The Writers' Collective

SEPTEMBER 24, 2010 WRITERS’ COLLECTIVE UPDATE

*WRITERS’ COLLECTIVE ANNOUNCEMENTS

*WRITERS’ COLLECTIVE MEMBER NEWS

*PROGRAMS AROUND AND ABOUT

*OPPORTUNITIES AND SUBMISSIONS

*CONTESTS

*SOURCES AND RESOURCES

*NEWS RANDOM AND OTHERWISE

*QUOTE OF THE WEEK

ANNOUNCEMENTS

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THE WINNERS OF THE 2010 SPRING WINNIPEG FREE PRESS/WRITERS’ COLLECTIVE SHORT FICTION AND MARIE BARTON POSTCARD FICTION CONTEST

The winners of the Spring 2010 Writing Contests are . . . (insert drum roll)!

Winnipeg Free Press/Writers’ Collective Short Fiction Contest Winners

Adult:

1^st place “July 3, 1971” by Chuck McKenna. $200.00 prize.

2^nd place “Sunbeams and Dust: Glimpses into a Shared Life” by Donna Janke. $150.00 prize.

3^rd place “In the Cards” by Gail Perry. $100.00 prize.

Senior Student:

1^st place “Welcome to Connecticut” by Elizabeth Whitbread. $150.00 prize.

2^nd place “Call for Aid” by Kelli Block. $75.00 prize.

3^rd place “The Book” by Alyssa Sherlock. $50.00 prize.

Honourable Mention “The Holy Trinity of My Fists” by Sean Timlick.

Junior Student:

1^st place – “The Valley” by Tamsy Riddle , $150.00 prize.

2^nd place – “He Started It” by Kayla Lamb. $75.00 prize.

3^rd place – “New Girl in School” by Bryanne Dewitt. $50.00 prize.

Honourable Mention – “Us vs. Them” by Kaitlyn Merrill.

Winner of the Human Spirit Prize – “Life in Perspective” by Allison Kilgour. $100.00 prize.

Marie Barton Postcard Fiction Contest

1^st place – “Mrs. Bates” by Frances Koncan, $100.00 prize and a membership in the Writers’ Collective

2^nd place – “The Battle over Pickles” by Bonnie Gauthier, $50.00 prize and one free workshop at the Writers’ Collective in the 2010/2011 Season

3^rd place – “Pulse” by Wayne Chan, $25.00 prize

Honourable Mention – “Chance Encounter” by Patricia Winton

Please join the Collective at the Carol Shields Auditorium at the Winnipeg Millennium Library on Monday, September 27 at 7:00 pm for the awarding of the prizes and a reading by some of the contest winners.

Many thanks to our judges, Hilary Friesen, Perry Grosshans, Chandra Mayor, Cheryl Miki, Gwen Smid, and Michael Van Rooy.

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TENTH ANNIVERSARY LAUNCH OF JUICE

Come down for the launch of Juice 10 from University of Winnipeg students. Friday, September 24, 2010 from 4:00 to 5:30 pm at Convocation Hall in the University.

There will be free juice and cookies, admission is free and readings from the writers will be featured.

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THE WRITERS’ COLLECTIVE NEEDS YOU! (IF YOU’RE A GRAPHIC DESIGNER) – GRAPHIC DESIGNER NEEDED – BUILD YOUR PORTFOLIO!

The Writers’ Collective needs a graphic designer for the Collective Consciousness, our literary journal. The journal usually runs 30 to 50 pages, and comes out 2 to 4 times per year.

Your job will include:

- Laying out the journal based on copy provided by Editorial Board

- Ensuring content in journal retains approved formatting, such as italics, bolds and line and paragraph breaks

- Providing stock images as appropriate to accompany text

- Laying out advertising copy as required

You must have your own computer and appropriate software to complete a professional layout and provide print-ready files to our printer.

You will get:

- A $200 honorarium per issue

- Design credit on journal masthead

- A professional publication for your portfolio

- References appropriate to the quality of work, as deemed by the Program Coordinator and Board

To apply, please submit to Michael Van Rooy, Program Coordinator, :

- A cover letter describing your qualifications and when you are able to start

- At least one sample of your work

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IMPORTANT REMINDER: The 2010-2011 Writers Circles are filling up fast! Have you registered yet? If not send me an email as quickly as you can at 

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WRITERS COLLECTIVE TENTH ANNIVERSARY!

