Amber Bowerman

One of the lead stories on the CBC this morning is about the scholarships created in memory of Amber Bowerman. I only met her once, as a moderator for a session she gave at an AMPA conference a couple of years back, but she struck me that morning as being a wonderful, compassionate person who had made all the choices necessary to pursue a life of publishing and writing that truly fulfilled her. Not all of us have the strength of character to do what she did. It is wonderful to see that her life is not a total waste, that a legacy of helping other developing writers do what she did continues for students across Alberta.

stolen from bp (martyrology book 1)

we have moved beyond belief
into a moon that is no longer there

i used to love you (i think)
used to believe in the things i do
now all is useless repetition
my arms ache from not holding you

the winds blow unfeelingly across your face
& the space between us
is as long as my arm is not

the language i write is no longer spoken

my hands turn the words
clumsily

*****

my lady my lady

this is the day i want to cry for you
but my eyes are dry

somewhere i'm happy

not like the sky
outside this window
gone grey

*****
*****

this is the line between reality
when i hold your body
enter the only way i am

saint orm
keep her from harm

this ship journey safely

quick as it can

*****

no movement in the sky
from the corner where the four winds lie

& the colour of her eyes too
did i tell you how my lady moves?

holds me to her tight
she can

love to feel her
moving with me

into that sweet togetherness presses us thru

My Kind

The Tragedy of the Winnipeg Jets

I just want to thank Jon Ball for leading me to this glorious treasure on UbuWeb. Man, it really does hitcha where you live. Which, thankfully, isn't Winnipeg (a wonderful place to be from).

Colin's Last Montreal Performance (for now)

Quebec Playwrights Deliver

presents

a full-cast reading of Seymour Blicker’s crime drama FOUND MONEY,

a tale of greed and revenge.

Funded by FRED, the Foundation for the Recognition of Excellence in Drama

Seymour Blicker is a Quebec-based playwright. His work has been produced in Canada, the United States, and Europe. Never Judge a Book by Its Cover, translated into Dutch and German, toured fifty cities in Holland and Belgium, had an extended run in Vienna, and, in 1996, was given its Canadian premiere, directed by Emma Stevens, at Theatre Lac Brome. In 1997, Blicker received the British Council International New Playwriting Award for his play Pals, which was produced by Theatre 1774--Infinitheatre of Montreal at "La Cabane" in 2000, directed by Guy Sprung, who also directed staged readings of Blicker’s Home Free (1998) and Pipe Dreams (2000).

With Colin Martin, Karen Kaderavek, Stephen Orlov, Shayne Devouges, and Chris Nachaj.

Monday, April 27 at 7:30 p.m., PWM Studio, 5337 St. Laurent near Fairmount, Suite 214, Door code 930. (Go through door at top of stairs; turn right)

Produced by Quebec Playwrights Deliver (514-842-3208)

Refreshments. Free Admission.

The Scott Rises to the Top

The word is out - to be considered a knowlegable, tasteful reader, one must emulate the people of London, ON...

William Neil Scott's Wonderfull has been named the winner of the 2008-09 London Reads competition. The announcement comes in celebration of international World Book and Copyright Day on Thursday, April 23.

Scott was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, but has spent the majority of his life in Calgary, Alberta.

Wonderfull, Scott’s first novel, tells the stories of Garfax, a place which has become the stuff of legend to outsiders, and reveals how this village’s unlikely past catches up to its inevitable future.

“Winning London Reads means a lot more than I expected it to, to be honest, because throughout the length of the contest I thought my prospects looked very slim,” says Scott. “I’m absolutely floored by the response that this novel has received, and I feel very lucky and grateful for all the people who have taken the time to read it and pass it along.”

Speaking of his winning novel, published by Edmonton-based NeWest Press, Scott says, “I've had people come up and tell me that certain parts of the book, the deaths that occurred, the difficulties of being in a family, really resonated with them and reminded them of their own upbringing.

“Despite its weirdness, I think there’s something honest, gentle and maybe even a little bit sad about Garfax that attracts people. We’ve all been there, after all. Garfax is the place in our lives we had to leave.”

The reading list for the 2008-09 competition also included The Lost Highway by David Adams Richards, Gratitude by Joseph Kertes, The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill and Exit Lines by Joan Barfoot.

As it was the all-star edition of London Reads, Alumni Western has invited all five authors to a gala event on Nov. 12, 2009 at the Great Hall for a dinner, public readings and discussion. The selections for the 2010 London Reads competition will also be revealed at that time.

Presented by Alumni Western, London Reads was originally launched as Western Reads as part of The University of Western Ontario’s 125th anniversary celebrations in 2003.

The competition promotes Canadian authors and the importance of literacy. Modeled after CBC Radio’s Canada Reads, the program invites the entire London community to read along with and engage local celebrity panelists as they consider and debate the merits of various works of Canadian fiction.

London Free Press Editor-in-Chief Paul Berton and Western alumna Adria Iwasutiak championed Wonderfull during the London Reads process that started in October with the first of five public ‘book discussion’ events.

Alumni Western’s partners in London Reads are the Book Store at Western, the London Public Library and the City of London.

Past Winners of Western/London Reads

2007-08 Joseph Boyden, Three Day Road
2006-07 David Bergen, The Time in Between
2005-06 Robert McGill, The Mysteries
2004-05 Douglas Coupland, Hey Nostradmus!
2003-04 Alistair MacLeod, No Great Mischief

lookin for trouble

If anyone's looking for a little timewaster, come take me on at http://cleo-catra.mybrute.com