Rainy night in Calgary, much good stuff happening at Pages Bookshorp

 

Writer Fran Kimmel and Joan M. Baril  at Pages in Calgary at the launch of  Everything is So Political: A Collection of Short Stories by Canadian Writers held on May 30, 2013.

Going to Calgary gave me a chance to connect with a cousin I do not see often.  And it also gave me a chance to meet the many guests and writers at the launch of Everything is So Political.

Ably MC ed by editor Sandra McIntyre, writers Fran Kimmel and J. Paul Cooper gave brief readings from their stories.  A hilarious five minute play called the Extremists written by R. Jonathan Chapman was followed by another quick read by yours truly and then on to the wine and conversation.

Many thanks to Pages bookshop in Calgary for a fun evening. Also thanks to the full house of people who turned out on a rainy evening.

R. Jonathan Chapman, playwright and Joan M. Baril, coerced at the last minute to read a part in the play.

 

In Thunder Bay, the book, Everything is So Political, is available at the Northern Woman's Bookstore and on line at Chapters, Amazon etc.

Short Story Month

Short stories, always the tag-along kid in the lit pantheon, are experiencing  a reputation make-over.  A popularity uptick.

Today I got my new book from Chapters, Colette Maitland's Keeping the Peace.  I read the first story at once. Maitland has such a smooth style you could skate on it.  A good choice. Or you can get Everything is So Political edited by Sandra McIntrye at the Northern Woman's Bookstore (and Chapters, Amazon etc. ) Try the story by Fran Kimmel.  A scorcher.

Colette Maitland, author of Keeping the Peace.

What's the tops in short stories? Of course the Divine Alice (Munro) leads the pack with anything she has ever written. William Trevor, the Irish writer comes second in my view. As for the classics, James Joyce and Anton Chekhov are supreme. Add in Katherine Mansfield. I enjoy Ernest Hemmingway's short stories much more that his novels. His sparse style gets sign-songy over the long haul but fits the short format beautifully.

Everyone can name a great: Carver, Atwood, Moore, Danticat, Denis Johnson, George Saunders.... 

You can listen to short stories in audio at http://www.openculture.com/free_ebooks. Just click on audio at the top. Ignore the free stories from Audible unless you want the hassle of logging into that site.

You can pick up the New Yorker audio site in short stories at http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/podcast/  Slip down to Mavis Gallant or Jamaica Kincaide. 

Or you can click over to the British newspaper, the Guardian, and browse the book section for their short story pod casts.

A funny thing about short stories. They never seem to date. They never seem to get fusty or old fashioned. A story by Gogol or Faulkner or Woolf  still shines on the page.  Why is that?  Perhaps the form forbids a lot of moralizing, or even much overt character analysis. You hit the ground running and stay until you cross the tape.

One of the great short story writers - William Trevor

Pick of the Week

Faithful Place by Tana French. I always like to hear about a new mystery or thriller. I am looking forward to reading the next LeCarre. I have a couple of Connelley's waiting on the shelf. I'll read the next Evanovich, even if the same characters appear once again. I love an interesting setting, cracking dialogue and an intriguing plot.  A friend advises: "Try Tana French."

Franck Mackey, an undercover cop in Dublin, Ireland, cannot forget his first love, the beautiful Rosie who failed to keep their rendezvous at Faithful Place, set in the Dublin mean streets. They had planned to run off together but Rosie vanished. Twenty years later, her suitcase turns up in an abandoned house.

In this snappy story, the conversation sparks up the page. The setting is definitely down scale.  The pacing carries you on and on and into the tough characters  of Mackey, his friends and family in the old neighbourhood where he grew up.  The book has a grip like a pit bull and doesn't let up  until the end.

An Interesting Local Photography Contest.

Good day Joan,.

 

Thunder Bay International Fine Arts Association is pleased to be sponsoring another excellent contest in the arts.

 

We are presenting our Photography Contest for 2013. This is an open competition with a grand prize of $500 (Cdn) and the opportunity to have your work published.

It is an open competition and we encourage anyone and everyone to enter, with a submissions deadline of September 30, 2013.

 

For a full description and details of the contest check out https://sites.google.com/site/tbifaa/Home/events

 

We thank you for your interest and look forward to your participation.

 

Pasquale Scarcello, President

Thunder Bay International Fine Arts Association.

Writers and poets - The clock is counting down to May 31.

I met local writer Alan Wade. He told me that out e writer in residence gave him very helpful feedback on his non fiction submission. "A terrific critique.  She talked about pacing," Alan said. "This is the first time anyone has mentioned pacing to me."
I said, "My pacing is too fast,"
"And mine the opposite," Alan said.

