| There's no need to wait for the psychic fair if you want to glimpse the future, because this week you can hear Calgary's poets of tomorrow, today. At least, you can if "today" is Wednesday, March 23. That's when Tom Wayman hosts 11 promising new writers from the University of Calgary. They are Jennifer Campbell, Samuel Garrigo-Meza, Maria Gonzalez, Bronwyn Haslam, Mark Hopkins, Kristen Ingram, Rebekah Jarvis, Sarah-Jean Krahn, Andrew Pulvermacher, Meagan Tucker and David Waddell. They read at 7 p.m. at McNally Robinson.
The following night, Calgary author Anne Metikosh has a new book about the difficulty of seeing into the past. Normally we call such books "detective fiction." In Metikosh's new eco-thriller Undercurrent, the detecting gets done by conservation officer Charlie Meikle after he finds a body in the woods. Metikosh reads from her novel on Thursday, March 24 at 7 p.m. at McNally Robinson.
The Calgary Public Library presents another Calgary mystery writer when Deborah Nicholson reads from her book Evening the Score, at the Alexander Calhoun branch on Wednesday, March 23 at 7 p.m. You need to register for this event, either in person or by calling 221-2010. Then, on Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Memorial Park branch, John and Virginia Friesen offer a presentation entitled Legends of the Elders. The couple has written four books that collect legends as told by aboriginal elders in the U.S. and Canada. You don't need to register for this reading.
Calgary's independent bookstores are now so continuously active with author readings, signings, slide shows, contests and wine-cheese thingamajigs that it's actually reached the point where you notice when Pages on Kensington has a couple of event-free weeks. OK, you noticed. But it’s back to the usual full schedule starting next week. Watch for Fred Stenson, Sharon Butala, Sheila Heti, Brian Brennan, the W.O. Mitchell Book Prize announcement on March 28, plus some collaborative events. Both wine and cheese, each so fiendishly accessible just down Kensington Road, will feature in some of these events.
Statistics suggest that there's a pretty good chance you are a girl. If you are, you might look into GirlSpoken: Creative Voices for Change, a multifaceted project that wants to showcase the voices of young women between 13 and 19 years of age. The School of Social Work at Ontario's Laurentian University is behind the project. If you have non-fiction stories or artwork about "who you are, what you value, how you express yourself and the things you have experienced," then GirlSpoken is interested. There's a chance of book publication, and all the details are at the project’s site, www.girlspoken.ca.
The application deadline for this year's Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award is June 2. You should think about this now, however, because the award supports the writing of a yet-to-be published, contracted piece of journalism. The winner gets $2,000 to make it possible to actually do the research and writing for an article or book related to social justice. All the details are available from Shirley Dunn at 640-2273, or e-mail the Jewish Community Foundation of Calgary at jcfc@cjcc.ca.
Best-sellers
Best-selling books for March 4 to 10 at McNally Robinson.
Fiction
1. Rockbound
by Frank P. Day
2. Saturday
by Ian McEwan
3. Can You Keep a Secret?
by Sophie Kinsella
4. Runaway
by Alice Munro
5. Princes of Ireland
by Edward Rutherfurd
6. Feed My Dear Dogs
by Emma Richler
7. Million Dollar Baby
by F.X. Toole
8. Jade Peony
by Wayson Choy
9. Broker
by John Grisham
10. The Full Cupboard of Life
by Alexander McCall Smith
Non-fiction
1. Collapse
by Jared Diamond
2. A Short History of Progress
by Ronald Wright
3. The Fabric of the Cosmos
by Brian Greene
4. Swing Low
by Miriam Toews
5. Blink
by Malcolm Gladwell
6. Shake Hands With the Devil
by Romeo Dallaire
7. Future Tense: The Coming World Order
by Gwynne Dyer
8. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
by John Perkins
9. Hegemony or Survival
by Noam Chomsky
10. Eats, Shoots and Leaves
by Lynne Truss |
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