| It’s an inspirational story for small press publishers everywhere: Ontario’s Exile Editions, a prolific mainstay of Canadian publishing, celebrates its 30th anniversary this year – and its 300th publication.
The company got its start in 1972 with Barry Callaghan, a professor at York University who started a literary journal, Exile Quarterly. The first four issues featured such authors as Margaret Atwood, Claude Gauvreau, Margaret Avison, Joyce Carol Oates and Michel Lambeth, among many others. "My father was in touch and in tune with the great writers of the early ’70s who would become the well-known international writers of the 21st century," says Michael Callaghan, who now handles the operation of the publishing house. Exile Quarterly is still kicking, and celebrates some milestones of its own this year: its 30th volume and 120th issue.
In 1976, the journal expanded and Exile Editions was born. "We had more and more authors coming into the Quarterly camp, and there was such a wide selection of Canadian talent that he thought, to take this talent further, we should produce complete books," says Callaghan. "That’s how it got started, to give a new and distinct voice to Canadian talent." For 30 years, Exile Editions has been a Canadian-oriented publishing house. It eagerly publishes international authors in translation, but its English-language writers are all homebred.
The company, to this day, is a tight, family-run operation – Michael’s father remains as editor-in-chief, and his wife and mother help in the day-to-day. "The four of us are the blood and guts," he says, "and that’s how we’ve survived. As much as we pay attention to our bottom line, we’re not driven by our bottom line. We’re driven by producing quality literature."
A glance at their website, www.exileeditions.com, is confirmation enough – there’s not a cookbook, hockey book or commercial-oriented publication in sight, just poetry, fiction and drama. "We’re moving into graphic novels, and we’ve already started with graphic poetry," Callaghan says. "We’re an open-ended publishing house; we publish what’s good."
Their 30th anniversary celebration has been a full blowout, with 50 authors touring everywhere from Vancouver to Saskatoon to Toronto, with side-trips to Scotland and Ireland. "We recently did a circuit to Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City and Ottawa, which involved me renting a passenger van and driving the authors," Callaghan laughs. "I think you’d be hard-pressed to find many publishers who hop in a van to hit the road with their authors for five days!"
Calgary is one of the final stops on the book-tour extravaganza, and we’ll be graced with readings from James Bacque, Sèan Virgo and Priscilla Uppal, whose latest collection of poetry, Ontological Necessities, is the 300th book that launched this celebration. Join them at McNally Robinson on Thursday, October 26 at 7:00 p.m.
On October 26, the Calgary Poetry Slam returns for a new season of unpredictable poetic energy. Ten competitors will take the stage once again, vying for a $50 cash prize – but that’s not all! The winner of this month’s event gets a shot at competing in the 2007 CBC Poetry Face-Off and the possibility of joining the 2007-08 Calgary Slam Team to compete in national and international slam competitions. If you want to take the mic, bring your $5 registration fee, three poems, and arrive by 7:00 p.m. to sign up. The action, hosted by Sheri-D Wilson and me, kicks off at the Beat Niq Jazz & Social Club at 8:00 p.m., for only $5 at the door.
NöD Magazine launches its fourth issue this week, with new editorial team Felicia Pacentrilli and Jane Thompson. The university-run, professional-quality magazine celebrates the occasion with readings by derek beaulieu, Monique Fournier, Diana Lyuber and Colin Martin, and music by the Jagatha Christies. There’ll be costume prizes (for strangest, silliest, most revealing and more!), so come out in your hottest Halloween garb to the Lazy Loaf and Kettle on Thursday, October 26 at 7:30 p.m.
Finally, on this busy Thursday night, there is a tribute to Sharon Drummond, the past president of the Alexandra Writers Centre and a longtime contributor to Calgary’s writing community who passed away in 2005. Richard Harrison hosts this commemorative evening, that also serves as the launch for her second collection of poetry, Where It Began, published posthumously by Black Moss Press. Join him at the Memorial Park Library at 7:00 p.m.
