Events
An evening with Billy Collins The Calgary Distinguished Writers Program brings poet Billy Collins to Calgary as the 2012 Calgary Distinguished Visiting Writer. Collins will give a free public reading and lecture on Wednesday, March 14, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. at in the Ballroom on the 3rd Floor of MacEwan Hall, MacEwan Student Centre, University of Calgary.
Billy Collins is an American phenomenon. No poet since Robert Frost has managed to combine high critical acclaim with such broad popular appeal. His work has appeared in periodicals that include The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and The American Scholar. He is a “Literary Lion” of the New York Public Library. His last three collections of poems have broken sales records for poetry and his readings are usually standing room only. Collins’ poems themselves best explain this phenomenon. A typical Billy Collins poem opens on a clear and hospitable note but soon takes an unexpected turn; poems that begin in irony may end in a moment of lyric surprise. No wonder Collins sees his poetry as “a form of travel writing” and considers humour “a door into the serious.” It is a door that many thousands of readers have opened with amazement and delight. Billy Collins has published eight collections of poetry, including Questions About Angels, The Art of Drowning, Picnic, Lightning, Taking Off Emily Dickinson’s Clothes, Sailing Alone Around the Room, She Was Just Seventeen, The Trouble With Poetry and Other Poems, Ballistics, and most recently, Horoscopes for the Dead. Included among the honours Billy Collins has received are fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Guggenheim Foundation, the Oscar Blumenthal Prize, the Bess Hokin Prize, the Frederick Bock Prize, and the Levinson Prize. Collins was the inaugural recipient of the Poetry Foundation’s Mark Twain Prize for Humour in Poetry, was appointed United States Poet Laureate 2001-2003, and named New York State Poet Laureate 2004-06. As well, Billy Collins is a Distinguished Professor of English at Lehman College of the City University of New York, as well as a Senior Distinguished Fellow of the Winter Park Institute at Rollins College. Billy Collins’ style and humour is evident in this reading of his well-known poem, “Litany”, a poem embraced by adults and children alike - and in particular a precocious 3-year-old! The event is free, but seating is limited. Contact cdwp@ucalgary.ca for more information. The U of C Bookstore will be selling Mr. Collins' books at the event. Campus Map and parking map U of C visitor parking information and rates. ________________________________________________________________________________ Stories under a full moon with Richard Van Camp Thursday, March 8 at 7:30 p.m. The Calgary Distinguished Writers Program in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Calgary, presents a free evening of stories under a fully moon from Richard Van Camp on Thursday, March 8, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. in the Gallery Hall of the Taylor Family Digital Library, at the University of Calgary. A book signing and reception will follow the event.
Richard Van Camp, the 2011 – 2012 Writer-in-Residence at the University of Alberta, comes to Calgary courtesy of an exchange program between the Calgary Distinguished Writers Program and the Department of English at the University of Alberta. Each year, the programs host one another’s writer-in-residence for free public events. Van Camp, proud member of the Dogrib Nation, award-winning author and storyteller, is heralded as the North's most accomplished literary figure. He is the author of two short story collections (Angel Wing Splash Pattern, and The Moon of Letting Go), two children's books (A Man Called Raven and What's the Most Beautiful Thing You Know About Horses?) with Cree artist George Littlechild, two baby books (the newly-released Nighty Night: A Bedtime Song for Babies, and Welcome Song for Baby: A Lullaby for Newborns - that was selected by the Books for BC Babies program and given to every newborn baby in British Columbia in 2008), two comic books (Path of the Warrior, with Cree artist, Steve Sanderson, and Kiss Me Deadly with artist Chris Auchter. His debut novel, The Lesser Blessed, not only garnered critical praise, it is also being made into movie starring Benjamin Bratt. Hailing from Fort Smith, NWT, Richard Van Camp is a graduate of the En’owkin International School of Writing, the Creative Writing BFA Program at the University of Victoria, and the MA program in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia. In addition to being the Writer-in-Residence with the University of Alberta, he teaches Creative Writing with an Aboriginal Focus at the University of British Columbia. Awards received by Richard Van Camp include "Wordcraft Storyteller of the Year" (2006/7) for "the greatest storytelling in Canada and the US; the Jugendliteraturpreis (2001, for The Lesser Blessed), the highest award for a translation given by the German government; the Writer of the Year Award for Children's Literature (1999) by the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers for A Man Called Raven; and the Canadian Author's Association Air Canada Award (1997) "honouring a young (under the age of thirty) Canadian writer deemed to show the most promise for the future inthe field of literary creation." For more information on Richard Van Camp, click here to visit his website and here for a recent feature article in up here magazine.______________________________________________________________________________________________
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
________________________________________________________________________________ Reading with Barb Howard Tuesday, December 13 Sponsored by the Writers Guild of Alberta ________________________________________________________________________________ Readings in Poetry and Prose Join Jeramy Dodds and Naomi K Lewis, Writer-in-Residence, Calgary Public Library, in a joint reading. Jeramy will read from his award-winning debut collection of poetry, Crabwise to the Hounds, and Naomi from her novel, Cricket in a Fist.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________ Migratory Words Tuesday, November 22, 2011 Migratory Words Writers' Collective in Canmore offers an open invitation to all to enjoy nibbles and a glass of wine, and listen to readings from Jeramy Dodds and Peter Learn. For more information contact 403 678 3439. ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Friday Night in the Club Friday, October 14, 2011 Jeramy Dodds, along with writers Tanya Davis, Kaie Kellough, Dany Laferriere and Angela Sill will read from their latest works at this exclusive WordFest event in at the Banff Centre. Click here for ticket purchase and more information.
