| This week Calgarians have a chance to encounter one of the formidable literary figures of the past half-century. The Markin-Flanagan Distinguished Writers Programme presents playwright Wole Soyinka in two public events: "Outsiders," a public reading on Wednesday, November 27 at 7:30 p.m., and a panel discussion on "The Politically Engaged Writer," on Thursday, November 28 at 4 p.m.
Soyinka has been an energetic and uncompromising writer for many decades. He was involved in the struggle for Nigerian independence in the 1940s through the 1950s, and pursued drama studies in England, culminating in productions of his plays The Swamp Dwellers and The Lion and the Jewel, staged in both London and Ibadan. After his return to a newly independent Nigeria in the early ’60s, he wrote and directed for the theatre. Soyinka was imprisoned for his political views in 1965 and 1967 and left Nigeria again when released in 1969. He wrote the important plays Madmen and Specialists and Death and the King's Horseman in the first half of the 1970s, along with critical essays (some of which you can read in his 1988 book Art, Dialogue & Outrage). In 1986 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. His 1996 book The Open Sore of a Continent, appearing the year after Ken Saro-Wiwa’s execution, attacked the inhumanity of Nigeria’s military governments. Soyinka was himself sentenced to death in 1997.
The Wednesday reading is at the U of C’s MacEwan Hall in the MacEwan Students Centre, and a reception follows. The Thursday panel is at the Rozsa Centre. Both events are free and open to the public. For more information call Leigh Hurst at 220-8177.
On Monday, November 25, Gail Anderson-Dargatz reads at McNally Robinson. The author of Rhinestone Button, A Cure For Death By Lightning and A Recipe for Bees will be in the store at 7 p.m .
Pages presents an urbanite duo on Tuesday, November 26 at 7:30 p.m. Cultural critic and small-press advocate Hal Niedzviecki teams up with poet and editor Darren Wershler-Henry to present The Original City Dweller’s Handbook.
Vancouver author Nancy Richler reads from her book, Your Mouth is Lovely, at the Calgary Jewish Book Festival this Wednesday, November 27 at 7:30 p.m at the Calgary Jewish Centre (1607 90 Ave. S.W.). The event is free.
Later in the week, Sharron Proulx-Turner's new book of poetry, What the Aunty’s Say, gets a Calgary launch at Pages on Thursday, November 28 at 7:30 p.m. The same evening, former Newfoundland and Labrador premier Brian Tobin reads from his memoir, All in Good Time. That’s at 7:30 p.m. in the John Dutton Theatre in the W.R. Castell Central Library. Tickets are available at Pages.
Only 10 days or so remain in the Discover Alberta Books campaign. You can enter a draw for 30 Alberta-published books: all you need to do is buy a book at a participating independent bookstore and drop your entry in the draw box there. In Calgary that means going to McNally Robinson Booksellers, Owl’s Nest Bookstore, Pages Books on Kensington, or Socrates’ Corner Bookstore. The draw closes December 1, and winners will be selected on December 17, 2002. |
