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Bookends by Harry Vandervlist The concept of "lifetime achievement" takes on more serious meaning when you turn from someone like Oscar-winning Warren Beatty to someone like former Calgary mayor and provincial Lieutenant Governor Grant MacEwan. In the great tradition of (let's call it) frugality associated with the Scots people, MacEwan hates to see anything go to waste – including his own time and energy, apparently. By age 93, MacEwan had put so many of his "spare moments" to work, expressing his passion for the land and people of Alberta, that he had published more than 50 books on agriculture, politics and history. All this was done by someone who makes today's clichés about "three careers in the average lifetime" look pathetically unambitious. MacEwan easily doubled that. Now the Writers Guild of Alberta has decided to honour the writing part of MacEwan's accomplishments with their Golden Pen Lifetime Achievement Award. That's the same honour extended to W.O. Mitchell in 1994. The guild will fete MacEwan at their Book Awards Gala on May 6 at the Bow Valley Inn. Call 1-800-665-5354 for ticket information. Speaking of W.O. Mitchell, there's a book devoted to photos of the territory he recreated in his work. Courtney Milne: A Photographic Journey through W.O. Country will be presented at the Engineered Air Theatre on May 3 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available in advance from TicketMaster or from PanCanadian WordFest, sponsors of the event, at 294-7462. She's a B.C. writer now, hanging out on the beach at Eagle Harbour with her partner and her two sons. But back in Jacqueline Turner's Calgary period she helped to found filling Station magazine, hung out at the Ship (a key activity for young Calgary writers) and organized poetry readings. Now she's back with her first book of poems entitled Into the Fold. She's reading at Pages (you know where it is) on April 27 at 7:30 p.m. Exactly one week before Turner's reading, and in the very same place, Honeymoon in Purdah author Alison Wearing reads from her book about travelling in Iran, posing as a married woman. That's Thursday, April 20 at 7:30 p.m., at Pages. Doreen von Gradulewski, Kathy Lynn Treybig, Vivian Hansen, Sarah Murphy and guests will be at Annie's Book Company (912 - 16 Avenue N.W.) on Thursday, April 27 at 7 p.m. They’re requesting a loonie donation, call 282-1330 for info.

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