Toronto Poets - 5 Questions Series - Karen Shenfeld

Karen Shenfeld has published three books of poetry The Law of Return (Guernica Editions, 1999), which won the Canadian Jewish Book Award for poetry in 2001, The Fertile Crescent (Guernica Editions, 2005), and, most recently, My Father’s Hands Spoke in Yiddish (Guernica Editions, 2010). Her work has also appeared in well-known journals published in Canada, the United States, South Africa, and Bangladesh, and she has given readings in Canada, the U.S., Mexico, England (at the home of Lord Tennyson), and South Africa (at the original Manenberg’s Jazz Café). Her poetry has been featured on CBC Radio, and on 39 Dover Street, a short-wave literary radio programme produced on the Isle of Wight, U.K.

Shenfeld has also brought her poetic sensibility to the writing of magazine stories, for such publications as Saturday Night and Toronto Life; last December, she acted as Open Book Toronto’s Writer in Residence. Her personal documentary, Il Giardino, The Gardens of Little Italy, was screened at the 2007 Planet in Focus Environmental Film & Video Festival. She is currently at work on two new documentary films and on promoting her most recent book.

Her latest collection of poetry My Father’s Hands Spoke in Yiddish recalls her growing up in the 1950’s neighbourhood referred to as Bathurst Manor, an area bounded by Finch, Sheppard, Bathurst, and Wilson Heights in Toronto. Predominately a Jewish-Canadian neighbourhood, many that lived there were Holocaust survivors who managed to evoke the traditions of the Old World and folklore figures like the golem, a powerful Frankenstein-like creature, who’s image Shenfeld spies upon one day in Bathurst Manor “cruising Wilmington Avenue in Rabbi Kelman’s/ turquoise Chevrolet." Shenfeld writes poems about the people who inspire her most, which is best illustrated in the title poem of the book, a poem she wrote while sitting in Sunnybrook Hospital at her dying father’s bedside. “Though I was filled with unbearable sadness,” she recalls, “the poem possesses wry humour. Sometimes poetry takes the writer, as well as the reader, to unexpected places.”




My Father’s Hands Spoke in Yiddish

My father’s hands spoke in Yiddish,
the ganze megillah of curses,
complaints.

Ever in motion,
they argued with themselves.

Gai kochen aufen yam! my father’s
hands said. Go shit in the sea!

In the mamaloshen,
they spoke their last, impatient words,
rose palms up from the narrow bed -

Nu? Shoyn!
All right already!

then fell like bricks.

Their final kvetch
bemusing the angel of death.


TTQ- Your latest book of poems My Father's Hands Spoke in Yiddish (Guernica Editions, 2010) describes your growing up in a suburban district of Toronto referred to as Bathurst Manor. What was it like growing up in Bathurst Manor back and what inspired you to write about a time in your life that you seemingly wanted to escape from? Why did you need to relive that?

KS- If you happened to catch the Coen Brothers’ recent film, A Serious Man, then I think you will have some idea of what it was like to grow up in the north-central Toronto suburb of Bathurst Manor. “The Manor” was an iconic, planned subdivision, built on farmland, similar, to a certain degree, to New York’s famous Levittown, New York.. Depending upon the eye of the beholder, its emblematic landscape—ticky-tacky bungalows, bristling with TV antennae, floating on large, treeless lawns—could be viewed as a modern, utopian blend of the urban and rural, or as a desert, all the reek of life tucked and hidden indoors.

The other defining characteristic of Bathurst Manor was that it was, for the most part, settled by Jewish people, both first- and second-generation immigrants from Eastern Europe. Among them were many Holocaust survivors. When I grew up I thought that non-Jewish people lived in TV Land. They were the families of “The Patty Duke Show” and “My Three Sons” and, later on, of “The Brady Bunch” and “The Partridge Family.” Real people were Jewish people who had escaped the gas chambers of Auschwitz. (BTW: poet Stuart Ross grew up there, too, as did writer and filmmaker David Bezmozgis Natasha and other Stories --a generation later.)

The Manor was, for me as a young girl, and, I think, for most of the baby-boomers with whom I was raised, a paradise. Unlike young children today, we roamed freely, away from our parents’ gaze. Only later, when I was a teenager, did I want to escape its tidiness and cultural homogeneity, which I associated with sterility and repression.

Much later, however, when I chanced to visit the neighbourhood again, I recognized the supreme richness of its culture. And in My Father's Hands Spoke in Yiddish, I have attempted to create a wry, magic-realist world, which I hope will invite, and resonate with, the reader. I have also attempted to explore the development of the self.

TTQ- I have read that you don't consider yourself a prolific poet concerning the number of poems you normally write in a short period of time. You prefer instead to shape and reshape your poems over the course of an extended period of time. Is this an accurate analogy? What was your writing process like for My Father's Hands Spoke in Yiddish, and do you often find that you struggle with writer’s block?

KS- It’s not so much that I ‘prefer’ to shape and reshape my poems over an extended period. I would far rather be a more spontaneous poet, who effervesces poem after poem! But, on the other hand, I don’t really struggle with writer’s block: It’s more accurate to say that my words don’t spray forth in a fountain; they come, instead, one by one, like a slowly, but persistently, dripping faucet. There are times when I get impatient and upset with my process. I try; however, to remind myself then that the making of art has a lot to do with process, and to accept, without judgment or dismay, that my own process is defined by a slower-than-average pace.

TTQ- Do you think that your use of vernacular resonates more with the Jewish reader and lessens the understanding of others who might read your book, and does that ultimately lessen your poetry's appeal to a wider audience?

KS- As an artist, I believe that, perhaps ironically, the more particular, and specific, you are in the creation of your art, the more universal that which you create will be. (Hey, Mordecai Richler's books seem popular enough outside the Jewish community!) I love English-language poetry that’s borne of the vernacular—such as that written by Ireland’s Peter Fallon, St. Lucia’s Derek Walcott, or India’s Nissim Ezekiel. Many strong Canadian poets also use the vernacular to bring alive their particular worlds: consider Newfoundland’s Mary Dalton or even Toronto’s Susan Helwig, especially in the poems in which she is writing about growing up on a dairy farm in southern Ontario.

Poetry is, I think, understood most deeply on an unconscious level, in the way that instrumental music is understood. So, even if a reader misses the literal meaning of a word or two, she can still absorb a poem’s core, which lies more in what’s not been said.

TTQ- What words of advice would you offer young aspiring poets who hope to make a career as a poet? Do you feel it's important that a young poet read their work regularly in front of a live audience for that immediate reaction?

