13.8 | DECEMBER 2016
IN THIS ISSUE 2
NEWS FROM THE LEAGUE
4
BOOKISH BITS AND INDUSTRY NEWS
6
NEWS FROM THE FEMINIST CAUCUS
8
REVIEWS
8
FROM THE BLOG AND YEAR-END REVIEW
10
NEW MEMBERS
13
MEMBER NEWS
15
WRITING AND EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
NEWS FROM THE LEAGUE o HOLIDAY HOURS O 2017 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING O 2017 CONFERENCE CALL FOR PROPOSALS O POETS IN THE SCHOOLS FUNDING AVAILABLE O CANADA POETRY TOURS FUNDING APPLICATIONS OPENING SOON O CALL FOR JURORS: 2018 BOOK AWARDS O NATIONAL BROADSHEET CONTEST ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS O RESERVE A BOOK TOUR FOR 2017 O MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR ONLINE PROFILE
HOLIDAY HOURS The League office will close on Wednesday, December 21 for winter break and reopen on Tuesday, January 3, 2017. We wish you a wonderful holiday season and a very happy new year! We can’t wait to share what 2017 has in store for you. 2017 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING The League AGM and conference will be taking place in Toronto on June 9, 10, and 11, 2017. We are excited to have our annual awards celebration, feminist caucus programming, members-only events and much, much more! Stay tuned to poets.ca/ conference and sign up for Between the Lines, a monthly newsletter, to receive the most up-todate information about programming, registration, discounts, and more. 2017 CONFERENCE CALL FOR PROPOSALS If you have an idea for a session, panel, presentation, or other programming that you would like to see at our 2017 conference, please email nicole@poets.ca with a detailed outline including potential participants, if possible. POETS IN THE SCHOOLS FUNDING STILL AVAILABLE Poets in the Schools funding supports schools in Ontario who wish to bring poets into their classrooms! This program fully funds travel, accommodation, and meals and welcomes poets from all over Canada. Tips for applying for and receiving funding through our programs can be found at poets.ca/funding. A great way to help secure funding is to approach teachers and schools in Ontario to let them know about this program. You are welcome to help arrange the details of the reading, and even assist in completing the
CALL FOR JURORS: 2018 BOOK AWARDS If you are interested in being a juror for our 2018 Pat Lowther, Gerald Lampert, or Raymond Souster book awards, please contact nicole@poets.ca. These juries will receive books in November 2017 and be Full-day visits are paid $300, and half-day visits are responsible for selecting five shortlisted titles and one paid $200. These fees are shared evenly by the League winner by the following March. We are in need of three and the school. Poets will receive payment from the jurors and one alternate for each jury. We are also League upon remittance of an invoice; the office is seeking six jurors and two alternates for our Jessamy flexible on the payment terms that you arrange with Stursberg Poetry Prize for young poets, to make up a the school. If you have further questions about how jury for the senior category and for the junior category. the Poets in the Schools funding program A slate of nominees for all juries will be works, please feel free to call or email the presented and voted upon at the 2017 MAKE THE MOST OF office. AGM in June. YOUR ONLINE PROFILE paperwork if required; however, all applications must be signed and submitted by the teacher or school. We must receive applications at least two weeks in advance of the planned visit.
Our current Poets in the Schools funding is available to our full members until March 31, 2017. Applications for school visits taking place after April 1, 2017, will open in February. CANADA POETRY TOURS APPLICATIONS OPENING SOON: JANUARY 15, 2017 The Canada Poetry Tours program funds readings and travel for events all across Canada. Please visit poets.ca/cpt to find a full outline of guidelines for application.
All members of the League have an online profile publicly visible in our directory. There is space for a profile picture additional photos, biographical information, and more. This directory also allows visitors to sort and view members who are open to being booked for school visits. Check out your profile and let us know if you’d like to update your information!
NATIONAL BROADSHEET CONTEST Our inaugural broadsheet contest brings together artisanal craft and international reach for the winning poet. One poem under 40 lines will be selected as a winner by guest judge Sharon Thesen, to be crafted into a custom broadsheet, designed and printed by Briar Craig on handmade paper, as well as published in the 2017 Poem in Your Pocket Day booklet. Members receive a $5 discount per poem on the entry fee! Find out more on our website.
From January 15 to February 28, we RESERVE A BOOK TOUR FOR 2017 will be accepting CPT applications for Members with books forthcoming in 2017 readings takingplace between April 1 may submit a request to reserve three Email nicole@poets.ca. and September 30, 2017. A great way full Canada Poetry Tours readings to to help secure funding is to approach help fund a national book tour. Reserved hosts, organizers, and reading series to let them readings must be used between April 1, 2017, and know about this program. You are welcome to help March 31, 2018. Applications for these readings (from arrange the details of the reading, and even assist in hosts) may be submitted at any time during the year, completing the paperwork if required; however, all not limited to the two application windows for standard applications. To submit a book tour reservation request, applications must be signed and submitted by the please visit poets.ca/cpt to find the request form, host. which can be mailed to the office or emailed to nicole@ poets.ca. Please note: books published in 2016 are Please note that applications for readings taking not eligible for book tour reservations. place after September 30, 2017, will open in June 2017.
