Recent awards roundup

Posted on May 8, 2013 by john threlfall

History in Art professor Marcus Milwright‘s recent win of the 2013 Craigdarroch Silver Medal for Excellence in Research isn’t the only award-winning news in the Faculty of Fine Arts of late.

Lorna Crozier (Gary McInstry)

Recently retired long-time Writing professor Lorna Crozier—a multiple award-winning poet (including her own Craigdarroch award) and former chair of the Writing department—was just named the co-winner of the 2013 Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence. The award was established in 2003 to recognize B.C. writers who have contributed to the development of literary excellence in the province. Lieutenant Governor Judith Guicho presented the award to Crozier as part of the B.C. Book Prizes gala at Government House on May 4; she shares the award with young adult author Sarah Ellis.

As the jury noted, “The committee for the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence quickly agreed that among many strong candidates, two were outstanding—and, as quickly agreed, there were no grounds to choose between these two most deserving giants in their field. Both are prolific, both are recipients of numerous awards, both are passionate advocates for their literary genre and for Canadian writing, both are internationally recognized, both tirelessly mentor their literary children, and both bring the strength of oral tradition to their writing. … Both bring the highest honour to the Lieutentant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence.”

That same event saw Bill Gaston—the current chair of the Writing department—win the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize for his latest novel, The World. (Ironically, former student and Writing alumni Yasuko Thanh was also nominated in the same category as Gaston for her acclaimed short story collection, Floating Like The Dead.) Gaston was previously nominated for the Ethel Wilson Prize for his 2006 short story collection Gargoyles, which earned him a nomination for the Governor General’s Award for Fiction. (Hmm, could a 2013 GG nom be in the cards for The World?)

And in other Yasuko Thanh news, Floating Like the Dead has also been named one of five finalists (out of 29 submissions) in the 2013 Danuta Gleed Literary Award. Now in its 16th year, the $10,000 Danuta Gleed is administered by the Writers’ Union of Canada and recognizes the best first English-language collection of short fiction by a Canadian author. This year’s jury includes authors Alexander MacLeod, Carol Malyon and our own Bill Gaston.

Mark Reid with Shania Twain (Photo: AEG Live)

Meanwhile, over in the School of Music, alumnus Mark Reid has been named Teacher of the Year by MusiCounts, the music-education charity associated with the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS). The award, one of the highest honors in Canadian Music, was presented to Reid by country music superstar Shania Twain at a private ceremony in Las Vegas. Reid also received $10,000, which he will put toward his post-graduate studies; he is currently pursuing a master’s degree from Chicago’s Vandercook College to add to his Bachelor’s degree in music education from UVic. Reid has been teaching at Vancouver Technical Secondary School for the past seven years, and those students will receive an additional $10,000 in instrument inventory as part of the CARAS award.

In other Music news, the Canadian University Music Society (CUMS) announced that recent UVic Master’s graduate, Robert Hansler, is one of the recipients of their 2013 Student Composer Competition. He has worked primarily with Dániel Péter Biró and John Celona in the pursuit of his Master’s degree in composition. The jury selected his “Broken Branch” as one of two outstanding pieces to share first prize; both pieces will be performed by School of Music faculty members as part of a concert of contemporary music to be presented on Friday, June 7 at the Phillip T. Young Recital Hall.

And fourth-year School of Music student Lynne Penhale recently had the opportunity to attend the 19th Young Composers Meeting in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands. The meeting, chaired by iconic Dutch composer Louis Andriessen, offers a select group of 14 emerging composers from around the world the opportunity to exchange ideas about contemporary music. “It was the most enriching experience of my life!” says Panhale. “I learned more about society, myself and music in an experience which seemed to have lasted three weeks but was really only one.” Each composer came prepared with a three-minute piece composed for the 23-instrument ensemble-in-residence, Orkest de Ereprijs. Participants engaged in rehearsals, lectures, and lessons with composers Martijn Padding, Richard Ayers, Dmitri Kourliandski, Carola Bauckholt, and Ted Hearne. “As intense a learning experience this was . . . my favourite learning experience was getting to engage with the other young composers, and being completely inspired and challenged by everyone’s individual strengths they had brought with them,” says Penhale, who thanks UVic’s School of Music for supporting her in this opportunity.

