St@nza ‐ February 2013 Volume 9, Number 2 To include your news, events or other listings please contact Ingel Madrus at: Email: [email protected], Phone: 416‐504‐1657, Fax: 416‐504‐0096 News from the LCP Page 1 Poetry & Literary News Page 2 Opportunities Page 5 Events & Readings Page 9 New Members Page 11 Members News Page 11 NEWS FROM THE LCP Celebrate National Poetry Month this April! National Poetry Month Launch Event And the announcement of the Pat Lowther and Gerald Lampert Memorial Awards Shortlists And the first shortlist for the new Raymond Souster Award Q Space On College Street, located between Kensington Market and Little Italy 382 College St Toronto ON M5T 1S8, Toronto, CA Tuesday, April 2, 2012 10:00 – 11:30 a.m. Featuring: Awards Shortlist announcements, Refreshments, Presentations and Readings Membership Dues Discount New this year, members in good standing with both the League of Canadian Poets and The Writers’ Union of Canada will receive a 5% discount on their dues for the 2013‐2014 fiscal year. Invoices will be mailed out shortly. You’re Invited: LCP Poetry Festival & Conference 2013 in Toronto Plans for the League of Canadian Poets’ (LCP) 47th annual Poetry Festival and Conference are under way. This exciting three‐day event is scheduled for June 7 ‐ 9, 2013, conveniently located in downtown Toronto at the Courtyard by Marriott at College and Yonge. The schedule includes: Joe Sherman Memorial New Members reading, Annual General Meeting, an open mic., 3 panels, The Anne Szumigalski lecture (to be presented by A.F. Moritz) and the Raymond Souster, Pat Lowther and Gerald Lampert Award ceremonies. Conference details will be available online. Call for Submissions: National Poetry Month Blog We will begin accepting submissions for the National Poetry Month Blog starting February 4, 2013. The blog will be posted at https://lcpnationalpoetrymonth2013.wordpress.com/ . Please follow these guidelines for submission: Please submit 1 poem (either published or unpublished) to [email protected]. This year, we will be celebrating the 15th Anniversary of National Poetry Month, and as such we would like to invite you to submit poetry on any subject for consideration, but especially those that celebrate life, poetry, and our freedom to engage in the beauty of the arts. In the subject line please type NPMblog 1
and where the submission is from. For example: NPMblog, Toronto. All submissions must be submitted electronically and cannot exceed 200 words. Send poem and bio attached in an MS word document AND within the body of your e‐mail. Submissions will be accepted beginning February 4, 2013. Submissions will not be accepted after March 8, 2013. Poems will be accepted on a first come first serve basis. However, as we are looking for representation from all across Canada, geographical region will also be taken into account when selecting poems. You will receive an email acknowledgment from the LCP within one week of sending in your submission. Contact information must include: How long you have been a member with the LCP, your name, Province/Territory and city where you live. Biographical statements should be no longer than 50 words, including internet links. For additional information please contact Lesley at [email protected] or call us in the office at (416) 504‐1657 National Poetry Month Funding The year 2013 marks the 15th National Poetry Month in Canada! Poets and organizers are encouraged to create vibrant poetry readings in their communities. We are now accepting National Poetry Month applications for funding for events taking place in April. For further details and application forms please visit the website. The League will provide National Poetry Month posters. Hosts can also request posters from previous years for their display. For more info and application: http://poets.ca/wordpress/programs‐2/reading‐programs News from the Feminist Caucus By Anne Burke. Thank you for your response about our call for reviews. This month, we feature a review by Andrea Nicki of Rupture, by Clementine Morrigan (Demeter Press, 2012); a review by Katerina Fretwell of Helwa, by Penn Kemp, and a review of Adder’s‐tongues, by Norma West Linder, edited by James Deahl (Aeolus House, 2012). More reviews coming next month! For full report: http://poets.ca/wordpress/programs‐2/feminist‐caucus POETRY AND LITERARY NEWS Remembering Elizabeth Brewster (1922‐2012) When Elizabeth Brewster joined the Department of English at the University of Saskatchewan in the early 1970s, she was already a well established poet with a considerable publishing record. About the same time, perhaps even a year or two before Brewster moved to Saskatoon, she had also joined the League of Canadian Poets. I was a newly fledged teacher of high school English and I quickly understood that Elizabeth, along with Anne Szumigalski, were certainly the two best known poets in Saskatoon. I came to know Elizabeth and to read her books of poetry as they appeared from Oberon with considerable regularity. Elizabeth was a regular winter resident at Helm’s Inn in Victoria and Sonia and I discovered why she stayed there the first time we showed up at the family‐run hotel close to the Inner Harbour and right off Douglas Park. We have since stayed at Helm’s Inn on various occasions when Brewster was also there and we’d meet and chat over afternoon tea which was served daily in the lobby of this little treasure of Victoria. What I came to love about Brewster’s poetry was that she had a most distinctive voice, one that was often so quietly understated or so simply and casually proffered as to seem entirely unmemorable. Except that the more you read the more you became increasingly aware that there was a quiet but very persistent conviction that rang through her seemingly casual musings and descriptions. Not only was her voice so clearly identifiable as her own and one unlike any other, but the more you read of her poems the more convinced you became that not only had she something extremely meaningful to say, but that she was able to say it in a way that was very convincing, very impressive – and anyone who has spent a good time writing in any genre knows just how difficult this is to achieve. 2