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BOOKISH BITS SUSTAINABLE FUNDING FOR POETS On LitHub, Amanda Nadelberg considers sustainable funding for poets: “One reason People Who Aren’t Poets should care about the state of Poets is that there is in fact (to contradict myself) poetry in things that aren’t poetry, and it might very well bring you a moment of delight, which might in turn make everything ok for a spell; poetry is a kind of noticing, which can also function (like humor does) as an escape route from one potential meaning to another possibly more enjoyable meaning. And such a definition indicates that poetry can find its way into unexpected places.”
“There are no masterpieces hidden among the envelope poems, but Dickinson’s incandescent thinking is everywhere on display, and the makeshift nature of the scraps gives us a vivid idea of what composition must have felt like for a woman whose thoughts raced far ahead of her ability to capture them. Who knows how many of Dickinson’s lines were forgotten before the poet had a chance to write them down? Her idiosyncratic punctuation sometimes feels like triage for the emergency conditions of her muse.” — from “EMILY DICKINSON’S SINGULAR SCRAP POETRY” | by Dan Chiason, the New Yorker
“‘Our language has become watered down in sound bites and social media,’ says Richard Blanco, the country’s fifth inaugural poet and education ambassador for the Academy of American Poets, who has written about the election and the Pulse shooting. ‘A poem takes back language, reenergizes it, reinvigorates it in a way that a post doesn’t. Language, and all art, offers a kind of consolation because it speaks truth and it speaks hope and it speaks all sorts of things you won’t get from a tweet or a newspaper or a post.’” — LEXI PANDELL EXPLORES HOW 2016 URGED PEOPLE TO TURN TO POETRY IN A TIME OF CHAOS AND REGULAR CRISIS | from Wired. TEMPLES FOR THE LITERARY PILGRIM Canada’s own Munro’s Books finds a spot in the New York Times’ list of “Temples for the Literary Pilgrim.” The eight featured bookstores are showcased with a stunning photo and beautiful short post about their legacies. HOW A POEM MOVES Leaguer Adam Sol continues to write thoughtful essays on individual poems for his new online project, How a Poem Moves. “The idea is to call attention to good recent work, and to engage readers who aren’t always comfortable reading contemporary poetry.
RESPECTING POETING ELDERS On the CBC, Governor General’s Award winner Steven Heighton writes about respecting your poetic elders, both real and imagined: “Over the years, I’ve translated several poets who do not exist. They’re fictional characters. I’m a fiction writer too, and this is one of the ways in which fiction and poetry converge for me. No one has noticed this yet, and I’m wondering how long that’s going to take. Guess I’m blowing my cover here. One guy Googled one of the poets I made up and said, ‘there’s very little online about him,’ and I said to myself, wait, there’s nothing online about him!”
AND INDUSTRY NEWS NEW CANADA COUNCIL ONLINE PORTAL The Canada Council recently launched its news online application portal, and we highly recommend you start checking it out right away! Applicants need to create a profile well in advance of the submission deadline. Visit apply.canadacouncil.ca for a guide on creating your account and applying to programs, and contact 1-800-263-5588 x 5060 or email assistance@ canadacouncil.ca for troubleshooting help. FOCUS ON CREATORS At the end of November, nearly 1,100 Canadian musicians, authors, songwriters, composers, music producers, poets, playwrights, film composers, actors, directors, and other members of the creative class have signed a joint letter addressed to the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Canadian Heritage, urging the government to put Canada’s creators at the heart of our cultural policy. The list now has over 2,000 signatures, and you can still add your name! Visit the Focus on Creators website to find out more and support the action. RECOMMENDED INCREASE IN PUBLISHING INDUSTRY FUNDING Financial committee recommends increased funding for publishing industry. As reported in Quill & Quire, “the committee recommends that “the Government of Canada support Canada’s cultural sector by increasing funding for the Canada Book Fund,” a government program that provides financial aid to publishers for the production, marketing, and distribution of books by Canadian authors. The fund has not seen an increase in government support for more than 15 years.”
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OXFORD LITERARY FESTIVAL TO BEING PAYING ALL AUTHORS Oxford literary festival will begin paying all authors £150. The news follows an 11-month standoff prompted by Philip Pullman’s resignation as patron on the basis that it was no longer acceptable to expect writers to “work for nothing.” QWF LITERARY AWARDS Quebec Writers’ Federation Literary Award winners were announced late in November, including Leaguer Kelly Norah Drukker whose book Small Fires won both the A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry and the Concordia University First Book Prize! PUBLIC LENDING RIGHT REGISTRATION OPENS IN FEBRUARY The PLR Program provides compensation to authors for the free public access to their books in Canadian libraries. This program is a fantastic way to receive a reliable income from books in circulation! The registration period is open from February 15 to May 1, 2017; new titles published on or before May 1 may be registered during this time, but you are also welcome to register older unregistered books, new editions, translations, and more. Visit plr-dpp.ca to find out more about restrictions, guidelines, and how to register.
CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO BETWEEN THE LINES AND RECEIVE MONTHLY INDUSTRY UPDATES
FEMINISM AT THE 2017 LEAGUE CONFERENCE From 2017 curators Vanessa Shields and Cathy Charlie Petch: The theme of this year’s Feminist Caucus panel and passion is a review and rewrite of our mission statement. We ask with fervor: What is feminism today? How do we as members of the literary and performance world honour intersectionality in our aims and philosophies? Our goal is to move forward together; inclusive and respectful while creating a platform to speak bravely. Members of the Caucus are finalizing the call for panelist participation now with the goal of creating a diverse, passionate, powerful group of panelists who can engage and inspire at the LCP conference. PURCHASE LIVING ARCHIVES CHAPBOOKS ONLINE Each year, the Feminist Caucus publishes a collection of writing from the last Feminist Caucus panel. The Living Archives Series documents the presentations of the panels sponsored yearly by the Caucus since its founding within the League in 1982, and includes various texts, correspondences, and other works significant to its history and the discussion of women and language in poetry. All titles are $10 plus tax and shipping, and recent publications are available for purchase through our online store. Feel free to email info@poets.ca with any questions.
NEWS FROM THE FEMINIST CAUCUS o FEMINISM AT THE 2017 LEAGUE CONFERENCE O PURCHASE LIVING ARCHIVES CHAPBOOKS O FEMINIST CAUCUS REPORTS O IN CONVERSATION WITH ROOM MAGAZINE O LCP50: LOOKING BACK
“I wonder or wander what it is to ‘walk the walk’ of poetry. It is one thing to ‘talk the talk’ but how can we make our work active, make it act on or with the embodiment of the reader. How do we ‘walk the line’ of poetry? To what extent to we walk the reader through an intimate experience of reflective/recursive consciousness and to what extent do we allow room for the reader to take their own walk in our work?” “I walked here from my discount hotel and I will walk back when this is over and retire inside to write poetry and I will not end up in the river I will not be made a corpse and this is what I have to believe in order to be here and speak.” From “Poetics of the Psoas: Walking, Embodiment, and Feminist Mentorship” by Liz Howard, Women Mentors: Mentoring Women
FEMINIST CAUCUS REPORTS Every month, Feminist Caucus Chair Anne Burke prepares a monthly report of Caucus activities and feminist news. You can find an archive of all monthly reports on the Feminist Caucus page, poets.ca/ feministcaucus. Recent reports include:
that people are actually taking me to task for doing my job!” wrote Gaskin in response to her accusers— and continues (obviously) to this day. Visit our Feminist Caucus page (poets.ca/feministcaucus) to find more great finds from our LCP digging.
• Reviews of several books by new members, including Who Will Love the Crow by Miriam Dunn, Shakespearean Blues by Shirley Graham, Look at Her by Vanessa Shields, and Looking for Light by Susan Ioannou, plus many more • Poetry from Heather Spears, Nan Williamson, Maria L Figueredo, Catherine J Stewart, and Karen Cope • Interviews and more content about recent Feminist Caucus publications • Updates from members about new books, book tours, and other exciting events and information
“I would say the next big step for feminism in the Canadian literary community is that we will finally start blurring the lines that divide us all. We have always wanted a place for women (and those who identify as women) to have that place and space to share their voice, and we have and are doing that, but how do we take it to the next level, and is it even possible? I say yes yes yes.”
LCP50: LOOKING BACK AT THE FEMINIST CAUCUS During our online 50th anniversary celebrations, we had the opportunity to look back on the history of the Feminist Caucus, and we had a great time looking through many of the past Living Archives publications. The caucus’s beginnings were fierce and controversial, with some members of the League even resigning over it, calling it a “disruptive” group and protesting the inclusion of a “special interest group” in the League. Some members called for the League to “disassociate” itself from the group, lest it appear the association was giving a “seal of approval” to the Caucus activities. Then-Executive Director Geraldine Gaskin wrote that that she was receiving letters suggesting she resign over her role in supporting the committee, accusing her of being a “radical feminist… deliberately trying to dissolve the League”. But the Feminist Caucus persisted, with the support of its members and the administrative support of the League office—“I find it absolutely incomprehensible
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IN CONVERSATION WITH ROOM MAGAZINE
Room magazine, Canada’s oldest literary journal by and about women, is celebrating its 40th anniversary and we thought this we be a great opportunity to chat with them about the future of feminism, literature, and art. We chatted with managing editor Chelene Knight, and you can find our recent interview on the Feminist Caucus page!
