Suzette Mayr

The Mustard Alternative Writing Workshop brings together a group of inventive literary and visual artists who plan to inspire and engage young writers to approach their craft using innovative modes of expression. The daylong event on Saturday October 4 is aimed at emerging artists aged 16 to 24, and includes six workshops on topics ranging from radical poetry to the graphic novel.

Christian Bök, the keynote speaker at the workshop, is a Calgary-based experimental poet whose book Eunoia sought to push the boundaries of language by applying an unusual constraint: each of the book’s five chapters use words exclusively containing one of the five vowels. “Writing is inhibiting. Sighing, I sit, scribbling in ink this pidgin script. I sing with nihilistic witticism, disciplining signs with trifling gimmicks — impish hijinks which highlight stick sigils. Isn’t it glib? Isn’t it chic?” (this passage arising from chapter “I”). Despite, or arguably because of this exacting limitation, Bök manages to create a work that is fresh and memorable — in the words of one reviewer: “daring, mischievous and unexpectedly lucid.”

Eunoia won the prestigious Griffin Poetry Prize in 2002, and according to publisher Coach House Books, it is the bestselling book of Canadian poetry of all time. For Bök, who spent seven years creating the work with no support from skeptical funding agencies, it’s vindication for the avant-garde in contemporary literature.

“It’s the kind of poetry that has all the good ideas in literary history,” jokes Bök, who adds more seriously that the Canadian literary scene tends to be rather conservative and could stand some fresh ideas and approaches. It’s an idea the internationally respected poet hopes to convey to young Calgary writers as he takes part in the workshop.

Bök believes that Mustard is a priceless opportunity for young writers. “It’ll be fun. They’ll get to make stuff. And, they’ll also learn about a corner of literature that they may not otherwise have had any exposure to.”

Suzette Mayr, a Calgary writer who has published three novels: Venous Hum, Moon Honey and The Widows (the latter a finalist for the Commonwealth Book Prize, Canada-Caribbean region), says it’ll also be an opportunity for participants to develop their own unique writing voices. “We tend to operate in a mode of pat clichés and dead metaphors,” says Mayr, who will run a workshop on writing innovative fiction. “I hope to help students think of language in a fresh, unusual way.”

Other workshops include one on innovative screenwriting by Gary Burns (the Calgary film director whose credentials include waydowntown and Radiant City), a session on visual poetry by derek beaulieu, a radical poetry workshop by Ryan Fitzpatrick, a workshop on creating chapbooks by Jill Hartman and a graphic fiction workshop conducted by Riley Rossmo. The event also includes a question-and-answer panel, and an opportunity for participants to apply their newfound skills in a writing competition offering more than $1,000 in prizes.

For those who might think alternative or experimental literature is too difficult or bizarre, Bök counters, “If you liked Sesame Street, you have all the skills required to appreciate any work of experimental literature.” He adds that the students can often get a lot more out of the kind of playful experience of language that experimental literature provides than through more traditional forms.

“I’m hoping that by exposing students to the more flamboyant and interesting aspects of literary history, that they may be able to use some of that flamboyance and enthusiasm in their own literary study,” says Bök. “They can realize that whatever boring literature they might have to confront is not the limit of what they might otherwise come to appreciate and know. I mean, how many students wouldn’t rather read a comic book than a Victorian novel?”

Mustard is an inaugural event put on by local literary group the Dandelion Magazine Society.