Literary Thunder Bay: A meditation on vacant lots by Margaret R. Cunningham

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

A meditation on vacant lots by Margaret R. Cunningham

AN EMPTY LOT

An empty lot

It means a lot

When you're a tot.

A special place

A special space

Just us and no one else

We would gather for a ball game

or just to chat

We would dig in the sand

To fill our pails

As we dug our way to China.

No lots for tots today.

They live in tall, tall buildings

And play on balconies

Far from earth.

More like caged birds

Then humans.

No comments:

LITERARY THUNDER BAY - ALIVE AND WELL.

Literary Thunder Bay is alive and well - sort of - after being hit with strange changes to the Blogger format. I would love to hear from you. Send your stories, poems, essays, memoir, photos. Send by email to jbaril@tbaytel.net. If your work is short, put it in the body of the email. Or write in Word, send it by attachment. Please use Times New Roman font. Photos - jpeg only. Previously published work is fine.

The good news is that the new format has provided readers with an easier to use comment section.

Library Book Club Information

Dear Book Clubs,

Thank you for your patience as we work through the challenges that Covid-19 has brought to the Library. As you may have noticed we have removed access to KitKeeper from our website. We are working on a new way to provide you access to Book Clubs in a Bag, and will let you know when that is ready to be used.

In the meantime, if you have a Book Club in a Bag checked out and are finished with it, please return it to the Mary J.L. Black or Waverley Library. At the Mary J.L. Black Library you can pop it in the book drop -- if you need to take the books out of the bag that's OK, just make sure we get all the books, the bag, and the duotang. At Waverley you can return it to staff at the table Monday - Friday, 10 am - 4 pm, or though the book drop any other time.

I will be contacting you over the next few weeks if you had a bag booked for September pick up.

Take care!

Helen

New Book Bags -

Hello

We have added 4 new titles to the Book Club in a Bag collection.

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens generously donated by the Chapter One Book Club

The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe donated by the Catherine Street Book Society

The Huntress by Kate Quinn donated by the Red Rockin' Readers Book Club

Miss You by Kate Eberlen donated by the Tea and Trifles Book Club

You can reserve these by going to Kitkeeper.

A big thank you to these clubs for their generous donations. Watch for more new titles early in 2020.

Thanks

Helen

Helen Cimone

Community Hub Assistant - Collections

Mary J.L. Black Library

901 Edward Street South,

Thunder Bay, On P7E 6R2

TEL: (807)-345-8275

FAX: (807)-475-7855

EMAIL: hcimone@tbpl.ca

NOWW Workshop - upcoming

Dear NOWW Members,

As per our Schedule of Events, the LItOnTour Workshop will be held on Monday November 4, 2019. For full details and to register you will need to go to the Workshops page on our website.

The workshop is $10. and at this time is for members only. There are a limited number of spaces.

Ann wants participants to bring an assignment they can discuss in the workshop. Details to follow.

Interviewing and Profiles: Join Globe and Mail journalist and Chop Suey Nation author Ann Hui to discuss approaches to interviewing, reporting and writing magazine-style profiles.

Practice interview techniques, question-crafting, and writing scenes that capture the story about your subject.

Monday, Nov. 4, 2019.

6:30 to 8:30 at Mary JL Black Public Library

Don Parsons

NOWW Administrator

admin@nowwwriters.ca

NOWW

Box 425, 1100 Memorial Ave.,

Thunder Bay, ON

P7B 4A3

A Letter from the Book Bag Lady.

Hello Joan,

Thanks to a wonderful donation from Heather French, we were able to add 3 new great titles to our Book Club in a Bag Collection:

Bellevue Square by Michael Redhill

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

The Home for Unwanted Girls by Joanna Goodman

As always, you can reserve these new book bags, or any of the 170 plus titles by using KitKeeper

If you have any questions, please let me know by emailing.

Thanks

Helen

Helen Cimone

Community Hub Assistant - Collections

Mary J.L. Black Library

901 Edward Street South, Thunder Bay, On P7E 6R2

TEL: (807)-345-8275

FAX: (807)-475-7855

EMAIL: hcimone@tbpl.ca

WEBSITE: www.tbpl.ca

Book bags ahoy

Hello Joan,

Thanks to some generous donations, we have recently added 3 new titles to our Book Club in a Bag collection.

Forgiveness by Mark Sakamoto, generously donated by the Maplecrest Book Club
Forgiveness intertwines the compelling stories of Ralph MacLean and the Sakamoto family as the war rips their lives and their humanity out of their grasp. But somehow, despite facing such enormous transgressions against them, the two families learned to forgive. Without the depth of their forgiveness, this book's author, Mark Sakamoto, would never have existed.

