readings -

Tuesday, January 26
New Year’s resolutions, promises, game plans, and plots
Making resolutions is a cleansing ritual of self-assessment and repentance that demands personal honesty
and, ultimately reinforces humility. Breaking them is part of the cycle. ~Eric Zorn

Tuesday, February 23
Predictions, proclamations, predicaments, and premonitions
Remember, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.
~Dale Carnegie

Tuesday, March 23
Successes, failures, milestones, and defeats
If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.
~Thomas Edison

All readings are held at 7 p.m. in the Fireside Room at the Brodie Resource Library,
6 Brodie Street, Thunder Bay.

Canada Reads

The books are at the starting gate and the race is on!

Good to a Fault by Marina Endicott published by Freehand Books Defended by Simi Sara

Nikolski by Nicolas Dickner, translated by Lazer Lederhendler published byVintage/Random House of Canada. Defended by Michel Vézina

Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture by Douglas Coupland published by St. Martin's Press/H. B. Fenn and Company Defended by Roland Pemberton aka Cadence Weapon

The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy published by Douglas & McIntyre Defended by Samantha Nutt

Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald published by Vintage/Random House of Canada Defended by Perdita Felicien

I have not read Nilolshki but from among the others, my personal hands down fav is The Jade Peony by the incomparable Wayson Choy.

Haiku Contest Winners

Summer of 2009 and a haiku contest sponsored by the Thunder Bay International Fine Arts Association. Here are the winning haiku. Congratulations to the winners.
First Place: Brian Philips
Loons call hauntingly
Dark shadows cross pinked waters
Lakeland dusk descends

Second Place: Vernon Hunt
Bitter morning frost
Biting at autumn flowers
Petals softly fall

Third Place: Donna Paterson
Up soars the balloon
On high to that Netherland ---
Where joy ropes the clouds

Honorable Mention:

Marianne De Crescenzo
What sky filled with diamonds
Above the young reeds in pond
In their dark, still place

Nobu Harada
Morning rain
Issei left all wishes
On butterburs

Krystyna Hardiejowski
A bird flying high
Breaking the dawn’s bleak silence
For all those who dream

Harvey Jenkins
Evening falconry
Shadow settles on my arm
Then rides the dark sky

Marissa Kuper
A warm summer breeze
Lifting up your skirt to show…
Strawberry panties

Kelly Lamanes
Eternal hunger
Let’s fire up the barbeque
Honey garlic ribs

Shoji Matsumoto
Lightning after lightning –
A slide show à la monochrome
With thunders as BGM

Kyoko Oyakawa
Wondering myself
Will my son see the same moon
When tomorrow comes

Telling Stories at the Writers' Circle

Last night at Brodie Library a few members of the Writers' Circle met for a Chirstmas get-to-gether and we began to tell wild animal tales, which I believe is a uniquely northern pastime.

Bear stories, moose encounters , a weasel tale--anecdote followed anecdote. There was the weasel done in by the household cat after a wild battle which left a permanent v shaped notch in the cat's ear, the bear who dragged the barrel of sunflower seeds away from the house before eating them in the bush, the determined bear that crushed cans of peas and peaches with its paws and bit into them emptying the contents, the wolf who trotted down Bay Steet and the country dog that got skunk-sprayed, the incident seen by everyone inside the camp during a flash of lightening. The weasel in the cook tent was tolerated by the cook because it kept down the mice. Mama bear sent her cub into the shed to bring out the bags of garbage stored for pick-up day. Everyone in the north has a selection of animal stories.

Keith Johnson had brought along some old comic poems, including The Face on the Bar Room Floor, a poem I had heard of but never heard. Goodies and coffee ended the evening.

The Writers Circle usually meets at Waverley Library once a month on a Wednesday. All welcome.

Attention Writers of Northern Ontario

If you have a work in progress, read on...
Announcing the Writers' Works in Progress Northern Competition !$!

The Ontario Arts Council Writers' Works in Progress grant (usually $12,000) is the Literature Office's large subsistence grant to professional writers engaged in a
book-length literary project.

Over the years, the WIP program has supported many established and emerging Ontario writers, and has been the financial foundation for many a published book.

While the program does its job quite well, it has not always been able to
attract its fair share of applications from Ontario's northern regions.