We are looking for submissions for the Collective Consciousness magazine about the upcoming tenth anniversary of the Collective!

Give us your thoughts, your ideas and what the Collective means to you . . .

For More Information: Contact Michael Van Rooy, Writers’ Collective Program Coordinator at  or by phone at (204) 786-9468 or submit to [email protected]

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THIN AIR WINNIPEG INTERNATIONAL WRITERS FESTIVAL

Is HERE! Come on down . . .

The THIN AIR 2010 programs are now available at McNally Robinson Booksellers, all Winnipeg City Libraries, The Forks Market, and various cafes, restaurants and shopping malls around Winnipeg.

Want an online version? Check out our schedule at www.thinairwinnipeg.ca.

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WRITERS COLLECTIVE MEMBER NEWS

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COLLECTIVE MEMBER DEBBIE STRANGE TO HOLD PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT AT THE ASSINIBOINE PARK CONSERVATORY

Collective member Debbie Strange will have her abstract photography exhibit, The Poetry of Light, hosted at the Assiniboine Park Conservatory from December 6, 2010 to January 10, 2011.

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FINDING YOUR VOICE

A free writing group for newcomers to Canada. An 8-week creative writing program for New Canadians that builds intercultural communications and writing skills. The group will discuss access to writing and publishing resources, provide an opportunity for networking, and help you build your writing, editing and storytelling skills. Sessions will be moderated by Janine LeGal (Writers Collective Member), writer and human rights activist and co-moderator Alan Balingit, journalist and new Canadian.

Basic English writing skills are necessary. This is not an English language course.

Millennium Library, Meeting Room 1, 2nd Floor, 251 Donald Street

Tuesdays from 7-9 pm, September 7 to November 2 or Saturdays from 10 am to 12 noon September 11 to October 30.

To register call 986-6779.

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ON THE SAME PAGE VOTING CONTINUES!

Read the same book Speak the same language.

Vote! Help select the next chapter for On the Same Page!
Which Manitoba book, by a Manitoba author, do you think should get Manitobans On the Same Page this year? From the short list below, select the title you’d like for Manitoba’s biggest book club. The book that receives the greatest public support before the end of September 2010 will be featured.

The choices are:

·       Dead of Midnight by Catherine Hunter (Writers? Collective Member)

·       Juliana and the Medicine Fish by Jake MacDonald

·       Beautiful Girl Thumb by Melissa Steele

·       An Ordinary Decent Criminal by Michael Van Rooy (Writers Collective Member)

To vote simply go to: http://www.wpgfdn.org/programsprojects-otsp.php#vote

And make your selection at the bottom of the page!

Currently there are 737 votes cast!

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KERRY RYAN WRITERS’ SUPPORT GROUP (Writers’ Collective Member)

Date: September 28, October 13 and 26, November 3, 16 and 24

Time: 7:00 to 9:00 pm

Location: Aqua Books, 274 Garry Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3C 1H3, Phone: 204-943-7455.

Event: Writers? Support Group with poet Kerry Ryan

Cost: $20 plus GST. Contact  or 943-7555 to register.

Notes: The workshop is limited to 16 people. Bring a notebook and pen.

Ready to share your writing, but not sure where to start? Looking for an extra set of eyes but can’t commit to a writing group?

Writers working in all genres are invited to take part in a series of drop-in, workshop-style sessions hosted by Aqua Books Writer-in-Residence Kerry Ryan. Participants will be expected to both share work and give feedback to others.

Six sessions will take place over the fall. Participants can sign up in advance for workshop slots (everyone will be guaranteed three slots, but they’ll be assigned first come, first served), and are welcome to attend any/all sessions to comment on others’ work.

Participants who wish can take part in a public, wind-up reading at Aqua Books on December 1.

Kerry Ryan lives and writes in Winnipeg. Her first collection of poetry, The Sleeping Life, was published by The Muses’ Company in 2008 and nominated for the Aqua Lansdowne Prize for Poetry in 2009. She has had poetry published in a number of journals, including Prairie Fire, Grain, Room, CV2 and Carousel. Her second collection, Vs., is forthcoming from Anvil Press, fall 2010.

