Just a brief round-up of some things that have happened, or will be happening soon, in the Edmonton literary scene.
- Raving Poets & CBC announce winner of the Raving Poets/CBC Face-off Contest: Wednesday night was the final night of the competition for a spot in CBC’s Edmonton Poetry Face-off. The winner does not win the Edmonton Poetry Face-off, but is guaranteed a spot in the competition. All of the competitors gave truly incredible performances, and I’m sure the judges had a tough time coming to a decision. Ultimately, Laurie MacFayden won the spot in the Face-off, so congratulations to Laurie.
- Mark Kozub launches The Uptown Browns: Edmonton literary icon and Raving Poets bassist, Mark Kozub, launched his new novel—The Uptown Browns—on Thursday night at Greenwoods’ Bookshoppe. Based on Mark’s reading at the launch, and the few short chapters I’ve read so far, it’s a damn fine novel. Having been privy to a good amount of Mark’s poetry, this doesn’t surprise me in the least.
- Anton Capri launches 2 physics books: Physicist and poet Anton (Tony) Z Capri will be launching 2 new books on Monday, December 10, 2007. Tony tells me that the books contain various anecdotes about famous physicists, as well as explanations—in layman’s terms—of what these men and women accomplished in their careers. As someone who is fascinated by all things scientific, but who often has trouble understanding higher level concepts, the notion behind these 2 books really appeals to me. The books—Quips, Quotes and Quanta: An Anecdotal History of Physics, and From Quanta to Quarks: More Anecdotal History of Physics—will be launched at the Stanley A Milner Library (7 Sir Winston Churchill Square) in the Centennial Room (downstairs) at 6:00pm on December 10.
- Raving Poets & Writers Guild of Alberta join forces for holiday poetry jam: The Raving Poets and the Writers Guild of Alberta are teaming up to throw a bit of a holiday party for the Edmonton literary community on Wednesday, December 12, 2007. The party will take place at Kasbar Lounge (10444 Whyte Avenue, downstairs), with readings from members of both the Writers Guild, and the Raving Poets (as much as one can be a “member” of the amorphous group that is the Raving Poets). The Writers Guild will be generously providing food from Yianni’s Taverna (upstairs from Kasbar) and, as usual, our good friend Travis will be pouring drinks.
It was my birthday on Friday, and a friend gave me a book called the Edmonton Book of Everything. It’s meant to be a compendium of all things Edmonton. I haven’t given it a close look yet, but I’ve flipped through it, and it does seem to be as all-encompassing as a 192-page book can be.
I’ll definitely be checking out some of the restaurants mentioned in the book (including the Motoraunt—the restaurant housed inside of a modified double-decker bus—which I’ve been meaning to visit for quite some time), as well as many of the other interesting Edmonton locales mentioned.
I do, however, have a couple of issues with the book. The first is the authors’ claim that Edmonton’s “City of Champions” moniker has to do with the (former) glory of the city’s professional sports teams.
This is not true.
In fact, the “City of Champions” name was coined by former mayor Laurence Decore after Black Friday. It has nothing to do with River City’s sports teams. It is meant to refer to the fact that Edmonton, after coming together as a community in response to the tornado, was a city of champions (i.e., all Edmontonians are champions).
The book also claims that the city’s slogan is no longer “City of Champions,” and that is it now “City of Festivals.” To the best of my knowledge, this is also inaccurate. There was discussion about changing the city’s slogan recently, but I was under the impression that, ultimately, the slogan wasn’t changed.
I may be wrong on that point, however, so please correct me if my information is incorrect.
Other than those 2 small quibbles, the book seems like a pretty cool guide to Edmonton, and I’ll probably be citing it on River City Writer in the future. If you see the Edmonton Book of Everything in the bookstore, check it out.
It’s a tough life, being the editor of a semi-legitimate Internet publication. Sometimes, you receive a press release at 8pm on a Friday night. When you’re the editor and sole writer for a semi-legitimate Internet publication, this means that you’ve got to put down the vodka and get some work done.
But, this isn’t supposed to be about me, is it? As you may have guessed from the title, this post is supposed to be about Amber Hayward’s reading at Laurie Greenwood’s Volume II on Monday, October 29 at 7:30pm.
Amber is a sci-fi/fantasy writer who lives and writes in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies. Her latest novel, Darkness of the God, is in bookstores now, and she’s doing a reading here in Edmonton to help promote it.
According to the press release, Darkness of the God involves psychic powers, religious cults, and murder:
He had the jungle, now he wants the world…
In front of the television cameras, international cult leader Caldos Moriera is all goodness and light - a man in white who “heals” the people of the world. But behind the scenes he is a dark and despicable man who will do anything to anyone to get what he wants.
But Ana and her handicapped uncle know the truth.
To them Caldos Moriera is a murderer, the one who killed Ana’s father, and the one responsible for brutally butchering Ana’s mother! In fear for their own lives, Ana and her uncle flee their Brazilian home to hide in the safety of the vast Sonoran Desert. But Caldos is greater threat than they first imagined. He has learned of Ana’s own psychic healing abilities, and realizes that she may be the path to his ultimate power.
Ana, realizing that she is the only one strong enough to confront his dark force, vows to do whatever it takes to stop him; and begins to prepare for the spectacular and deadly psychic battle that is about to take place.
While I’m not really a huge sci-fi or fantasy fan myself, this actually sounds like it might be an interesting novel. If you’re into fantasy, you should check out the reading. If you like what you hear, consider picking up a copy of the book. It’s important to support Canadian artists if they’re doing something worthwhile.
Is Amber Hayward doing something worthwhile? I don’t know, I haven’t read the book. You’ll have to check it out for yourself to find out.
Amber Hayward is an internationally published author and poet. Somehow she finds time to write despite the demands of managing the Black Cat Guest Ranch in the beautiful foothills of the Canadian Rockies.
Darkness of the God is the second novel in the “Children of the Panther” trilogy. The first in the series, The Healer, was published in 2002. Amber is now hard at work on Stolen Children, the third and final novel.
Amber Hayward will be reading from her novel, Darkness of the God, at Laurie Greenwood’s Volume II (12433-102 Avenue) on Monday, October 29 @ 7:30pm. For more information about Amber and her books, visit http://www.edgewebsite.com/.
My friend and fellow poet Patrick Pilarski joins the ranks of published Edmonton authors today, with the launch of Five Weeks, his collection of haiku and haibun. Alongside folks like Thomas Trofimuk, Linda Goyette, Gail Sobat, Todd Babiak, and Mingus Tourette, he’s in good company.
I haven’t seen the book yet, but I know Patrick’s work, and he definitely deserves to be counted among Edmonton’s top authors. I’ll be picking up a copy of the book tomorrow night, and will write a review in the coming weeks.
Details:
Wednesday, July 25th, 8:00pm
The Kasbar Lounge (under Yianni’s Taverna, 10444 – 82 ave.)
Launch and reception for Patrick Pilarski’s new chapbook of haiku and haibun: Five Weeks (2007). Doors open at 7:00pm, reading at 8:00pm, socializing, merriment, refreshments, and prize draws to follow. Evening hosted and introduced by DailyHaiku founder Mike Gravel. Throughout the evening copies of the chapbook will be on sale at special launch discount price of $10.