It is likely that at the time of her death in December 2012 Elizabeth may well have been one of the League’s longest serving members, having been a member for at least 40 years that we can trace and a Life Member for 30 years. That latter fact alone – 30 years as a Life Member – illustrates clearly the tremendous respect Brewster had earned from her fellow poets across this country. From her early life in New Brunswick and her friendship with Alden Nowlan and Fred Cogswell and others in the poetry community there, to her sterling academic record and several post‐graduate degrees, to her library career, succeeded by her final academic teaching career in Saskatoon, Brewster impressed with her accomplishments, In retirement she continued her writing, almost to her final days. Undoubtedly there will be posthumous publications of her work still to come. When one considers that Elizabeth’s first collection of poems was published in 1951 and her last books in the middle of the first decade of the present century, it can be seen that her poetry publishing output spanned almost six full decades ‐‐ in itself a most remarkable record of prolific publishing, one that few can rival. Her long publishing relationship and friendship with publisher Michael Macklem resulted in Oberon Press alone publishing over 20 volumes of Brewster’s poems, as well as books of her fiction. Along with Ray Souster, Brewster was an ongoing feature of Oberon’s poetry publishing for three decades. Oberon published Brewster’s Collected Poems in 2003. It is also worth noting that Elizabeth Brewster was one of the co‐founders of The Fiddlehead, one of Canada’s(and North America’s) longest serving and still active literary magazines or journals. From the time as a teen when she first won a poetry competition and was singled out for the award by P.K. Page, with whom she later became lifelong friends, Brewster garnered many awards and much recognition for her outstanding contributions in a long life of poetry. She was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 2001, was given a Lifetime Award for Excellence in the Arts from the Saskatchewan Arts Board in 2005, was awarded the Saskatchewan Order of Merit in 2008 and presented with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012. Though her outward mien may have been that of a very quiet, meek‐mannered woman, perhaps augmented by her relatively small stature, I remember Elizabeth Brewster as a woman who also had a decidedly feisty side and one who was not the least hesitant in defending her turf in any literary discussion. Elizabeth was, in fact, during her many years in Saskatoon, one who gathered together little dinner parties at her place and I was fortunate enough to have been a part of several of them. What I remember especially well about them is that Elizabeth held her own in any discussion of poetry or literary matters and she could be quite adamant in holding her ground against all comers. I certainly came to see another side of this seemingly unassuming person. I discovered that Elizabeth was one who held firm convictions about what mattered most to her and this quality is something that stands out in her poetry as well. In some respects, though Brewster’s long life of poetry has been recognized across the country, it can also be argued that her poetry has never received as much critical recognition as it deserved. Though one of her books, Footnotes to the Book of Job, was nominated for a Governor General’s Award in 1995, none of her many poetry volumes ever earned a GG. I have a feeling that this may have been one of the disappointments for Elizabeth in her long and distinguished list of publishing achievements. It is quite possible that the low‐key voice and the seemingly casual manner in which she expressed herself in so many fine poems, may well have worked against her to some degree, though it is hard to justify why her fine books appeared to have been dismissed with so little serious recognition. Brewster’s poetry is highly crafted because she was always a careful student of language and she has always chosen her words with the utmost care to say exactly what she means. That is, for me, one of the sheer strengths of her life work, just as it was of her life. The League of Canadian Poets has lost one of its most distinguished members and Canadian literature one of its most distinctive voices. Glen Sorestad, January 2013 3