In other student award news, recent Visual Arts BFA graduate Bronwyn McMillin received the 2013 Royal Canadian Academy of Arts C.D. Howe Scholarship for Art and Design as part of the BFA graduation exhibit Work. The Howe Scholarship is awarded annually to allow the recipient the opportunity “to pursue further formal study in a discipline represented by the RCA membership. These opportunities in Canada or elsewhere should enable recipients to develop further their studio practices while gaining a deeper understanding of the historical precedents and contemporary issues relevant to their discipline.”

Fellow BFA graduates Carson Wronko, Emma Palm and Won Seok Seo also received the Visual Arts Achievement Award, funded by the office of the VP Academic and Provost, Dr. Reeta Tremblay. And busy Writing MFA student Connor Gaston has been nominated for a Leo Award in the “Best Student Film” category for his TIFF & VFF screened short film, Bardo Light.

CNA winners Bhandar & Annand

Two other Writing students—Lukas Bhandar and Vanessa Annand—were both named winners of the 2013 Community Journalism Scholarships, courtesy of the Community Newspapers Association. Also among the winners at the recent BCYCNA Ma Murray Community Newspaper Awards were Writing alumni Nathalie North of the Saanich News (First Place, Arts & Culture Award) and Monday Magazine‘s Danielle Pope (First Place, Business Writing Award; Second Place, Environmental Writing Award).

Finally, current Writing student Vin Fielding has been awarded honourable mention in the short fiction category of The Fiddlehead‘s annual literary contest. His story, “All Bones Recovered,” appears in their current issue. It was originally workshopped in Writing instructor Matthew Hooton’s class, and Hooton describes it as “gorgeous writing, and one of the most arresting opening scenes I’ve encountered. I still think about it nine months after first reading it.”

Congratulations to all!

—With files from Kristy Farkas

Words on the street

Posted on March 6, 2013 by john threlfall

Three notable literary efforts of note coming up in the next week, courtesy of some of our mighty fine Fine Arts writers, plus one snazzy event near the end of the month.

• First up is The Valley, the latest play by Department of Writing professor and Siminovitch Prize-winning playwright Joan MacLeod. Previously known as What To Expect, MacLeod’s latest play kicks off the 27th annual Enbridge playRites Festival of New Canadian Plays at Alberta Theatre Projects. The Valley is a fictional story about a troubled teenager who has a confrontation with a police officer on the SkyTrain in Vancouver, which reverberates throughout the community, sweeping both families up into a storm of emotion, opinion and conflict.

The idea for The Valley came from the case of Robert Dziekanski, who died after being hit by RCMP with a Taser at Vancouver Airport in 2007. “One of Joan’s great specialties is responding to something in the headlines”, says Vicki Stroich, interim artistic director for Alberta Theatre Projects. (CBC Calgary chose it as one of their top three picks of the week here—the part about MacLeod begins around 2:32.) As humane, thought-provoking and relevant as her other plays like Another Home Invasion and The Shape of A Girl, MacLeod continues to earn the Toronto Star‘s description of her as “one of the most important playwrights working in Canada today.”

The Valley runs March 6 – April 7 at Calgary’s Alberta Theatre Projects. Alas, there is no local date as of this posting.

Jan Wood

• Next up on March 11 is a new play reading by Department of Theatre prof Jan Wood, who will be presenting a staged reading of her new work Sacrifices as part of the Belfry’s SPARK Festival. Here’s the official description of Sacrifices: “Each person makes allowances and negotiates compromises in order to exist…but at what cost? Sacrifices examines the choices that an ordinary woman makes to balance career, family and self-fulfillment. In revealing her story, Medina exposes the tiny sacrifices that have led her to commit her ultimate sacrifice, an act universally condemned and abhorred. Part myth, part mystery, Sacrifices tells of a struggle for personal fulfillment in a world where a thin veneer can separate sanity and madness.”

Sacrifices will be read by Wood and noted director and playwright James Fagan Tait (The Life Inside) at 7pm Monday, March 11 at the Belfry—for free!

Jessica Kluthe

• After that comes a UVic double-bill on March 12, with Lorna Crozier and Department of Writing alum Jessica Kluthe will be discussing the importance of place in stories as part of the popular reading series At The Mic. Crozier will likely be reading from her latest, The Book of Marvels, but Kluthe is launching her first book, Rosina the Midwife. Described as a “lyrical memoir,” Kluthe is writing about her great-great-grandmother Rosina, a Calabrian midwife who was the only member of the Russo family to remain in Italy while her kin left in search of work. Between 1870 and 1970, twenty-six million Italians left their homeland; many of them never returned.