The Boat People by Sharon Bala, generously donated by the Maplecrest Book Club
When a rusty cargo ship carrying Mahindan and five hundred fellow refugees from Sri Lanka's bloody civil war reaches Vancouver's shores, the young father thinks he and his six-year-old son can finally start a new life. Instead, the group is thrown into a detention processing center, with government officials and news headlines speculating that among the "boat people" are members of a separatist militant organization responsible for countless suicide attacks—and that these terrorists now pose a threat to Canada's national security. As the refugees become subject to heavy interrogation, Mahindan begins to fear that a desperate act taken in Sri Lanka to fund their escape may now jeopardize his and his son's chance for asylum.

Precious Cargo by Craig Davidson, generously donated by the GLOWS Book Club
One morning in 2008, desperate and impoverished and living in a one-room basement apartment while trying unsuccessfully to write, Davidson plucked a flyer out of his mailbox that read, "Bus Drivers Wanted." That was the first step towards an unlikely new career: driving a school bus full of special-needs kids for a year. Armed only with a sense of humour akin to that of his charges, a creative approach to the challenge of driving a large, awkward vehicle while corralling a rowdy gang of kids, and surprising but unsentimental reserves of empathy, Davidson takes us along for the ride. He shows us how his evolving relationship with the kids on that bus, each of them struggling physically as well as emotionally and socially, slowly but surely changed his life along with the lives of the "precious cargo" in his care

Also, due to the high demand, we have added an addition book bag of Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga.

You can reserve these bags by clicking through to Kitkeeper

A big thank you to the clubs who donated these great books!

Helen

Two New Titles for the Library Book Bag.

Bullets, Blood & Stones: the journey of a Child Soldier by Donna White generously donated by the Beyond the Words Book Club

The first rule for survival when you’re a child soldier carrying an AK-47 is kill or be killed. But after you look at the blood of your first victim, you realize two things: one, you hate yourself. And two, there is no turning back.
When Scott discovers a pouch of stones clasped in the bony fingers of a skeleton in an African cave, the magic of the ancients is released and he and his nemesis, Bruce, are whisked to Uganda. There they meet Charlie, a former child soldier who has escaped from Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army. When Charlie is recaptured, the two teenagers set out on a daring rescue to save him and the children in a nearby village. Immersed in the insane evil of this rebel army, Scott and Bruce find themselves on a dangerous adventure beyond anything they could have ever imagined.

Silences: A Novel of the 1918 Finnish Civil War by Roy Blomstrom generously donated by the Bookends Book Club

Set in Finland in 1918 and Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada in the summer of 1955, this novel one extended family through the Finnish Civil War and across the Atlantic.

As the Great War comes to a close, Finland declares its independence on December 6, 1917. Soon thereafter, fighting between Red Finns and White Finns breaks out for control of the country.

Jussi Mantere and his friends, the Solbakkens--Anders, Karl, and young Ivor, known as Rabbit--as well as Karl's wife, Viktoria, are swept into the fighting. When peace is declared after months of fighting that pits neighbour against neighbour, friend against friend, the price of mending the fractured country is silence. To heal and forget, both victor and vanquished, White and Red, are asked to not speak of the war.

Jussi and other survivors emigrate to Canada, bringing their silence with them. In Port Arthur's summer of 1955, events set in motion in 1918 come to haunt Jussi's family. A stranger--or is it someone he knows?--threatens their peace and safety. Jussi must decide whether and how to break his silence about the past and its horrors, and spare his grandson the bitter burden of generations-old resentments.

Pulitzer Prize Winner for Fiction.

“Less,” by Andrew Sean Greer(Lee Boudreaux Books/Little, Brown and Company)

From the New York Times April 17. "The protagonist of Mr. Greer’s novel is Arthur Less, a novelist on the verge of 50 who, feeling the humiliations of life and career, reluctantly accepts invitations to a string of disastrous literary events. His travels, filled with comic and poignant incident, take him to New York, Paris, Berlin, Morocco, southern India and Kyoto, Japan. In The New York Times Book Review, Christopher Buckley called “Less” the “funniest, smartest and most humane” novel he had read in several years. Mr. Greer, 47, is the author of six works of fiction, including “The Confessions of Max Tivoli” and “The Story of a Marriage.”"

Keeping up with James Stevens!!