KS- Here are a few words of advice: first of all, it’s darn near impossible to have a paying career as a poet! On a more serious note, I think you should write freely and playfully, and as much as possible, to discover your voice and the infinitely flexible power of the word. As well, you should read poetry, and read it voraciously. In that way, you will develop your own taste and editorial acumen. You should also seek out mentors, other poets whose work you admire, and whom you trust, to get some critical feedback.

Poetry is, indeed, a musical art form that’s meant to be read aloud. So, yes, you should read your work aloud, to yourself or, perhaps, to your lover or mentor—but not necessarily before a live audience. The immediate reaction of a live audience can be instructive; I have, however, found that certain kinds of poems—those that are humorous, more easily accessible, and shorter—tend to go over better before a live audience than other poems that may in fact be just as, or even more, powerful. Many fine poets, such as Ireland’s John Montague, are painfully shy and have avoided the stage.

All that said, if you are not shy, and you enjoy performing, then, by all means, get up and read or recite your poems at every opportunity. (Happily, in Toronto, there are lots of open mic sessions.) You will, undoubtedly, make connections that, ultimately, will probably help you get published. You will also have a chance to make friends and become part of an enriching community that may serve your soul.

TTQ- How important is poetry in today's Canadian society? Do you think that Canadian poets have become far too apathetic in regard to societal and political issues?

KS- I could probably write a book in answer to these questions!! I think that poetry has a secure place in the Canadian academic sphere, but does not penetrate mainstream popular culture—except perhaps via rap music (by performers such as K’naan) or the lyrics of Leonard Cohen songs (though I’m not completely sure if Cohen is popular enough to be dubbed mainstream).

Poets in Canada have, however, formed their own community, or regional communities, in big and smaller towns, from Charlottetown to Victoria. And it’s an incredibly lively, variegated, and ever-evolving community. In Toronto, alone, you can go out to a poetry reading many nights of the week, and hear completely different styles of poetry. It’s almost impossible to keep up with the scene—especially if you want to find the time to write your own poems!

I don’t think that Canadian poets are apathetic. A fair number of marvelous Canadian poets grapple directly with societal and political issues: J.J. Steinfeld, Afua Cooper, Goran Simic, Keith Garebian, Dionne Brand, Kenneth Sherman, Gary Geddes, Tom Wayman, etc. (there are too many to name and hyperlink!), as well as numerous spoken-word poets whose works I am not too familiar with. If the personal can be deemed political then my list could go on and on. As Clara Blackwood stated, writing poetry, on any subject, is a political act.

Interestingly, in the past few weeks, a faith-based poet by the name of Jason Kinte got in touch with me. He is president of an organization called Toronto Poets, and he has just put together the week-long gta faith summit bringing poetry to the far reaches of Scarborough, Mississauga, and Brampton to “increase the peace.” Having spoken to Jason, I can assure you that he is anything but apathetic!


Karen Shenfeld reads from My Father's Hands Spoke in Yiddish











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TTQ6 makes a perfect Christmas gift!!!!

With the holiday season fast approaching, why not consider purchasing online a print copy($6.00 plus shipping) or e-book copy($3.00) of The Toronto Quarterly - Issue Six through lulu.com for your loved ones, friends, and acquaintances this year.

We have interviews with authors Yann Martel - Beatrice and Virgil, Chevy Stevens - Still Missing, (Toronto Blue Jays pitcher) Dirk Hayhurst - The Bullpen Gospels, and poets Robert Priest and Dani Couture take part in the Toronto Poets - 5 Questions Series. If music is your thing Charmaine Santos interviews Vancouver singer-songwriter Billy 'The Kid' Pettinger, while I chat it up with a Los Angeles band The Bastard Fairies, and TTQ intern Caitlin Galway meets up with Clothes Make the Man, The Balconies, and Sandman Viper Command at S.C.E.N.E. Fest 2010 in St. Catharines, Ontario.

There are short stories from Janet Somerville, Barbara Biles, Paul Healey, Cullene Bryant, and Daniel Aldana Cohen.

The poetry is as strong as ever with contributions from Kenneth P. Gurney, Stephen Bett, Sasenarine Persaud, Elise Levine, Logan Cirone, Desi Di Nardo, Changming Yaun, Jeffrey Mackie, Catherine Graham, Heather Davidson, Caitlin Elizabeth Thomson, Gordon Massman, Carol Barbour, Douglas Pugh, Marc Di Saverio, Doug Holder, Crystal Hurdle, Richard Chetwynd, Gregory Betts, Sandra Sjollema, Jane Mellor, Peter Austin, Eleanor Levine, J.J. Steinfeld, Terri Brandmueller, Roxanna Bennett, Gregory Wm Gunn, Neil McCarthy, Talia Zajac, Lynda Monahan, Ben Evans, and Christen Thomas.

Also, check out our book reviews of Paul Quarrington's Cigar Box Banjo: Notes on Music and Life and Shlomit Kriger's Marking Humanity: Stories, Poems & Essays by Holocaust Survivors.

Check out the best deals and offers at lulu.com

HAPPY READING!!!






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TTQ's Poem of the Week - (Week 5) Paul Quarrington - Crossroad Blues

Paul Quarrington was an acclaimed non-fiction writer, novelist, poet, screenwriter, filmmaker, songwriter, and musician. He won the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction for his novel Whale Music, and his novel, The Ravine, was long-listed for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Quarrington received the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour for his novel King Leary, which was also the victor in Canada Reads 2008. He was frontman, vocalist, and rhythm guitarist for the band Porkbelly Futures.



In the opening pages of Quarrington's posthumous memoir Cigar Box Banjo: Notes on Music and Life Paul recounts doing house concerts in people's living rooms, where guests who were invited would pay a small entrance fee to hear him sing his songs and recite poetry. The following poem Crossroad Blues is one of the poems he read regularly at these house concerts and was included in his memoir due to its thematic connection to music.


Crossroad Blues

When I was 15
My mother died and I
Started playing the blues on
A Zenon guitar and
Drinking Four Aces wine,
Which was not really wine.

Just like Robert Johnson.
Who made a deal with the Devil
at the Crossroads.
Robert Johnson sold his Soul
To the Devil,
Which was like selling his shoes
When he knew he had to walk down
A road of horseshoe nails.

I would listen to the records
And learn the licks with
Tongue-biting concentration.

I was pale and chubby and little-dicked.
I would drink Four Aces,
Which was not really wine,
But it was alcohol.
I would play the guitar,
Drunk in my bedroom,
Hiding from my father,
Who was drunk in the den
Of our house in Don Mills, Ontario,
Canada’s first planned community.

One night the Devil
Appeared in my bedroom.
The Devil has some personal hygiene issues
Which we need to get into.

The Devil offered me the same deal
He offered Robert Johnson
At the Crossroads.