This snippet of conversation illustrates the consensus around town  - e writer Marilyn Dumont is great.  But!! Her time is almost up. Deadline May 31, 2013.

Below is a letter from Northwestern Ontario Writers Workshop who sponsors Marilyn.

Good afternoon, Joan.
Just a reminder that the deadline is fast approaching to get your submissions in to our e-Writer in Residence program with Marilyn Dumont. Until May 31, Northwestern Ontario-based writers and all NOWW members in good standing may submit their writing for an in-depth, critical review by Marilyn Dumont.

Interested? Here’s what you have to do:

• Renew your membership for 2012/13, if you haven’t already (membership will carry over for the 2013/14 year)
• Submit your manuscript to NOWW at admin@nowwwriters.org
• NOWW will handle your manuscript and convey it to Marilyn.
• You will receive feedback by e-mail.

Manuscript submission guidelines:

• Manuscripts must be typed in 12-point Times New Roman
• Prose manuscripts in any genre must be double-spaced with one-inch margins and not exceed 2500 words. Please include a word count at the top of the manuscript.
• Poetry manuscripts must be single-spaced and not exceed 5 pages.

Marilyn Dumont is of Cree/Métis ancestry. Since 1985, Marilyn has been published in numerous Canadian literary journals, and her work has been widely anthologized as well as broadcast on radio and television. Her first collection won the 1997 Gerald Lampert Memorial Award, presented by the League of Canadian Poets, for the best first collection of poetry that year by a Canadian writer. Her second collection won the 2001 Stephan G. Stephansson Award from the Writer’s Guild of Alberta. Marilyn has taught at Simon Fraser University and Kwantlen University-College in Vancouver and at the University of Alberta, Edmonton. She has also worked in video production as an intern with the National Film Board.

NOWW thanks the Thunder Bay Community Foundation, Thunder Bay Public Library, K-Net Services, and NOWW members for their support of the E-Writer in Residence project for 2013.

Pick of the Week - Lit Mags.

I like Canadian literary magazines, mainly because I like the short stories. Most of them anyway. Right now I am subscribing to Room, Anitgonish Review, The New Quarterly and The New Orphic Review.

One of the best: The New Quarterly

All the lit mags have pretty much the same format, I am not sure why. At the back, are the ads for very obscure novels and a few reviews of same, plus more ads for contests at other lit mags.  Each issue is usually a mix of short fiction and poetry, although sometimes a few graphics or photographs sneak in. The New Quarterly adds an interesting feature after every story, a short piece by the author talking about her contribution.

Lit mags are compact packages. They slip down the door pockets in your vehicle, they slide into the sports bag or into a compartment in your purse. If you are waiting in the airport, or in line at the bank, out they come. You are never bored; good fiction is at hand.

It takes me a long time to read a lit mag. I often read the first paragraph of a few stories before settling on one. Sometimes - I admit it - I read the last paragraphs as well. I seldom read the poetry, unless it really grabs me. A lot of times, alas,  I don't understand it.

Sometimes I read a very good story twice as I did from the recent issue of The New Quarterly. The story Across the Pacific by Peggy McCann was wonderful, full of life and interest. And yet the theme, the trials of old age, is a common one, often found in lit mags. But here, this well-worked theme comes across as fresh, delightful and poignant.  I will probably read it again before I move on to other stores in the magazine. A story as good as this lures me to read it again and again.

Lit mags have picked up their fair share of criticism about a certain  sameness of the stories. Certain themes reappear - Alzheimer's, death in the family, the slacker male on the loose, the rural settings, the errant wife or husband, the problems of old age.  I have no idea why these themes reappear. Can't even guess.

One of the Peppiest of the Lit Mags: the New Orphic Review

 

The New Orphic Review is known for its edgy stories. As the editor, Ernest Hekkanen states in the forward to the latest issue: "I'm the sort of person who finds it difficult to participate in the common story.  Common stories are comprised of received ideas having to do with things familial, social, religious and national."  The story, Piano Boy, in this issue, by M.A Fox, has that off beat something that inspires Hekkanen. I am honoured the recent issue contains my story, Subterranean Homesick Blues, a story about a 60's radical on the run.

 

 



Another great Canadian Literary Magazine.



The Tulips of Thunder Bay - a pod cast

Thunder Bay gardens are slowly coming to life even in this long grey cold spring. The first to arrive are the tulips, magical flowers and very much loved and appreciated after the winter.

Click on the link below for a short meditation upon the tulip.

literarythunderbay.weebly.com

Northwestern Ontario Writers' Workshop Awards Night

It started with great conversation, a fun quiz about books and writers with book prizes, a superb buffet and then the announcements began.  Amy Jones from NOWW was the capable MC. As each winner was announced, the judge's comments were read. Louise Penny, the judge of the mystery section,  was particularly complimentary in her comments on Sue Blot's  story which won first prize in that category. After the winners were announced for each category, a reader gave us a taste of the first prize work.  This whetted my appetite for the entire piece.