Dear Joan My next project well under way is on a local hermit, Eric Roy Emmerson. He is interned in Thunder Bay's largest mausoleum at Riverside Cemetery. An interesting character, a WW1 veteran in the British Royal Navy, a bush man prospector type who travelled often with Jule Cross from Silver Islet. I don't have much left to do on this project.

Meanwhile, The Black Auntie-Julia Ann Roy novella, 35,00 words, is finished and at the publishing stage for the fall.

It can be pre ordered for $25.00 off my web site at: www.thenorthwriter.com The cover is by Cree Stevens.

Finding the chapters to Jackie D'acre's Memoir

For those following the stunning memoir written by Thunder Bay's Jaqueline D'acre, here is a list of the chapter titles. Type in the small search box at the top left hand corner of the blog. You may have to scroll down to get to your chapter

To access chapter one type, Chapter One.

To access chapter two type, Reserve Champion

To access chapter three type, Chapter Three

The rest of the chapters will be accessed using the chapter number. Chapter Four, Chapter Five etc. Please use upper case at the beginning of each word.

A great book gets added to the book bag.

Dear Joan, We just added another new title to the Book Club in a Bag collection:

Euphoria by Lily King, generously donated by the Wordy Dozen Book Club.

In 1933 three young, gifted anthropologists are thrown together in the jungle of New Guinea. They are Nell Stone, fascinating, magnetic and famous for her controversial work studying South Pacific tribes, her intelligent and aggressive husband Fen, and Andrew Bankson, who stumbles into the lives of this strange couple and becomes totally enthralled. Within months the trio are producing their best ever work, but soon a firestorm of fierce love and jealousy begins to burn out of control, threatening their bonds, their careers, and, ultimately, their lives.

You can reserve this Book Bag at KitKeeper
Thank You
Helen

Helen Cimone
Community Hub Assistant - Collections

Mary J.L. Black Library
901 Edward Street South, Thunder Bay, On P7E 6R2
TEL: (807)-345-8275
FAX: (807)-475-7855
EMAIL: hcimone@tbpl.ca:
www.tbpl.ca

New Book Bags at the library

Helen Cimone, the Book Bag Lady, writes about the new and available book bags for book clubs.

Hello Joan,

I am happy to let you know that we have added 3 new titles to the Book Club in a Bag collection.

Beneath a Scarlett Sky by Mark Sullivan, purchased with funds donated by Heather French

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, donated by the 3M Book Club

A big thank you to all the clubs and individuals who continue to donate to Book Club Bags!

These items can be reserved by going to KitKeeper at this link:
http://www.eventkeeper.com/kitkeeper/index.cfm?curApp=KK&curOrg=TBPL

Thank You

Helen

The Lightkeepers daughter is #5 on best seller list.

CANADIAN FICTION

1. The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood, Emblem Editions

2. Ami McKay, The Witches of New York, Vintage Canada

3. Milk and Honey, Rupi Kaur, Andrews McMeel

4. The Handmaid’s Tale (2011 edition), Margaret Atwood, Emblem Editions

5. The Lightkeeper’s Daughter, Jean E. Pendziwol, HarperAvenue

6. Dragon Springs Road, Janie Chang, HarperAvenue

7. Love Her Wild, Atticus, Atria

8. By Gaslight, Steven Price, McClelland & Stewart

9. Goodnight From London, Jennifer Robson, William Morrow

10. The Break, Katherena Vermette, House of Anansi

Sponsor?

Want to take on a unique role in NOWW'S Annual Writing Contest?

Want to show your support and encourage fine writing in Northwestern Ontario?

Then consider being a sponsor of a writing category for this year's event!

Categories include:

Short Fiction

Novel Excerpt

Creative Nonfiction

Poetry

You can sponsor a category in whole for $250 or in part: 1st prize: $125, 2nd prize: $75 or 3rd prize: $50

And don't worry! Your good deed will not go unnoticed. With your contribution you (or your business) will receive a great deal of wonderful exposure, including:

- recognition in the NOWW website and NOWW magazine

- recognition during the awards ceremony on Sat, May 13, 2017

- many high fives and pats on the back from your beloved NOWW members

We're also looking for prizes to give out during the evening.

If you have something you wish to donate or if you would like to sponsor a category in whole or in part please contact Donna at gdkkwhite@tbaytel.net or call her at 933-4220.

Thank you!