He said, “I will make you
The best guitar player ever.
You will make strong men cry
And you will make women wilt
With their desire for you.
The songs you wrote will haunt
Mankind forever.
It will cost you your Soul.”

I thought about it.

“Well…what would it cost
If you just showed me how to play
An F7?”



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Judith Keenan - discusses filming Life in Music and Paul Quarrington!

In October 2004, Judith Keenan met Paul Quarrington for the first time at a literary festival in Calgary, called Wordfest. Her friend and colleague Susan Swan, with whom she had recently collaborated on her first BookShorts film adaptation What Casanova Told Me, insisted that she meet Paul due to his extensive work in so many disciplines including script writing and film. Keenan’s first impression of Quarrington was that he seemed far more interested in the copious amounts of red wine in the festival’s green room than listening to a pitch from a relatively unknown film producer like herself. Fortunately, her first impressions of Paul were somewhat overstated and true to his sideways style, Paul was more attentive than expected and promised to look her up in Toronto after the festival.

That chance meeting started a mentorship that Keenan describes as key to her professional successes – 20 short films, an 8-episode TV series, countless video news stories, and a national film screening program which contributed to her first self-produced feature documentary Life in Music. However, the epitome of their collaboration together came in the form of a short film adaptation called Pavane which was conceived from Quarrington’s novel The Ravine. This short film was later used as an element in the pitch for The Ravine TV series.

Shortly before Paul’s diagnosis of inoperable lung cancer, the two were in various stages of developing half a dozen projects together, including Life in Music, and spending a lot of time together. That time together would only intensify after Paul's diagnosis and the making of the documentary took precedence over both of their lives. They both, constantly watched film footage, read through Paul’s writings, and dissected his transcripts. They would see each other every day and speak on the phone two or three more times per day. Since May 2009, Keenan has immersed herself in Quarrington’s world to the degree that she can only best describe as being both surreal and comforting.




Paul was also intent on performing and touring around the country with his band, Porkbelly Futures, during the filming of the documentary and Keenan recalls the other members of the band as being incredibly generous with their time and accessibility. She recounts the endless midnight jam sessions, recording sessions, and rehearsals that were allowed to be filmed, which gave them a wider range of material to use in the documentary. Paul’s family was equally as gracious during filming, providing endless hours of interviews, none more poignant than Paul’s ex-wife Dorothy Bennie’s very personal and emotional interview, filmed in the fall of 2009. The film is 46 minutes in length – but Keenan recalls that each on-camera participant managed to give them hours of amazing interviews. She figures there is enough footage for probably two more films with what wasn’t used.

Keenan and the documentary’s director Bert Kish screened the film first for the Quarrington family, thinking that it was important that they see it before anyone else. It was a difficult experience for the family, especially when watching Paul’s interviews which were so transparent and revealing, bringing him back to the family for that moment in time, in a visceral way that only film can do. The family made a few notes after viewing Life in Music suggesting some ideas and they were immediately implemented. “We hoped the family was able to view the man they knew through an alternate perspective, and also appreciate the incredible artist and his legacy in a way they may not have seen otherwise,” stated Keenan.



Filming the documentary was equally as intense on Keenan. “We synthesized a renaissance artist into 46 minutes at a point in his life when he is living his creative life literally to his death. We’ve managed to distill some of Paul’s dichotomies that are universal to all artists, to any person who is reaching out to express themselves by whatever creative means they have at hand. We laughed, we cried, we shook a fist, and we talked for hours in the pub afterwards.”

This fall, Keenan toured the film to numerous Canadian cities, several of which were full-on tributes to Paul’s work – Kingston, Banff, and Vancouver being stand-outs. During the screenings, Kennan admits to not being able to watch the film all the way through until the Vancouver event. “The gospel scene at the end still tends to choke me up, probably because we (Paul Q., Bert, Bill Laurin, and I) were so jazzed to shoot it, and when we did, PQ was not there.” Her refuge has been the incredible audience support she has received, many having stopped by to talk with her after the events, speaking of their own remembrances of Paul, and if they didn’t know of Paul, many were now inspired to pick up some of his books, CD’s, or films. There are two goals Keenan hopes to achieve by getting this film seen, the first, to establish a foundation for the appreciation of Paul’s work now and in the future, and secondly, to be true to Paul’s mission of inspiring everyone to live the most creative life possible.

Keenan reconfirmed that what sustained her throughout the project will continue to be her salvation. “Paul brought together a group of people that have found great comfort together, and have also made great art together. It got us through, and hopefully resulted in a piece of art that will offer inspiration to the audience that views it, squeezing the most creative juice out of their own lives.”

Paul Quarrington Life in Music (Trailer) from MovingStories.TV on Vimeo.

Note- photo of Judith Keenan & Paul Q. credited to Ray Bourdreau.





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Hedged at The Rock Pile Bar (Nov. 12th) - an interview by Charmaine Santos

Despite the heavy fog that shrouded Etobicoke’s sullen evening sky, the hushed streets were revived as the roads trembled from the colossal reverb that echoed through the walls of The Rock Pile Bar on Dundas Street West. The cause: Saskatchewan’s own Hedged demonstrating that their music cannot be contained in small spaces. It seems fitting then that the small city brothers who formed Hedged, Colton and Cheston Schultz (Ches), would pack their gear, leave Saskatoon behind in their tracks, and move to the big city of Toronto.

Hedged’s 13-track debut album, Serving Time, has been hailed by Canadian and international admirers since its ‘08 release, and with new tracks soon to be released as an EP, the band is ready to once again give their fans more music to rock out to. This time, however, they’re emerging with a greater rumble as they welcome Calgary’s own Kadie Ziemski (Kez) as their new drummer. With the support of family and friends, Hedged aspires to thrive on a solid foundation sustained by an unwavering familial support and a camaraderie deepened by their love for music. Hedged’s music will undoubtedly proliferate the music scene as they continue to conquer each stage to cross their paths. This young band is only at its beginning, and their pursuit for fame is unrelenting.

Hedged will be performing at Toronto’s El Mocambo on November 25, 2010. Doors open at 8pm, and the show begins at 9pm with a $5 cover charge.



Listen to their music by checking out their myspace site and by becoming a fan on facebook.

TTQ - As kids growing up under the same roof, was forming a rock band a dream that you wanted to accomplish together?

CHES: Colton and I grew up with our dad playing in a blues band, and we toured on the road with him. About six or seven years ago, we started Hedged. We played at the Taste of Chaos festival in ’08, and we were in the Vans Warped Tour in ‘09. We also toured with Ill Scarlett. When we came to Toronto for Indie Week in ‘08, we decided to move here because we loved the music scene. At that time, we were also looking for a new drummer. We met Kez, and we found out that she’s also from the west. We were looking for a drummer, and she was looking for a band. We got together, jammed, and it was awesome.