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THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS WITH ANITA DAHER (Writers’ Collective Member)

Date: Nine Thursdays this fall: September 30, October 7, 14, 21, 28, November 4, 18, 25, and December 2, 2010.

Time: 7:00 to 9:00 pm

Location: Aqua Books, 274 Garry Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3C 1H3, Phone: 204-943-7555.

Event: A Writing Intensive Workshop

Cost: $225.00 plus GST ($200 plus GST before September 1). Contact  or 943-7555 to register.

Notes: The workshop is limited to 12 people. Bring a notebook and pen.

Tickle your muse and develop skills as Anita Daher leads you on a journey into the world of writing picture books, children?s periodicals, middle grade and teen novels. Take your vitamins and prepare to absorb in-depth information on the genre, and the children?s writing and publishing industry in Canada. There will be exercises, assignments, dynamic interaction, and at the end?a party!

Anita Daher has been entrenched in the book publishing industry for more than fifteen years. She feels ?place? infuses her writing, and is grateful to have lived in communities like Summerside, PEI, Moose Jaw, SK, Churchill, MB, Baker Lake, NU, and Yellowknife, NT. Her short stories have appeared in Prairie Fire Magazine, and she is author of seven youth novels, including Arthur Ellis and MB Book Award finalist Spider?s Song (2006), and Arthur Ellis, Hackmatack and Diamond Willow finalist Racing for Diamonds (2006). She has led workshops across the country, and has been a popular presenter at conferences and festivals. When not teaching, presenting, or working on her own stories, Anita edits teen novels for Great Plains Publications.

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JOHN TOONE (WRITERS COLLECTIVE MEMBER AND BEST DRESSED MALE AT THE 2010 MANITOBA BOOK AWARDS)

John Toone will be appearing all over the place this summer and fall:
Brandon University, Reading and workshop – October 2nd
Tonight it’s Poetry, Saskatoon, Reading – October 3rd
Vertigo Series, Regina, Reading -October 4th
Imagination Manifesto: Book Two, McNally Launch – October 28th
Central Canada Comic Con, The Strange Market – October 30th and 31st
Have a great summer, – JT

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IT’S ABOUT THE STORIES . . . IT’S ALWAYS ABOUT THE STORIES!

An Initiative by Michael Van Rooy (Writers’ Collective Member), the Literary Arts Ambassador for the Winnipeg Cultural Capital of Canada Project 2010 ARTS FOR ALL Program!

Winnipeg has produced some of the best writers in the world and here’s the proof!

To celebrate Winnipeg’s well-earned designation as Cultural Capital of Canada for 2010 we have chosen books by Winnipeggers to offer to other Winnipeggers. These are interesting, smart, funny, touching, scary . . . just plain good books! Fiction, non-fiction, it’s all here. And there’s something for both the dedicated and casual reader!

There are several copies of each of these books and we are giving them away to anyone on a first come, first served, basis. There are only three things we ask in return:

First: Read the book! If you decide it’s not for you then hand it back or hand it forward to someone who might like it!

Second: Tell us what you think of the book! Write us a letter, send us an email or go onto Facebook and write what you think! Tell us you love the book or you hate it, whatever. We want to know!

Third: When you’re done with the book, pass it along to someone, anyone, with the same instructions. Share the wealth, share the stories. Opinions and reviews will all be posted anonymously on the Facebook page for everyone to read!

Titles

·       Crown Fire by David Annandale

·       The Dragon and the Dry Goods Princess by David Arnason

·       The Imagined City: A Literary History of Winnipeg edited by David Arnason and Mhari Mackintosh

·       Exploits of a Reluctant (But Extremely Goodlooking) Hero by Maureen Fergus

·       Juliana and the Medicine Fish by Jake MacDonald

·       Cherry by Chandra Mayor

·       Yuletide Banditby Mike McIntyre

·       A Dry Spell by Susie Moloney

·       In Search of April Raintree by Beatrice (Culleton) Mosionier

·       Bonheur d’occasionby Gabrielle Roy

·       Be Wolf by Wayne Tefs

·       An Ordinary Decent Criminal by Michael Van Rooy

How to Comment on the Books or Ask for Another!

You can reach Michael by email at .

You can reach Michael by regular mail at About the Stories at 103-110 Princess Street,

Winnipeg, MB, R3B 1K7.

You can go onto Facebook at the Cultural Capital Literary Arts 2010 Program page.