In an attempt to address this regional imbalance, the Literature Office has
secured an amount of money separate from the regular Works in Progress
budget to run a one-year pilot program involving one extra Works in Progress
deadline restricted to writers who live and work in Ontario's northern
regions.

The deadline for this Northern Competition is January 25, 2010, and grant
decisions will be made, and cheques awarded before the end of March 2010.

Full details about the Northern Competition, including application forms,
guidelines, and the OAC's defined northern regions -- Northeast Ontario,
Northwest Ontario and the Far North -- can be found at the following URL on
the OAC website:

http://www.arts.on.ca/Page3612.aspx

Please spread the word on this dedicated deadline to everyone you know
living and working in Ontario's North.

Thank you, and stay warm.

John Degen Literature Officer Responsable de la littérature
Ontario Arts Council Conseil des arts de l'Ontario
http://www.facebook.com/l/588f5;www.arts.on.ca

The Best of Books, The Worst of Books - 2009

This is a book which should not be tossed lightly aside. It should be hurled across the room. Dorothy Parker.

Your reading in 2009 - send us the best and the worst. If you hated The Time Travellers Wife as much as I did, please add your vote and any others that occur. Or your disagreements. The book does not have to be published this year. Send in the name of a classic you enjoyed - or not.

Send comments, praise and invective to jbaril@tbaytel.net

A Non Fiction Xmas

Some un-fictitious suggestions - all available at the Northern Woman's Bookshop

A wonderful Book Launch was held recently featuring Thunder Bay author, SUSAN GOLDBERG, who with CHLOE BRUSHWOOD ROSE co-edited AND BABY MAKES MORE: Known Donors, Queer Parents, and Our Unexpected Families. AND BABY MAKES MORE “explores the role of the ‘known donor’ in the queer family structure: what happens when would-be dyke moms or gay dads ask a friend or acquaintance to donate sperm or an egg, or to act as a surrogate? A quirky, funny, and occasionally heartbreaking collection of personal essays, this book offers an intimate look at the relative risks and unexpected rewards of queer, do-it-yourself baby-making, and the ways in which families are re-made in the process.”

A book of great local interest, containing beautiful photographs has just arrived. Barbara Lesperance’s HISTORY OF SILVER ISLET AND ITS GARDENS will be enjoyed not only by those who have links to Silver Islet but by all gardeners.

SOCIETIES OF PEACE; Matriarchies Past Present and Future, edited by Heide Goettner-Abendroth, is described by Angela Miles (author of Integrative Feminisms) as “a powerful life-affirming political book. Deep personal and academic knowledge of, and reflection on, surviving matriarchal elements in some contributors’ own Indigenous
cultures and archaeological accounts of lost cultures by others, shape the book’s ambitious and fully realized theoretical and political project. The global dialogues and solidarities among women reflected in this book, as much as its inspiring content, give us hope that this new world is possible.”

DAILY STRUGGLES: The Deepening Racialization and Feminization of Poverty in Canada, edited by Maria A. Wallis and Siu-ming Kwok “offers a unique, critical perspective on poverty by highlighting gender and race analysis simultaneously..... this book connects human rights, political economy perspectives, and citizenship issues to the other areas of social exclusion.”

RESTORING THE BALANCE: First Nations Women, Community and Culture is edited by Gail Guthrie Valaskasis, Madeline Dion Stout, and Eric Guimond. RESTORING THE BALANCE “brings to light the work First Nations women perform in cultural continuity and community development. It illustrates the challenges and successes they have had in areas of law, politics, education, community healing, language, and art, while suggesting significant options for sustained improvement of individual, family and community well-being.”

In FIREKEEPERS OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY: FIRST NATION WOMEN CHIEFS, the author CORA VOYAGEUR presents information about sixty-four women chiefs. “She analyses what inspired them to become leaders, how they have determined and maintained their priorities... FIRE KEEPERS examines the unique experience of First Nations women as they negotiate multiple roles and navigate the worlds of gender, race, and reserve politics.”

Burning Books Press

A light show of flaming comets dropping to earth and paintings on the walls created the multi media atmosphere at last night's launch of Definitely Superior's publishing venture burning.books.press.

Add in a table of candles (igniting the flame for the literary arts) , three galleries of sculpture, photography and art works, including miraculous baskets made of wasps nests, walking dresses made of paper, plus food, drink, poetry readings, a few short speeches, a video and lots of music including songs by Shy-Ann Hovorka, the Ukeladies and Jamie Smith of the Auditor General.