KEZ: We’ve become really close and are practically inseparable now. Three years ago, I was determined to find the right band and after meeting Colton and Ches, we all knew that we were meant to cross paths. We’re very serious and dedicated to Hedged. They’ve been like family to me. They’re such talented musicians and they’ve taught me a great deal.

TTQ - How is the music scene in Toronto different from the one in Saskatoon?

COLTON: There are more people here. We outdid what we could do in Saskatoon. We had a lot of people come to our shows and everyone knew us. We wanted to go into a city where there are more opportunities for upcoming bands.

TTQ - How did you come up with the name Hedged, and what does it mean?

COLTON: Hedged is basically a surrounding or a protection of fans and family. It’s everyone who makes you who you are. Like a guardian or a protector.

CHES: It’s very important to be protected by who you are and where you come from in this business.

TTQ - As siblings, how would you define your working relationship? Are you catty like the Gallagher brothers, or are you supportive of one another like Jimmy and Stevie Ray Vaughan?



CHES: We’re more like the Vaughan brothers. We work really well together, and we think alike. Stevie Ray Vaughan is actually one of our biggest influences growing up. Colton and I were always covering his songs. We’re actually playing Pride and Joy tonight!

TTQ - Hedged was originally a 3-man band. Your recent change in members welcomed Kez as the new drummer. Now, being in a band is like being in a committed relationship as each person brings something to the table. How has the addition of a new member altered the overall working dynamic of the group? Has it changed the band’s sound?


COLTON: Ches and I guide the band’s direction, since we were the ones who started it. It’s always been him and I working on this project. We tried to put together a four-piece band before by getting another guitar player, but it didn’t work out because they wanted to do their own thing and we had our own ideas. With Kez as our drummer, our band has definitely grown. Two or three years ago, our sound was very different. You’ll hear the difference between our first album and the songs that we’re releasing now. We work really well together.

CHES: There’s maturity to our sound now and our songs are more put together.

TTQ - Hedged may be labeled as a hard rock band, but you have shown with songs like Secret Identity and By The Way, that your music is very flexible as you break out into a funk bass line and give listeners an aural taste of your acoustic guitar. This break from the monotonous style that we expect a specific genre to follow makes a band unique. Who has inspired this adaptability in your sound throughout the years? Who are your musical influences?

COLTON: We’re into bands like 3 Days Grace, Illscarlett, and Disturbed. One of our biggest musical influences would be Breaking Benjamin as well.



KEZ: I grew up listening to a lot classic rock bands like Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Iron Maiden (who I love), and Rush. Drummers like Neil Peart (of course), Keith Moon, Danny Carry, and Mike Portnoy have influenced me greatly.

TTQ - If you had the chance to collaborate with any musician, dead or alive, who would they be? What do you hope to extract from their genius?

CHES: We’d like to collaborate with Breaking Benjamin, because our style of writing is pretty close.

COLTON: If we had the chance to sit down and write something together, we would produce something crazy. Breaking Benjamin has a great melodic, straightforward sound. Combined with our writing, we’d bring out the best in each others music.

TTQ - When it comes to the process of creating music, what comes first: the music or the lyrics? What’s your writing process like?

COLTON: Music comes first.

CHES: Our process goes like this: we start with the guitar, then the bass, drums, a melody line, and vocals. Vocals come last. Whatever we feel from the music would influence the lyrics. We've tried writing the lyrics first, but it doesn’t work for us.

TTQ - When do you plan on releasing your second album?


COLTON: Our next release is going to be like an EP. We have five new songs that we’re very excited to put out. We were thinking about making download cards, because we want to release them to the public. We were initially thinking of making flashcards, but we’re short for cash right now. What we've decided to do is put out our old album and include the download card with our new songs in it.




CHES: Afterwards, we’ll release the flashcard. It will have our videos, lyrics, and songs in it.

TTQ - Many musicians and music enthusiasts shun the idea of downloading songs and albums online because not only has it decreased sales, it also seems inauthentic. However, there are bands like Radiohead, for example, who intentionally ‘leaked’ In Rainbows online before putting out the tangible album. Now, as up and coming musicians, what are your thoughts on using the web as a means of exposure? How has it helped or hindered your music?


COLTON: Online media has helped us tremendously. People have picked up our music online and have spread it around. In Europe, we have a bigger fan base there than we do here, and we’ve never been there. On YouTube, people put our stuff up with our logo and our songs. All of this is happening without us actively marketing. We even have a mini-street team to promote Hedged in Europe.

CHES: Yes, Germany, Wales, England … eventually, that’s where we want to head out on tour.

TTQ - Which album(s) do you currently have on heavy rotation, and which musicians would you suggest for listeners to check out?

COLTON: Listen to Sevendust and Breaking Benjamin. They’re some of our favorite bands at the moment.

CHES: We also like Sumlin, Brownie, and other blues oldies like Howlin’ Wolf...

COLTON: Actually, our parents built a bar out of a two car garage for Howlin’ Wolf on our acreage in Saskatoon. We used to jam there all the time! We really grew up with the blues.

TTQ - Do you have any last words for The Toronto Quarterly readers and your fans?


HEDGED: Watch out for us, because we’re slamming down this city fast!


Listen to One Night to Groove by Hedged.









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TTQ's Poem of the Week - (Week 4) - Kate Makkai - Pretty

Kate Makkai performed at the National Poetry Slam for 5 years, during that time she toured the country- talking to anyone who would listen to her. These days Kate writes and performs mostly prose and first person stories about working both as a paramedic and for a coroner's office. Kate excels at making trouble and is always learning new and creative ways of getting out of it.. She is a citizen of the planet Earth and believes that "home" is anywhere you're fed, loved and listened to.

Her work can be found through "Passion Press/The Image Maker" in Denver, Colorado, and her blog.

PRETTY

When I was just a little girl, I asked my mother "What will I be?
....will I be pretty?

Will I be pretty?

Will I BE PRETTY?!?!?!

What comes next?

Oh Right- Will I be rich,

which

is almost pretty, depending on where you shop.

And the pretty question infects from conception,
passing blood and breath, into cells
The word hangs from our mothers' hearts in a shrill florescent floodlight of worry.

Will I be wanted?
Worthy?
Pretty?

But, puberty left me this fun house mirror dryad,
teeth set at science fiction angles,
crooked nose,
face- donkey long, and pock-marked where the hormones went finger-painting
My
Poor
Mother...

How could this happen?!?!