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PROGRAMS AROUND AND ABOUT

This week the quotes come from an assortment of writers from an assortment of times and places.

QUOTE: We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us. Charles Bukowski

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The Power of Magazines

Check out the Manitoba Magazine Publishers’ Association event The Power of Magazines “Best on Page” an exhibit of award winning magazine advertising from Canada and around the world.
The exhibit is in the Blankstein Gallery on the second floor of the Millennium library and open during regular library hours throughout the month of September. Admission is free. It is magazine creative art at it’s best.

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ARTSVOTE WINNIPEG: VOTE WITH VISION

ArtsVote Winnipeg is a non-partisan coalition of volunteers working to insure arts and cultural issues are addressed in the run-up to Winnipeg’s October 27, 2010 municipal election.

We believe bold, visionary cultural policies and greater public investment in the arts are essential to fulfilling Winnipeg’s potential as a creative, prosperous city and encourages those seeking office to put forth their cultural platforms.

ArtsVote Winnipeg has identified two priorities that we believe will contribute to a stronger more vibrant Winnipeg, poised to reach its potential as a true city of the arts.

Priority One: Winnipeg needs bold, visionary leadership to implement bold, visionary cultural policy, as well as to include culture as a cornerstone of the broader policy-planning framework. Cities across the world are enacting policies that embrace the “creative community” and Winnipeg must actively support a move towards recognizing the vital role culture can play in reaching our city’s potential.

Priority Two: Increase investment in arts and culture. Though the breadth and quality of Winnipeg’s arts and cultural activity is a source of civic pride, the arts and cultural community faces many resource-based challenges. Winnipeg needs leaders who recognize the many benefits of a thriving and arts and cultural scene, will listen to the community, and work to address these challenges.

For further information on ArtsVote Winnipeg, please contact Thom Sparling at 927-2787 or 

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Alissa York

Date: September 23, Thursday

Time: 8:00 pm

Location: Prairie Ink Restaurant at McNally Robinson Booksellers, 1120 Grant Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3M 2A6, Phone: 204-475-0483, Toll Free 1-800-561-1833.

Event: Launch of Fauna.

Cost: Free!

The wide ravine that bisects the city is home to countless species of urban wildlife, including human waifs and strays. When Edal Jones can?t cope with the casual cruelty she encounters in her job as a federal wildlife officer, she finds herself drawn to a beacon of solace nestled in the valley under the unlikely banner of an auto-wrecker?s yard. Guy Howell, the handsome proprietor, offers sanctuary to animals and people alike: a half-starved hawk and a brood of orphaned raccoon kits, a young soldier whose spirit failed him during his first tour of duty, a teenage runaway and her massive black dog. Guy is well versed in the delicate workings of damaged beings, and he might just stand a chance at mending Edal?s heart. But before love can bloom, the little community must come to terms with a different breed of lost soul ? a young man whose brutal backwoods childhood is catching up with him, causing him to persecute the creatures that call the valley home. Alissa York?s highly acclaimed novels include Mercy and Effigy, which was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Her short stories have won the Journey Prize and the Bronwen Wallace Award. She has lived all over Canada, and now makes her home in Toronto.
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Cendrine Marrouat

Date: September 24, Friday

Time: 7:30 pm

Location: In the Atrium at McNally Robinson Booksellers, 1120 Grant Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3M 2A6, Phone: 204-475-0483, Toll Free 1-800-561-1833.

Event: Launch of Five Years and Counting: A Journey Into the Mind of Sould Poetry.

Cost: Free!

Poetry is an evolutional process, a reflection of the human mind. Every person goes through life and changes on a regular basis. That is exactly what Five Years and Counting is about. Cendrine Marrouat, the author, has regrouped five years of poetry and arranged her pieces according to life?s most important stages: birth, teenage years, adulthood, and elevation. This last stage represents man?s understanding and realization of the ultimate fulfillment in life. Cendrine Marrouat was born in Toulouse, southern France, in 1978, moving to Canada in 2003 where she writes in both English and French. She is the author of five collections of poetry and a spoken word album. Marrouat?s poetry and journalism have been published online and in many magazines. A translator by profession and a former teacher, Marrouat has also authored two plays and is an aspiring photographer. She is a member of the Manitoba Writers? Guild and live in Winnipeg.
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THE 2010 THIN AIR WINNIPEG INTERNATIONAL WRITERS FESTIVAL OFFERS A WORKSHOP WITH MYSTERY AUTHOR GILES BLUNT
Date: September 25, Saturday

Time: 10:00 am to 12:00 noon

Location: Aqua Books, 274 Garry Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3C 1H3, Phone: 204-943-7555

Event: A Professional Development Session

Cost: Admission to the session is $25 or $20 with THIN AIR Club Card. Admission includes a beverage and fresh baking from Aqua’s incomparable EAT! Bistro. For more information call THIN AIR at (204) 927-7323 or email . Attendance is on a first come, first serve basis.