Canada Reads Longlist 2017

The Canada Reads 2017 longlist consists of:

The Break by Katherena Vermette
Company Town by Madeline Ashby
The Elephants in My Backyard by Rajiv Surendra
even this page is white by Vivek Shraya
Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis
I Am Woman by Lee Maracle
The Just City by Jo Walton
Knucklehead by Matt Lennox
Nostalgia by M.G. Vassanji
One Hour in Paris by Karyn L. Freedman
Quantum Night by Robert J. Sawyer
The Right to Be Cold by Sheila Watt-Cloutier
Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel
Today I Learned It Was You by Edward Riche
Waiting for First Light by Roméo Dallaire, with Jessica Dee Humphreys

Congratulations Bonnie Ferrante

Here is the book to buy a child for Xmas, Thunder Bay's Bonnie Ferrante's award winning Amida Tree

Bonnie Ferrante's children's picture book, The Amida Tree, has won the Silver Medal from the Mom's Choice Awards.

The Amida Tree is this generation's tree. It will appeal to parents interested in a sustainable environment, healthy emotional bonds, a balanced life, and ethical living. It empowers girls by encouraging interest in science and education. The story shows how it possible to live happily in harmony with nature. By breaking free of habit and thinking creatively, children can forge a healthier, brighter future for themselves and all living creatures.

Gordon Korman number one New York Times Best Selling author, who has sold more than 17 million books, on

The Amida Tree

"This piece works so well… There’s beauty in the simplicity of its telling, and the communication between the woman and the tree is hauntingly believable."

Short List Governor General's Literary Awards 2016

FICTION:

“Yiddish for Pirates” by Gary Barwin (Hamilton)

“The Parcel” by Anosh Irani (North Vancouver, B.C.)

“Willem de Kooning’s Paintbrush” by Kerry Lee Powell (Moncton, N.B.)

“Do Not Say We Have Nothing” by Madeleine Thien (Montreal)

“The Break” by Katherena Vermette (Winnipeg)

NON-FICTION:

“Brown: What Being Brown in the World Today Means (To Everyone)” by Kamal Al-Solaylee (Toronto)

“In-Between Days: A Memoir About Living with Cancer” by Teva Harrison (Toronto)

“Firewater: How Alcohol is Killing My People (and Yours)” by Harold R. Johnson (La Ronge, Sask.)

“Marconi: The Man Who Networked the World” by Marc Raboy (Montreal)

“A World We Have Lost: Saskatchewan Before 1905” by Bill Waiser (Saskatoon)

Giller Long List 2016

The longlist for the 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize is:

Mona Awad for her novel 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl, published by Penguin Canada
Gary Barwin for his novel Yiddish for Pirates, published by Random House Canada
Andrew Battershill for his novel Pillow, published by Coach House Books
David Bergen for his novel Stranger, published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Emma Donoghue for her novel The Wonder, published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Catherine Leroux for her novel The Party Wall, published by Biblioasis International Translation Series, translated by Lazer Lederhendler
Kathy Page for her story collection The Two of Us, published by A John Metcalf Book, an imprint of Biblioasis
Susan Perly for her novel Death Valley, published by Buckrider Books, an imprint of Wolsak and Wynn Publishers
Kerry Lee Powell for her story collection Willem De Kooning’s Paintbrush, published by HarperAvenue, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Steven Price for his novel By Gaslight, published by McClelland & Stewart
Madeleine Thien for her novel Do Not Say We Have Nothing, published by Alfred A. Knopf Canada
Zoe Whittall for her novel The Best Kind of People, published by House of Anansi Press Inc.

Northern Woman's Bookstore closed for now.

Hard to believe that Xmas and New Years have passed and now we are firmly in 2016! Hope your holiday was full of blessings.

As you know the Northern Woman's Bookstore is closed and will remain so for an indeterminate amount of time.

For this reason, we are returning consignments of books, CD's, cards and jewellery.

If you have consignments here, we ask that they be picked up by you or someone you designate.

Please contact me to arrange a time to pick up your work by emailing me at northernwomansbookstore@gmail.com or calling me at 344-7979. Please leave a message if I am not here and I will get back to you as soon as I am able.
If you live out of town, also please contact me so we can mail your works back to you.

Margaret was thrilled to carry the works of local writers, musicians, and artists. We thank you for this privilege and also for your understanding during this difficult time.