"You'll have porcelain skin as soon as we can see a dermatologist!
You sucked your thumb, that's why your teeth look like THAT!
You were hit in the face by a Frisbee when you were six , otherwise your nose would have been JUST FINE!
Don't worry!
We'll get it ALL fixed!"
She would say,
grasping my face, twisting it this way and that, as though it were a cabbage she might buy.

But, this is not about her.
It's not her fault she too was raised to believe the greatest asset she could bestow upon her awkward little girl was a marketable facade.

By 16 I was pickled with ointments,
medications,
peroxides,
teeth corralled into steel prongs, laying in a hospital bed, face packed with gauze, cushioning the brand new nose the surgeon had carved.
Belly gorged on 2 pints of my own blood I had swallowed under anesthesia. And every convulsive twist of my gut like my body was screaming at me from the inside out............."WHAT did you let them do to you?"

All the while this never-ending chorus droning on and on
Will I be pretty
Will I be pretty
like the IV needle dripping liquid beauty into my blood,
Will I be pretty,
Will I be pretty,
Like my mother, unwinding the gift wrap to reveal the bouquet of daughter that her ten thousand dollars bought her
pretty
pretty
pretty.

And now I have not seen my own face in ten years,

I Have Not Seen My Own Face In Ten Years...

....but, this is not about me.

This is about the self mutilating circus we have painted ourselves clowns in.
About women who will prowl 30 stores and six malls to find the right cocktail dress, but who haven't a clue where to find fulfillment or how to wear joy-
Wandering through life, shackled to a shopping bag beneath the tyranny of two syllables.

About men, wallowing on bar-stools, drearily practicing attraction and everyone who will drift home tonight, crestfallen because not enough strangers found you suitably fuckable

This, this is about my own someday daughter, when you approach me, already stung-stained with insecurity, begging, "Mom, will I be pretty?"

I will WIPE that question from your mouth like cheap lipstick and answer,
"No! The word 'pretty' is unworthy of all you WILL be and no child of mine will be contained in 5 letters...

You WILL be
pretty intelligent,
pretty creative
pretty amazing

but YOU
will NEVER be

merely

pretty."


Kate Makkai reads her poem Pretty.





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TORONTO POETS - 5 QUESTIONS SERIES - Domenico Capilongo

Domenico Capilongo lives in Toronto with his family. He teaches high school alternative education and practices karate. He has had work published in several literary magazines including Geist, Descant, The New Quarterly, and Dreamcatcher. He was short-listed for the gritLIT Poetry Contest 2009 and his first book of poetry, I thought elvis was Italian was published in 2008 with Wolsak and Wynn. His new book of jazz-inspired poetry, hold the note, was recently published with Quattro Books in 2010.

Capilongo’s hold the note has been described as a wide-ranging collection unified by an effervescent, syncopated writing style – dynamic, sometimes experimental, often times playful, yet always passionately engaged, sensual and visceral. If the reader listens hard enough, a definitive mix of eclectic jazz can be heard playing along in the background with Capilongo’s rhythmic riffs of poetic grace.

armstrong in the coliseum

raises his trumpet. sends out a honey-dipped sleepy time
like the emperor just gave him the thumbs-down. feels
the hot breath of the sword against his neck. the slice of
the lion’s roar. he stands blood ankle deep. pushes his
voice up to the peasant cheap seats.

sittin’ on the stones of rome.

makes me wanna say I’m home.

people everywhere stop and sit and stare.

make my trumpet want to blare…

love spaghetti. loves the way italian mineral water
bubbles up his insides. the sound of his trumpet. his
voice bounces echoes through imperial streets up spanish
steps. the night filling with the taste of it.

- from ‘hold the note’

Domenico Capilongo will be reading next on Nov. 25th at The Grey Borders Reading Series in St. Catharines, Ontario. For more information visit his website.


TTQ - In your previous collection of poetry I thought elvis was Italian (Wolsak & Wynn, 2008) and in your latest hold the note (Quattro Books, 2010) music has been a primary theme. Was music always a staple in your life growing up and when did your love of jazz first come about?

DC - My father played music all the time in our house. He played everything from opera to country to disco and the problem was that I thought the singers and bands were all Italian. As I grew older, I was shocked to find out that people like Stevie Wonder, Paul Anka, and the band KISS were not all from Sicily. I was especially disappointed when I found out that Elvis Presley was not Italian. It stuck in my mind for years and I finally wrote about it. My love of jazz started when I first listened to a recording of Miles Davis playing the trumpet. After my first collection was published I decided to focus on writing about jazz and writing while listening to jazz music.



TTQ - Your latest poetry collection is divided into three sections: 1.) jazzista 2) nessun dorma and 3.) after nine. Give us a brief synopsis of each section and how each correlates to the other?

DC - The jazzista section contains the poems that are most directly connected to jazz. Several pieces are about famous jazz musicians or about certain jazz songs. The nessun dorma section has many poems about my children and Italian-Canadian culture. The after nine section includes the more romantic and sensual pieces. I tried to infuse all the poems with a jazzy rhythm. The best way to read this book is to put on a smooth jazz album, pour a bold glass of wine or steaming cup of tea and read it out loud under a warm blanket to someone or some pet that you love.

TTQ - What is your opinion on the state of poetry in Toronto and do you feel poetry is becoming more popular with readers young and old these days?

DC - I think Toronto has a very vibrant and busy poetry scene. You can go to a reading almost every night. Is it popular? It's hard to say. Usually the audience at readings is full of writers but I feel the scene is starting to change. There are more diverse reading series starting up and I think more readers are starting to attend.

TTQ - Tell us about the process you go through when you're writing. Do you have a particular writing routine that you adhere to or do you simply write when you're inspired to do so? Is it important a poet write every day?

DC - My writing is very similar to my karate training. It has become a habit. I just try and write as often as I can without making it a burden or a rule. I try not to be too hard on myself if I miss a day or go through a patch of not writing anything. I have also forced myself to write more when I feel that I have a lot to get out. For this new book, for example, I found that I wrote everyday and set up my own writing exercises in order to set some of the poems free. Karate and writing for me are just part of my lifestyle, not a job or a hobby. I don't think a poet needs to write every day. I think a poet will write when they need to, not when they have to.

TTQ - How important do you feel it is that a poet read their poetry to a live audience? Is that something you like to do often and in what ways do you think it helps your writing?

DC - I don't think that it is important that a poet read their poetry to a live audience but it is important for me. I love to feel how a poem spreads over an audience. How the audience takes in the sound of the words, the rhythm of the language, the meaning. I think poetry comes alive when it's read aloud and I like to be there to share in that moment.


Domenico Capilongo reads from hold the note.







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Governor General's Literary Award Winners for 2010 announced today!!!

The Canada Council for the Arts today announced the 14 winners of the 2010
Governor General’s Literary Awards, worth $25,000 each.


