Starpainters by Gordon Downie

The myth is neither here nor there, from the air.
Just blue lake stains and purified, parcelled squares:
a crazy quilt of spearmint, of mustard and honey tones;
a scuffed-up kitchen floor
of tiles on top of bones with a big trap door.
Towns down diagonal lines disappear and drop out of sight into the night
beyond the national night, and underneath the grit and glare into unfettered nothingness and thin
air,
as herds of clouds lazily graze on thermal sighs of delight,
The Starpainters are taking over now,
their scaffolding is in its place.
your anesthesiologist tonight is washing up and on her way.

Yes? Great! They have soon pretty nifty events coming up, so check ‘em out by clicking here.

No? Well, we can fix that right now by clicking here.

Have fun!

The article got some mixed reviews. Check it out!  Right here.

Sign up for a writers’ weekend with creative writing instructors Donna Besel and Kate Bitney at beautiful Falcon Trails Resort, April 13-15, 2012. Weekend includes 3 nights stay in luxurious lakefront cabin, gourmet meals, hot tubs, sauna, and plenty of writing sessions designed to encourage, inspire, and motivate. Visit Falcon Trails’ website (http://www.falcontrails.mb.ca) to find out more and to register for this event.

Donna Besel loves writing of all kinds: short stories, novels, poems, articles, songs. Her work has been published in various forms and has won numerous scholarships and awards, including second place in Prairie Fire’s 2002 writing contest, finalist spot in CBC’s 2007 “Canada Writes,”and shortlist nomination for CBC’s 2009 Literary Awards. She teaches creative writing to all ages and instructs in Manitoba Arts Council’s province-wide Artists in the Schools program.

Katherine Bitney is the author of three critically acclaimed books of poetry: While You Were Out (Turnstone Press,1981), Heart and Stone(Turnstone Press, 1989), and Singing Bone (The Muses’ Company, 1997). A fourth collection  is forthcoming from Turnstone Press in 2012. She has worked as editor, mentor, creative writing instructor, arts juror,and literary creative director for over 30 years in Manitoba. Most recently she developed the text for Cantus Borealis, a choral piece on the Boreal with composer Sid Robinovitch(premiered April, 2011). She is now working on a fifth collection of writings.

For more information, visit http://www.prairiefire.ca

Call for Submissions – Anne Green Award

WordFest: Banff-Calgary International Writers Festival is inviting submissions for the inaugural Anne Green Award. The $3,000 award will be given to an artist whose project explores and challenges the traditional form of story and narrative and culminates in a presentation of the work at the 17th annual WordFest held in Calgary and Banff from October 9–14, 2012. The recipient will also be invited to Calgary as a festival artist, receiving airfare and accommodation. The award is open to artists whose primary discipline is based in the written and spoken word. Artists whose work is based in other disciplines must demonstrate that their body of work has previously explored and incorporated the practice of the written or spoken word.

The award is named for Anne Green, Founding Director of WordFest and long-time professional in the Canadian arts community. During the 15th anniversary of WordFest the establishment of the fund was enabled by a private donor to recognize the incredible contribution of departing Founding Director Anne Green and to facilitate WordFest continuing Green’s commitment to profiling innovative work that challenges genres and narrative forms.

The award recipient will be selected by Green and a committee of artistic peers which hopes to receive a wide range of submissions in varying formats and languages. Interested parties are directed to wordfest.com for more information on eligibility and submission requirements.

WordFest brings more than 70 artists from around the world to connect with readers in Calgary, Banff and the Bow Valley from October 9-14, 2012, in over 60 events that are intimate, interactive and fun. For more information, please call 403.237.9068 or visit wordfest.com.

Media Inquiries:
Mary Kapusta
WordFest Marketing Manager
P: 403.237.9068
F: 403.237.9093
mkapusta@wordfest.com

