| Got a true story? Tell it to the judges
January must be one of the biggest months of the year for informal storytelling. "How was your New Year's, Christmas, etc.?" ranks right up there with "how was your summer?" And the answer is always a narrative, or a series of them. What this shows is that we all have stories to tell, some more colourful or profound than others, perhaps. Like Oscar Wilde, who reportedly always carried his diary in order "to have something salacious to read on the train," we all have our stories to tell, and we shouldn't be fazed even by such exalted comparisons.
If you tell your own true stories – and tell them a little "slant," as Emily Dickinson suggested long ago – then you're on the way to creative non-fiction. And if you've been writing this kind of writing down, you can send it to the Prairie Fire Personal Journalism/Creative Non-Fiction contest. The deadline is January 15, you've got up to 5,000 words, and it costs $25 to enter. For more information check www.prairiefire.mb.ca.
Caution: you are entering a cranky grammarian moment. Note the word "fazed" in the first paragraph. It means "disconcerted," and it's a completely different word from "phased." Why is everyone mixing up these two words, then? And why are they so unfazed when they write unphased, which makes no sense? Because they don't know any better. But you do, now. End of cranky grammarian moment.
Compared to January, February may be short on such catch-up holiday narratives and even short on its number of days – but it is long on thematic significance. No, not because of St. Valentine's Day, but because it ends with Freedom to Read Week, and because all month long it's Black History Month. Watch for more details on literary events to do with both February themes.
For now it's worth noting that at the University of Calgary, Black History Month will kick off with readings by writers such as Cheryl Foggo, Wade Compton, Ian Samuels and others. They're all part of series called Arresting Texts, which will bring together a long list of authors including Nicole Brossard, Kenneth J. Harvey and Fred Stenson. That's all during the first week of February. More details to come.
This Friday, January 12, the Alexandra Writers Centre Society (922 - 9 Ave. S.E.) hosts readings by its instructors from the winter 2001 creative writing classes. Readings are at 7:30 p.m., it's free, there will be refreshments and you can register for courses at the same time.
And remember, every week of the full moon sees the Single Onion readings at Beat Niq (downstairs at 811 - 1 St. S.W.) on Thursday at 8 p.m. This week’s event will be emceed by Caroline Szpak, and features performances by Jonathon Wilcke, Fred Wah, Gretchen Steele and special guest Ali Riley. |