Winners:

Fiction

Dianne Warren, Regina, Cool Water
(Phyllis Bruce Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers; distributed by HarperCollins Canada)

The place is a small Saskatchewan town, the time spans barely more than a day. In this exquisitely constructed novel, Dianne Warren makes each moment shine; her narrative flows seamlessly from character to character, all stunningly depicted. The implied silences of her elegant minimalism amplify the lush prose. Cool Water immerses readers in the difficulties and joys of everyday life.

Kim Thúy, Longueuil (Quebec), Ru
(Éditions Libre Expression, Groupe Librex; distributed by Messageries ADP)

This is an exemplary autobiographical novel. Never is there the slightest hint of narcissism or self‑pity. The major events in the fall of Vietnam are painted in delicate strokes, through the daily existence of a woman who has to reinvent herself elsewhere. A tragic journey described in a keen, sensitive and perfectly understated voice.

Poetry

Richard Greene, Cobourg (Ontario), Boxing the Compass
(Signal Editions, an imprint of Véhicule Press; distributed by LitDistCo)

Richard Greene’s Boxing the Compass leaves us feeling unmoored, adrift across time and voice. The matchless long poem at its heart pulls us back to our always-moving selves, on an always-moving earth. We follow him in his offbeat but strangely familiar travels.

Danielle Fournier, Montreal, effleurés de lumière
(L’Hexagone, Groupe Ville-Marie Littérature; distributed by Messageries ADP)

In an age when narration is increasingly present in poetry and the novel has appropriated every form and subject, Danielle Fournier succeeds, with extreme subtlety, in bestowing the most demanding narrative form upon poetry in effleurés de lumière. Her delicate writing is shaped by fragments of sheer joy.

Drama

Robert Chafe, St. John’s (Newfoundland and Labrador), Afterimage
(Playwrights Canada Press; distributed by the publisher)

Afterimage is the remarkable story of Lise Lacoeur and her struggle with a gift for seeing into the future. Haunting and heart-breaking, moving and magical, this beautifully-written play digs deep into our universal desire to connect with those around us, and with our own personal vision.

David Paquet, Montreal, Porc-épic
(Dramaturges Éditeurs; distributed by Diffusion Dimedia)

Lightly, yet without losing any of its depth, Porc-épic describes an absurd universe where vulnerable people feel a burning desire to be guided by their intuition. They all aspire to change their lives. With his tragic characters playing out their roles in a surreal world, David Paquet has created a darkly comic and profoundly touching work.

Non-fiction

Allan Casey, Saskatoon, Lakeland: Journeys into the Soul of Canada
(Greystone Books, an imprint of D&M Publishers / David Suzuki Foundation; distributed by HarperCollins Canada)

This book takes readers on an enchanting and enlightening journey across Canada, exploring a quintessential element of the Canadian landscape and its very soul – lakeland. With his gentle, exquisite and sometimes playful prose, Allan Casey conveys a powerful message about the value of Canada’s lakes, introduces us to the people who cherish them, and offers both a celebration of and lament for these precious and oft-abused natural treasures.

Michel Lavoie, Saint-Raphaël (Quebec), C’est ma seigneurie que je réclame : la lutte des Hurons de Lorette pour la seigneurie de Sillery, 1650-1900
(Les Éditions du Boréal; distributed by Diffusion Dimedia)

Supported by an enormous amount of archival research, this historical work by Michel Lavoie retraces the claims of the Huron of Sillery for the restitution of the only concession ever granted to a group of Aboriginal people, in 1651. The consequences of their failure to win this restitution – from the trusteeship of the Jesuits to their petition before the courts in the 19th century – shape the colonial history of Canada in a fascinating way.

Children’s Literature – Text

Wendy Phillips, Richmond (British Columbia), Fishtailing
(Coteau Books; distributed by Publishers Group of Canada)

In this highly-inventive, poetic narrative, four compelling characters take the reader on a wild ride through the dangerous terrain of friendships threatened by manipulative acts. Deftly switching voices,
Wendy Phillips creates a powerful momentum in Fishtailing that leaves the reader breathless.

Élise Turcotte, Montreal, Rose :derrière le rideau de la folie
(Les éditions de la courte échelle; distributed by Diffusion du livre Mirabel)

Rose : derrière le rideau de la folie is a book that contradicts everything we thought we knew about young people’s literature, and renews the genre. Élise Turcotte’s style is polyphonic, rich, sensitive and intelligent. This album-poem, poem-story, story-testimonial reveals the pain of a disordered mind, and is told with enormous restraint and an honesty that is almost violent.

Children’s Literature – Illustration

Jon Klassen, Los Angeles [originally from Niagara Falls, Ontario], Cats’ Night Out, text by Caroline Stutson
(Simon & Schuster / A Paula Wiseman Book; distributed by Simon & Schuster Canada)

In Cat’s Night Out, Jon Klassen’s highly imaginative and clever illustrations, with their subdued, delicate colours and their minimal movement, mysteriously transform a smoky New York night into a grooving and pulsating background for his cool dancing cats.

Daniel Sylvestre, Montreal, Rose : derrière le rideau de la folie,
text by Élise Turcotte
(Les éditions de la courte échelle; distributed by Diffusion du livre Mirabel)

Rose : derrière le rideau de la folie reveals a chaotic, complex and terrifying graphic universe. By mixing styles and techniques,
Daniel Sylvestre plunges us into the very heart of the main character’s tormented world. Each element of this book comes together to eloquently create a demanding and masterly work, in which Rose’s madness is filled with meaning.

Translation

Linda Gaboriau, Montreal, Forests
(Playwrights Canada Press; distributed by the publisher)
English translation of Forêts by Wajdi Mouawad (Leméac Éditeur / Actes Sud)

If a translation can allow us access to the sublime, Linda Gaboriau has done so with her brilliant translation of Wajdi Mouawad’s Forests. The full force and urgency of Mouawad’s emotionally‑charged world shines through her luminous translation. A triumph of language that speaks straight to the heart and soul.

Sophie Voillot, Montreal, Le cafard
(Éditions Alto; distributed by Socadis)
French translation of Cockroach by Rawi Hage (House of Anansi Press)

Sophie Voillot has a keen sense of the author’s intentions, and succeeds in reproducing the dark, oppressive tone of the novel. She adopts a style in which irony is touched with violence, and seriousness is modulated by levity. Her sensitive translation honours this complex, multiform novel that juggles a chronicle of urban life with fantastic flights of fancy, and traces the portrait of a pitiless era and the unique characters that inhabit it.



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Douglas & McIntyre strikes deal to publish Giller-prize winning book!