THIN AIR proudly announces THE WRITING CRAFT Professional development session put on by GILES BLUNT. Each year, THIN AIR includes opportunities for writers to further develop their skills. This year’s topic? A writer’s toolkit . . .

A WRITER’S TOOLKIT
What’s in a writer’s toolkit? Join acclaimed crime fiction writer Giles Blunt as he explores the elements of fiction: character, plot, setting, and what tools novelists can employ to maximize their effects. He’ll also talk about practical day-to-day tricks and tools that make writing easier and more enjoyable for any kind of novel, not just crime. There’ll be plenty of time for discussion. Giles Blunt has written scripts for Law & Order, Street Legal and Night Heat, but is best known for his award-winning crime fiction titles, including A Delicate Storm, By the Time You Read This, Blackfly Season, and Breaking Lorca. He has won major awards like the British Crime Writers? Macallan Silver Dagger and the Arthur Ellis Award, and has been shortlisted for many others. His books have been translated into several languages, and regularly appear on best-seller lists.

GILES BLUNT
Giles Blunt grew up in North Bay, Ontario. He has written scripts for Law & Order, Street Legal and Night Heat. Among his many crime fiction titles are Forty Words for Sorrow, winner of the British Crime Writers? Macallan Silver Dagger; A Delicate Storm, winner of the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel; Blackfly Season, one of Margaret Cannon’s Best Mysteries of the Year; By the Time You Read This, a national bestseller; and Breaking Lorca, one of the Globe and Mail?s Top Ten Crime Books. His new book is Crime Machine (Random House). After spending over twenty years in New York City, Blunt now lives in Toronto.
For more information about the festival go to http://www.thinairwinnipeg.ca/
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THE WHOLE CABOODLE: ADVANCED POETICS WITH TED DYCK
Date: September 26, Sunday

Time: 10 am – 3 pm

Location: Burns Family Classroom 218-100 Arthur Street

Event: Advanced Poetry Workshop

Cost: $75 or $125

Application & submission deadline September 10th
Ted Dyck will be leading an advanced poetics workshop on the major tools at a poet’s disposal (Verse, Figure, and Form) on Sunday September 26th. It will be based on work submitted by participants. More information and details of the workshop are available from Victor Enns at .
Cost $75 for members, $125 for non-members (includes a MWG membership)
Minimum number of participants: 7, Maxiumum number of participants: 10
Selection process: First priority will be given to published writers, then unpublished writers on a first come first served basis. It is expected that this will be a multi-level workshop and all writers are encouraged to submit.
Method: All writers ill electronically submit five poems to a maximum of eight pages of new work. Poems for discussion will be selected by the facilitator. A syllabus (poems, summaries of concepts, writing exercises, and readings) will be circulated by email to all participants a week before the workshop. All poets will have their work discussed.
Registrations for the Advanced Poetics Workshop are now being accepted. Deadline for applications, which must include the submission of work, is September 10th.
All registrations and submissions should be made by email to . Fees, however, are to be paid by cheque to “The Manitoba Writers’ Guild” and mailed to the MWG, 218-100 Arthur Street, Winnipeg, MB, R3B 1H3.
Ted Dyck was dropped into the short-grass prairie within sight of the South Saskatchewan River breaks on, approximately, 1939, 09.03. He has studied at, graduated from, and taught at a number of colleges and universities. He has edited three anthologies of critical essays and published four collections of poetry and over 100 articles. He writes in a number of genres – poetry, fiction, essay – and operates a writing, editing, and workshopping serviced called WorDoctor. His other interests include – fly-fishing, cross-country skiikng, snooker, Bach and Gould, the classical guitar, cognac. Recently (2007-2009) he was writer-in-residence with the Festival of Words (Moose Jaw). Currently, he directs a “Writing for Your Life Program” for CMHA(SK). He lives, writes, fishes, etc. in or near Shaunavon SK. [Full bio & resume at www.wordoc.sasktelwebsite.net/]

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Ken Kowal

Date: September 26, Sunday

Time: 2:00 pm

Location: In the Atrium at McNally Robinson Booksellers, 1120 Grant Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3M 2A6, Phone: 204-475-0483, Toll Free 1-800-561-1833.