Dianne Hicks Morrow Named New Poet Laureate of PEI Dianne Hicks Morrow has been named the new Poet Laureate for Prince Edward Island, says Minister of Tourism and Culture Robert Henderson. Ms. Hicks Morrow will succeed Hugh MacDonald who has completed his three‐year term in the post. “Dianne Hicks Morrow will continue the tradition of excellence established by previous Poets Laureate on Prince Edward Island,” said Minister Henderson. “I am particularly impressed with her experiences as an adult educator, and as the former director of both the PEI Literacy Alliance and the Montgomery Institute at UPEI. I see those experiences as an ideal complement to her many successes in writing.” In making the announcement, Minister Henderson also thanked outgoing Poet Laureate Hugh MacDonald who has been particularly active and has participated in readings and writing activities across the province. The Island’s fifth Poet Laureate is an award‐winning poet who has lived in the province for more than forty years. Her latest book of poetry, “What Really Happened Is This: A Poetry Memoir,” won a 2012 PEI Book Award. Her other books include her first book of poetry, “Long Reach Home” (2002) and the non‐
fiction “Kindred Spirits: Relationships that Spark the Soul” (2005). Ms. Hicks Morrow has given readings and workshops across Canada, as well as in Tasmania, Australia, where she was writer‐in‐residence last April. Her mentoring and encouragement of new writers, whether one‐to‐one, in schools, or through her Seniors College “Writing from Life” Course, has inspired the production of much new poetry on the Island. A past president of the PEI Writers Guild, Ms. Hicks Morrow was presented the Award for Distinguished Contribution to the Literary Arts on Prince Edward Island in 2008. “In my new role, I plan to build on the excellent work already done by my predecessors,” said Ms. Hicks Morrow. “I believe that a poem can be about anything, and that anyone can write a poem, so I enjoy proving that in workshops and readings. And as a long‐time community developer, I look forward to hearing what the Island community wants me to do.” The post of Poet Laureate, which was established in 2002, is a largely honourary position created to recognize long‐term contributions to the literary arts in the province. The role of the Poet Laureate is to make Islanders aware of the important role that poetry plays in the literary life of the province and to serve as a cultural ambassador. Activities of previous Poets Laureate have included public readings and workshops, the development of a poetry website, as well activities such as “random acts of poetry.” Ms. Hicks Morrow will be on hand for a reading at the Rotary Public Library at the Cavendish Farms Wellness Centre in Montague, February 2 from 2 to 4 p.m. She can be reached at [email protected]. Canadian Writers and Readers Lose Important Arts Coverage The Writers’ Union of Canada regrets the recent loss of books coverage in The Globe and Mail. The recent news that books coverage in The Globe and Mail will be further reduced has left The Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC) wondering if there is a crisis of critical engagement in Canada’s mainstream media. “Since the regrettable cancellation of the Globe’s stand‐alone Books section,” commented TWUC Chair, Merilyn Simonds, “Canadian writers and readers have, at least, been able to access daily book coverage through the work of Martin Levin and Jack Kirchhoff. With those two excellent editors gone, and with arts coverage in other large dailies condensed and cut back, the illumination of Canadian writing and publishing has been dimmed.” 4
Excellent critical outlets such as Quill & Quire, Canadian Notes & Queries and the Literary Review of Canada continue to provide important coverage, as do online spaces such as 49th Shelf, Open Book and a host of independent literature‐focused blogs; but, the loss of daily mainstream print‐media focus on books generally, and Canadian books in particular, is a blow to a vital, homegrown cultural industry already vastly outweighed by international content. “The specialty publications simply cannot duplicate the reach of a general interest national daily,” said Simonds. “Without intensive book coverage in our large daily newspapers, publishers and festivals will lose access to a targeted, engaged, book‐loving audience. Not only will it be harder for books to find readers, but the ongoing literary conversation sparked by quality reviews will be silenced – or at the least, reduced to a whisper.” TWUC urges the Globe and Mail and other national dailies to reconsider their recent arts coverage cutbacks. As well, we encourage readers to make their opinions known. OPPORTUNITIES Please note: The opportunities, contests or markets listed in this electronic newsletter are only an informational resource. We encourage all poets to thoroughly investigate all contests or markets before submitting their work. Contest: Dr. William Henry Drummond Poetry Contest (established 1970) 1. Residency: All entrants must be Canadian residents or landed immigrants. 