| The sunburn across my right arm is stinging proof that summer is here. Time to slather on the SPF 30, fold out a deck chair and crack open that stack of summer reading you’ve been accumulating all year. But if you’re reluctant to stay cooped up and flip pages in solitude, don’t worry – Calgary’s booming literary scene never takes a vacation.
The warm weather seems to have heralded a whole host of motivational readings, but first, the week kicks off with a heart-rending conflict: two literary events held simultaneously mere blocks away from one another. At McNally Robinson, Coach House Books launches three new titles: The Girl Who Saw Everything by Sean Dixon, Hippies & Bolsheviks and Other Plays by Amiel Gladstone and The Milk Chicken Bomb by Andrew Wedderburn. Over at the Triangle Gallery, Single Onion presents poetry readings by Mark Hopkins, Paul Marshall and Ali Riley with music by Anne Loree. Both events start at 7:00 p.m.
In 1955, Swami Sivananda Radha travelled to India and committed herself to a life of service and renunciation. Upon her return to Canada, she founded Yasodhara Ashran, the Radha Yoga Centres and Ascent magazine. Though she passed away in 1995, her teachings live on. In Light & Vibration: Consciousness, Mysticism and the Culmination of Yoga, editor Swami Lalitananda collects her teacher’s words of enlightenment. She will be at McNally Robinson on May 18, 7:00 p.m.
The snow has melted – time to get off the couch. In One Potato, Two Potato, Couch Potato to You, Judy Holt advocates fitness and healthy living. Join her for a presentation on wellness at McNally Robinson, May 19 at 2:00 p.m.
It’s time to pull those poems out from under your bed and share them with the world. Hosted by Leif Baradoy and Rhett Soveran, the Soundlines open mike series returns with another month of poetic celebration. Share your words at the Studio Café on May 21, 7:00 p.m.
Nervous about working with a leadership coach? Here’s your chance to live the experience vicariously. In Gimalle Crawford’s motivational novel, Destiny by Design, Taylor Waters is a young and ambitious manager whose self-image is shattered when she’s told her performance is sub-standard and she must work with a coach for a year’s worth of career enrichment. Crawford will be at McNally Robinson on May 22, noon.
Mother’s Day may have passed, but that’s no reason to stop celebrating our moms. There are two literary looks at motherhood this week. Rebecca Eckler presents Wiped: Life with a Pint-Sized Dictator, a comical examination of a baby’s first two years. She appears at the Crowfoot Library on May 23, 7:00 p.m. Then, Valora L. Douglas tackles a difficult question facing new mothers: does this baby mean the end of my career? From Colic to Career dives into the murky waters of maternity leave and emerges with a path to employment enrichment. She’s at McNally Robinson on May 24, noon.
Sixty-six-year-old Janice Kenyon took her bike on an 8,321 kilometre spin across Canada. Her new book, A Bike Ride with a Twist, chronicles her adventures crossing the country’s rich landscapes. From insect swarms to bike-toppling winds, historic treasures to the generosity of strangers, she shares her tales at McNally Robinson on May 24, 7:30 p.m. |
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