Two new Definitely Superior zines, Dieactive and Squeeze, were for sale.

burning.book.press is a three year pilot project funded by the Ontario Arts Council which will also provide a consultant to get the venture off on a good start. The ship is launched, ready for an exciting voyage. Good luck to the good ship burning.books.press.

Check this blog below for submission information to their first book, a compilation titled "Fuel".

"When you pass me on the street, at a crosswalk or on a corner, slow your step. I will leave the breath of a songbird in your coat pocket." from a poem by Ashleigh Gehl in the zine "Squeeze."

The Last Best Places

Storytelling about Thunder Bay's Historic Buildings by Tania L. Saj.

Just out for all you history buffs, lovers of Thunder Bay and those who want to buy a Xmas present for the history buffs on your list. A celebration of Thunder Bay's historic buildings along with rare photos, voices from the past and commentary by Tania Saj, researcher extraordinaire. Remember brunch at the Royal Eddie, the dots on pagoda, the bear in the basement in the Mariaggi, the double feature at the Lyceum, the old castle-style schools? PACI? OK, no more nostalgia. This good looking book is available at Chapters and Northern Woman's Bookstore.

Ignite the flame for the Literary Arts

DEFINITELY SUPERIOR ART GALLERY'S

burning.books.press

PUBLISHING HOUSE LAUNCH

Saturday, December 12, 2009 @ 7pm

~Igniting the flame for the literary arts!



Experience one red-hot sultry and celebratory night at Definitely Superior Art Gallery's PUBLISHING HOUSE LAUNCH PARTY! A new publishing house that will serve Northwestern Ontario and hundreds of literary artists with generous support from the Ontario Arts Council. Featuring!-the official unveiling of the inspiring new name of our publishing house: burning.books.press, and the launch and sale of the 1st issues of our "Die Active" and "Squeeze" Zines that premiered at the 2009 Toronto CanZine Festival.


Enjoy a varied spectrum of award-winning word and song that will entice and delight! Featuring music by: Shy-Anne Hovorka, Vov Abraxas, Solomon, Jamie Smith of The Auditor General, Jess Horricks, and The Ukeladies; as well as author readings by: Duncan Weller, Dr. Scott Pound, Taina Maki Chahal, Sara Mackie, Chris Roy, Rick Fedorick, Douglas Livingston, Mary Frost, Chris Waite, Marianne Jones, Kaitlyn Khubyar, and Katie-Ann Berube. Plus: guest speakers-including an OAC rep, publication submission info, fire juggling by Eric The Juggler, video projections, and refreshments with arty servers dealing out treats! All ages/by donation.

Xmas Time is Here by Golly...

Book suggested by the Northern Woman's Bookstore. Here are their picks in fiction.

ALICE MUNRO, recipient of this year’s Mann Booker prize, gives us TOO MUCH HAPPINESS, while multi-award winner MARGARET ATWOOD returns with THE YEAR OF THE FLOOD. Each of these books has received glowing reviews, and rather than repeat the reviews I’ll simply say READ THE BOOKS.

Radiant, richly layered and timeless, THE WINTER VAULT is the eagerly anticipated new novel by ANNE MICHAELS, author of the internationally celebrated long-time best seller FUGITIVE PIECES. “Vivid in its descriptions of both the physical and emotional worlds of its characters, this breathtaking, deeply moving novel reveals the inescapability of memories, the devastation of loss, and the restorative powers of love.”

Her first novel since the Giller Prize winning A GOOD HOUSE ten years ago, BONNIE BURNARD’S new novel SUDDENLY is a poignant story of three friends as they recover their shared past and face an uncertain future. Some will find this novel emotionally difficult, but the beauty of the prose is so compelling you will want to accompany these three women on their journey.

Readers who love the work of BARBARA KINGSOLVER will be pleased to discover her new novel THE LACUNA, which is described as “a rich and daring work of literature, establishing its author as one of the most provocative and important of her time.”

Although I haven’t read THE GIRLS, everyone I know who has says it is marvellous. I will say that I absolutely loved LORI LANSENS’ new novel THE WIFE’S TALE. On the eve of their 25th wedding anniversary, Mary Gooch’s husband runs away (despite having helped planned the anniversary party). After the initial shock Mary decides to go looking for him, and thus embarks on an adventure, the result being that Mary finds herself. Read this wonderful TALE and smile.