"WordFeast" Annual Fundraiser for WordFest Tuesday, October 11, 2011 The theme is 'Eat Your Words' at WordFest's annual fundraising gala. Join Canadian Writer-in-Residence Jeramy Dodds and a host of today's other hottest writers for food, drinks and conversation at the beautiful Hotel Le Germain. A charitable receipt will be issued for a portion of the ticket price. For more information and to purchase tickets, click here for the WordFest website. ______________________________________________________________________________ What Makes Great Poetry? Sunday, October 2, 2011 Presented by the Writers Guild of Alberta, WordFest, and the Calgary Distinguished Writers Program in celebration of Alberta Arts Days. Join us for a lively panel discussion on the often fraught and debated topic of what makes great poetry. What elements make for a vivid and resonant reading experience? What are the main differences between experimental and narrative poetry? How does an appreciation and understanding of poetry help prose writers become stronger linguists? Featured panelists include Christian Bok, Rosemary Griebel, Steven Ross Smith and CDWP Writer-in-Residence Jeramy Dodds as moderator. Interesting afternoon guaranteed! ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Calgary Writers-in-Residence Connect! Thursday, September 29, 2011 CDWP Writer-in-Residence, Jeramy Dodds, and Calgary Public Library's Writer-in-Residence, Naomi K. Lewis, will talk about what to expect from a visit to a writer-in-residence and will read from their works. No registration required. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ PGIs for Literacy Friday, September 23, 2011 Jeramy Dodds joins golf pro Bobby Wilson and a committed group of Literary Loudmouths to raise awareness and funds for the Calgary Learning Centre at the PGI Golf Tournament founded by CBC broadcaster and champion of literacy, Peter Gzowski. As Poet Laureate, Jeramy will spend the day golfing and composing a poem. More information can be found at: http://www.calgarylearningcentre.com/files/pdf/2011%20PGI%20Golf%20Invitation.pdf ___________________________________________________________________________________ Writers-in-Residence Oana Avasilichioaei and Jeramy Dodds
The Calgary Distinguished Writers Program celebrates its Writers-in-Residence with a free public reading from incoming Writer-in-Residence Jeramy Dodds and outgoing Writer-in-Residence Oana Avasilichioaei. Dodds will read from his acclaimed poetry collection, Crabwise to the Hounds, and Avasilichioaei will be performing from some of the collaborative work developed during her year as Writer-in-Residence, involving poetic performance, voice, sound and technological interventions. The reading is free and will be followed by a book signing and reception.