It was announced this morning by Andrew Steeves, part-owner of Gaspereau Press, that a deal has been struck with Vancouver publishers Douglas & McIntyre to publish and ship 30,000 editions of Johanna Skibsrud's Giller-prize winning novel The Sentimentalists to bookstore shelves by this Friday.

With Gaspereau's ability to produce only 1,000 copies per week the writing was on the wall that something needed to be done and fast in order to keep up with demand for the book. Waiting periods of up to five to six weeks for copies of the book have been reported at Indigo.ca, and used copies are selling for as much as $1,600 a piece.

Steeves and partners were firm last week about keeping total control over production, but commented today there was "No angst...no handwringing" about the criticism Gaspereau has endured in their inability to print enough copies fast enough.





“I have huge respect for Andrew and Gary’s dedication to their craft,” publisher Scott McIntyre (Douglas & McIntyre) said in the statement. “This includes putting their author first. With our sales, marketing and distribution system onside, an exceptional novel will quickly reach the wide audience it deserves."

The book will be printed by Friesens, an employee-owned business in rural Manitoba that has produced many Canadian books, and also the iconic blue jewelry boxes for Birks.

“They’re a shop that takes the same joy in making books as we do,” Mr. Steeves said.



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WE ARE NOW CONSIDERING SUBMISSIONS FOR TTQ7!! THE DEADLINE IS FEBRUARY 28, 2011.

Send us your BEST poetry (4-6 poems), short stories (1-2 stories max, 500-3000 words), artwork, and photographs. We prefer that you copy and paste your poetry into the body of your email or send as ONE attachment in word.doc format. Send ALL short story submissions as a word doc. attachment. Any poetry or short story submissions sent as multiple attachments or not in word.doc will NOT be read.

If you have a novel/poetry book, a poetry/music cd or dvd that you're interested in having us review, please email us your query to thetorontoquarterly@hotmail.com with REVIEW REQUEST typed into the subject box. BOOK and MUSIC REVIEWS submitted will be considered for publication.

Send us your ARTWORK and PHOTOGRAPHY. Send in high resolution (jpeg file). We will consider all artwork submitted for the COVER of TTQ7.

ALL SUBMISSIONS should contain a short biography (5-6 lines MAX) stating town/city you reside in, previous publishing accomplishments, educational background if so desired. Please DO NOT send us a novel about yourself. Make it interesting and promote your books and/or webpages if desired.

PLEASE: ONE submission per issue. Multiple submissions will NOT be read. Be sure to send us your BEST work the first time or wait until the following issue to submit again.

We DO NOT publish previously published works.

PLEASE NO SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS

ALL RIGHTS and COPYRIGHT upon publication in TTQ7 remains with the author.

PAYMENT: Each contributor to TTQ7 will receive a FREE e-book of TTQ7 as payment. It will be emailed to the contributor as a pdf file.

ALL SUBMISSIONS should be emailed to: thetorontoquarterly@hotmail.com

SUBMISSION DEADLINE IS FEBRUARY 28, 2011.




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TTQ's Poem of the Week - (Week 3) John McCrae - In Flanders Fields

On May 3, 1915, Canadian physician and Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae wrote the most famous poem during World War I, after witnessing the death of his friend, 22-year-old Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, the day before.

While Sergeant-Major Cyril Allinson was delivering mail, he noticed McCrae was sitting at the back of an ambulance parked near the dressing station beside the YserCanal, just a few hundred yards north of Ypres, Belgium.

As John McCrae was writing his In Flanders Fields poem, Allinson silently watched and later recalled, “His face was very tired but calm as he wrote. He looked around from time to time, his eyes straying to Helmer's grave."

Within moments, John McCrae had completed the “In Flanders Fields” poem and when he was done, without a word, McCrae took his mail and handed the poem to Allinson.

Allinson was deeply moved:

“The (Flanders Fields) poem was an exact description of the scene in front of us both. He used the word blow in that line because the poppies actually were being blown that morning by a gentle east wind. It never occurred to me at that time that it would ever be published. It seemed to me just an exact description of the scene."

In Flanders Fields was written in the form of a French rondeau and was first published in December 1915 in the London-based magazine Punch.

Today, on the eleventh month, the eleventh day, and the eleventh hour, we remember the sacrifice of our fallen soldiers by reciting John McCrae's touching poem, In Flanders Fields.




In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks still bravely singing fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead: Short days ago,
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved: and now we lie
In Flanders fields!

Take up our quarrel with the foe
To you, from failing hands, we throw
The torch: be yours to hold it high
If ye break faith with us who die,
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields




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Johanna Skibsrud's novel 'The Sentimenatalists' captures the Giller Prize!!

Tonight, Johanna Skibsrud took home $50,000 by winning the ScotiaBank Giller Prize for her debut novel The Sentimentalists (Gaspereau Press, 2009), a novel that connects the flooding of an Ontario town, the Vietnam War, a trailer in North Dakota and an unfinished boat in Maine.

The Sentimentalists garnered only scant reviews, sold a few hundred copies, and remained relatively unknown until being named to the longlist this past September. Skibsrud is perhaps the most unlikely winner in Giller Prize history.

In her acceptance speech, Skibsrud thanked Giller Prize founder Jack Rabinovitch, her publisher, Gaspereau Press, her mother, friends who read early versions of the novel, and her late father, whose tales of Vietnam inspired the book. “I just can’t even imagine how proud he would have been,” she said.







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International Festival of Authors - Scotiabank Giller Prize finalists readings (Oct. 30th @ the Fleck Dance Theatre) by Caitlin Galway

It is my last event for this year's International Festival of Authors, and the end of a fascinating march past some of Canada’s top literary talents. For the first time, I have failed to snag an excellent seat. I am now in the very last row of the Fleck Dance Theatre, my sight-line's a mere pie-slice of the stage, and I'm struggling to see the paper below my chin without the glow from the decorative neon pillars. Tonight welcomes 2010’s Scotiabank Giller Prize finalists David Bergen, Alexander MacLeod, Sarah Selecky, Johanna Skibsrud, and Kathleen Winter. Hosting is Carol Off, television/radio journalist, vice-president of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, and the author of such works as The Lion, the Fox, and the Eagle (Vintage Canada, 2001), and Bitter Chocolate: Investigating the Dark Side of the World’s Most Seductive Sweet (Vintage Canada, 2006). Peter Robinson, the man behind the Inspector Banks books, is also spotlighted as the recipient of the Harbourfront Festival prize.



The first nominee to take the stage is David Bergen, author of one short story collection and six novels, including Giller Prize nominated The Retreat (McClelland & Stewart, 2009), and previous Giller Prize winner The Time in Between (McClelland & Stewart, 2006). Tonight he brings us the story of a middle-aged journalist who suddenly finds his luck collapsing in The Matter with Morris (HarperCollins Canada, 2010). Title character Morris has already lost his son and job, and he fears that his wife, the chignon donning sophisticate Lucille, will be next to vanish.