A novel about Aristotle and Alexander the Great -- Really? Well, THE GOLDEN MEAN by ANNABEL LYON is that novel and it is garnering great praise! Short-listed for the Giller, the Governor General’s Award, and the Writers Trust Fiction Prize, THE GOLDEN MEAN is described as “An exhilarating book, both brilliant and profound”.

CHIMIMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE’s first two magnificent novels, PURPLE HIBISCUS and HALF OF A YELLOW SUN, provide a portrait of the author’s country, Nigeria. In her new book of stories, THE THING AROUNG YOUR NECK, Adichie’s penetrating insight is turned not only Africa but also America. “Searing and profound, suffused with beauty, sorrow, and longing, these stories map, with Adichie’s signature emotional wisdom, the collision of two cultures and the deeply human struggle to reconcile them.”

Fans of SARAH WATERS, “one of the finest and most exciting novelists writing today” will be delighted with THE LITTLE STRANGER, “a nuanced evocation of 1940’s England and the most chill-inducing novel of psychological suspense in years.”

Artery flows on

I dreamed of returning home last night, A dreamscape of sight and sounds...
From the poem Sleep-Walker by Megan DeRoover, published in the 2009 Artery.

I'm not good at much, but I'll think you under the table. From the poem napkin poetry - the ismization of civilization by Edward Pugliese

The launch of issue 4 of Lakehead University's literary magazine The Artery was held at the university last Friday. A warm welcome included the reading of poetry both new and old, and the best hot chocolate in town. The magazine is full of interesting, odd, lovely, intriguing stuff, a typical lit mag. A small, neat package which fits well in the hand, it's cover drawing, a collage of art deco pens by Callen Banning, extends the literary theme. Congrats to Paula Theissen for the imaginative design and a big "gosh, this is good!" to The Artery collective headed by Tamar Ibrahim, Jessica Brinkman and Sean Divine.

Students at L.U., faculty and alumnae can submit their writing at any time but a formal call for submissions will issue forth in February. Watch this space.

A Short Interview with Hazel Fulford

Joan. A new book, a book of short stories called Wabigoon Burning and Other Stories. What made you chose Wabigoon as your theme?

Hazel. Oh, oh. Must a short story collection have a theme? This one doesn't. It is made up of fiction (Part One) and non fiction (Part Two) published in various places over the years. Two new stories, recently completed, are exceptions. I chose Wabigoon Burning as the title story because it makes a neat title. However, I did grow up in Wabigoon, and that place, as it was then, does creep into the settings of several of my stories

Joan. Interesting structure, a fiction/non-fiction split.Does Wabigoon burn?

Hazel: Part of it burned all one night in 1930. Passing train crews saw the blaze, and soon telegraph operators were sending Morse messages up and down the line:"Wabigoon Burning, Wabigoon Burning.." Villagers worked all night to save the General Store that stood next to a burning hotel. This is a true story but I gave it a fictional ending.

Joan:Anything else you would like to say about the book?

Hazel: The locale ranges from the wilds of Northwestern Ontario to the deserts of Arizona. The characters are children, retirees, and the aged. A few characters, in one story, are nice people who are gradually led into a life of crime..

Joan: You have been writing the northwestern Ontario scene for some time. Anything other projects on your plate?

Hazel: This collection was to have been my swan song However, one more idea has entered the picture as a maybe - still in the embryo stage.

Short short by Jim Foulds

Fast Hands

The coach called him off the ice.
"You can't skate worth shit can you, Johnston?"
"No, sir."
"They tell me you've got a fast mouth."
"Yes, sir."
"And fast hands"
"I think so, sir."
"You like this game?"
"Oh, yes, sir!"
"You want to try goal?'
"Okay, sir."
"Go strap on the pads."
"YES, SIR!"
"Oh don't be grateful, kid. Nobody else wants the job."

This delightful story of 66 words was first published in The Artery, Autumn 2008.

Hazel Fulford's Newest.

Wabigoon Burning and Other Stories

Hazel Fulford, a highly regarded Thunder Bay writer, has just published Wabigoon Burning and Other Stories.