Katja Maki

Northern Woman's Bookstore
65 South Court Street
Thunder Bay, Ontario P7B 2X2
Phone (807) 344-7979
Store hours: Closed at this time

Visit us online! www.northernwomansbookstore.ca

Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Northern-Womans-Bookstore/219600684727008

Giller Short List

The books shortlisted for the 2015 Scotiabank Giller Prize are:

André Alexis for his novel Fifteen Dogs, published by Coach House Books
Samuel Archibald for his story collection Arvida, published by Biblioasis, translated from the French by Donald Winkler
Rachel Cusk for her novel Outline, published by Harper Perennial, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Heather O’Neill for her story collection Daydreams of Angels, published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Anakana Schofield for her novel Martin John, published by A John Metcalf Book, an imprint of Biblioasis

What is Creative Non-fiction?

I have been asked this question and CBC has the answer. The following definition is given in the rules for their creative non-fiction contest.

Creative non- fiction includes memoir, biography, humour writing, essay (including personal essay), travel writing, and feature articles. While the events must be real and the facts true, creative nonfiction conveys your message through the use of literary techniques such as characterization, plot, setting, dialogue, narrative, and personal reflection. In works of creative nonfiction, the writer's voice and opinion are evident. The work should be accessible to a general reading audience

Short list for Governor General Award, 2015

The finalists in the Fiction category are:

Daddy Lenin and Other Stories by Guy Vanderhaghe
How You Were Born by Kate Cayley
Outline by Rachel Cusk
The Evening Chorus by Helen Humphreys
The Winter Family by Clifford Jackman
(a note from Joan. I read The Evening Chorus by Helen Humphrieys and liked it a lot).

The finalists in the Non-fiction category are:

Bee Time by Mark L. Winston
Dispatches from the Front by David Halton
Norval Morrisseau by Armand Garnet Ruffo
Party of One by Michael Harris
The Social Life of Ink by Ted Bishop

Toronto Book Award Shotlist

A lit list to consider, composted of very good writers. I will vouch for Atwood's Stone Mattress. Short stories to die for. The last story "Torching the Dusties" is a masterpiece. Joan M. Baril

André Alexis for Fifteen Dogs (Coach House) a novella that explores universal truths about human nature, with dogs that have been granted human consciousness taking part in a social experiment to explore happiness.

Margaret Atwood for Stone Mattress (McClelland & Stewart), a collection of short stories that was also nominated for the Trillium Book Award.

Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer for All the Broken Things (Random House), which our reviewer called “an achingly beautiful novel about a bond between a bear and a boy whose relationship embodies the Canadian desire for reunion with the wilderness.”

Bruce McDougall for The Last Hockey Game (Goose Lane), a look at the final game of the six-team era of the NHL, which ended in 1967.

Emily St. John Mandel for Station Eleven (Harper Avenue), a novel that looks at fame and ambition through the story of an actor who dies during a production of King Lear.

From Richard Wagamese

I no longer want to be resilient. I don’t want to simply ‘bounce back’ from things that hurt me or cause me pain. Bouncing back just means returning to where I stood before. I want to go beyond the hurts and darkness. For me, the first step forward to genuine healing from my mental illness was when I came to trust and believe that there was a ‘beyond.’ I reach for beyond every day, in every encounter, in every circumstance. To boldly go where I have never traveled. I wake with the vision of a purposeful day, filled with adventures and teachings then I take the first step and try to make it so… Beyond. Grateful that there is always a ‘there’ to strive for instead of being stuck ‘here.’

A Spring Poem by Martin Hicks

A Simple Query

Once more the sun comes up again

To grace with warmth cold scenery,

While universe light can't explain

Conducts sphere's vast machinery.

Our race continues flight frenetic

Inherent in first maverick gene;

Wild quark and atom spin kinetic

To spheroid stresses yet unseen.

All life pursues a fresh employment

While exercising on mixed green

Set patterns instinct with enjoyment,

Connecting needs sublime and mean.

White gulls and gnats here fly to task

Procuring scraps, partaking food.

Why does mind brood apart and ask

What I must do to mesh with mood.

-Martin. Hicks

Elizabeth May in Thunder Bay

A Public Talk with Elizabeth May regarding her new book, Who We Are:Reflections on My Life and Canada on Friday November 21st at 7pm in the Provincial Room of the Prince Arthur Hotel.

In this marriage of memoir and manifesto, Elizabeth provides personal perspectives on her approach to politics, policy and what it means to be Canadian.

Hosted by Bruce Hyer, MP for Thunder Bay-Superior North and Green Party Deputy Leader.

Books will be available to purchase.

Northern Woman's Bookstore
65 South Court Street
Thunder Bay, Ontario P7B 2X2
Phone (807) 344-7979
Store hours: Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays 11 am - 4 pm

Visit us online! www.northernwomansbookstore.ca

Book Bag Lady books the best!