Anne Green Award
Eligibility Criteria
•    The project shall be an original work which challenges and explores the written and spoken word while not losing sight of the original form. The project must have roots in story and narrative and must not have been previously produced in Calgary or Banff.
•    Acceptable media include—but are not limited to—the following: song, poetry, dance, instrumental music, film, electronic literature, visual arts and spoken word.
•    The award is restricted to professional artists as defined by the Canada Council as someone who:
o    has specialized training in the artistic field (not necessarily in academic institutions);
o    is recognized as a professional by his or her peers (artists working in the same artistic tradition);
o    is committed to devoting more time to his or her artistic activity, if possible, financially; and
o    has a history of public presentation.
•    It is further restricted to artists whose primary discipline is based in the written and spoken word. Artists whose primary practice is based in another discipline must demonstrate that their body of work has previously explored and incorporated the practice of the written or spoken word.
•    The award is restricted to permanent residents of Canada.
•    The project must be featured at the current year’s WordFest, and if a performance, must be from 15 to 80 minutes in length.
Submission Requirements
•    Deadline: April 21, 2012
•    A typed project description no longer than 500 words that illustrates how the project explores and challenges the traditional form of story and narrative and why this project is relevant to WordFest. Please identify if any public grant funds were used in the creation of the work.
•    A one page biography/curriculum vitae addressing the professional artist criteria as defined by the Canada Council and the disciplinary practice as outlined above.
•    Applicable supplementary materials may also be included at the entrant’s discretion:
o    Hard copy of printed work (ARC, finished book, etc.)
o    Audio samples (MP3 files on CD format only)
o    Visual aids may include photos, video capture of the performance (CD or DVD), or sample of the artwork
•    Submissions, including supplementary materials, will not be returned to the artist unless a pre-paid self-addressed envelope is included. WordFest will only accept submissions no bigger than a padded 12 x 18 envelope.
•    WordFest will only cover the costs for one artist to represent the work at the Festival.  Should the project require additional artists, this will be the responsibility of the selected artist.
•    Multi-lingual submissions will be considered, but must be accompanied by a professional English translation.
•    Submissions can be mailed to: Anne Green Award, WordFest, PO Box 20024 RPO Bow Valley, Calgary, AB  T2P 4H3
Please email questions regarding submissions, or requests for more information to info@wordfest.com.

The author of fifteen books, and one of Canada’s most respected poets, essayists and editors, Anne Szumigalski was the recipient of many literary awards and prizes and left behind a rich literary legacy. Her passing in April 1999 was mourned by all those she had touched.

Tuesday, March 6, 7 pm. FREE

Marathon reading of Anne Szumigalski’s Risks

Featuring 32 of Winnipeg’s established and emerging poets, some surprise out-of-town guests and an introduction from Montreal writer Mark Abley, Anne’s literary executor.

Tuesday, March 6, 8 pm. FREE

Launch of A Woman Clothed in Words (Coteau Books, 2012)

Featuring Mark Abley, Elizabeth Philips and Anne Simpson

Light refreshments will follow the launch.

Wednesday, March 7, 7 pm. $5

Anne and Me: Mark Abley, Mari-Lou Rowley and Anne Simpson

Featuring the Jeffrey King Trio

An evening of poetry, music and dance.

Thursday, March 8, 7 pm. FREE

Mark Abley: Anne Szumigalski Memorial Lecture “The Angel of the Big Muddy”

Followed by a panel discussion on Szumigalski’s work with Mark Abley, Mari-Lou Rowley and Catherine Hunter.

Friday, March 9, 7 pm. FREE

Movie Night with hosts Katherine Bitney and Frances Bitney

Featuring Glen Sorestad

Katherine and Frances (Anne’s daughter and granddaughter, respectively) will be joined by Glen Sorestad, Saskatoon poet and colleague of Anne’s, for reminiscences on the Saskatoon writing and publishing community and Anne’s place within it.

• One-hour documentary: Rapture Of The Deep, Canadian Poet, Anne Szumigalski

by Donna Caruso/Incandescent Films, 2000

• PLUS: The book trailer for A Peeled Wand: Selected Poems of Anne Szumigalski (Signature Editions, 2011), which features recordings of Anne reading her poems.

Saturday, March 10, 11 am – 4 pm. $40

YA Workshop: Finish “The Water Granny”

Anne Szumigalski left unfinished: a book of juvenile fiction called “The Water Granny.”

Offered in partnership with the Manitoba Editors’ Association, this workshop will focus on the dos and don’ts of substantive editing, with a particular focus on juvenile and young-adult fiction. Award-winning YA writer and editor Anita Daher will facilitate.

Saturday, March 10, 7 pm. $5

Readers’ Theatre Production of Z: A Meditation on Oppression, Desire, and Freedom

Featuring nearly a dozen of Winnipeg’s established and emerging actors.

Z (Coteau Books, 1995) explores the relationship between captive and captor and the sacrifices human beings must make to survive. When the concentration camps were opened at the end of World War II, Anne Szumigalski worked with the survivors as a translator for the British Red Cross. “It made me look at life in a completely different way,” she said.

Most of What You’re Reading is Probably a Waste of Time

By BLH

As an admitted book snob, I can tell you that not all reading is equal in merit or usefulness. We writers read to learn and improve our craft, as well as enrich our understanding of the world and how people think, but not every book, magazine, newspaper, or blog is going to provide these important things. And yet more and more, we find ourselves devoting more time to the reading material that is useless to us than to the reading that could really help us.

How we get pulled into wasteful reading.

It happens like this: in the morning after breakfast I sit down at my computer, intending to check the usual sites and feeds before I get to the day’s work. It’s an important orienting ritual for the day, as old a tradition as the morning newspaper. The problem is that the ritual is getting longer, more random, more distracting, and more dis-orienting than orienting. We find ourselves reading a list of the top ten movies featuring sandwiches, or a collection of photos of other people’s cats with funny captions; we read through fifteen promotional emails for sales and deals and coupons; we click through ten or more links for disappointing articles. If we were to see the promises of these articles in a book, we would turn away without reading; but the particularly tempting nature of the internet means that we can’t resist.

