| The Stellar Femme Fest is exactly what it sounds like – a celebration of fabulous females. Specifically, female artists in every field from poetry to peace dancing, short film to rock ‘n roll. "The purpose is to create a really supportive environment for women artists and have a lot of fun," says organizer Laura Leif. She and a committee of volunteers have teamed up with the University of Calgary’s Campus Women’s Resource Centre to put on the three-day festival. "Originally, it was going to be a venue for musicians," she says, "but working with the CWRC, all these other issues started coming up and it became a really large, inclusive event."
The festival, which specifically features female artists, seeks to create a space where like-minded women can see each other’s work, meet and expand their own talent base. "People make a lot of assumptions about female artists, about the kind of art you’re going to make and about its quality," says Leif. "When I started playing music, I got a lot of really strange comments that took me by surprise. ‘Oh… you’re in a girl band?’ I’ve always thought that was stupid, because women make as wide a range of art as men."
The festival runs September 28-30, opening with a feminism tutorial. "The festival isn’t only for feminists or only for women," says Leif. "It’s open to everyone, but I think there’s a need for this kind of event because feminism has such a bad name. We’re offering the tutorial just to show people what it’s actually about and let them make up their minds."
On the literary side of things, you can catch a number of acts starting at 7:00 p.m. on September 29, at EMMEDIA, including a spoken-word tag-team by Shone Abet and Nico Hofferd, poetry from Sharron Proulx-Turner and a dramatic monologue by Sarah Murphy. The next day, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at EMMEDIA, you can participate in the Paper Dolls workshop, where facilitators will use writing, visual art and theatre exercises to engage with the female body, culminating in the creation of a performance to be presented at 7:00 p.m.
There will also be an alternative menstrual workshop, an ad-busting workshop, dance, music, visual art and film, so be sure to visit www.stellarfemmefest.ca for more information. All proceeds will benefit the University of Calgary’s Campus Women’s Resource Centre.
The Calgary Slam Team will soon be jetting off for Toronto to compete in the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word, and you can send them off tonight at the Calgary Slam Team Fundraiser! Team members Wakefield Brewster, Kirk Ramdath and Sabo will be joined by regular slam favourites Abet, Möe Clark and Mat Mailandt for an intense evening of spoken-word poetry. Flying to Toronto ain’t cheap, so bring your wallets for door prizes and a silent auction. The action starts at 8:00 p.m. on September 28, at the Auburn Saloon.
Also that night, Michael Rose reads from his latest spy thriller, The Burma Effect, in which his recurring protagonist, Frank Delaney, embarks on a globe-trotting search for a missing CSIS agent and ends up in the middle of an international incident. Rose will be at McNally Robinson at 7:00 p.m.
On Friday, beloved Calgary mainstays Robert Hilles and George Melnyk will read from their new poetry releases, Slow Ascent and Elegy for a Poem Garden. That’s September 29, 7:30 p.m, at Pages Books.
Acclaimed author Deepak Chopra, hailed by Time magazine as one of the century’s top 100 heroes and icons, will be at the Telus Convention Centre to discuss such light topics as: What is the meaning and purpose of existence? Is it possible to create world peace? How can I make a better world? Come ponder with the master on September 30, at 7:30 p.m.
Natalie MacLean will share her wine-soaked expertise when she reads from Red, White and Drunk All Over: A Wine-Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass, a sensual, globetrotting examination of all things wine. Join her in Prairie Ink Restaurant at McNally Robinson (where, yes, wine is served) on October 2 at 7:00 p.m.
The latest instalment of the Red Mile Revenge reading series hits Victoria’s on October 3 at 8:00 p.m. There’s no telling who the readers will be this time around, but host Selina Clary promises that the evening will be, as always, "dark, erotic and provocative."
The author of Crow Lake, Mary Lawson, returns with her new novel, The Other Side of the Bridge. She’ll spin the sordid tale of two rival brothers and the beautiful woman that throws both their worlds into chaos at McNally Robinson on October 4, at 7:00 p.m.
Finally, Jonathan Hanna will present a slideshow of images from his new book, Portraits of Canada: Photographic Treasures of the CPR on October 4, at 7:00 p.m., at the John Dutton Theatre in the W.R. Castell Central Library. His book features images collected from the Canadian Pacific Railway archives, capturing the momentous changes that swept across Canada in the 19th and 20th centuries. |
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