| "It’s an explosion of literary talent!" says ryan fitzpatrick of Blow-Out 2, filling Station magazine’s literary festival, that runs August 24 to 26.
Blow-Out got its start in 2004, when filling Station turned 10 years old. "At the time," remembers fitzpatrick, "the collective said ‘Gee, Calgary’s given us a ton of support over the past decade. We should give Calgary some support!’" The result was a special 30th issue of the magazine with all-Calgary content and a gigantic launch party at the Carpenters Union Hall called Blow-Out. "It was a blast, one night, fantastic," says fitzpatrick. "It was meant to be a one-off event."
Then, in 2005, managing editor derek beaulieu came up with an idea – why not hold a three-day party with as many Calgary writers as possible? "We thought it was an awesome idea," says fitzpatrick, "and since the spirit was the same, we called it Blow-Out again."
Which brings us to Blow-Out 2 (or is it 3?), a three-day event in Motel (Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts). There are three evening events, each of them at 7:00 p.m., featuring not only a slew of local writers but also films by emerging Canadian directors. On Thursday, August 24, you can catch readings by Shone Abet, Jonathan Ball, ryan fitzpatrick, Kevin McPherson-Eckhoff, Jordan Scott, Natalie Simpson and Andrew Wedderburn; on Friday, August 25, there’s Natalee Caple, James Dangerous, Samuel Garrigo Meza, Jocelyn Grossé, Richard Harrison, Melanie Little, Rajinderpal S. Pal and Natalie Walschots. The festival closes on Saturday, August 26 with Christian Bök, Jason Christie, Jessica Grant, Jane Grove, Paul Kennett, Nikki Reimer and William Neil Scott.
"Last year, we did it on-the-fly, really last minute," says fitzpatrick. "This year, we tried to give more of an overview of the Calgary scene. We’ve got a lot of fiction writers, a lot of poets, and it’s our first year with spoken word performers. I’m sure we’re missing people, but it’s the best overview of local literary talent that we could come up with for this year."
There’s also a Saturday afternoon event at 2:00 p.m. on the 25th. "We had an afternoon event last year, but people had a bit too much fun on Friday night so it was a bit sparsely attended," fitzpatrick says. "We decided to try something different in that slot this year." That something is an open mic – but it’s not your daddy’s open mic. This one is called an Open Michelle, based on the lexiconjury reading series in Toronto. Rather than the normal open mic format, where readers are given a time limit to perform whatever they please, in an open Michelle each reader must do one "cover" poem and one poem of their own. Whether it’s Shakespeare, Joyce, Tourette, fitzpatrick or something you found scribbled on a bus seat, readers are required to read a poem they didn’t write. If you want to participate in the open Michelle, there will be sign-up sheets at the Thursday and Friday evening events and, if slots remain, at the door.
WordFest has announced another author to be attending this year’s festival, Michael Collins (The Keepers of Truth, The Resurrectionists).
Also this week, McNally Robinson hosts several readings: Kathy Wilson reads from her memoir, Take the Wings of a Morning, Thursday August 24 at 7:00 p.m. Wilson’s book deals with her life in Second World War England and her subsequent emigration to the Canadian prairies. Then, on Friday, August 25 at 8:00 p.m., Nalini Warriar reads from The Enemy Within, about a woman trapped in an arranged marriage in Quebec City and thrust head-first into Québécois politics. Finally, on Saturday August 26 at 1:30 p.m., Mo Willems (author of such enthusiastically-punctuated children’s books as: Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!; The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!; and The Pigeon Has Feelings Too!) reads from his latest, Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! I hardly dare ponder the consequences of an insomniac pigeon. |
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