Bad writing is everywhere.

And that’s only the beginning of the day; after wasting more time than we expect in this way, we still have a stack of good old-fashioned books to read that could be equally useless. There’s theflavor-of-the-month book, the one your friends tell you is the best thing they’ve ever read, but is actually trite and over-done. There’s the dry intellectual text you told yourself to read in college that has little connection to the kind of writing you’re doing now. There’s the writing that’s simply bad, and that we continue to read anyway: bad newspapers, bad magazines (truly awful magazines), bad blogs. There are the stories or articles we read because they comfortably confirm our own world views; there are the articles with the pictures we want to see; there are the articles that indulge in our desire for wish-fulfillment or even (let’s face it) physical arousal. All of these forms of writing sate us in one way or another; but they don’t make us better writers, and that’s why I call them a waste of time.

After the jump: how to choose your reading more wisely.

How to choose your reading.

I’m not scolding; after all, we technically “waste” huge chunks of our days in other ways, from eating food we don’t need to watching television we shouldn’t, to sleeping later than we should. This is life; this is normal. But because we only have so much time and brainpower for reading, we should be choosing what we read more wisely. First, I’m taking steps to shorten my morning routine. Instead of moving laboriously through all of my feeds and reading any link that remotely interests me, I’m opening more critically, doing a little anticipation of what the link is likely to hold. Then I’m saving the link to read later, using services like Quiet Read or Safari’s new Reading List feature. It lets me be in greater control over what I read and what I decide is not worth my time.

This critical eye has to go toward traditional books as well. When people ask me, “Have you read the latest so-and-so?” I’m afraid I usually have to say no; but that doesn’t mean I’m at all opposed to contemporary writing. Instead, I can usually tell the person about some great new book that is less-known, but far more rewarding. Just like with great music or movies, finding the best new stuff often means going underground or indie, searching for what is bold, different, and unconventional. These fresh forms of creativity will help stimulate your own creativity; and you won’t find yourself disappointed, yet again, with the pick of the month.

So, what do you think?

This is how I personally felt about it: I totally agree that I spend way too much time wandering aimlessly around the internet looking at article like “Top ten bad celebrity hair-dos of all time”. I am also guilt of reading books without the goal of ‘improving my mind’.

But is this really such a bad thing? All day long we have to focus our minds on things that we would rather not be doing. We work full days and then come home to clean the house, pay bills, do laundry and if we have some spare time, read, cruise the internet or watch TV.

Now, ok, this spare time might not be spent catching up on the most amazing writing to come out of this century, but I think it is still valid.

I think we all need that time where we just let our brains wander and go where ever the heck it wants. It adds a little spontaneity to our otherwise heavily planned out lives.

I’ll admit, when I have some time coming up that I know I’ll have some reading time, like at the cabin in summer, I go to the library and perform my book finding ritual. I walk in, and try to find three books. I pick one based on how funny, tacky or intriguing the title is, I pick one based on how tacky, lame or awesome the cover graphic is, and one based on how lame or impressive the write up on the back of the novel is.  This way, it is an adventure every time I read. I never really have much of a have a planned book list, I don’t pay attention to the New York Times Best Seller List or the current books being pushed by the ‘literati’.

It was through this method that I found “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”. Sounds pretty hokey, right? It’s actually very well researched, surprisingly engaging and is a unique spin on American History. Cool!

The way I find books a lot of the time is like walking around in a dark room looking for a flashlight. But I like it that way, because I don’t know what I’m getting into.

While, I’m not saying that my book picking style is epic and extraordinary, I still think a little spontaneity is valid. No one would have fallen in love with The Lord of the Rings if Frodo had been given the ring and then spent the next couple of months meticulously plotting out the best and most efficient path to Mordor. Nope! Frodo just rolled with the punches. (These said punches were often ring wraiths out to kill him, but you get the idea).

This isn’t to say that I don’t do some planned reading. If I see a book that speaks to me, I will read it. But this isn’t how I plan all of my reading. I may not always set a book down afterwards and feel myself feeling smarter and more fulfilled as a person, but I put the book down feeling more relaxed and at peace with myself.

While I totally believe in using books to expand our mental horizons, I also believe that it is ok to find material that will allow your brain to melt into a little puddle of goo. I think goo can be good for you. Goo helps you relax after a hard day.

But maybe I’m the only one who feels this way.

So what do you think? Let me know!

In Progress…

Looking for a chance to listen to established and emerging Aboriginal writers share their latest work? From poets to storytellers, comedians to screen writers, members of the Aboriginal Writers’ Collective of Manitoba are showing off their latest and greatest! An intimate setting guarantees access to these fabulous local talents. Provide your feedback, ask about inspiration – or get inspired yourself. All are welcome.

West End Library
999 Sargent Avenue

Thursday, February 23
7 p.m.

Registration encouraged but not needed. Phone: 986-4677

Let me know!

-Lindsey