REVIEWS CARIBOU RUN BY RICHARD KELLY KEMICK H. H. Brown reviewed Richard Kelly Kemick’s debut book of poetry, Caribou Run, for our reviews program: “The poems are lively and, like the caribou themselves, hardly ever stand still. What is beautiful is earned, what is intimate is specific and real, and a tenderness towards living creatures, even those who are human, collides head on with an unflinching honesty.” LOOK AT HER BY VANESSA SHIELDS Ronnie R. Brown reviewed Vanessa Shields’s second book of poetry, Look at Her, for the Feminist Caucus. She writes: “While other women rhapsodise or romanticise about the ‘joys’ of being a girl, Shields’s poems give it to you straight. Be it ‘Doing Kegels at Starbucks’ or experiencing an orgasm (‘In The Dying Part’) the reader gets her unexpurgated take on things. As well, Shields is merciless when dealing with a woman assessing herself–whether her body or her life.” REVIEW FOR THE LEAGUE We are always looking volunteer reviewers, and we are happy to connect you with publishers across Canada to request review copies. We also welcome chapbook reviews! Visit poets.ca/reviews to see a list of reviewable titles, or email nicole@poets.ca if there’s a book you’d like to review that isn’t on the list.
FROM THE BLOG THE WRITING PARENT Vanessa Shields continues to share her (occasionally chaotic) experiences navigating writing life and parenthood, most recently exploring how school (and breaks) fit into—and don’t—her writing schedule, as well as the financial reality of being published. Find all of the Writing Parent posts here. If you are interested in sharing a post about your experience as a writing parent, or a parenting writer, email nicole@poets.ca/ TIPS FROM THE LEAGUE Many months ago, we prepared a blog post that suggested ways to organize and host a literary event, whether it’s a reading series or a one-off event. Recently, we gathered up a bunch of tips to help you promote it! Check out our post on sharing and promoting your news to find out more. POETS’ CORNER Pearl Pirie joined us on the blog with a stunning post about her experience as a mentee to and colleague of rob mclennan. “What makes for a mentor? Someone who shows you that doors exist. Someone who eggs on for improvement. Someone who can point you to resources that might be useful. Someone who can discern good, mediocre, and strong for you. See what’s distinctive and nurture through high and lows.”
YEAR-END READING We’re excited to be compiling a few year-end reading lists this year, including a roundup of favourites from staff and board members, a collection of award-winning poetry books, and Best of 2016 lists from Robin Richardson and Kate Sutherland! Keep an eye on our community page (poets.ca/community) for more year-end lists and a 2017 reading challenge. Below are a few members’ books that landed on our lists so far.
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Injun by Jordan Abel
Don’t Be Interesting by Jacob Mcarthur Mooney
Burning in this Midnight Dream by Louise Bernice Halfe
Small Fires by Kelly Norah Drukker
Bedlam Cowslip by Jeanette Lynes
Crossover by M. Travis Lane
NEW MEMBERS WELCOME TO THE LEAGUE! DAVID BELLUSCI was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He holds a B.A. in English Literature (University of Toronto), M.A. in Linguistics (University of Calgary), M.F.A. in Creative Writing (University of Nebraska), and Ph.D. in Philosophy (Dominican University College), Ottawa. His poetry has been read in Canada, USA and Italy, and his writing has been published in Canada, USA, UK, Australia and New Zealand. SUE BRACKEN KATHEEN BURKE TERRY BURNS is a writer, visual artist and arts administrator who lives near Chatsworth, in Grey County, Ontario. Her lifelong writing practice (novels, short stories, academic articles, essays, editing and poetry) led to the publication of her first full-length book of poetry, the quality of light (Ginger Press) in 2015. Terry has also had work published in The New Quarterly, Leaf, and MOSAIC. From 2013 to 2015 she was Owen Sound Poet Laureate, during which time she wrote special occasion poems, conducted workshops, hosted salons, gave readings, and worked to raise the profile of poetry in the Grey/ Bruce region. Her legacy project as Poet Laureate was to edit an anthology called Mix Well featuring the work of 38 Grey and Bruce county poets (Ginger Press, 2015). Terry is the 2016 Artistic Director of the Words Aloud Spoken Word & Storytelling Festival, and from 2011 to 2013 was its co-ordinator. She is also poetry editor for the online publication Morel South & West, and formerly acted as its essay editor. BRENDA CLEWS is an African-Canadian multimedia poet, artist and videographer whose approach broaches poetry, painting, theory, dance, recordings
and video. Her oeuvre focuses on multiple callings, the obsessive muse. She has been a featured poet at a number of venues and organizes and hosts monthly Poetry & Music Salons in Toronto. LyricalMyrical published her chapbook, the luminist poems, in 2013. Born in a small mining town in Zimbabwe, Brenda currently lives in Toronto. NANCY JO CULLEN is a twice-nominated Journey Prize Fiction writer. Her short story collection Canary, is the winner of 2012 Metcalf-Rooke Award. She is the author of three critically acclaimed collections of poetry with Calgary’s Frontenac House Press. MIRIAM DUNN grew up on the pristine shores of Cape Breton Island, with Canada’s Atlantic coast and local woodlands as the inspiring backdrop to her life. Moved by her surroundings at a young age, her work is heavily influenced by the natural world, as well as human relationships. With a degree in Education, Miriam has been a web-writer for many years and her poetry and prose has appeared in numerous anthologies. MARIA L FIGUEREDO HEIDI GARNETT was born near Gdansk (Danzig) during the Second World War. Prior to being expulsed in 1945-46, her Mennonite family had farmed the delta called the Danziger Werder since the 1570s. Her poems have been published in literary journals and anthologies across Canada, in England and in California. She was shortlisted for the Arvon prize in London and was runner-up for the Rattle prize in Los Angeles. In addition, she has won the Descant Winston Collins prize and placed or been shortlisted in poetry contests sponsored by Canada Writes, Arc, Antigonish Review, Fiddlehead,
