Alan Twigg talks about his insanity, changes in BC writing and publishing in recent years, and connecting the dots.
The interview begins around halfway thorough this mp3.
http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/bcalmanac_20101012_39507.mp3
“I have a great admiration for the Scots—Scotch, if you prefer. I admire their industry, their common sense, their frugality, and their whiskey.” — Jean Rae Baxter accepts the John Kenneth Galbraith Literary Award for her short story “After Annabelle.” Congratulations, Jean! You can read “After Annabelle” here.
Garry Gottfriedson, author of Skin Like Mine and Whiskey Bullets, discusses the creative writing process. Free of charge and open to all, this event is sponsored by TRU’s Canadian Studies Program and English and Modern Languages Department, which thanks the Comprehensive University Enhancement Fund, the Dean of Arts and the English 4470 class for their support.
Garry Gottfriedson, from the Secwepemc first nation (Shuswap), was born, raised and lives in Kamloops, BC. He is a self-employed rancher with a Masters degree in Education from Simon Fraser University. He was awarded the Gerald Red Elk Creative Writing Scholarship by the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado, where he studied under Allen Ginsberg, Anne Waldman, Marianne Faithful and others.
Location: Kamloops Campus, Clock Tower Bldg., Alumni Theatre
Time: October 14, 12:30 – 1:30
Garry Gottfriedson, author of Skin Like Mine and Whiskey Bullets, will be reading at the University of Northern British Columbia on November 5th.
Garry Gottfriedson, from the Secwepemc first nation (Shuswap), was born, raised and lives in Kamloops, BC. He is a self-employed rancher with a Masters degree in Education from Simon Fraser University. He was awarded the Gerald Red Elk Creative Writing Scholarship by the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado, where he studied under Allen Ginsberg, Anne Waldman, Marianne Faithful and others.
Garry Gottfriedson, author of Skin Like Mine and Whiskey Bullets, will be interviewed by Mark Forsythe on BC Almanac on October 15. BC Almanac broadcasts weekdays 12:00 – 1:00.
Garry Gottfriedson, from the Secwepemc first nation (Shuswap), was born, raised and lives in Kamloops, BC. He is a self-employed rancher with a Masters degree in Education from Simon Fraser University. He was awarded the Gerald Red Elk Creative Writing Scholarship by the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado, where he studied under Allen Ginsberg, Anne Waldman, Marianne Faithful and others.
Garry Gottfriedson will be reading from Skin Like Mine at the Salute to the Sockeye Celebration on October 15th at 11:00 to 12:00. The festival is hosted by the Adams River Salmon Society at Roderick Haig Brown Park between October 2nd and 24th, 2010. This celebration typically draws between 85,000 and 110,000 visitors to the Shuswap region of British Columbia.
Garry Gottfriedson, from the Secwepemc first nation (Shuswap), was born, raised and lives in Kamloops, BC. He is a self-employed rancher with a Masters degree in Education from Simon Fraser University. He was awarded the Gerald Red Elk Creative Writing Scholarship by the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado, where he studied under Allen Ginsberg, Anne Waldman, Marianne Faithful and others.
Philip Roy has been working hard on making a model helicopter from repurposed items that he’s found at thrift stores. We think the helicopter has something to do with his fourth book, which will be released next year. Intriguing…
Here’s what Philip has to say about his creation:
“Oh, by the way, you can’t see the best part. Both propellers spin on ball-bearings and have an absolutely hypnotic appeal when spinning. The heli also rolls on its own dolly wheels, so there’s a fair bit of movement that just has to be seen, the photos cannot show. The back prop also has a bronze-on-wood look to it very much like a Trojan shield. It’s very attractive to the eye and rather adorable next to its big brother, the sub.”
On Sunday, October 24, Ian Macdonald and Betty O’Keefe will launch Quiet Reformers. The celebration begins at 2:00 pm and is at the Church of Our Lord, 626 Blanshard St., Victoria, BC. R.S.V.P. to Sylvia Van Kirk at sylvansea@shaw.ca or 250-385-0894.
Ian Macdonald was born and educated in Glasgow. After immigrating to Canada, he worked as a reporter and was Ottawa correspondent for the Sun for five years before becoming press officer for Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. He made an award-winning documentary film, and then turned seriously to the writing of history.
Betty O’Keefe was born in Vancouver and wrote for the Province newspaper for several years. She then moved into public relations. In 1988 she opened her own communications company, but decided that her real interest was in writing history. Together, Betty O’Keefe and Ian Macdonald have co-authored a eleven books.
