| Enthusiasm for Calgary writers unfeigned
As Richard Harrison pointed out last Saturday at the Raj Pal/ Larissa Lai double book launch, Calgary has now reached the point where more than 100 discerning readers will come out to celebrate a local writer's new book. The Art Gallery of Calgary was standing room only for the event. As was the Engineered Air Theatre for Suzette Mayr's inaugural reading as Markin-Flanagan writer-in-residence. As was McNally Robinson Bookstore for their grand opening on September 21. And Word on the Street had a decent turnout despite grim weather. This is one thing that makes the city a good place for writers: it's so well-stocked with readers.
Since publishing The Trade (a Giller Prize finalist in 2000), Calgary author Fred Stenson hasn't exactly reclined on his laurels. Not only has he been guiding writers as director of The Banff Centre's Wired Writing Studio, he's also written a new book on the subject entitled Things Feigned or Imagined: The Craft in Fiction. Curtis Gillespie calls it "a book real writers are going to use, again and again." You have two ways to celebrate the launch of the new volume: the mountain way or the foothills way. If you choose the mountain celebration, be at the The Banff Centre's Walter Phillips Gallery on Tuesday, October 8 at 4 p.m. for the Banff launch and reception. The foothills launch takes place a bit later, on Wednesday, October 30 at 7:30 p.m. at Pages On Kensington.
Is it possible the Alberta air would be that little bit less fresh if the broadcasts of CKUA weren't disseminating themselves through it? Marylu Walters might agree, since she's written a history of the station entitled CKUA: Radio Worth Fighting For. She launches the new book at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, October 4 at Pages. Then next Wednesday, October 9 at Pages, poets Nancy Holmes and Laura Lush read from their new books, Adultery Poems and Last Day of Winter, respectively. |
