FFWD Weekly
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| BOOKENDS This week, Calgary poets will party like it's 1999. Not just because of the new millennium, but because '99 will mark 90 years since poet Dorothy Livesay - a pioneering woman writer in Canada and the kind of socialist whose beliefs came straight out of Depression-era reality - was born in Winnipeg. Just in time for that anniversary, Dean Irvine has edited a new collection of her work. To celebrate, seven authors will read their personal selections from Archive for Our Times: Previously Uncollected and Unpublished Poems of Dorothy Livesay (Arsenal Pulp Press). See Sheri-D Wilson, Richard Harrison, Rajinderpal S. Pal, Suzette Mayr, Julia Gaunce, Nicole Markotic and Pamela Banting read at the New Gallery (516D, 9 Avenue SW) at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 21. For those people who don't already have plans to attend the WordFest kick-off cabaret on Thursday, October 15, this is your chance to discover Michael Crummy. The little-known author will read from his two new books, Flesh & Blood, a collection of stories, and Hard Light, a book of poetry that reads like a novel, at about 8:30 p.m. This weekend, think about travelling to Banff for readings by Ronald Wright and Russell Smith, along with many of the authors reading at Calgary's PanCanadian WordFest events. In past years, WordFest's Banff events have had an atmosphere of their own that distinguishes them from the Calgary readings. Something about the setting, the mountain air? Those frolicking elk? Call TicketMaster at 777-0000 or for info call 294-7462. Pages on Kensington resumes its reading series with an appearance by Canadian institution Roch Carrier, reading from his new novel, The Lament of Charlie Longsong, on Monday, October 19 at 7:30 p.m. On Tuesday, October 20 at 7:30 p.m., Newfoundland's Kenneth Harvey reads from his exuberant, dark, inventive work. (His recent novel, Nine Tenths Unseen, for instance, contains a truly horrific family Christmas scene; such a shame about dad, and that priest.) Then on Wednesday the 21st at 7:30 p.m., two readings! At Pages bookstore, Janice Kulyk Keefer presents work from two new books: Marrying the Sea, a poetry collection, and Honey and Ashes, a book of short stories. Both follow up her success with The Green Library. Meanwhile, at Memorial Park Library, the Ex Libris series presents the launch of Alberto Manguel's Into the Looking-Glass World: Essays on Words and the World. (If you have information for our weekly Bookends column, fax it to Fast Forward at 244-1431.) |