Hello Joan

As promised, here are the rest of the new Book Bag titles for 2014. If you are interested in reserving any of these for your group, please call or email.

Thanks

Helen

The Bookman's Tale by Charlie Lovett

Dreams of Joy by Lisa See

Heading Out to Wonderful by Robert Goolrick

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger

The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure

Taste, Memory by David Buchanan

Trust Your Eyes by Linwood Barclay

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent donated by Club Du Vin Book Club

The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty donated by the Tea & Trifles Book Club

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand donated by the Red Rockin' Readers Book Club

A big thank you to the clubs who donated the wonderful books for the Book Bag collection.
Helen Cimone

Public Services Assistant

Mary J.L. Black Library

901 Edward Street South, Thunder Bay, On P7E 6R2

TEL: (807)-345-8275

FAX: (807)-475-7855

EMAIL: hcimone@tbpl.ca:

www.tbpl.ca

Book Bag Books at the Library

Hello Joan,

As promised, we currently have some new titles available in the Book Club in a Bag collection.

The 100-Year-Old-Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

Benediction by Kent Haruf

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Sweetland by Michael Crummey

The following titles were generously donated by local book clubs:

The Dowry Bride by Shobhan Bantwal donated by the Wordy Dozen Book Club

Speaking My Truth: Reflections on Reconciliation & Residential Schools donated by the Silver Islet Book Club

Ragged Company by Richard Wagamese donated by the Chapter One Book Club

Thanks

Helen

Helen Cimone

Public Services Assistant

Mary J.L. Black Library

901 Edward Street South, Thunder Bay, On P7E 6R2

TEL: (807)-345-8275

FAX: (807)-475-7855

EMAIL: hcimone@tbpl.ca:

www.tbpl.ca

Note to access a bag for your club, phone Helen, our wonderful book bag lady!

Why I Write by Richard Wagamese

I write to fulfill my destiny. I write to confront everything that confused, vexed and pained me in life. I write to celebrate everything that enlarges me, lends me scope, allows me to fit within this body that contains me. I write so that I might see myself, others, the world and the universe through the only lens that truly transcends the mundane, the probable, the ordinary and restricting - the imagination. I write to extend my own boundaries. If I never published anything again, I would still write for the same reasons…

The Toronto Book Awards Short List

They are:

Anthony De Sa for Kicking the Sky, published by Doubleday Canada;

Charlotte Gray for The Massey Murder: A Maid, Her Master and the Trial that Shocked a Country, published by HarperCollins Canada;

Carrianne K.Y. Leung for The Wondrous Woo, published by Inanna Publications;

Nick Saul and Andrea Curtis for The Stop: How the Fight for Good Food Transformed a Community and Inspired a Movement, published by Random House Canada; and

Shyam Selvadurai for The Hungry Ghosts, published by Doubleday Canada.

Reading at Brodie

Northwestern Ontario Writers' Workshop presents

Clam Chowder and Chocolate-Covered Peanuts:
A Reading with
Taina Chahal
Alex Kosoris
Dave Laderoute

and a poetry open mic!!!

This February 25, you could stay home and celebrate International Clam Chowder Day, or International Chocolate-Covered Peanut Day (although hopefully not at the same time!) Or, you could come out and enjoy a reading by some authors that are sure to satisfy all aspects of your palate. All are welcome!

Tuesday, February 25, 2014 7 pm - Brodie Library Fireside Room- 316 Brodie St. South, Thunder Bay

Ontario Arts Council information session

Information Session for Professional Writers and Spoken Word Artists

The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) would like to invite professional writers and spoken word artists to attend an information session to learn more about OAC grants and services.

Do you have questions about:

· Eligibility for grants;

· The grant application process, deadlines and support material;

· How to draft clear, concise grant applications;

· How grant decisions are made;

· How juries are selected.

Please join Jack Illingworth, OAC Literature Officer, and Marilyn McIntosh, OAC Northwestern Consultant, for an informative evening.Information SessionMary J. L. Black Library (Community Program Room) 901 South Edward Street, Thunder Bay Thursday, February 20, 2014 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.

No RSVP required.The information session will be conducted in English only.

For more information please contact Marilyn McIntosh in Thunder Bay at 807-622-4279 (toll-free at 1-866-391-2221 or email mmcintosh@arts.on.ca.

We would like to thank the Thunder Bay Public Library for hosting this session.

