Category Archives: Literary Events

NO-COMFORT ZONE WEEK ENDING SEPT. 16 2012

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Carol A. Stephen

This week my challenge was to start a 10-week course through Coursera

on Modern and Contemporary American Poetry given through the University of Pennsylvania. (ModPoPenn). This is a free course offered via a MOOC platform, or Massive Open Online Course.

Why massive? Well, there are more than 20,000 registered students. Yes, that’s right. Twenty thousand.

I had read about this back sometime in the early summer, and it sounded like a good course that would fill in the many gaps I have in my knowledge of American Poetry. I’ve heard of various schools like the Language Poets, the Post-Moderns, the Experimental.

But I wasn’t clear on what those were, or who belonged to which group.A week in now, and it has been wonderful, amazing, somewhat overwhelming. The number of discussions and posts going on make it hard to know where to focus, but I think I have a better idea how things will go from now on. Certainly I can’t read or respond to every post. So I will have to choose among them.

Already I have learned yet another term, proto-modernists, as we study Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

and Walt Whitman. They are leading us into

Steel engraving of Walt Whitman. Published in ...

Steel engraving of Walt Whitman. Published in 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Modern Poetry. In spite of how well-known these poets are, I have to admit to not reading them before. So it is interesting to read two different poets, both of whom were moving away from what was then the popular approach to writing poetry.

Thanks to Professor Al Filreis and the TA’s who are looking after us and guiding us along through the maze of the MOOC and the labyrinths of these two amazing poets!

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Hot Ottawa Voices – Readings by four Ottawa Poets – Tree Reading Series Coming Up on August 14th!

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The Ottawa Arts Court. Formerly the Carleton C...

The Ottawa Arts Court. Formerly the Carleton County Courthouse, the building now serves as Ottawa’s municipal arts centre. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

On Tuesday, August 14th, I have been chosen to read as one of four Hot Ottawa Voices, along with David Blaikie, Guy Simser and Shai Ben Shalom.  The event takes place at Tree Reading Series, Arts Court, 2 Daly Avenue, Ottawa. 8.p.m.

This is such a great opportunity! Thanks, Tree!

Before the readings,  at 6:45 p.m.  there’s a  free workshop:

Pearl Pirie

Pearl Pirie (Photo credit: pesbo)

Pearl Pirie on Radical Revision.  For more information, check out the link here:

Readings – Tree Reading Series.    Hope to see everyone there!

Upcoming Tree Reading Series July 24

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This item was omitted from the Notices, info and photo comes from the Tree post here:
This event takes place at Arts Court, 2 Daly Avenue, Ottawa
The Ottawa Arts Court. Formerly the Carleton C...

The Ottawa Arts Court. Formerly the Carleton County Courthouse, the building now serves as Ottawa’s municipal arts centre. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Tuesday  July 24 6:45pm Free Workshop  Stuart Ross on After Joe Brainard
A workshop sparked by the literary works of the late and magnificent Joe Brainard, on the occasion of the release of his Collected Writings and the re-release of the legendary Bean Spasms collaboration between Joe, Ron Pagett, and Ted Berrigan.
8:00 p.m.  Readings Dead Poet Reading, Open Mic and this Featured Reader:

Jacob McArthur Mooney

Jacob was the winner of 2012 Poem of the Year contest from Ottawa’s own Arc Magazine.More >

Canadian Authors Association Announces the ShortList for the CAA Literary Awards

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2012 Literary Awards Shortlist Announced by Canadian Authors
May 21, 2012 – The shortlist for the Canadian Authors Association’s 2012 Literary Awards was announced last night at the association’s CanWrite! conference in Orillia, Ontario.
The shortlist is as follows:
CAA Award for Fiction
Patrick deWitt, Portland, Oregon, for The Sisters Brothers, published by House of Anansi Press
Helen Humphreys, Kingston, Ontario, for The Reinvention of Love, published by HarperCollins Canada
Miriam Toews, Toronto, Ontario for Irma Voth, published by Alfred A. Knopf
Lela Common Award for Canadian History
Douglas Gibson, Toronto, Ontario, for Stories About Storytellers, published by ECW Press
Richard Gwyn, Toronto, Ontario, for Nation Maker – Sir John A. Macdonald: His Life, Our Times, published by Random House Canada
Jonathan F. Vance, London, Ontario, for Maple Leaf Empire: Canada, Britain, and Two World Wars, by Oxford University Press
Award for Poetry
E.D. Blodgett,Surrey, British Columbia, for Apostrophes VII: Sleep’ You’ a Tree, published by University of Alberta Press
Brian Henderson,Kitchener, Ontario, for Sharawadji, published by Brick Books
Goran Simić, Edmonton, Alberta, for Sunrise in the Eyes of the Snowman, published by Biblioasis
The winners of all three genres will be announced at the CAA Literary Awards dinner on Saturday, July 28, 2012, during the Leacock Summer Festival at the Leacock Museum National Historic Site in Orillia, Ontario. The shortlisted authors will be invited to read from their works during the Festival as well.
The Stephen Leacock House located at 50 Museum...

The Stephen Leacock House located at 50 Museum Drive in Orillia, Ontario, Canada. Was Leacock’s summer cottage on Lake Couchiching (near Lake Simcoe) designed by architect Kenneth Noxon. It is now a museum and National Historic Site (designated in 1992). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Introduced in 1975, the CAA Literary Awards continue the association’s long tradition of honouring Canadian writers who achieve excellence without sacrificing popular appeal. The above nine finalists were selected from nearly 300 nominations.
Founded by Stephen Leacock and several other prominent Canadian writers in 1921, the Canadian Authors Association has continued to carry out its goal of “writers helping writers” since its inception. Some 25,000 writers have been members of the CAA in its 91-year history, including Bliss Carman, Nellie McClung, and Robert W. Service.
Information about the CAA Literary Awards and this year’s shortlisted authors is available at www.canauthors.org/awards.
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MEDIA CONTACTS
Anita Purcell
Executive Director
Canadian Authors Association
T   705 719 3926
TF 866 216 6222
Cell 705 955 0716
For information about the 2012 Leacock Summer Festival or the Leacock Museum National Historic Site:
Fred Addis
Curator
Leacock Museum National Historic Site
T 705 329 1908 ext. 803