Event: Launch of Gimp Crow

Cost: Free!

A quirky little set of rhymes about a crow with a bad leg blossoms into a free-flying grace of words as the clumsy bird tears free from his boring life in the prairies and his nagging “ol lady” in search of a bigger destiny. Along the way, Gimp Crow collects a magpie from Alberta and a raven from the West Coast, and learns about love and loss. This collection takes Turnstone Press back to its original poetry roots in the grand (or rather modest) tradition of Dennis Cooley, evoking prairie simplicity of language and an unpretentious approach to the age-old themes of self-discovery and yearning for a different life. Evoking dust-bowl prairie, Hank Williams songs of yearning, and a simple, but meaningful life, Kowal’s story poems bring to life a character that speaks to the heart of any prairie-dweller. Turns of phrase and constant, light-hearted word play make this collection enjoyable to read and accessible to non-poetry readers. Ken Kowal is a Winnipeg resident who has long been involved in the city’s poetry scene. His chapbook I dream of my father’s hands (1997) was short listed for the Heaven Chapbook award in 1998, and his poems have been featured in the Poetry in Motion project in several cities. He has published two smaller collections of poetry.

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MWG YELLOW DOG TAVERN READING SERIES ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2010-2011 SEASON
Monthly starting September 27th, more dates to follow.
Featuring: Simone Chaput, Ted Dyck, Struan Sinclair, Michael Crummey, Catherine Hunter,George Amabile, Melissa Steele, Lisa Moore, Beatrice Mosionier, Louise B. Halfe, Me้ira Cook, Barry Dempster, Carolyn Gray, Bruce McManus, John Weier and Myrna Kostash.
Reserve your seat at .
Subscriptions $75 + $50 donation encouraged
Make cheques payable to The Manitoba Writers Guild.
Send to MWG, 218-100 Arthur Street, Winnipeg MB R3B 1H3

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A non-fictional evening featuring Jessica Woolford & Laurie Block
Date: October 1

Time: 7:00 pm

Location:

Event: Reading

Cost: Free!

While Brandon’s Laurie Block has published three books of poetry, his non-fiction has been all over the nominee lists for the National Magazine Awards, Western Magazine Awards, and CBC Literary Awards the last few years.

Please join Aqua – and Winnipeg’s Jessica Woolford – in celebrating Block’s non-fiction prowess. 
Jessica Woolford‘s poetry has appeared in A/Cross Sections: New Manitoba Writing, Artistry of Life, and CV2, and her poem “technique“ took second prize in CV2‘s 2004 Poetics of Space Contest. An excerpt from Confinement: A Memoir of Abortionwas featured in the Spring 2008 issue of Prairie Firemagazine and she has written about abortion and genocide for the journalSocial Politics. Though she now lives in Winnipeg, she grew up in central Vermont and first began writing there.

Laurie Block’s writing can be found in anthologies and magazines throughout Canada as well as in three books of poetry. The most recent, Time Out of Mind, took the Lansdowne Prize for Poetry 2007. His stories have won the 2003 Prairie Fire Fiction Contest, the 2004 National Magazine Award for fiction and a 2008 Western Magazine Award. He lives in Brandon.

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Commodore Books presents The Pierre Bonga Loops Launch Poet Troy Burle Bailey

Date: October 2, Saturday

Time: 7:00 pm

Location: Aqua Books, 274 Garry Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3C 1H3, Phone: 204-943-7555.

Event: Launch

Cost: Free!

A documentary poem that lays bare the black presence in the northwest, The Pierre Bonga Loops is also about fathers and sons, now and then. Born in the 1780’s Bonga was the son of freed slaves who worked for J. Sayer & Co. in 1795 at Fond du Lac. He was employed by the North West Co., the South West Co. & the American Fur Co. in their Fond du Lac Departments.