CV2, Freefall and Room. She was awarded the Timothy Findlay scholarship by Humber College for her fiction work and included in The Best Canadian Poetry in English, ed. Stephanie Bolster, in 2008. She graduated with an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC Okanagan in 2010. SHIRLEY GRAHAM‘s poetry has been published in North American literary journals for three decades. Her first book of poetry, What Someone Wanted, was published by Black Moss Press in 2007. Her most recent book of poetry, Book of Blue was published by Black Moss Press in 2013. She lives and writes on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia. CLARA A. B. JOSEPH is an associate professor of English at the University of Calgary with specialization in postcolonial studies, literary theory, and literature and ethics. Her book The Agent in the Margin was supported by the Aid to Scholarly Publications Program and published by Wilfrid Laurier UP (2008); her articles have appeared in journals such as English Studies in Canada, World Englishes, and Research in African Literatures. She co-edited Global Fissures: Postcolonial Fusions (Rodopi, 2006), Theology and Literature: Rethinking Reader Responsibility (Palgrave MacMillan, 2006), and two journal special issues of World Literature Written in English (2002-2003) on postcolonial studies. CLAIRE KELLY IAN LANCASHIRE KATERI LANTHIER’s poems have been published in journals and anthologies in Canada, England and the U.S., most recently in The Fiddlehead, EVENT, Hazlitt, Great Lakes Review, Green Mountains Review, Arc, PoetrySky (translated into Chinese by Mississauga poet laureate Anna Yin) and Best Canadian Poetry 2014 (Tightrope Books, 2014). She won the 2013 Walrus Poetry Prize. A poem of hers was shortlisted for Arc’s Poem of the Year
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2016 and was an Editor’s Choice selection. She won third prize in the London, England-based 2016 Troubadour International Poetry competition, judged by Glyn Maxwell and Jane Yeh. A longform interview with her appeared in the American journal Boxcar Poetry Review in 2014. Her poetry reviews have appeared in The Rusty Toque. Her first collection of poetry is Reporting from Night (Iguana, 2011). Siren, her second collection, is being published by Signal Editions, Véhicule Press in spring 2017. D. A. LOCKHART was born in Chatham and raised in Windsor, Ontario. He holds degrees from Trent University, Montana State University, and Indiana University. He is a graduate of the Indiana University – Bloomington MFA in Creative Writing program where he held a Neal-Marshall Graduate Fellowship in Creative Writing. His work has appeared in the Windsor Review, Sugar House Review, Hawk and Whipporwill, and others. He is a recipient of Canada Council for the Arts grant for Aboriginal People and Ontario Arts Council grants for his poetry. He is a research consultant and is editor-in-chief for Urban Farmhouse Press based out of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. He is a member of the Moravian of the Thames First Nation. JENNIFER LOVEGROVE is the author of the Giller Prize longlisted novel Watch How We Walk, as well as two poetry collections: I Should Never Have Fired the Sentinel and The Dagger Between Her Teeth. Her new collection of poetry, Beautiful Children with Pet Foxes, will be published with BookThug in 2017. Her poetry was shortlisted for the 2015 Lit POP Awards, and she has recent work in The Humber Literary Review and Taddle Creek. She divides her time between downtown Toronto and rural Ontario, and is online at jenniferlovegrove.com. SUSAN OLDING RICHARD OSLER was born in Toronto and now lives in Duncan on Vancouver Island, where he
facilitates poetry writing retreats and, also, weekly poetry workshops at The Cedars, an addiction recovery centre. His chapbook of short poems Where the Water Lives was published by Leaf Press in 2012. His poems have appeared in many journals. In 2011 he was shortlisted for the Malahat Open Season Awards in poetry and in 2015 he was longlisted for the PRISM International Poetry Prize. His other writing includes chapters in The Rock Rabbit and the Rainbow: Laurens van der Post Among Friends and The Latest Morningside Papers by Peter Gzowski. ANGELINE SCHELLENBERG’s first full-length poetry collection, Tell Them It Was Mozart, (Brick Books) was published in fall 2016 and her first chapbook, Roads of Stone (The Alfred Gustav Press), in May 2015. Angeline’s poems appear in Prairie Fire, CV2, Room, Rhubarb, The New Quarterly, Geez, the Society, Wordgathering, and the Cradle Song and Beautiful Women anthologies. Her awards include third place in the 2014 Banff Centre Bliss Carmen Poetry Award and honourable mention in the 2013 Rhubarb poetry contest. Angeline apprenticed under Don McKay at the 2013 Sage Hill Poetry Colloquium and with Méira Cook in the 2012 Manitoba Writers’ Guild mentorship program. She holds a masters in biblical studies. A journalist and copy editor passionate about disability issues, Angeline lives in Winnipeg with her husband, two teenagers, and a dog. She looks forward to her time as an artist-inresidence at the Manitoba Arts Council’s Deep Bay Cabin in July 2015. JOHANNA SKIBSRUD (returning) was born in Nova Scotia, Canada in 1980. She received her BA in English Literature at the University of Toronto, her MA in English and Creative Writing from Concordia University in Montreal, and her PhD in English Literature at the Université de Montréal. She is currently an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Arizona where she teaches twentieth century literature and poetics.