Kluthe’s writing has appeared in The Malahat Review, among other magazines, her 2012 essay “Scattered” won the Other Voices creative non-fiction contest, and she is currently working on a novel. She teaches advanced business writing at Grant MacEwan and is on the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Extension. Also on the bill for the evening is award-winning author and mystery writer George Szanto.

At The Mike runs 7pm Tuesday, March 12, at Chronicles of Crime, 1048 Fort Street.

• The Department of Writing is also well-represented at the upcoming all-day Malahat Review event WordsThaw 2013. Their first annual spring symposium, WordsThaw features three daytime panels and a literary reading in the evening. Panels include “Zoom In, Zoom Out: Focus on Fiction” moderated by Amy Reiswig with Writing instructor John Gould and busy alum Yasuko Thanh, plus Daniel Griffin; “A Sustainable Feast: The New Food Writing” moderated by Don Genova, with Rhona McAdam and Kimberley Veness; and “In our Names: Writers on Poverty,” with panelists including retired Writing prof Patrick Lane, current instructor and 2012 City of Victoria Book Prize winner Madeline Sonik, plus Sylvia Olsen.

The evening reading, “Words on Ice,” features the Malahat Review‘s UVic 50th Anniversary Prize winners Pamela Porter, Laura Kraemer, and Katherin Edwards, as well as Writing chair Bill Gaston, soon-to-retire professor Lorna Crozier, new(ish) professor Lee Henderson, plus local writers Marilyn Bowering and C. P. Boyko.

Earlybird rates for a full pass includes all panels and literary reading are $30/$40 (until March 13) and can be purchased from their website. All full passes include a one-year subscription to The Malahat Review or an extension of your current subscription.

WordsThaw runs 10am-10pm Saturday, March 23, in room A240 of UVic’s Human and Social Development building.

New books from Writing this fall

Posted on December 18, 2012 by john threlfall

Four notable books came out of the Writing department this fall—two from faculty and two from alumni. Here’s the scoop on them all.

Arno Kopecky with his new book

Writing grad Arno Kopecky released his first book, The Devil’s Curve: A Journey into Power and Profit at the Amazon’s Edge (Douglas & McIntyre). A journalist and travel writer whose work has appeared in The Walrus, Foreign Policy, the Globe and Mail, Maclean’s, The Tyee and Kenya’s Daily Nation, the Squamish-based Kopecky has covered civil uprisings in Mexico, cyclones in Burma, Zimbabwe’s 30-year dictatorship and election violence in Kenya. And while The Devil’s Curve may have been caught up in the brouhaha that was the Douglas & McIntyre meltdown this fall, Kopecky’s timing was good in that he had copies available at the Department of Writing’s All-Star Reading Night on October 30 (but more on that below).

Described by the Georgia Straight at a “vivid example of immersive journalism,” Kopecky earns praise not just for his writing but his greater themes. “Our high-consumption lives depend on a steady stream of natural resources, and sometimes gaining access to those natural resources means affecting indigenous people . . . Our federal government and resource companies feed us at the expense of others.” The Straight review ends by calling The Devil’s Curve a “trenchant critique of both our representatives and of us. Our apathy, Kopecky reveals, has its consequences.” Intrigued? Check out this video trailer for the book.

Lorna Crozier signs books at her launch in October

Much loved and soon-to-retire Writing professor Lorna Crozier seemed to be all over the media this fall, thanks to her latest volume, The Book of Marvels (Douglas & McIntyre), which she launched at the UVic Bookstore back in October. Talk about marvels—this is Crozier’s 18th book, not counting anthologies and essay contributions! She had a very nice spread in the December 2012 issue of Focus magazine, a PDF of which you can download here (then scroll to page 28). She also had a review in the Globe and Mail—which called Marvels “an irresistible invitation to sit up and take notice, to pay attention to every random thing”—and popped up in the October issue of Martlet, as well as the busy Coastal Spectator. The Globe and Mail also featured Crozier and her recently retired Writing prof husband Patrick Lane as “BC’s Poetry Power Couple.” Aw, that’s sweet!

Nice to see DW Wilson dressed sharp for the Alumni Reading Night

Nice to see DW Wilson dressed up for the Alumni Reading Night!

