The University of Calgary’s Dr. Murray McGillivray

Fun facts about March: it’s named after Mars, the Roman god of war; it used to be the first month of the year; and, most importantly, it’s English Department Month at the University of Calgary.

“We typically have several events in March — readings and visiting speakers and so on,” says Dr. Murray McGillivray. “We took the opportunity to expand that into a celebration of the work we do in the department.” The month is punctuated with events ranging from poetry readings to Nobel laureate lectures, and McGillivray joins the fun with demonstrations of the department’s platen press.

“A platen press is a model of letterpress, printing presses that use the technology invented by Gutenberg back in the 1500s,” says McGillivray. “All the letters and punctuation marks are made of pieces of lead, with raised surfaces that you cover with ink. Up until about the 1960s, it was the most common printing technology.”

With the advent of computer-based printing, the letterpress faded into semi-obscurity, but it’s still the technology of choice for certain small presses and artist printers. “It gives a beautiful, crisp kind of print that’s difficult to achieve with computer-based technology,” says McGillivray. ”You can use different kinds of paper quite easily, as opposed to shoving something through a laser printer that will only take a certain thickness of paper.”

McGillivray gives two demonstrations of the press this week in the University of Calgary Bookstore (MacEwan Students Centre, U of C) on March 11 and 12, 11:30 a.m.

This month’s instalment of the flywheel reading series highlights new voices, with readings by Alyson Fortowsky, Helen Hajnoczky, Amin Karim and Makyee Mak. Join them for a unique blend of prose and poetry at McNally Robinson (120 8 Ave. S.W.) on March 6, 7 p.m.

In 2010, the Olympics will put Vancouver in the global spotlight. Christopher Nowlin’s new novel, To See the Sky, explores Vancouver’s landscape in the months leading up to the historic event, as an ecologist and a lawyer are drawn into the mystery of two missing children whose disappearance may be linked to Greek mythology. Join Nowlin at Pages Books (1135 Kensington Rd. N.W.) on March 6, 7:30 p.m.

Freddie McCall was a stunt pilot and a hero of the First World War, most famous for landing a plane on a rotating merry-go-round. In Maverick in the Sky: The Aerial Adventures of WWI Flying Ace Freddie McCall, Sherilee Smith Matheson details his colourful life. Learn more about this daredevil pilot in the Rose Room (Alexandra Writers’ Centre Society, 922 9 Ave. S.E.) on March 6, 8 p.m.

Back in academia, Kit Dobson, a postgraduate fellow from the University of Toronto, presents “Writing TransCanada: The Impacts of Market Practices on Canadian Literature.” Check out the lecture on the 11th floor of the social sciences building (University of Calgary) on March 10, 3 p.m.

According to Garrett Wilson, the Old West ended in 1881, when Sitting Bull surrendered and Crowfoot led his people to Canada. In Wilson’s new book, Frontier Farewell: The 1870s and the End of the Old West, he gathers treaties, agreements, letters, speeches and anecdotes to paint a portrait of this fierce and complex time. Learn more at McNally Robinson on March 10, 5 p.m.

Healthy and tasty — Connie Blacha finds a winning combination in her new book, Beyond Delicious Whole Foods: Cookie & Muffin Recipes. Find out how to make grain, fruit juice and natural butter into homemade treats at the Fish Creek Library (11161 Bonaventure Dr. S.E.) on March 10, 7 p.m.

Every year, the U of C’s faculty of humanities presents a lecture on the current Nobel laureate in literature. This year’s laureate is Doris Lessing, an accomplished writer whose work ranges from feminism and sexual licence to religious zealotry and schizophrenia. Dr. Virginia Tiger, chair of the department of English at Rutgers University and the executive officer of the Doris Lessing Society, presents “Doris Lessing: A Cassandra of Our Time” in the Nickel Arts Museum (U of C) on March 10, 7:30 p.m.

Stick around after Dr. McGillivray’s demonstration to hear readings by his colleagues. The English department faculty at the U of C has been busily writing away, and Jacqueline Jenkins, Lorne Macdonald, Rod McGillis and Robert Majzels present their new books at the University of Calgary bookstore on March 11, noon.

In Francesca Piredda’s new novel, Bambina, a young girl in 1960s Rome is entwined in her parents’ cosmopolitan lifestyle. Meet gardeners, maids, cardinals and playboys at McNally Robinson on March 11, 5 p.m.

For centuries, the Northwest Passage was a Holy Grail for explorers. In Frances Hern’s new book, Arctic Explorers, she tells of the men who risked their lives to chart new territory. She reads at the W.R. Castell Central Library (616 Macleod Tr. S.E.) on March 11, 7 p.m.

It may not seem possible, but there are yet more new books coming out of the U of C’s English department. Join Michael Clark, Rick Davis and Tom Wayman for fresh volumes of non-fiction and poetry at the University of Calgary Bookstore on March 12, noon.