REHANA SHAMSI HENDRIK SLEGTENHORST SPIN EL POETA has performed in 7 countries and over 20 cities including sovereign indigenous territories in the north. SPIN has delivered arts education workshops to young offenders and over 1 000 students. He formed part of the first ever Canadian Hip Hop curriculum. SPIN was the only slam poet to perform at Hip Hop festivals in Cuba,Guatemala and Venezuela. SPIN El Poeta was the 2015 Toronto Poetry Slam Grand Champion. He has been featured poet in several documentaries (TO State of Grind; Snap, Clap, or Stomp and SPIN Youth Transitions). He was listed as one Toronto’s Top 10 Slam Poets by internationally recognized Arts & Culture website www.theculturetrip.com. CATHERINE J STEWART D S STYMEIST has published poetry in The Antigonish Review, Prairie Fire, Dalhousie Review, Steel Chisel, Ottawater, and ByWords. His work was featured as the Parliamentary Poet Laureate’s Poem of the Month (February 2015), and he was short-listed for Vallum’s 2015 poetry prize. He currently teaches poetics, Renaissance drama, and aboriginal literature at Carleton University in Ottawa. His critical essays and reviews have appeared in many journals, such as Studies in English Literature, Mosaic, College Teaching, and Genre. He grew up as a resident of O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation, is the editor and founder of the micro-press Textualis, and is the current vice-president of VERSe Ottawa. GREG STIDHAM KATE SUTHERLAND is the author of two collections of short stories: Summer Reading (winner of a Saskatchewan Book Award for Best First Book) and All In Together Girls, and one collection of poems, How to Draw a Rhinoceros. Recent work has also appeared in Best Canadian
Poetry 2016 and is forthcoming in The Fiddlehead. She is the host and producer of podcast On the Line: Conversations About Poetry. TONY VALUCH’s poetry, which is concerned with the natural world, man’s inner nature, societal grievances, and rites of passage, has been published in both South Korea and Canada in books, newspapers, magazines, journals and online. In 2005 he published his first chapbook of poetry, BLOODRUSHES (Shadowfax Press), which was followed in 2009 by SLIPPIN’ THROUGH THE CRACKS (Beret Days Press). Tony is presently working on his third book, THE REVOLVING DOOR, to be released in 2017, and does poetry readings in Southern Ontario whenever he can.
KEEP YOUR MEMBERSHIP UP TO DATE! We love to hear from all of our members! If you have news for us, if you’d like to update your member listing in our directory, or if you’d just like to check in, we encourage you to email info@ poets.ca. Make sure you’re taking advantage of everything your membership has to offer! We also encourage associate members who have continued publishing to check out membership criteria and see if you may now be eligible for full membership. Visit poets.ca/join for more.
MEMBER NEWS LEAGUER UPDATES REBECCA BANKS: The Winner of the Submission Call for The Children of Orpheus Contest/Anthology is Adrian Ernesto Cepeda for We could’ve painted skies blue. A bottle of French Champagne with 2 wine flutes will be heading to Adrian in California for Christmas. The Children of Orpheus Anthology features 22 Poets of the New Age Renaissance, an international and cross-cultural work, the book is an exciting example of poetry writing in the early 21st century from Subterranean Blue Poetry. The Anthology will be available from Amazon Station. Proceeds from the Anthology sale will be donated to the Chez Doris a Drop-In Centre for Women in Montreal. DAVID BRYDGES recently launched Fire and Sky, a poetry anthology in support of Fort McMurray’s ongoing recovery. 24 residents attended the book launch at the Wood Buffalo Regional Library. Fort Mac poets Julia Bennett and Kiran Malik-Khan read,
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and Jamie Gardner added some very special musical vibes to the night. Guy Choquet Director of the Red Cross Alberta Fire Recovery spoke how his staff hear stories of hardship every day from those deeply affected by the fire and still trying to recover. Perry Gillan Deputy Chief of Fire Prevention told astonishing stories of behind the scenes drama that unfolded and how everyone pulled together to save the city. We raised $315 in book sales and they received 22 more copies to sell. A big thank you to League members Wendy Donawa, Carol A Stephen, gillian hardingrussell, Kate Marshall Flaherty, Carol L. MacKay, Susan McMaster, Fern G. Z. Carr, Kim Goldberg, kjmunro, Kate Braid, K.V. Skene, Josie Di Sciascio-Andrews, Myna Wallin, Debbie Okun Hill, Sharon Goodier, Janet Vickers, Keith Inman, Cassy Welburn, and Susan Ioannou who contributed to the anthology. Poetry, music, stories, and togetherness created a successful evening for Fort McMurray’s ongoing recovery.