The October 30 All-Star Reading Night allowed a shelf’s worth of Department of Writing A-listers to come back and strut their stuff to a sold-out house at one of the 50th Anniversary events held by Fine Arts. As well as the previously mentioned Arno Kopecky, featured writers included multiple prize-winner Esi Edugyan, former Vancouver poet laureate Brad Cran, former Victoria poet laureate and current Writing instructor Carla Funk, past Writing instructor Steven Price, rising star D.W. Wilson, busy filmmaker Jeremy Lutter, Fine Arts staffer and screenwriter Daniel Hogg, current Writing instructor Melanie Siebert and playwright and poet Jonathan Garfinkel. The evening was hosted by Writing instructor and Giller Prize-nominated writer John Gould and, despite some truly abysmal weather, was greatly enjoyed by all.

Finally, Writing department chair Bill Gaston finally got his shot at being a cover boy thanks to the October 2012 edition of Quill & Quire. Q&Q were profiling his humbly titled new novel, The World, which he launched locally in October alongside Writing grad Marjorie Celona and her own Giller longlisted novel Y—which you can read all about here.

The local Times Colonist also profiled Gaston in a piece titled “Writing Well, the Hard Way”—advice, we’re sure, he gives to his students all the time.

This week’s events: Crozier, Bell & Wright (and The Number 14)

Posted on October 1, 2012 by john threlfall

Okay, so what’s the deal with October 3? Not only is that the date of the latest Fine Arts event, but it’s also the date for all three Fine Arts events happening this week! (Sheesh, let’s talk scheduling, people.)

First up is the launch of the latest collection of poetry by Department of Writing professor and beloved poet Lorna Crozier. The Book of Marvels: A Compendium of Everyday Things (Greystone, 131 pages, $19.95) was recently described by Globe and Mail reviewer Diane Schoemperlen as “an irresistible invitation to sit up and take notice, to pay attention to every random thing.” Featuring 85 prose meditations on the mysteries of everyday life, The Book of Marvels kicks off with a reading and signing from 7:30-9:30pm Wednesday, October 3, at UVic’s Bookstore. Could this really be her 18th book, not counting anthologies and essay contributions? That is a marvel!

At exactly the same time on Wednesday night is the latest installment of the long-running Open Word: Readings and Ideas author series at Open Space. Featured reader this week is Guelph-based cartoonist and graphic novelist Marc Bell. First recognized for his Shrimpy and Paul comic strips, published in the likes of Exclaim!, Vice and the Montreal Mirror, Bell has also featured his mixed media pieces and watercolour drawings in many solo and group exhibitions. A monograph of his work, Hot Potatoe, was published in 2009 by veteran Canadian graphic publisher Drawn & Quarterly, and his latest—2011′s Pure Pajamas—collects his best material and features reoccurring characters creating symbiotic relationships in his fantasy ecosystems and addressing the big issues of what it’s like to live in today’s world. Bell appears at 7:30pm Wednesday at Open Space, 510 Fort Street, with a live interview to follow by Writing prof Lee Henderson—who, none too coincidentally, teaches a Department of Writing course on the graphic novel.

Bell will also be appearing on campus at 2pm on Tuesday, October 2, in room A150 of the Visual Arts building.

Andrew Wright’s “After Friedrich”

Finally, we also have the latest in the equally long-running Visiting Artist program—this week featuring Ottawa-based photo and installation artist Andrew Wright. An assistant professor of visual art at the University of Ottawa, Wright’s work is described as “multi-tiered inquiries into the nature of perception, photographic structures and technologies, and the ways we relate to an essentially mediated and primarily visual world.” With linkages to practices as diverse as Alfred Stieglitz and Iain Baxter& (with whom Wright worked in the ’90s), Wright’s use of photography is decidedly non-conventional as it eschews lyricism and traditional pictorial aims. The award-winning artist and six-time Sobey nominee has exhibited both nationally and internationally, participated in residencies including the Banff Centre and Braziers Workshop (U.K.), as a war artist with the Canadian Forces Artist Program aboard Canadian warship H.M.C.S. Toronto and is the founding Artistic Director for Contemporary Art Forum Kitchener and Area. Hear him talk at 8pm Wednesday, October 3, in room A162 of the Visual Arts building.