THE WGA, SHELF LIFE BOOKS AND FRIENDS INVITE YOU TO CELEBRATE THE LIFE OF ROBERT KROETSCH WE INVITE YOU TO GATHER, SHARE STORIES, PAY TRIBUTE, FIND SOLACE, RAISE YOUR GLASSES, AND HEAR READINGS FROM HIS LATEST WORK, TOO BAD. Tuesday, July 12th, 2011 As many of you know, Alberta literary giant, mentor, listener, teacher, and friend to hundreds of writers across the province (and country), Robert Kroetsch, was tragically killed in a car accident on Tuesday, June 21st. Many of us who attended the Writers Guild of Alberta 30th anniversary conference and awards gala in early June had the pleasure of meeting or visiting with him and celebrating his Golden Pen Lifetime Achievement Award. Over the course of his career, Kroetsch published nine books of fiction, 14 books of poetry and seven non-fiction works. This tragedy has been a great shock to all of us at the WGA and a tremendous loss to everyone whose lives he has touched. A memorial was held in Leduc on Monday, June 27th, but many writers and friends, particularly in Southern Alberta, were not able to attend. In light of this, we would like to invite you to celebrate Robert’s life with short readings from Too Bad (or tell a story) on Tuesday July 12, 2011, 7pm at Shelf Life. Kroetsch’s work was often set in Alberta, featuring unforgettable characters such as Hazard Lepage and his quest to preserve the bloodline of his rare blue stallion (The Studhorse Man; winner of the Governor General's Literary Award in 1969). The Globe & Mail describes this novel as “part tall tale and part mythical journey set in barns, beer halls and bathtubs and helped move Prairie fiction resolutely away from the dour realism of a previous generation of writers.” Many of his stories and poems give voice to Alberta’s cowboys, mavericks, lost souls and tumbleweeds in lively and unexpected ways, which is why we feel holding this event during the Calgary Stampede to be both ironic and fitting. We invite anyone who would like to say a few words about Robert, or who would like to read a short passage from Too Bad, to prepare a two-minute passage and bring it with you to the event. Everyone who would like to speak will have the opportunity to put their names into a cowboy hat and over the course of the evening ten speakers’ names will be drawn. At the two-minute mark, our brave time-watcher, Suzette Mayr, will ring a cowbell (as Robert may well have done with a kind grin spread across his face). There will be a bar and some refreshments and many of Robert’s books available, but most of all we hope to bring his friends and fans together who are just not ready to say goodbye. As long-time friend of Robert’s, Nicole Markotic, puts it—we’re hoping, with this event, to hold onto him just a little longer. In a moving article recently published in the Edmonton Journal, author Todd Babiak wrote that at 83, Kroetsch was still the funniest, quickest, most charming man in the room; a man who always offered careful eye contact. Todd described Robert’s enthusiastic applause for each performer at the WGA’s farewell lunch and open mic at the Auburn Saloon on June 12—a scene that I will also never forget. Let us celebrate Robert Kroetsch and be grateful for all that he has given us. We sincerely hope to see you there. Samantha Warwick, on behalf of the WGA, Shelf Life books, and Friends.
RoTextBot Monday, June 20, 2011 On Monday June 20, 2011, hex laboratorium invites you to an electrotechno cabaret of sound, visual and poetic inventions. hex laboratorium will showcase artists experimenting (individually and collaboratively) in interactive new media, sound art, circuit bending, collaborative research, and robotic texts. Part rock concert, part dysfunctional game show, part dance performance, part digital opera, we invite you to join the robots, machines and humans of RoTextBot for an electrifying evening! RoTextBot Experimenters: Jessie Altura, CDWP Writer-in-Residence Oana Avasilichioaei, Kathleen Brown, Shalini Darubra, Stephanie Davis, Brock Geiger, Jake Kennedy, Kulturlab, Mo Lefever, Pat McNinch, Kevin McPherson-Eckoff, Kim Seung, Alia Shahab, Zahra Shahab, Gerry Straathof, Ryan Von Hagen, Woulg & FOONYAP. Lit Live @ OAG May 7, 2011 www.okotoksculture.ca
Art Spiegelman, Pulitzer Prize-winning artist / illustrator, author of MAUS, In the Shadow of No Towers and Breakdowns 2011 Distinguished Visiting Writer What the %@&*! Happened to Comics? Thursday, March 31, 2011 Art Spiegelman's comics are best known for their scratch-board, illustrative style and controversial content. In What the %@&*! Happened to Comics?, he takes his audience on a chronological tour of the evolution of comics, all the while explaining the value of this medium and why it should not be ignored. The U of C Bookstore will be selling Mr. Spiegelman's books in the MacEwan Hall lobby before and after the lecture. There will be no book signing by the author. A limited number of pre-signed books will be available for purchase at the event. How to get to MacEwan Hall, University of Calgary. Spiegelman and his wife, Françoise Mouly, founded the acclaimed avante-garde comics magazine RAW, and together collaborated on numerous comics anthologies, early readers and picture books for children. His work has been published in many periodicals, including The New Yorker, where he was a staff artist and writer from 1993-2003. His highly political work, In the Shadow of No Towers, was first published in a number of European newspapers and magazines including Die Zeit and The London Review of Books. The book version appeared on many national bestseller lists and was selected by The New York Times Book Review as one of the 100 Notable Books of 2004. In 2005, Spiegelman was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People and in 2006 he was named to the Art Director’s Club Hall of Fame. He was made a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France in 2005 and—the American equivalent—played himself on an episode of “The Simpsons” in 2008. Last month, Spiegelman won the Grand Prix at the Angoulême International Comics Festival, marking only the third time an American has received the honour. “Spiegelman has become one of the New Yorker’s most sensational artists, in recent years drawing illustrations for covers that are meant not just to be plainly understood but also to reach up and tattoo your eyeballs with images once unimaginable in the magazine of old moneyed taste… From his Holocaust saga in which Jewish mice are exterminated by Nazi cats, to the New Yorker covers guaranteed to offend, to a wild party that ends in murder: Art Spiegelman’s cartoons don’t fool around.” — Los Angeles Times An evening with Carla Harryman, Lyn Hejinian, and M. NourbeSe Philip On March 10, Calgarians will have a unique opportunity to see three of the most innovative contemporary writers and thinkers, together for the first time in North America, at Calgary’s Arrata Opera Centre. Carla Harryman, Lyn Hejinian, and M NourbeSe Philip will perform from their work, and a reception with a cash bar will follow the readings. This special event is sponsored by dandelion magazine and Kathleen Brown (Editor of dandelion), and is curated and hosted by Oana Avasilichioaei, current writer in residence at the University of Calgary. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Sarah Ivany at 403.452.5662 or via email at sivany@broadviewpress.com.
