Author Sina Queyras

Sina Queyras is glad to be back in Canada. The author of three poetry collections — Slip, Teethmarks and Lemon Hound — has spent the past several years in the United States, where she taught creative writing at Rutgers University and Haverford College. She comes to Calgary as the 2007-08 Markin-Flanagan Writer-in-Residence at the University of Calgary.
    “It was a big risk coming here,” she admits. “The risk of climate, of not finding good housing, of hitting a creative block — but all creation is a risk, and I really wanted to come back to Canada. There’s an amazing writers’ scene here — I just wish they would get it online! Outside Canada, looking in, it’s like there’s a big screen — people privilege print, which is great, but print doesn’t get out there. If people could get a taste, they’d be curious... but there’s no portal.” On top of her already massive writing commitments, Queyras runs a prolific blog at lemonhound.blogspot.com. “I see my blog as a portal, introducing people to each other, but it’s a lot of work,” she says. “It’s harder than just typing, harder than just doing my own work, because of all the linking, cutting and pasting. But I think it’s an important step, and I keep finding books I need to tell people about.”
    In the fine Markin-Flanagan tradition, Queyras will split her time between developing her own work and doing one-on-one consultations with local writers. “I have several projects on the go: a manuscript of poetry, a novel, a play, an essay on Lisa Robertson,” she says, adding that the consultations will be helpful to her process. “I think I’m a better writer when I’m engaged with people.” To book a consultation with Queyras, contact Janice Lee at leej@ucalgary.ca.
    Queyras launches her residency alongside outgoing writer-in-residence, Jaspreet Singh, at the Engineered Air Theatre (Epcor Centre) on September 13, 7:30 p.m.
    That’s not all — Queyras has a busy schedule over the next couple of months. Not only will she appear at filling Station magazine’s upcoming Calgary Blow-Out! festival (September 14 to 15 at the Carpenters’ Union Hall in Kensington), but she also joins over 75 other authors at this year’s WordFest. The sizzling lineup includes Dave Bidini, Herménégilde Chiasson, Will Ferguson, William Gibson, Nancy Huston, Naomi Klein, Morganics, Vincent Lam, Dennis Lee, Charles de Lint, Kenneth Oppel, Stuart Ross, Robert J. Sawyer, Jane Urquhart, Célestine Hitiura Vaite, Tom Wayman and Andrew Wedderburn. For full details about this year’s WordFest, visit www.wordfest.com.
    In Todd Babiak’s latest novel, The Book of Stanley, a retired florist is miraculously cured of terminal cancer and receives supernatural powers: strength, flight and mind-reading. As the news spreads, he gathers a cult of followers that create a new religion in the world’s most spiritual location: Banff, Alberta. Join Babiak for his Calgary launch at McNally Robinson on September 6, 7 p.m.
    Take your seats — class is in session at the flywheel reading series. Hosts Emily Elder and Bronwyn Haslam unite a team of new creative writing students from the University of Calgary for an evening of poetry and community. Join them on McNally Robinson’s patio on September 6, 7 p.m.
    Speaking of writers-in-residence, local author Rona Altrows just started her residency at the Memorial Park Library. To celebrate, she reads from her award-winning novel, A Run on Hose, at the library on September 8, 2 p.m. (She will appear at WordFest, too.)
    Talk, shock, hypno, massage — just when it seems like the world is therapy’d out, along comes Jeremy Kroeker with Motorcycle Therapy: A Canadian Adventure in Central America. Two men, fleeing disastrous relationships, hop on their hogs and roar down the continent in a wheelie-popping adventure. Catch the action at McNally Robinson on September 11, noon.
    Sure, Alberta’s history is plump with ranches and wranglers, but don’t forget the visual artists that forged the trail to cultural richness. Alberta Art and Artists, compiled by art historians Patricia Ainslie and Mary-Beth Laviolette, traces the history of Alberta’s art scene. They share their findings at McNally Robinson on September 12, 6 p.m.
    Norman Kendrick takes great pleasure in the small joys of everyday life, and that sense of wonder is reflected in his new book, Poems of Innocence. He appears at McNally Robinson on September 13, noon.
    Autism wasn’t a diagnosable disorder in Jane Austen’s time, but it certainly existed. In So Odd a Mixture: Along the Autistic Spectrum in Pride and Prejudice, speech language pathologist Phyllis Ferguson Bottomer proposes that the characters in Austen’s classic novel may have had autism — how else to explain the awkward behaviour and spontaneous monologues? Come to your own conclusions at McNally Robinson on September 13, 7 p.m.