2. Poems: Poems must be titled, previously unpublished, and typed in black ink one per page on 8.5 x 11 inch white bond paper. Photocopies and letter quality computer printouts are acceptable. Poems are not to exceed 50 lines in length, including the title. Line length exceeding 44 characters including punctuation and spaces may be broken at the discretion of the anthology committee. Once a line has to be broken because of its length, it will count as two lines. Poems that are too long are not even seen by the judge, so please count these lines carefully. Do not put your name or other identification on the pages your poems are typed on. 3. Entry identification: Your name, address, telephone number and the titles of your poems must appear on a cover page enclosed with your poems. (If you include an email address we will try to let you know that your entry has safely arrived. If you still want to know, enclose a self‐addressed, stamped postcard we can mail back.) On the pages on which the poems appear, only the title and the poem itself are acceptable. These pages will be numbered on arrival and coded to coincide with your cover page. 4. Contest Entry: Your envelope with your entry (entries) to the contest should include: Your poem(s), The cover page containing your name, address, telephone number, email address and Poem Title(s), A cheque or money order for $10.00 per poem submitted. Make cheques out to "Spring Pulse Poetry Festival" (Please do not send cash by mail). There is no official entry form. If you're entering more than one poem, one cheque for the whole total is fine; individual cheques for each entry are not necessary. Mail to: Spring Pulse Poetry Festival, Box 247, Cobalt, ON P0J 1C0. 5. Deadline: Monday April 15 2013. 6. Rights: By entering the contest you are giving Spring Pulse Poetry Festival first Canadian rights for publication, AND the option to collect all the years' poems into a multi‐year compilation at some point. You are free to market your poem(s) in other places, but you should inform them if it has appeared in this anthology. 7. Prizes: Cash prizes totalling $1,200 will be given: First $300, Second $200, and Third $100 place winners. Eight prizes of $50, Eight prizes of $25 each for the Judges choice award, will be awarded for the honourable mention category. Decision of the judge is final. All those chosen by the judge to be included in the anthology will receive a certificate and a complimentary copy of the anthology. NEW: We are accepting online submissions. Send poem(s) in 12 point Times New Roman to [email protected] with subject heading Drummond poetry contest. Include a separate attachment with contact information of title of poem(s), name, address, phone number, email. We cannot accept 5
online payments. Therefore send a cheque or money order to Spring Pulse Poetry Festival, Box 247, Cobalt, ON P0J 1C0. Upon receiving your payment of $10 per poem we will process your submission(s). Send contest email queries to David Brydges: [email protected] Call for Submissions: carte blanche 2013 Spring, Summer & Fall Issues At carte blanche we believe there is more than one way to tell a story. If you’ve got a narrative, we want to see it. We are currently accepting original, previously unpublished poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, translation, photography, graphic fiction and audio submissions for our Spring, Summer and Fall 2013 Issues. (Note: we now only have one submission period per year.) Contributors receive a $45 honorarium per published piece. The deadline to submit is March 1st, 2013. Please check our guidelines for more information: http://carte‐blanche.org/submissions/
Contest: Lena Wilson Endicott Poetry Award Contest Our Times, Canada’s Independent Labour Magazine, is sponsoring a poetry contest in honour of Lena Wilson Endicott (1928‐2012), an artist and poet who cared deeply for the world and social justice. Send us your work poems and your poems of working people and social justice. You may send your poems by email or your letter carrier. Send up to 5 poems as an attachment, but with no identifying info on the poems (to ensure impartial judging). Put your name, address, email address and union affiliation, if any, in the body of your email or in your cover letter. Email your submission to [email protected] , or mail it to: Our Times, Poetry Editor, Suite 407 – 15 Gervais Drive, Toronto Ont, M3C 1Y8. Deadline: June 15, 2013. Grand Prize: $400; two runners‐up: $100 each. Winner and runners‐up will have their poem published in Our Times, and will receive a two‐year subscription to the magazine. Winners will be announced in our Labour Day issue, September 2013. Poetry Judges: Marilyn Dumont, poet; Valerie Endicott, family member; Adriane Paavo, labour educator (Saskatchewan Government and General Employees’ Union, and member of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada). Contest Coordinator: Maureen Hynes, poet, and Our Times Poetry Editor. Call for Nominations: The Golden Beret Award The Golden Beret Award will be given to a Canadian Spoken Word Artist who has made a substantial contribution to the development of the discipline, through their own writing/performance works, and their involvement in the community‐at‐large. The short list will be announced at the 2013 Calgary Spoken Word Festival (Tenth Annual: Theme: Extreme Thinking) in April as part of National Poetry Month! And the award will be presented at the AGM of The League of Canadian Poets! The 2013 recipient will also receive a prize of $1000. In 2014 The Sheri‐D Golden Beret Award will be awarded by The League of Canadian Poets. Submit a One Page Letter by Snail‐mail: 1428A – 44th Street SW, Calgary, AB, T3C 2A6 or On‐line: www.calgaryspokenwordfestival.com. Deadline: February 15, 2013. The selection committee will evaluate candidates based on the following qualities: Lifetime contribution to the genre of Spoken Word; Originality of Creative Process—Innovation; Use of New Technologies; Contribution to Community. After being presented by the Calgary Spoken Word Festival for 7 years, The Golden Beret Award, previously labeled as “soon‐to‐be‐prestigious”, is now transitioning into The Sheri‐D Golden Beret Award. It will be passed on to The League of Canadian Poets who will continue to endow a $1000 cash prize in 2014. In this transition, the award continues to represent excellence in the Spoken Word community and will grow to its prestigious heights. Previous Recipients: 2012 Kirk Miles (Calgary, AB); 2011 Ian Ferrier (Montreal, QC); 2010 Wendy Morton (Victoria, BC); 2009 Lillian Allen (Toronto, ON); 2008 Sarah Murphy (Calgary, AB); 2007 Murdoch Burnett (Comox, BC). For Information: Please contact Steven Peard @ 403.686.4292 or [email protected] 6
Open to Submissions: Subterranean Blue Poetry Subterranean Blue Poetry is an Internet Poetry and Art Publishing Café. We thrive on new original words and New Age Art. All Poets and their poetry are welcome and we are especially looking for homegrown Poets from the Canadian/American Indian Community, Quebec, small town Canada, international Poets and anyone who was ever considered “the other.” New Age Art offerings are for the masthead of each issue. We are currently open to submissions. www.subterraneanbluepoetry.com. Rhubarb Taboo Literary Contest Rhubarb announces the expansion of the Money literary contest to include all taboos with up to $1,500 in prize money, open to anyone (Mennonites and non), with $30 and a stamp to send it. Future Rhubarb taboo themes are Sex, and Power & Politics. Entries related to Rhubarb taboo themes will be considered for publication, but all writing about taboos are eligible for the contest. Deadline: March 30, 2013 There will be up to three $500 prizes, one each in poetry, fiction, and creative non‐fiction, and publication in the Rhubarb’s Power & Politics issue of next summer. Honourable mentions will also be published and receive the standard $50 payment for publication. All entrants will receive a subscription to Rhubarb magazine. Prizes may not be awarded in all categories at the discretion of the judges. The judges: Fiction – Armin Wiebe, Non‐Fiction – Andreas Schroeder, Poetry – Lorna Crozier The entry fee is $30. Three poems of up to 30 lines can be submitted as one poetry entry, fiction and non‐fiction are limited to one submission with a maximum of 2,500 words. Money literary contest entrants please note, you entries continue to be eligible, and your entry fee is good for another submission on another taboo if you want to send one. Entry Details: Please provide all contact information, including your name address and email on a cover sheet, without your name appearing on the entry itself. Submissions will be accepted by email and surface mail. Email entries won’t be logged until a cheque for $30 arrives in the mail. Please address surface mail entries and cheques payable to “The Mennonite Literary Society” to: The Mennonite Literary Society, Rhubarb Taboo Contest, 606‐100 Arthur Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 1H3. Coastal Spectator Calling All Poets! Coastal Spectator: http://coastalspectator.ca. We're a new arts‐based review and commentary site operating independently out of the University of Victoria. Check us out! We are starting a new feature: we want to publish, on our home site, one new poem each week for a year, so if you have a new piece of work ‐‐ that is a haiku or up to 25 lines long ‐‐ do submit. We can pay $25 for each poem published, and once its week on the site is over, it will be placed in a poetry archive onsite. We see it as a new way to introduce new or pending books of Canadian poetry. By "new" we mean book published in 2012. If you've just signed a poetry deal, then this is a good way to let the world know. Send your submission (one only, pick your best!) to [email protected] New Award: Burt Award for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Literature We are excited to announce the launch of the new Burt Award for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Literature. Established by CODE – a Canadian charitable organization that supports literacy and learning – in collaboration with philanthropist William (Bill) Burt and the Literary Prizes Foundation, The Burt Award for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Literature will be given annually to English‐language literary works for Young Adults by First Nations, Métis or Inuit authors. A First Prize of $12,000, a Second Prize of $8,000 and a Third Prize of $5,000 will be awarded to the authors and translators (if applicable) of the winning titles. Publishers of winning titles will be awarded a guaranteed purchase of a minimum of 2,500 copies. Eligible manuscripts and books published between 1 May 2010 and 30 April 2013 must be received from publishers no later than 1 May 2013. 7