 Luckily they will be published in NOWW magazine. I can hardly wait.

Announcing the winners of NOWW's 15th Annual Writing Competition!

Mystery (Judged by Louise Penny)
1. Whittling Time: Sue Blott (Thunder Bay)
2. Cracking the Case of Humpty Dumpty: Chelle Martin (South Amboy, NJ)
3. Dead Dreams: Sharon Irvine (Thunder Bay)

Sue Blott took two firsts: in poetry and in mystery.

 

Personal Essay (Judged by Jake MacDonald)
1. The Origin of Love: Joan Baril (Thunder Bay)
2. My Mother’s Pact with God: J. F. (Jim) Foulds (Thunder Bay)
3. Why I Moved to Canada: Elena Kerkelova (Cochenour/Red Lake, ON)

Poetry (Judged by Susan Glickman)
 1. Shades of Yellow: Sue Blott (Thunder Bay)
2. The Bush Girl: Francis Koning (Jellicoe, Ontario)
3. Death by HIV/AIDS: Gail Linklater (Shuniah, Ontario)

Fiction (Judged by Angie Abdou)
 1. Trail of the Wolf: Jayne Barnard (Calgary, Alberta)
2. Over the Curve: John Pringle (Atikokan, Ontario)
3. At the Root of the Family Tree: Bonnie Tittaferrante (Thunder Bay)

The Sheila Burnford Award went to The Ontario Arts Council which has helped so many writers in Northwestern Ontario.

Marilyn McIntosh of the local office of the Ontario Arts Council

Podcast - Three Short Poems for Spring

Podcast of Poetry for Spring

Click the link, wait half a sec until the page loads and pick a poem to listen to. This is my first try at podcasting, which, I hope will be a regular feature on this blog.

A Marvelous and Timely Poem by Ulrich Wendt

 

Ulrich Wendt

Author’s Note:

In 2012, the Harper Government of Canada removed a number of important environmental protections from several pieces of legislation including the Fisheries Act.  Along with many internationally renowned  environmental scientists, four former Conservative and Liberal Cabinet Ministers pointed out that over 80 species of freshwater fish would be placed in danger of extinction. One of these species is a little minnow left over from the last ice-age that lives only in the Whitemouth and Birch Rivers of Eastern Manitoba and nowhere else in Canada. Environmentalists have noted that the removal  of Federal protection will probably doom this fish within 10 years.

There is, however, some good news. At the same time as it weakened environmental protection, the Harper government announced it would no longer fund the world-famous Experimental Lakes program – essential for freshwater research and unique in the world. But now Manitoba and Ontario have announced that they will jointly maintain the program along with private partners. In celebration, I have revised and re-issued the poem below.

-          Ulrich Wendt, May 2, 2013

 On the Federal Government’s Repeal of the Fisheries Act

The mouth of the Whitemud River is the last remaining home

Of a useless little fish – the Carmine Shiner.

It flashes ruby-red to no important point

And the shapeless men of Ottawa can see no cash in it.

 

 

And so it has to slip away from the fabric of the whole
And few will note its passing.
But though the thing is surely finished on this earth
I raise a mild reproach – our dignity demands it.

 -          Ulrich Wendt, April 13, 2013





Book of the Week - Cooking with Gwyneth Paltrow's "It's All Good."

Some time ago, my book club suggested that, for the next meeting, everyone bring their favourite cook book.  I brought along a few spattered and tattered kitchen collections but the others toted in large picture books, hefty tomes many of them, devoted  to such topics as Chinese cuisine, Russian cookery, world wide desserts and so on.  One friend confessed she never actually cooked from these books, (many nods from around the circle) but as another friend stated," they are great bed time reading." (more nods)

Recently I bought such a book, "It's All Good" by Gwyneth Paltrow." The book tops the New York Times best seller list.  I had checked out her first cook book, "Her Father's Daughter", from the local library and tried out a couple of recipes, the lamb tagine and breakfast cookies, and liked the results.

Paltrow has turned herself into a brand. Whose picture is on the front cover?  Whose on the back? Who has photos scattered all through the book, looking wholesome and fetching? And whose children are those gathering vegetables in an artisanal basket or nibbling a bacon strip, also looking wholesome and fetching?  Every photo is chosen to suggest the healthy and the wholesome: the beach, the picnic table, the straw hat and farm girl shorts.  The book does have a co-author, Julia Turshen, who is mentioned in smaller print on the front cover.