Also well worth a shout-out this week is the University Centre Farquhar Auditorium presentation of The Number 14, the fabulous Axis Theatre piece that has been touring the world for 20 years now. If you’ve never seen this hilarious piece of physical theatre, it’s an amazing theatrical tour-de-force featuring six performers who strut, swing, sing and talk their way in and out of adventures aboard Vancouver’s #14 bus. Part Monty Python, part Mr. Bean, the award-winning Number 14 is wholly engaging. Catch it at 8pm Wednesday, October 3 . . . of course!

Coming soon: Matt Rader at Open Word (October 9 at Open Space), Peter ‘N’ Chris & The Mystery of the Hungry Heart Motel at the Phoenix (October 11-20), Eve Egoyan 50th Anniversary Signature Event at the Phillip T. Young Auditorium (October 13), the UVic Wind Symphony at Oak Bay High School (October 16) and a double-book launch with Bill Gaston and Giller Prize-nominated Writing grad Marjorie Celona at the Bard and Banker pub (October 17).

Faces of UVic Research series launched

Posted on May 1, 2012 by john threlfall

As one of Canada’s leading research universities, the University of Victoria is home to a wealth of world-class expertise across a broad range of disciplines. More than 800 faculty researchers are at the forefront of discovery—on everything from aging to music to zoology and sculpture—and are working with community, government and business partners to turn that new knowledge into action.

Who are these researchers? What do they study? And how is their work relevant to our lives? Find out in the newly launched “Faces of UVic Research” video series, in which individual researchers give a short and succinct “elevator pitch” on their work—in everyday language—that quickly gets to the heart of what they do and why it matters.

Sixty short one-minute videos have now been released on UVic’s YouTube channel, and Fine Arts is well-represented in this first batch by the likes of Lorna Crozier, Maureen Bradley and David Leach (Writing), Warwick Dobson and Conrad Alexandrowicz (Theatre), Daniel Laskarin (Visual Arts), Marcus Milwright (History in Art) & Andrew Schloss (Music).

The ongoing video series is aimed at anyone wanting to learn more about the depth, breadth and impact of UVic’s research talent, particularly prospective students and faculty, public and private sector funders, and the news media. The videos are searchable by name and area of expertise, so take a few minutes and check out what your campus colleagues are working on.

“We’re very excited about this video series,” says Dr. Howard Brunt, UVic’s vice-president research. “Successful research depends on energy, creativity and passion, as well as a genuine commitment to making a difference. You’ll see these qualities in abundance in these videos.”

Stay tuned for more videos in the future—and if you’re keen to be included in the next series, be sure to drop Fine Arts Communications guy John Threlfall a note with some details on your area of research and your availability over the next few months.

U + M = Winners!

Posted on April 25, 2012 by john threlfall

Monday Magazine‘s 10th annual M Awards were handed out on April 24 and—no big surprise—a number of Fine Arts faculty and alum were once again among the winners and shortlisted nominees! (Handed out annually to the movers and shakers in Victoria’s arts and cultural scene, these reader-voted awards were actually started back in 2002 by a pair of then-Monday editors with mighty UVic connections: Fine Arts communications honcho John Threlfall and Writing sessional instructor Alisa Gordaneer—both of whom are also UVic alumni.)

Congrats go out this year to Writing prof Lorna Crozier, whose Small Mechanics won “Favourite Book of Poetry”, as well as shortlisted nominees Carla Funk (whose Apologetic was up against Crozier in the poetry category) and Digital Media staffer Dan Hogg (for “Biggest Supporter of Local Film”).

No surprise that a number of alumni were among the winners, too, given our faculty’s ongoing presence in the local arts scene. Big-deal Writing grad Esi Edugyan‘s Half-Blood Blues swept the “Favourite Fiction Book” category (forget about the Giller or that still pending possible Orange Prize—Esi can retire happily now that she’s won an M!), and fellow Writing alum Jeremy Lutter was named “Favourite Filmmaker” (for his recent Victoria Film Festival award-winning Joanna Makes A Friend).

The UVic-heavy Ride The Cyclone

The Department of Theatre also figured prominently in the winner’s list, led by Ian Case, the just-appointed director of our own University Centre Farquhar Auditorium, who was named “Biggest Supporter of Local Theatre” (no doubt for his work with Intrepid Theatre, Victoria Shakespeare Society, William Head on Stage, and Giggling Iguana’s Craigdarroch Castle shows). Britt Small picked up “Favourite Director” in a co-win with Jacob Richmond for their Ride The Cyclone remount; Ride The Cyclone—which starred a number of Theatre alumni (Rielle Braid, Matthew Coulson, Kholby Wardell and Sarah Jane Pelzer)—also picked up “Favourite Overall Production”.