As well, Canada’s first anthology of Alzheimer/ Dementia poems Memory and Loss had 3 launches in November. First in a restored private rail car in Ajax, then Hot House Restaurant & Bar Toronto, and finally Pressed Café Ottawa. Ottawa musicians Anne Hurley and Jim Videto’s provided musical entertainment and composed 5 songs specific to the books themes. Bunny Iskov was the editor and Mark Clement of Ink Bottle Press the publisher. One hundred people attended the events and $600 was raised for the Alzheimer Society of Ontario. Several league members contributed including Ottawa poets Susan McMaster, and Blaine Marchand both former league presidents. Kate Marshall Flaherty Toronto Rep helped organize the launches and served as co-host.
Book Prize on November 22nd at the Quebec Writers’ Federation 18th Awards Gala. The celebration took place at the Corona Theatre in Montreal, and a list of this year’s winners and finalists can be found on the QWF’s website. Small Fires was also selected as one of five finalists for the 2016 Grand Prix du livre de Montréal, a prize that recognizes authors of works written in French or English for outstanding craftsmanship and original contribution. Kelly most recently read from her collection at the Holiday PopUp Book Fair in Montreal on November 26th. Kelly will be a featured reader, along with writer Carolyne Van Der Meer, at the Atwater Poetry Project in Montreal on March 25th, 2017, and will be reading at Toronto’s Art Bar Poetry Series on April 25th, 2017, in the company of Toronto poet Lisa Richter.
Acquired Community is JANE BYERS’s second book of poetry and was recently published by Caitlin Press—Dagger Editions. It is a collection of narrative poems about seminal moments in North American lesbian and gay history as well as a series of first person poems that act as a touchstone to compare the narrator’s coming out experience with the larger context of the gay liberation movement.
ALICE MAJOR: First, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts recently selected 25 “Influential Alberta Artists” to celebrate the AFA’s 25 anniversary — and one of them is me! In another anniversary celebration, the Canadian Literature Centre has brought out an anthology, “Ten Canadian Writers in Context” – and once again, I’m one of them. The book includes an extensive essay introducing my work plus an excerpt from The Office Tower Tales. My most recent collection, Standard Candles, won the Robert Kroetsch Award for Poetry from the Book Publishers Association of Alberta. Finally, the Kenyon Review has included a contribution from me in its most recent issue on “The Poetics of Science.” Eight pages of heroic couplets, no less!
MAGIE DOMINIC’s memoir Street Angel was recently reviewed in Canadian Literature: A Quarterly of Criticism and Review. “The daughter of a Catholic Lebanese salesman and a Presbyterian Scottish homemaker with untreated mental illness, Dominic is unflinching about her stoic navigation of childhood. …Dominic emerges as a brave and determined young woman who finds a way to make her dreams a reality by attending art school and reveling in the ‘pulsating, neon explosion’ that is New York City in the 60’s. Dominic’s memories, while often sad and traumatic, reveal a child who is inherently brave, hard-working, and optimistic.” KELLY NORAH DRUKKER’s first collection of poems, Small Fires (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2016), was awarded both the 2016 A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry and the 2016 Concordia University First
SUSAN McCASLIN’s most recent volume of poetry, Painter, Poet, Mountain: After Cezanne (Toronto: Quattro Books, 2016), was launched in Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver in late Sept. through Oct. of this year. She offered readings in Hamilton, New Westminster, Victoria, and Vancouver, a number of which were with her Quattro touring partner Richard Osler. More events are planned for the spring of 2017. Her poem, “Lao Tzu Meets the Progress Trap,” appeared in Canadian Woman Studies, A York University Publication: Women
and Social and Environmental Justice. Ed. Luciana Ricciutelli. Vol. 31, No. 1.2. (Fall Winter 2015), 126127. Her memoir, Into the Mystic: My Years with Olga (Inanna, 2014), was reviewed by John Robert Colombo on the Inanna Publications website. She also published an essay on John Keats in Dialogue Magazine (Nanaimo, BC, Fall Issue), which was later blogged on the Inanna website. Susan’s Into the Open: New and Selected Poems, is forthcoming through Inanna Publications in the Fall of 2017. ROB MCLENNAN released new poetry collection this fall from New Star Books: A Perimeter is built around three longer works that see the poet taking measure of his surroundings, which now have a new baby in a new house in a new neighbourhood on the outskirts of Ottawa. Saskatchewan poet LYNDA MONAHAN was recently inducted into the Prince Albert Arts Hall of Fame. She was recipient of this high honor for her years of dedication to the craft and the promotion of writing and poetry in the city and the province. Congratulations Lynda! CONCETTA PRINCIPE’s third prose-poem project, Hiroshima: a Love War Story was released in November 2015 with Pedlar Press, editor Beth Follett. The project was made possible because of a Works-in-Progress grant from OAC. SOUVANKHAM THAMMAVONGSA will read her poems at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, with Ari Banias and Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, as part of the Agnes Martin program, Quiet: A Poetry Reading for Agnes Martin, curated by Jen Bervin, on January 10, 2017.