Their latest book, Quiet Reformers, is a lively biography of Bishop Edward Cridge and his wife Mary. It paints a vivid picture of early Victoria as it developed from an isolated Hudson’s Bay Company post into the bustling capitol of British Columbia.
Recruited from England by Governor James Douglas in 1854 to be the Church of England chaplain of Fort Victoria, Edward Cridge became an important figure in the spiritual life of the city. The Cridges also became Victoria’s foremost social reformers, leaving an indelible mark on British Columbia’s social institution.
“Bishop Edward Cridge and his beloved wife Mary are two of the most interesting characters from the turbulent years of British Columbia’s early history. Meticulously researched and written with eloquence and grace. Quiet Reformers provides a stirring testament to their legacy that anyone who cares about B.C. will want on their bookshelf.”
— STEPHEN HUME, AUTHOR OF SIMON FRASER: IN SEARCH OF MODERN BRITISH COLUMBIA
On Sunday, October 17, Carol Anne Shaw will launch her debut historical novel for young readers, Hannah & the Spindle Whorl. The celebration is from 2:00-4:00 pm and is at Bucknucks Books, Valleyview Centre, #47 – 1400 Cowichan Bay Road, Cobble Hill, BC (Phone: 250-929-2665). Enjoy light refreshments, a reading, and a spindle and whorl demo by local textiles artist, Leola Witt-McNie.
Carol Anne Shaw has always loved to write stories and draw. As a child, she was forever being reprimanded for drawing in her textbooks and creating cartoons of her least favourite teachers. Hannah & the Spindle Whorl grew out of her fascination with the history of British Columbia, and especially its First Nations people.
She spends a fair bit of time enjoying the natural beauty of Vancouver Island where she makes her home along with her husband, two sons and two dogs. When she isn’t writing, she can be found painting at her easel, walking in the woods, and finding excuses not to wear shoes.
Hannah & the Spindle Whorl tells the story of Hannah, a 12-year-old girl who uncovers a beautiful Salish spindle whorl in a cave near her home in Cowichan Bay. She is thrilled to begin learning about the history of the native peoples on Canada’s west coast. But Hannah soon discovers that the spindle whorl is more than just an interesting artifact.
“A remarkably vibrant novel that links friendship and native history across time.”
— ANN WALSH
Planet Earth Poetry with Harbour Publishing and Ronsdale Press presents the launch of two new books by two of Victoria’s most renowned writers.
On Friday, October 22 award-winning writer Patrick Lane will launch his newest collection of poetry, Witness: Selected Poems 1962-2010 (Harbour, $16.95), with Governor General’s Award-winning Pamela Porter. Porter is also launching her latest volume of poetry, Cathedral (Ronsdale, $15.95). The celebration starts at 7:30 pm and is at the Black Stilt Coffee House (#103-1633 Hillside Avenue).
Pamela Porter is the author of the multiple award-winning children’s novel The Crazy Man, and two previous volumes of poetry: Stones Call Out, and The Intelligence of Animals.
In 1988, Porter travelled to Nicaragua and Guatemala to document the experiences of ordinary people caught in the Contra war and the government sponsored terror against Guatemalan teachers and aid workers. Later with two children, she and her husband worked in Angola and Ghana.
Pamela Porter’s Cathedral is a collection of poems that takes us on a journey — a very personal journey of Porter’s own — to Africa and South America, those corners of the world the news reports rarely seem to cover.
*$5 from each sale of Cathedral will be donated to the Osu Children’s Library Fund “Chairs for Children” Campaign. For 20 years, the Osu Children’s Library Fund, and its director, Kathy Knowles, have introduced African children to the joys of books and opened doors for a brighter future. The chairs will help furnish a new library now under construction in Medina, near Accra, Ghana.*
Patrick Lane, considered by most writers and critics to be one of Canada’s finest poets, was born in 1939 in Nelson, BC. He grew up in the Okanagan region of the BC interior, primarily in Vernon. He came to Vancouver and co-founded a small press, Very Stone House with bill bissett and Seymour Mayne.
Lane then drifted extensively throughout North and South America. He has worked at a variety of jobs from labourer to industrial accountant, but much of his life has been spent as a poet, having produced twenty-four books of poetry to date. He is also the father of five children and grandfather of five.
Lane has won nearly every literary prize in Canada, from the Governor General’s Award to the Canadian Authors Association Award to the Dorothy Livesay Prize. His poetry and fiction have been widely anthologized and have been translated into many languages. Lane now makes his home in Victoria, BC, with his companion, the poet Lorna Crozier.
The cost is $3 at the door. Please call The Black Stilt Coffee House, (250) 370-2077, for more information.