Beloved local poet Jason Christie launches his second collection, i-ROBOT Poetry, a thoughtful, witty and innovative book that will change the way you look at your toaster. It blurs the line between human and robot in poems, like my personal favourite, "Basket:" "My gardenerbot is my gardenerbot because my little dog robot knows her." The launch holds the promise of community, wine and hand-knit robots. Join the technological revolution at Pages Books on Friday October 27 at 7:30 p.m.
The 2006 winners of the long-running Alberta Anthology radio feature are celebrated this week with the launch of the Alberta Anthology 2006 collection. Featuring the 53 winning stories, monologues, essays and poems from this year’s competition, chosen by judges E.D. Blodgett, Sharon Pollock, Gloria Sawai and Aritha van Herk, the pieces range from the power of chocolate to futuristic card games. Edited, hosted and produced by Allan Boss, the Anthology continues to challenge and celebrate Alberta writers. Check out the winners at McNally Robinson on Friday, October 27 at 8:00 p.m.
Craig Davidson, author of Rust and Bone, returns with his latest book, The Fighter. It’s an unflinching look at illegal bare-knuckle boxing, with Davidson’s sharp eye for modern masculinity and the rocky relationships between father and son. He’ll be at McNally Robinson on Saturday, October 28 at 8:00 p.m.
In an appropriately Halloweenish event, Nancy Millar, author of Once Upon a Tomb and The Final Word hits the Memorial Park Library to chat about some of the more interesting gravestones she’s run across in her Canadian travels. The self-titled "cheerful tombstone tourist" takes you on a not-so-spooky tour of the grave on Saturday, October 28 at 2:00 p.m.
There are a pair of heavy-hitter events on Monday, starting with a reading by Fred Wah for the 10th anniversary of his ground-breaking and much-celebrated book of bio-fiction, Diamond Grill. The book, about hybridity and life in a small-town Chinese-Canadian café, has become a mainstay in Canadian bookshelves and lit classes, and you can find out why at the Boris Roubakine Recital Hall, on the University of Calgary Campus, on Monday, October 30 at 4:30 p.m.
Then, in the evening, Bill Bryson reads from his new memoir, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, exploring the joys and peculiarities of life in the 1950s United States. Fans of his extensive travel writing will be pleased to discover more of the backstory for many familiar faces, including travel companion Stephen Katz. A portion of the events go to the Calgary Library Foundation and the Catherine Anne McKay Publishing Scholarship. The reading takes place at the John Dutton Theatre (W.R. Castell Central Library) on Monday, October 30 at 7:30 pm.
You see his often-controversial writings in the Herald, and now Don Martin has tackled a new source of controversy in his unblinking biography, Belinda: The Political and Private Life of Belinda Stronach. Martin looks at her family dynasty, cosmopolitan lifestyle and politics in an attempt to fully portray this fascinating woman. Learn more about one of Canada’s most public figures at McNally Robinson on Wednesday, November 1 at 7:00 p.m.
Four authors present their work this week at an evening that could only be called Fictionistas! Rona Altrows, Betty Jane Hegerat, Jacqueline Honnet and Gail Robinson celebrate small-press fiction and the voice of women writers as they read from A Run on Hose, Running Toward Home, Limbo and God of the Plains, respectively. They’ll be at Pages Books on Wednesday, November 1 at 7:30 p.m.
Dene Cooper is the co-author of Exshaw: Heart of the Valley, a local history of the mountain community near Banff National Park. He will accompany his reading with a chat about the trying and rewarding process of putting together a local history, at the W.R. Castell Central Library on Wednesday, November 1 at 7:00 p.m.
Closing off this week, Lorne Perry combines words, artwork and photography in Drawing from the Mountain: An Illustrated Journey, chronicling his stunning and dangerous adventures in the Rocky Mountains. This slideshow-accompanied chat jumps from exquisite mountain scenery to grizzly attacks, all at the Alexander Calhoun Library on Wednesday, November 1 at 7:00 p.m. |
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