The launch is pending. Wabigoon Burning is, at this time, available at Kijiji, at The Bookcase in Dryden, and from the author at fulhouse3@shaw.ca or 807-345-8325.

Just in time for Xmas! Keep an eye out for Hazel's other books
...The Gold Rock Letters: Secrets of Watson's Point
...The Morrisseau Papers: An Inside Story
... When Trains Stopped in Dinorwic
...Yellow Brick Roads to Gold Rock: Chasing the Dream

Submit to Squeeze Zine

SQUEEZE Zine ~ Submission Guidelines:

SQUEEZE is a Zine supported by Definitely Superior Art Gallery.

We welcome contributions from throughout the region of Northwestern Ontario

With new OAC funding, submissions accepted by SQUEEZE will now be paid a professional artist fee.

Like other Zines, SQUEEZE Zine is a less formal/more casual publication, put together with less editing work than books/magazines, and is printed with a black & white inside and a glossy colour cover.

SQUEEZE Zine is especially unique/interesting, because the artists in the SQEEZE Zine collective create the publication, from submissions they’ve selected in whatever form that they arrived, cutting/pasting/collaging them together literally by hand rather than computer.

SQUEEZE Zine covers a broad range of topics, from contemporary to experimental writing including: poetry, short prose -fiction/non-fiction (not historical non-fiction), ephemera, social theory, short graphic works/novels, visual art (stand alone or combined with writing, e.g. art+design/comics/photography/drawing/illustration etc.), and content far enough outside of the mainstream to be prohibitive of inclusion in more traditional media.

If you would like to further consider SQUEEZE’s editorial focus before submitting, you’re invited to review a past issue at the gallery.

Submission Requirements:
No more than 4 submissions, with author name on each submission, and a total submission length of no more than 4 pages. Each submission should be no more than 2 pages.
When meeting page length guidelines, please note SQUEEZE PAGES ARE SMALLER THAN STANDARD, SO SUBMISSIONS SHOULD BE FORMATTED so that the text and/or visual art itself is no more than 6” wide and 7.5” high on one page, with 10 pt. minimum font. (TO ENSURE FIT: CHANGE YOUR PAPER SIZE to 8.5 in. high and 7 in. wide, with minimum 0.5 in. margins.)

Email submissions must be submitted as an attachment, saved in Rich Text Format. All visual art should, either be emailed to us in jpeg format, or dropped off/mailed to gallery.

Squeeze Zine is not copyedited, which means that submissions are not edited, and the form in which submission document(s) arrive is likely same way that they would appear on a page within the body of the Zine. Thus, the person submitting is responsible for their submission’s legibility/spelling/grammar. Handwritten/drawn submissions are accepted but must be legible and fit the paper size (see 2.).

Include, in the body of your email (or on a separate page if submitting by hard copy), YOUR FULL CONTACT INFO (i.e. your name, mailing address, email address & phone number), a LIST OF TITLES FOR ALL SUBMITTED WORKS, and information about your RESIDENCY in Northwestern Ontario (see submission eligibility above).

How to submit:

...email to: squeezebbp@tbaytel.net [*each gallery publication has its own email, please do not combine submissions for different publications into the same email*]

...or drop off at: Definitely Superior Art Gallery (open Tues-Sat/12-6pm),

...or mail to: Definitely Superior Art Gallery, 250 Park Ave, Suite 101, PO Box 21015, Thunder Bay, ON; P7A 8A9. [*no submissions by facebook please*]

Please address your submission to: ATTN: Rick Fedorick, Editor, SQUEEZE Zine

The deadline is Sat. Dec. 12/09.

OPEN AN ARTERY

Publishing and literary activity in Thunder Bay just flows along...

The English Students Association invites you to The Artery Launch Party
Friday, December 4th at 8:00 pm at The Study.

Come out and celebrate as we unveil our long-awaited, much-anticipated literary magazine. Contributors will have the opportunity to come up on stage and read their own material from the magazine. The mic will be open to anyone who wishes to participate so, if you have a favourite poem, come up on stage and share it with us. The night is yours! There’s a $5.00 cover charge, which includes a copy of The Artery’s current issue. We’ll also be selling previous issues from last year’s submissions. This will be the ESA’s last event of the semester so you won’t want to miss it. Come be a part of the fun! We look forward to seeing you!
For more information please contact us at luartery@lakeheadu.ca