Tex(t)ech: A Collaborative Translation Tex(t)ech is an interactive laboratory that will bring together artists, technologists, media practitioners and writers to translate across medias and mediums, work collaboratively and explore ideas of narrative, textual movement, performance and sound action. Participants will undergo narrative and content development exercises, and have access to a variety of audio and visual equipment and facilities. The emphasis will be on collaborative learning and exchange, facilitating professional and creative development. The laboratory will run on Saturday March 5, 12 and 19, 10am-4pm (lunch break 1pm-2pm) and culminate in an evening performance in early April. Facilitated by Oana Avasilichioaei & Kurtis Lesick. For more information click here. Tim Bowling, Writer in Residence, University of Alberta Wednesday, February 9, 2011 7:30 pm The Rozsa Centre, Husky Oil Great Hall, University of Calgary Free.
bibliomania, fatherhood, American poetry, suicide, midlife crisis, and the Internet Tim Bowling, the 2010 - 2011 Writer-in-Residence at the University of Alberta, comes to Calgary courtesy of an exchange program between the Program and the U of A Department of English. Each year, these institutions host the other school's writer-in-residence for free public events. Bowling reads from his latest book, In The Suicide's Library: A Book Lover's Journey, a non-fiction narrative about bibliomania, fatherhood, American poetry of the 1940s and 50s, suicide, midlife crisis, and the Internet. Bowling is the author of nine poetry collections, three novels and two works of non-fiction. He has earned four Alberta Book Awards in three categories, a Canadian Authors Association Award, two Governor General's Award nominations and a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. A native of the west coast who grew up in a salmon-fishing family, he has lived in Edmonton for most of the past 15 years. Poetic Performance Lab Oana Avasilichioaei, the University of Calgary's Writer-in-Residence, and hex laboratorium present an interactive hour of poetic performances, textual theatre and sound action, featuring "Please do not dismay. The architecture is moving into us, we are not moving into the architecture." (Kathleen Brown), "Possibilities Exceed 9" (Kurtis Lesick and Travis Kirton), SPELLES (hex laboratorium) and "Manifesto of the Provisional Avant-garde (Provag)." Sat. February 5 3:30 pm John Dutton Theatre Calgary Public Library (Part of the Calgary Public Library Writers' Weekend: http://blog.calgarypubliclibrary.com/blogs/cplnews/archive/2011/01/25/writers-weekend.aspx
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Jeramy Dodds’ debut poetry collection, Crabwise to the Hounds (Coach House Books), received the 2009 Trillium Book Award for Poetry and was shortlisted for both the 2009 Gerald Lampert Award and the 2009 Griffin Poetry Prize. His writing has appeared in various anthologies, magazines and literary journals, including The Walrus, Poetry, The Fiddlehead, The Capilano Review and Grain Magazine. He is also a past winner of the Bronwen Wallace Memorial Award and the CBC Literary Award in poetry. He holds a BA in English Literature and Anthropology from Trent University and an MA in Medieval Icelandic Studies from The University of Iceland. Dodds, who grew up in Orono, Ontario, has also worked as a research archaeologist in Canada.
Some of the strands in Oana Avasilichioaei’s work traverse geography and public space (feria: a poempark, 2008), textual architecture, orality and multilingualism (We, Beasts, upcoming 2012), translation and collaborative performance (Expeditions of a Chimæra, co-written with Erín Moure, 2009). Living in Montreal, recent projects include The Islands, a translation of Quebecoise poet Louise Cotnoir, and collaborating with musicians and sound artists as hex laboratorium.