Theatre prof Brian Richmond was shortlisted in the “Favourite Director” category (which he lost to his son, Jacob) for his 2011 Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?—the star of which, Meg Tilly, also picked up “Favourite Performer”. Former Theatre student Melissa Blank was also shortlisted in that same category, for her performance in Theatre Inconnu’s A Day in the Death of Joe Egg. (Inconnu is run by Theatre grad and sessional instructor Clayton Jevne.)

Janet Munsil

Finally, the Victoria Fringe Festival won the oddly named “Favourite Non-Music Event or Festival.” The local Fringe is run by Intrepid Theatre, which is itself run by Theatre grad and noted playwirght Janet Munsil (and, until last month, Ian Case). The Victoria Fringe is a regular showcase for Phoenix talent, graduates and students both, including the likes of Fringe gods TJ Dawe (undisputed king of the solo monologue) and Charles Ross (of One Man Star Wars / Lord of the Rings fame).

Winners receive a Phillip’s growler bottle, to be filled (and refilled) with their brew of choice; shortlisted nominees receive the warm, inner glow of a job well done and a hearty round of applause for their continued efforts to keep Victoria’s arts scene healthy and thriving!

Authors, Authors!

Posted on April 17, 2012 by john threlfall

Esi Edugyan accepting her Giller Prize last year (Tyler Anderson/National Post)

Perennial headline-maker Esi Edugyan is back in the news this week with word that she’s now on the shortlist for Britain’s Orange Prize, the prestigious writing prize for fiction by women. One of only six finalists—down from 20 on the longlist—Edugyan’s Half-Blood Blues is proving to have real staying power, given its recent nomination for the UK’s Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction as well.The Orange Prize comes with a £30,000 purse, while the Scott nets a sweet £25,000.

For the Orange Prize, Edugyan’s Half-Blood Blues is up against Cynthia Ozick’s Foreign Bodies, Madeleine Miller’s The Song of Achilles, Anne Enright’s The Forgotten Waltz, Georgina Harding’s Painter of Silence and Ann Patchett’s State of Wonder. (Patchett won the prize in 2002 for Bel Canto.)

For the Scott Prize, Edugyan is once again up against Patrick deWitt’s The Sisters Brothers, who was earlier among her competition for the Man Booker Prize (won by Julian Barnes), the Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and the Governor General’s Literary Award (both won by, deWitt) and the Giller (which Edugyan took home). Other competitors include Sebastian Barry’s On Canaan’s Side, Alan Hollinghurst’s The Stranger’s Child, Andrew Miller’s Pure and Barry Unsworth’s The Quality of Mercy.

The Orange Prize winner is announced May 30, while the Walter Scott Prize winner will be announced June 16.

Lorna Crozier (Gary McInstry)

In other related Department of Writing news, poetry professor Lorna Crozier will be the featured guest at a special Canadian Club evening celebrating arts and culture on April 18, as a way of honouring National Poetry Month. Rightly dubbed a national treasure, the much-lauded and much-published Distinguished Professor will be speaking and reading at this special event, which will also feature music by singer Tim Kyle and pianist Bob LeBlanc. Socializing starts at 5:30pm on April 18, with dinner at 6pm. Tickets are $35, and you can call to register at 250-370-1837.

In other National Poetry Month news, Crozier and Tim Lilburn (as well as sessional instructor Patrick Friesen and Malahat Review editor John Barton) were mentioned in this Vancouver Sun piece about the state of Canadian poetry. And noted alum Billeh Nickerson was profiled in the Sun for his new (and timely) collection of poetry, Impact: The Titanic Poems.

Associate Dean and busy editor Lynne Van Luven will be launching her latest creation, In the Flesh: Twenty Writers Explore the Body (Brindle & Glass, $24.95). Co-edited by Van Luven and Kathy Page, In the Flesh features contributions by the likes of Taiaiake Alfred, Dede Crane, Candace Fertile, Julian Gunn, Margaret Thompson, Brian Brett, Lorna Crozier plus Van Luven and Page themselves (among others).