FIND MEMBERS’ NEWS AND UPDATES ANYTIME AT POETS.CA/MEMBERNEWS. EMAIL NICOLE@POETS.CA TO INCLUDE YOUR NEWS!
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NEW MANITOBA REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVE! We’re excited to welcome Brenda Sciberras to National Council as our Manitoba regional rep! The author of Magpie Days, Brenda is a poet, writer and librarian, bringing us a great perspective on many different parts of the industry.
WRITING AND EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES GREEN COLLEGE WRITER IN RESIDENCE Green College, a residential facility for graduate students and a public venue for non-curricular academic and artistic presentations at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver), invites applications for the post of Canada Council Writer in Residence, with no limitation as to genre, for part of the school year 2017-18. Deadline: February 1, 2017. SHORT PROSE COMPETITION FOR EMERGING WRITERS The Writers’ Union of Canada is accepting submissions until February 1, 2017, for the 24th Annual Short Prose Competition for Emerging Writers. The winning entry will be the best Canadian work of up to 2,500 words in the English language, fiction or non-fiction, written by an author who has published no more than one book. $2,500 prize! CREATIVE RESIDENCY IN FINLAND Arteles Creative Residency Program allows you the time, space, facilities and - most of all - the freedom and stress-free environment you need in
order to develop yourself and your work, in the middle of the extraordinary nature of Hämeenkyrö, Finland. Freshly upgraded facilities and selection of equipment & gear are especially designed to serve photographers, designers, sound & media artists, writers and creatives from other fields and mediums. Read more & apply online by January 12, 2017: www.arteles.org DANUTA GLEED LITERARY AWARD The Writers’ Union of Canada is now accepting submissions for the 20th annual Danuta Gleed Literary Award, Canada’s pre-eminent award for the best first Canadian collection of short fiction in the English language. To be eligible, books must be first collections of short fiction written by a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and published in Canada in the English language in the 2016 calendar year. The deadline for submissions is January 31, 2017. UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN: ASSITANT PROFESSOR, CREATIVE WRITING The Department of English in the College of Arts & Science, University of Saskatchewan, invites applications for a one-year appointment in creative writing at the Assistant Professor level, to begin July 1, 2017. The successful candidate will teach undergraduate classes in the area of creative writing in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. The position will also entail leading graduate workshops in the MFA in Writing and participating in the administrative work of the Department. A completed MFA in writing or commensurate qualification is required, as is demonstrated ability in teaching and publication. Deadline: January 9. BANFF CENTRE SPOKEN WORD Banff Centre’s Spoken Word program is the first of its kind, offering a unique setting for spoken word artists to explore and develop their voices and career paths. This intensive program investigates a variety of topics from the spoken word tradition, such as history, composition, performance, new and multi-media, production, business/touring, musicality, orality, sound, spirit, language, body, and theatre. Deadline: January 11. FUTURE NARRATIVES: CONTEMPORARY INDIGENOUS ARTISTIC PRACTICE (BANFF) Open to Indigenous and non-Indigenous emerging and established writers, artists, curators and researchers in any medium including visual and digital arts, performance arts, and music who are interested in exploring the future narratives of Canada. The structure of the residency includes seminars/conversations to explore the theme and time during the day for the participants to engage with their own discipline. Deadline: January 11. BANFF CENTRE WRITING STUDIO An ideal environment for artistic inspiration and growth, Writing Studio is structured to provide an extended period of uninterrupted writing time, one-on-one editorial assistance from experienced writers/editors, and an opportunity to engage with a community of working writers. Deadline: February 1. BANFF INTERNATIONAL LITERARY TRANSLATION CENTRE Inspired by the network of international literary translation centres in Europe, the Banff International Literary Translation Centre (BILTC) is the only one of its kind in North America. Since the inaugural program in 2003, BILTC has hosted translators from approximately 30 countries translating work involving more than 40 languages. This program offers working and professional literary translators a period of uninterrupted work on a current project. Deadline: February 8.