Literary Review of Canada (LRC) We're changing up our poetry section for 2013, with each issue to feature poems that share a common form or theme. During the months devoted to a given form, the subjects will vary, and vice versa. Below is our 2013 publication calendar to help guide submissions. As always, we welcome unsolicited, unpublished, original submissions, provided that they fit one of the categories outlined in this schedule: • January/February: sonnets • March: poems from the margins, e.g. pieces from/about our prisons, reserves, North, rural areas, etc. • April: short poems, of less than 50 words ‐ consider haikus, tankas, rubaiyats, tweet‐poems, triolets, and other short styles • May: poems on the elements, e.g. fire, earth, water, air, wood, etc. • June: villanelles • July/August: ekphrastic poetry, i.e. pieces inspired by other art forms (visual, film, music, etc.) • September: prose poems • October: poems inspired by family • November: ghazals • December: poems inspired by food Please note that there are two reading periods: 1) May 1 to December 5, 2012 for publication January‐
June 2013 and 2) beginning May 1, 2013 for publication July/August‐December 2013. Please include the month in which you would like your work to be read in the subject line of any emailed submissions. For more information, check out our full submissions guidelines online at: http://reviewcanada.ca/submissions First Call: submissions for retrospective/compendium/anthology on Milton Acorn (Mosaic Press) Dear Fellow Poets, After several years of preparation, last year Mosaic Press released a new selected of Milton Acorn, edited by poet James Deahl. An informal group we sometimes jokingly call 'The Fellowship of the Acorn' is doing our best to resurrect and perpetuate the literary work and legacy of Canada's People's Poet. Most of us believe Milt was Canada's best ever poet. To promote Milt and his new book, IN A SPRINGTIME INSTANT, we organized a number of events in 2012, beginning with a casual gathering at Grossman's Tavern in Toronto where Milt received the People's Poet Medal. In the summer we organized a standing‐room‐only book launch at The Parliament Street Library, followed soon after by a tribute to Milt at the sixth annual Purdy Country Literary Festival, which we dubbed AcornFest in Milt's honour. On November 22nd we held An Evening With the Friends of Milton Acorn at The Imperial Public Library in Toronto. We are now entering the next stage of resurrecting Milton Acorn. Mosaic Press did a beautiful job with IASI, and Howard Aster, the publisher of Mosaic, has now approved the publication of a compendium/restrospective book on Milt to continue this campaign. We anticipate the book will be of equal quality and length to IASI. We are asking for submissions for this book from you. We would also appreciate it if you'd circulate information about this project far and wide to other Acornphiles. We are seeking reminiscences, memoirs, critiques, poems, pictures, artwork ‐ one of our first contributions is a song for Milt ‐ just about anything. Surprise us! Please send submissions, queries, proposals and questions to me, Chris Faiers, preferably via email: [email protected]. Snail mail can be mailed to: Chris Faiers, 12 Main St. Marmora, ON K0K 2M0. Or if you'd prefer, phone calls are welcome (please keep trying, afternoons & evenings best) 613‐472‐6186. You can also contact co‐editor Terry Barker by phone: 1‐416‐491‐8676 or snail mail: Terry Barker, 22 Deerford Rd., Willowdale, ON M2J 3J2. The target date for publication is spring 2014. We are in the first stages of this project, so feedback, ideas and encouragement are very 8
much appreciated. peace & poetry power! Chris (Faiers). Information updates will be posted on my blog: http://riffsandripplesfromzenrivergardens.blogspot.com/. EVENTS, WORKSHOPS, COURSES, FESTIVALS & READINGS The Al Purdy Show, Toronto, ON A celebration of poetry and music to benefit Al Purdy A‐Frame. February 6, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. Silent Auction begins at 6:30 p.m. The event features Margaret Atwood, Ken Babstock, George Bowering, Michael Enright, Phil Hall, Steven Heighton, Dennis Lee, Gordon Pinsent, and Karen Solie, as well as musical guests, Bidiniband with the Billie Hollies, The Skydiggers and other friends of the A‐Frame. Including an auction of books, pictures, and other A Purdy memorabilia. Tickets 416‐408‐0208, Koerner Hall. For more info: www.alpurdy.ca Saturdays at Portobello, Toronto, ON Saturday, February 2nd, 2013 from 1:30 ‐ 4:30 p.m. at Portobello Restaurant at 995 Bay St., Toronto ON M5S 3C4. Featuring musician/poet Max Layton, writer/poet Ann Elizabeth Carson, guest poet and writer Lucile Barker, guest musician Bob Cohen, guest poet Gianna Patriarca and guest musician Rita Visser. Rower Reading Series, Toronto, ON February is fabulous at The Rowers Reading Series. Join us for an amazing night of poetry and prose featuring: Shaughnessy Bishop‐Stall, Dani Couture & Peter Dube, along with mini feature Ken Murray on Monday, February 4, 7:30 pm, upstairs at The Victory Café, 581 Markham St, Toronto. For info: http://rowerspubreadingseries.com Freedom to Read Week ‐ February 24 ‐ March 2, 2013, Across Canada Can it be true? Freedom to Read Week is just weeks away! We have tons of updates for you on upcoming events and ways that you can get involved with FTRW 2013. We'd love your help! We've already started shipping the FTRW 2013 posters, and our kits should be on their way soon, but it's not too late to place an order! Visit http://www.freedomtoread.ca if you'd still like to order one of our beautiful posters or this year's kit, which includes the hot‐off‐the‐press 2013 issue of Freedom to Read. If you have any issues with your order or want to provide us with feedback, give us a call or contact