Described as “an intelligent, witty, and provocative look at how we think about—and live within—our bodies,” In the Flesh offers a series of candid essays that allows each author to focus on one part of the body, and explores its function, its meanings, and the role it has played in his or her life.

The local launch happens at 2:30pm Sunday, April 29, at (appropriately enough) the Fernwood Yoga Den, 1311 Gladstone. Van Luven, Page and Gunn will be on CBC Radio One’s North By Northwest arts & culture show on the weekend of April 28-29 (show airs 6-9am Saturday & Sunday), and will also be on CBC Radio’s The Next Chapter with Sheilagh Rogers on May 21, with a repeat on May 26.

Writing alum Yasuko Thanh is getting good attention for her debut collection of short stories, Floating Like The Dead. She also appeared on North by Northwest—you can listen to the podcast of that interview here—and was profiled by Adrian Chamberlain in the April 22 issue of the Times Colonist, which you can read here.

Finally, the rumour mill confirms that Giller-nominated sessional instructor and short fiction writer John Gould is involved in creating a new Victoria Writers Festival. Details are slim at the moment, but it’s being organized by Gould and local writers Sara Cassidy and Julie Paul, who describe themselves as “a collective of writers who deeply miss the International Literary Arts Festival that was the highlight of spring in Victoria for many years.” The debut fest is slated for October 12-13 at . . . Camosun College, whose English department is sponsoring it.

Voting Time

Posted on March 7, 2012 by john threlfall

Nope, this isn’t an advance call for the upcoming fall elections, nor is it a roundup of the Super Tuesday results from south of the border. It’s simply time once again for Monday Magazine‘s annual M Awards—where a healthy crop of UVic talent can again be found among the nominees.

While there is space for write-in nominations in ever category—meaning groups like Philomela Women’s Choir could be nominated as Favourite Vocal Ensemble, busy graduate student filmmaker Scott Amos could be tagged as Favourite Local Filmmaker, or Visual Arts graduate student Dong-Kyoon Nam could be highlighted as Favourite Emerging Visual Artist—listed below are the categories and nominees who have a UVic affiliation.

Deadline for voting is 5 pm Friday, March 23, and you can vote either by picking up a copy of the paper, filling out the ballot and then returning it, or by using the infinitely quicker online ballot. Winners will be announced in April 26 issue of Monday Magazine.

Here are the relevant nominees and their categories, with some UVic-affiliated alternative choices:

• Favourite New Production
Inside — Phoenix Theatre
(Alternate: SNAFU Dance Theatre’s Little Orange Man, created by and starring Phoenix alum Ingrid Hansen)

Cobi Dayan, Genevieve Dale& Mik Byskov in Twelfth Night (photo: David Lowes)

• Favourite Overall Production
Twelfth Night — Phoenix Theatre
(Alternates: Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? directed by Theatre prof Brian Richmond; Theatre Inconnu’s A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, directed by sessional Theatre instructor Clayton Jevne; Atomic Vaudeville’s Ride the Cyclone—which is also up for Favourite Musical—co-directed by Theatre alum Britt Small and starring a whole whack o’ Phoenix alum)

• Favourite Director
Linda Hardy — Twelfth Night
(Alternate: Brian Richmond, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; Jacob Richmond and Britt Small, Ride the Cyclone)

He said, she said: Price vs. Edugyan—the literary battle that had to happen!

• Favourite Fiction Book
Half Blood Blues — Esi Edugyan
Into That Darkness — Steven Price
(Oooh, a husband-and-wife race! How exciting!)

• Favourite Non-Fiction Book
Come From the Shadows — Terry Glavin
(Alternate: Campie by Writing alum Barbara Stewart)

• Favourite Book of Poetry
Apologetic — Carla Funk
Small Mechanics — Lorna Crozier
(Oooh, a departmental showdown! How nervewracking!)

Just a reminder that any nominated individuals must live in Greater Victoria—or have lived here for part of 2011—and performances/shows/events must have taken place in Greater Victoria in 2011. For publications and recordings, publisher/label can be outside Victoria, but writer/artist must be from Greater Victoria and the work issued in 2011.

Say It With Dance

Posted on February 6, 2012 by john threlfall

Conrad Alexandrowicz

Never underestimate the power of interdisciplinary chit-chat. When assistant Theatre professor Conrad Alexandrowicz met famed poet and Writing professor Lorna Crozier at the annual Fine Arts faculty retreat last year, he had no idea their discussion would soon translate into nearly $175,000 in grant funding.