Community Book Market

Fri Feb 21, 7-10pm @ DefSup
Experience one, red-hot celebratory night of literary arts at Definitely Superior Art Gallery’s Book Launch and Community Market! Presented by DefSup’s small book and zine publishing house, burining.books,press, which serves Northwestern Ontario and hundreds of literary artists, with generous support from the Ontario Arts Council. Featuring: the official launch and sale of the gallery’s new Fuel anthology of poetry and prose-[featuring 50 writers], new issues of Die Active Zine-[100+ young artists] and a Community Book Market!

Browse and shop the mega-concentration of unique and limited edition books and zines, published by local/regional writers and literary groups. All forms of books will be found at the market, from stapled zines to perfect bound books, inclusive of poetry, prose, fiction, non-fiction, graphic novels, and more.Enjoy a spectrum of guest speakers, readings, live music, and catered refreshments! The market will also feature Soap Box Readings; Writers and attendees are invited to give spontaneous readings on the soap box platform. All ages / by donation / licensed event. burning.books.press: igniting the flame for the literary arts! Contact reneedefsup@tbaytel.net for more information on the Community Book Market.

NOWW Workshops upcoming

Right Tight” – Date: Tuesday, January 21 from 7:00-8:45 p.m. Mary J Black Library.

This workshop is for novice and experienced writers who wish to improve their writing skillsby learning to edit their work carefully and avoid unnecessary words.

Anthea Kyle,Coordinator of the Writing Assistance Centre at LakeheadUniversity, will facilitatethis workshop.

“Winning Writing” – Date: Tuesday, February 11, from 7:00-8:45 p.m. Waverley Library

This workshop is designed to improve the work of those writers who enter their short stories, memoirs, and poems in writing contests. The timing of this workshop allows participants time to polish their work for entry in the NOWW annual writing contest. Sue Blott, a writer who has experienced success across varied categories, will lead this workshop.

Canada Reads Top Ten

Here are the picks from Canadian readers!!! Some of my favourites are here - The Year of the Flood, What the Body Remembers, Half Blood Blues, and Annabel. Some I have yet to read including Orenda by Joseph Boyden and Octobe 1970 by Louis Hamelin.
The top 10 are:

The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
What the Body Remembers by Shauna Singh Baldwin
The Orenda by Joseph Boyden
A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali by Gil Courtemanche
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan
October 1970 by Louis Hamelin
Cockroach by Rawi Hage
Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje
Annabel by Kathleen Winter

And the winner is.... We will see in 2014.

Giller Long List - 2013

Dennis Bock for his novel Going Home Again, published by HarperCollins
Joseph Boyden for his novel The Orenda, published by Hamish Hamilton
Lynn Coady for her short story collection Hellgoing, published by House of Anansi
Craig Davidson for his novel Cataract City, published by Doubleday
Elisabeth De Mariaffi for her short story collection How To Get Along With Women, published by Invisible Publishing
David Gilmour for his novel Extraordinary, published by Patrick Crean Editions
Wayne Grady for his novel Emancipation Day, published by Doubleday Canada
Louis Hamelin for his novel October 1970, translated by Wayne Grady and published by House of Anansi Press
Wayne Johnston for his novel The Son of a Certain Woman, published by Knopf Canada
Claire Messud for her novel The Woman Upstairs, published by Knopf Canada
Lisa Moore for her novel Caught, published by House of Anansi Press
Dan Vyleta for his novel The Crooked Maid, published by HarperCollins Canada
Michael Winter for his novel Minister Without Portfolio, published by Hamish Hamilton Canada

Catch the Wave with Charlie

Good News

Positive news for the independent book seller. According to the American Booksellers Association, the independents in the US are increasing sales. As well, fifty-five new independent book stores opened last year in the US. I know, I know. Not many for such a huge country but not a negative number either,a bright light in a decade of independent closings.

Recently, in Calgary, I visited Pages on Kensington - a superb indie. I hope and pray all my favourite indie book stores thrive. I am thinking about Drury Lane in Grand Marias, The Northern W0men's Book Store in Thunder Bay.

On writing one's memoirs by Hillary Mantel

Memoir’s not an easy form. It’s not for beginners, which is unfortunate, as it is where many people do begin. It’s hard for beginners to accept that unmediated truth often sounds unlikely and unconvincing. If other people are to care about your life, art must intervene. The writer has to negotiate with her memories, and with her reader, and find a way, without interrupting the flow, to caution that this cannot be a true record: this is a version, seen from a single viewpoint. But she has to make it as true as she can. Writing a memoir is a process of facing yourself, so you must do it when you are ready.