us at [email protected]. Freedom to Read Week is a project of the Freedom of Expression Committee of the Book and Periodical Council. Planning an Event? Every year, schools, libraries and community organizations across Canada organize great events and displays celebrating Freedom to Read Week. If you're planning something for 2013, let us know and we'll help you promote your event! Still looking for ideas? Visit our Get Involved page (http://www.freedomtoread.ca/get‐involved/) for great ideas, or check out our 2012 photo gallery to see what people came up with last year. Here's a list of some of the events that will be happening for Freedom to Read Week 2013: Edmonton What: Banned Books Café When: 2 p.m. Sunday, February 24, 2013 Where: Woodcroft Branch, 13420 114 Avenue NW, Edmonton, AB The Scoop: Celebrate Freedom to Read Week by participating in the Banned Books Café. Hear readings from challenged books and join in discussions about censorship and your freedom to read. Drop in. No 9
registration is required. The participation limit is 25 people. Calgary What: Celebrate Freedom to Read Week with Comedian Cory Mack When: 7 p.m. Tuesday, February 26, 2013 Where: Barley Mill Pub, 201 Barclay Parade SW, Calgary, AB The Scoop: Join WordFest and the Writers Guild of Alberta to celebrate Freedom to Read Week with a special appearance from Cory Mack. Please RSVP to [email protected] by February 22. Toronto What: PEN Canada Presents Beyond Book Burning: Disappearing Books in the Digital Age When: 7 p.m. Friday, March 1, 2013 Where: Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street, Toronto, ON The Scoop: See http://pencanada.ca/events/upcoming/ for more information. What: Youth Public Forum When: 7 p.m. Wednesday, February 27, 2013 Where: North York Central Library (Room 1) The Scoop: Join the North York Central Library for a public forum for Freedom to Read Week. We will be looking at different forms of censorship and discussing how different books have been banned in different countries and cultures. The forum will be chaired by youth librarians. No registration is required. What: Libel and Privacy: Why You Should Watch What You Say on the Internet When: 7 p.m. Monday, February 25, 2013 Where: Yorkville Library (Program Room) The Scoop: A Freedom to Read Week event with Peter Jacobsen, defamation and media lawyer, and board member of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression. What: The Book and Periodical Council and Raconteurs Present: Censorship When: 7 p.m. Thursday, February 28, 2013 Where: The Garrison, 1197 Dundas Street West The Scoop: Come hear five storytellers as they recount true stories about censorship and the freedom to read. The Canadian Library Association will also present its award for the Advancement of Intellectual Freedom in Canada, and the Writers' Union of Canada will present its Freedom to Read Award. Tickets are on sale now! Freedom to Read 2013: Issue Highlights The 2013 issue of Freedom to Read will start being mailed next week! Trust us when we say that this year's edition is something you will not want to miss! Freedom to Read is an annual publication that examines issues of censorship and freedom of expression in Canada and across the globe, and it is a fantastic resource for any library or classroom, as well as a compelling read. To order Freedom to Read 2013, please download an order form: http://www.freedomtoread.ca/freedom‐to‐read‐week/order‐
kits‐and‐posters/#.UQlylh34KG8 Happy New Year from Draft, Toronto, ON Please join us for Draft 8.4 on Sunday, February 3, 3 p.m. at The Merchants of Green Coffee (http://merchantsofgreencoffee.com/), 2 Matilda Street, Toronto, ON. With new work by Ian Burgham, Luciano Iacobelli, Melissa Major, Cathy Petch and Barry Webster. To find out more about the authors, please click (http://draftreadings.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/eight‐point‐four‐bios.doc). Make sure to pick up your copy of Draft, a limited‐edition publication available only at these readings. 10
NEW MEMBERS Maleea Acker Maleea Acker is the author of two books of poems, The Reflecting Pool and The Almond in the Earth (Pedlar Press, 2009 & 2013), and one book of essays, Gardens Aflame: Garry Oak Meadows of BC’s South Coast (New Star Books, 2012). She holds an MFA in Writing from the University of Victoria and has received fellowships to arts residencies in Canada, the US, Spain and Mexico. She is native to Vancouver island. Peter Hrastovec Born and raised in Windsor, Ontario, Peter Hrastovec and his wife Denise have three wonderful children. Peter graduated from the University of Windsor with a degree in English Language and Literature (Hons. B.A.). Over the years, his poetry has been published in several literary magazines including the University of Windsor Review. For ten years, he was the editor of CAVEAT, a periodical of the Essex County Law Association. He has continued to contribute to that magazine with his column, “Notes from the Middleground”. Past columns are found on his website, www.peterlaw.ca. In 2012, Peter’s first book of poetry, IN LIEU OF FLOWERS, was published by Black Moss Press. He is also a graduate of the University of Windsor Faculty of Law and practices in the area of employment/labour law and commercial litigation. A proud, first‐generation Canadian, Peter is fluent in both English and Croatian. His community support has included the Windsor Symphony Society, Rotary International, the United Way and the Windsor‐
Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce. Peter is happy to occasionally coach soccer and perform in community theatre. In September 2009, Peter was honoured to receive the Law Society Medal for his contributions to community and legal practice. David Romanda David Romanda was born in Kelowna, British Columbia. He currently lives in Kawasaki City, Japan. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Dalhousie Review, Grain Magazine, and PANK. Visit David online: http://www.nyqpoets.net/poet/davidromanda MEMBERS NEWS Ian Burgham I will be reading at the Draft Reading Series along with some great novelists and poets (including Lucian Iacobelli and Cathy Petch) this Sunday, February 3, starting 3PM sharp. Please come and join us if you are able to do so. Should be a fun afternoon. Location: Merchants of Green Coffee ‐ 2 Matilda Street near Broadview and Queen. You should Google the location. Matilda runs north from Queen East beside the DVP (it is the street before you get to Broadview). Odd location, great space. For more info: www.merchantsofgreencoffee.com or 416 742 5369. Hope to see you there. Dina E. Cox I’m reading from my debut collection, small flames (Signature Editions, Winnipeg, 2012), on Saturday afternoon April 6th 2013, as part of National Poetry Month, at the Markham Village Library 6031 Highway #7 E, in the city of Markham, Ontario. The event begins at 2 p.m. (officially it’s 2:00 to 3:30, but it may not take that long, so best just to give start time) and will begin with music by a brass quintet made up of members of the Markham Concert Band. I will be playing with the quintet, then will give a 11
reading from my small flames. After, there will be time for questions (for the quintet or me), and I will have copies of my book available. Robert Currie Robert Currie will re‐deliver the 2012 Anne Szumigalski Memorial lecture in Winnipeg on February 15th, 2013 at 2;30 p.m in Room 1L06 of Lockhart Hall at the University of Winnipeg. He will also do a reading at 7:00 p.m. that night at McNally Robinson. Both events are open to the public. Penn Kemp My article on "Literary London Life" is now up: http://www.openbookontario.com/news/focus_london and on their magazine, http://openbooktoronto.com/magazine. The piece was supposed to be my personal take, so I focused on poetry:) ! Saturday, January 26, 2013, 8 pm. Playwrights Cabaret, McManus Theatre, 471 Richmond Street, London ON. Penn's play, The Spousal Song of Teresa Harris, revolves around the exotic marital adventures of the youngest Eldon House girl who was, along with her second husband, the greatest explorer of her Victorian era as she recalls her life from her deathbed. February 15‐17, 2013, Brighid Festival, The Circle, Brescia University College, London ON. See http://www.brescia.uwo.ca/thecircle/events/brighid_festival.html. Saturday, February 16, 2:30‐4:30 pm. Afternoon events include Penn’s writing playshop, Writing from Wildness and Wonder into Wisdom: Finding Your Rhythm in Words Creative Writing begins in wonder, the wonder of perception before words drop into mind and onto page. With our present vocabulary, can we write from a child’s freshness? Schooling trains us in straight lines, not spirals. How do we find our way out of the straitjacket of English progressions from Subject to Verb to Object? Do we dare to write wild, to write large, to write into what we don’t know? Nature is seldom smooth but we are conditioned to think straight. Do we dare open to receive wild words, to spend an afternoon in the community of wild women writers? Jack Layton: Art in Action will be launched on May 2 at The Rivoli in Toronto, in BC and in London. We're looking for pre‐orders to make the best book possible! Here's the information on Jack Layton: Art in Action‐‐ http://www.quattrobooks.ca/fourfront‐editions/jack‐layton‐art‐and‐action. http://www.openbookontario.com/news/noticed_pre_orders_penn_kemps_jack_layton_art_action Interviews about Jack are on the schedule for my Lit.‐on‐Air radio show, Gathering Voices. Take a look/listen to the show, live and archived on www.chrwradio.com/talk/gatheringvoices. Liz Zetlin Liz Zetlin, with her granddaughter, has published their first multimedia IBook, Zoe's Dream, available for free download at the IBookStore: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/zoes‐dream/id590246895?mt=11. In Zoe's Dream, eight year old Zoe returns home from a visit with her grandparents, only to find her house empty. Her family and friends have been turned into zombies by a mysterious shape‐shifting creature called The Voice. Zoe, with the help of Raccoon, goes on a quest to save them and discovers her own powers. Told through video clips of the real Zoe narrating her dream, accompanied by her own drawings and special effects by her Grandma Liz. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or post a notice, send an e‐mail to [email protected]. If members don’t have e‐mail access, we’ll be happy to send printed copies by Canada Post. Please send a note to the League office requesting us to do so. Address: 192 Spadina Ave, Suite 312, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 2C2. Send news to [email protected]. The League of Canadian Poets receives operating funding from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council. 12