“I introduced myself to Lorna and said, ‘I’ve really admired your work for a long time and think it’d be neat to collaborate on a project,’” recalls Alexandrowicz. And while Crozier was intrigued by his initial idea of adapting the work of Canadian poets into a dance/movement piece for the stage, it was her suggestion to write an entirely new poetry cycle that became the basis for Alexandrowicz’s winning Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council grant proposal.

Now titled Words Made Flesh: Staging Poetic Text, Alexandrowicz’s SSHRC project has evolved into a truly interdisciplinary Fine Arts production. Not only will it be based on Crozier’s poetry and his own directing/choreography skills (with the assistance of Applied Theatre graduate student Kate Bessey), but it will also feature a musical score by Alexandra Pohran Dawkins, head of woodwinds with the School of Music, and will be filmed and adapted into a digital format by associate Writing professor and experimental filmmaker Maureen Bradley.

“I wanted to examine different kinds of text and how they could lend themselves as a source for physical theatre creation,” Alexandrowicz explains. “But I didn’t want to do anything that was purely abstract; I wanted to do something that has a lot of emotional power and a consistent narrative line. It’s already hard enough to get people to sit still when you’re doing interdisciplinary performance, so you have to make sure they’re touched by what you’re doing emotionally.”

Alexandrowicz is no stranger to adapting words and music to movement; a noted director, writer and choreographer who specializes in the creation of interdisciplinary productions that address subjects central to the human journey, his projects have received critical acclaim across Canada for the past 30 years. But he says Words Made Flesh—currently preparing for a spring 2012 test-run, with the final production set for a fall 2013 debut—will be more than just another dance piece. “I want to embody the poetic text as much as I can,” he says, “so it’s not just going to be voice-over accompaniment; I’ve done that for years with my own work and I want to do something quite different here.”

Another intriguing aspect to this production is its cinematic future. “It’ll start off as a short dancefilm, then be developed into a chance-based application for iPods, Androids and Blackberrys using the I Ching, where you can shuffle together different pieces of text and music and movement”—which, in addition to addressing some of his primary research questions (“What kind of poetic text best lends itself to performance?”, “What becomes of the narrative voice of the poem when the text is staged?”, “How does the text interact with music, both improvise and scored?”), will allow Alexandrowicz to discover how the finished performance text is transformed via the additional media of film and interactive applications.

Ultimately, Alexandrowicz is grateful for the opportunity this generous SSHRC grant have given him to create new work—especially considering the current Canadian arts climate. “Even if you spread it out over three years, this is more than a lot of companies get in annual funding from the Canada Council,” he says of his nearly $175,000 windfall. “It’s a huge amount of money; it’s astonishing. I feel really grateful and lucky I was able to get this on my first attempt.”

Poverty Proves Popular

Posted on December 8, 2011 by john threlfall

Lorna Crozier on CBC's The Current (photo: CBC)

Recent Order of Canada winner and Department of Writing professor Lorna Crozier‘s spot guest-hosting a special episode of CBC’s The Current on Friday, December 2, proved so popular that she was invited back again to the show on Thursday, December 8.

The original episode—titled “We Are the 10 Percent: Poverty in Canada”—got such an overwhelming response that Current host Anna Maria Tremonti asked Crozier to return for a special call-In edition to hear what it is like for people to be poor in Canada.

“Last Friday we heard about how poverty can isolate and silence a person. But after last Friday’s special many people found their voice,” reads the write-up on the Current‘s website. “The emails, the voice messages, the heartfelt reaction overwhelmed us all.”

“For a group of people who number in the millions, they are essentially invisible, unseen, unheard . . . far too easy to ignore,” it continues. “The poor in this country aren’t even officially counted. There is no official national formula to track who joins the ranks. And what is becoming increasingly clear is that it doesn’t take much to join those ranks.”

Even literary magazine Quill and Quire perked up their ears at the episode, with writer Natalie Samson quoting Crozier on their online Quillblog: “I know what it’s like to come from a needy family. Though both my parents worked, we lived in substandard rental housing. We went without. And I keenly felt my mother’s worry as she tried, and failed, to make ends meet.” Samson also pointed out that the episode featured poetry readings by Crozier’s husband and former Writing instructor Patrick Lane.

Listen to the original episode here.

Catch the listener response to the episode here.

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