Hello Joan, Good news!
We have just added 5 new titles to our Book Club in a Bag collection. All of these were generously donated by Aids Thunder Bay. If you would like to reserve any of these titles for your group, please email or call me at the Mary J.L. Black Branch Library.
Thank You Helen

Objects of My Affection by Jill Smolinski
Dream of Ding Village by Yan Lianke
Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal by Jeanette Winterson
Acqua Calda by Keith McDermott--

Helen Cimone Mary J.L. Black Library
901 Edward Street South, Thunder Bay, On P7E 6R2
TEL: (807)-345-8275
EMAIL: hcimone@tbpl.ca

A letter from the book bag lady

Hello Joan,

I am happy to let you know that we have recently added three new titles to our Book Club in a Bag collection

Inside by Alix Ohlin, a Scotiabank Giller Prize Finalist, donated by the Wordy Dozen Book Club

Something Fierce by Carmen Aguirre, 2012 Canada Reads Winner, donated by the Chic Lit Book Club

The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards, also generously donated by a local book club.If anyone wishes to reserve one of these titles, please call or email me.

Thanks Helen
Mary J.L. Black Library TEL: (807)-345-8275

Grants for Playwrights!

Brit book seller gets 250,000 downloads

Hachette’s United Kingdom division has seen a copious amount of digital downloads on Christmas and Boxing Day. They sold over 250,000 eBooks from their website and various resellers.
This marks a 86% increase over the same period last year and is a testament to the dramatic surge of digital publishing.

The head of Digital Marketing at Hachette UK George Walkley told the Book Seller that these numbers should increase further, as more stores report in. Bestselling titles included The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey, Is It Just Me? by Miranda Hart, Standing in Another Man’s Grave by Ian Rankin and The CasualVacancy by JK Rowling.

New Book Club Titles

Helen Cimone, the Book Bag Lady, sends us the following update. Your book club can check out a bag of books, one book for each member of your club and return much later.

Hello Joan, I would like to let everyone know that we have 2 new Book Club in a Bag titles:

Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese

A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny
(This item was generously donated in memory of Verna Cameron) Thank You!

If you would like to reserve any of these titles for your group
please email or call me at the Mary J.L. Black Branch Library.
Thank You, Helen Cimone 345 8275

Book Club Picks South of the Border

From the Drury Lane Books' Newsletter in Grand Marias

Benny and the Shrimp by Kathy Mazetti
Summer by Edith Wharton
Seven Houses by Alev Lytle Croutier
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
The Weight of Heaven by Thrity Umigar
Turnip Blues by Helen Campbell
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Wall
Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson
Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel
Making It by Penelope Lively
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
Visitors by Anita Brookner

Maeve Binchy

LONDON—Maeve Binchy, one of Ireland’s most beloved writers, has died in Dublin after a short illness at the age of 72, Irish media reported on Tuesday.

Binchy was revered by countless fans around the world for such novels as Light a Penny Candle, Tara Road and Circle of Friends, which was adapted for the screen in 1995 starring Chris O’Donnell and Minnie Driver. She sold more than 40 million books worldwide.Her novels and short stories often examined the friction between tradition and modern life in Ireland. Her works have been translated into 37 languages.

In fiction, E books surpass paper

According to the New York Times, book buyers now prefer fiction in the e book format. Why fiction? Unlike non-fiction books, e books have no (or few) pictures and few charts, recipes or sidebars which require jumping back and forth among pages, a task which can be frustrating on an e book. Romance readers have really taken to e books and have led the move from paper to e. Romance readers are often adicts who whizz through book after book. When the romance reader turns the last page she may find a trip to the box store inconvenient. But a download can be done at home in the middle of the night. Also when fiction readers in general find an author they like, they often want to read that author's back list, easier to acess on the Kobo (Kindle etc) than from the shelves in Chapters.

The e books stomp!

On the ebooks front, the Association of American Publishers (AAP) released a new report in May showing that ebook net sales revenue in the US for 2011 was $21.5 million, up 332.6% over 2010.

In Britain the major book sellers are featuring the Kobo (the Chapters entry to e book land). I saw the display in London. Yet when I finished my e book book (Patrick Melrose by Edmund St. Aubyn) could I pass the copy on to my travelling companion as I could a print copy. Not unless I handed over my Kobo. The e reader is great for travelling but more and more, I prefer the print stuff. And today, in Thunder Bay, at Chapters I note the sales on the printed books. Cheaper and cheaper. As for the poor author - one can only whince.