Alexander MacLeod’s nominated Light Lifting (Biblioasis) offers a tightrope-walking collection of short stories, spindling both anxiety and hope in an uncommonly honest exploration of fear. “I was really interested in the ways our fears define us,” he explains, before unravelling the story of Stacey’s phobia of water, the young girl drowning in her attempt at confrontation. The scene unfurls the almost orchestral drifting of her body, the metallic sting of apprehension before her fears untangle and she slips further and further into the unconscious sea.



Sarah Selecky’s debut short story volume This Cake is for the Party (Thomas Allen Publishers, 2010) reaches beyond the lament and desperation of loss to its vulnerable cracks of joy. She reads from the final story, ‘One Thousand Wax Buddhas’, which exquisitely exemplifies the book’s, and the individual’s, ability to make sense of what is plainly there both by seeing beyond it, and by seeing it as if for the first time. “She’d constructed a massive sculpture from the shards of everything we’d ever collected in our life together,” she reads, Keane having just found his wife Robin’s massacre of their belongings all over the floor. “Everything is broken,” he says, but she urges him, “You aren’t looking.” With an adjusted frame of mind, Keane sees the black and white of construction and destruction pervasively blur, and how his wife’s actions “…pointed to something much bigger, something far beyond things.”



Johanna Skibsrud has published two volumes of poetry, Late Nights With Wild Cowboys (Gaspereau Press, 2008) and I Do Not Think That I Could Love a Human Being (Gaspereau Press, 2010), the former shortlisted for the Gerald Lampert Award. With her first novel The Sentimentalists (Gaspereau Press, 2009), Skibsrud weaves a subtly united patchwork between characters living in Ontario, North Dakota, and Main, with the omnipresent Vietnam War tacking itself across the landscape.



To finish off the night, Kathleen Winter reads from her novel, the Governor General’s Award nominated Annabel (House of Anansi Press), a book she describes as being “largely about secrets.” It is the story of Wayne, a young hermaphrodite trying to define a sense of self, while his parents shuffle between wanting only the best for their child, and their own biases between a son or a daughter.

*Note- All photos supplied by readings.org.




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TTQ's Poem of the Week - (Week 2) derek beaulieu - Untitled Visual Poem

derek beaulieu is the author of five books of poetry (most recently the visual poem suite silence), three volumes of conceptual fiction (most recently the short fiction collection How to Write) and over 150 chapbooks. His work is consistently praised as some of the most radical and challenging in contemporary Canadian writing.

He is the publisher of the acclaimed smallpresses housepress (1997-2004) and no press (2005-present), and editor of several small magazines in Canada, beaulieu has spoken and written on poetics internationally. Toro magazine recently wrote “using techniques drawn from graphic design, fine art and experimental writing, [beaulieu] vigorously tests the restrictions, conventions, and denotations of the letters of the alphabet.”

beaulieu’s fractal economies (talonbooks, 2006) included a cogent and widely-discussed argument for poetry which worked beyond strict meaning making, pushing the boundaries into graphic design, gesture and collaboration. His next book, Seen of the Crime (Snare, 2011), is a collection of criticism on contemporary poetry and poetics.

He has performed his work at festivals and universities across Canada, the United States and Europe. For more information visit beaulieu's blog.


TTQ- What particular theme or message are you trying to convey with your visual poetry?

derek- With these visual poems I concentrate on the smallest particles of language and how they can interact. Each poem allows the particles to dance with each other along the lines of design and shape instead of meaning and definitions. Visual poetry allows the reader to make their own meanings.






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THE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF AUTHORS - (Oct. 29th Readings at the Fleck Dance Theatre: Barry, Bismuth, Laferriere, and Martel) by Caitlin Galway

My TTQ one-woman tour of the International Festival of Authors is tip-toeing ever nearer to the finish line. Tonight is the second last event, hosted once more by James Grainger, Toronto Star columnist, Torontoist Editor in Chief, and author of The Long Slide (ECW Press).



Our first presenter is the transfixing riot Lynda Barry, an American author, cartoonist, and visual artist (whose work resembles Chagall for the modern day nutcase). She is perhaps most famous for her weekly comic strip Ernie Pook’s Comeek, but she has also won acclaim for such works as the R.R. Donelly and Eisner Award winning What It Is (Drawn and Quarterly), The Good Times are Killing Me (Sasquatch Books), One Hundred Demons (Sasquatch Books), and Cruddy (Simon & Schuster ).

The spunky cartoonist dons a red bandana and the sharp vocal energy of a born speaker, as she illustrates, through expressive demonstration, the central message of her most recent book Picture This (Drawn and Quarterly), based on her travelling workshop Writing The Unthinkable. It is a lively tour, and detour, through the essentials of image, text, objects and thought, their corresponding significance, and the brilliance of their natural collision. With a comedian’s tangential endearment, Barry bounces between anecdotes, slinging together one engaging story after another. She interacts with the audience, having us shout out, sit back, and ruminate the simplest analogies whereby her poignancy becomes blaringly clear. I feel like a kid in a classroom, hoping that the real teacher never comes back. To end her set, she leaves us with a party trick, singing You Are My Sunshine without moving her lips.



Nadine Bismuth, author of Scrapbook (Boréal) and Fidelity Doesn’t Make the News (McArthur & Co) then reads from her latest collection of short works Are You Married to a Psychopath? (McArthur & Co). Translated into English from its original French, Bismuth offers a Greek Chorus counselling on the anxiety attached to both singledom and couple-hood. It is a voice of warbling self-assurance, emitting a hope that is thinning, and a strength that teeters always on the brink of desperation. Sure, proof of love is out there, it seems to say, from a suit with his fiancé’s picture as his screensaver, to a man in the North Pole ordering cookbooks online so that he might treat his girlfriend; but there is always the confusion of why out there and not for ‘us’?



Following Bismuth is Dany Laferrière, author, television/radio host, screenwriter, and journalist (notably during the Duvalier regime in Haiti). He has earned such awards as the Prix Carbet des lycéens, Prix RFO du Livre, Governor General’s Award, and the title of 2009’s Quebec Personality of the Year. Accompanied by translations from Brad Hampton, Laferrière explores the power of a title in I Am a Japanese Writer (Douglas & McIntyre). “There is no joke,” he begins, his voice a serious, pebbly baritone, “I really do consider myself a Japanese writer.” His chosen segment has his narrator flushed with worry as he watches salmon simmer on the stove. It is a cathartic ritual he has developed, allowing his anxiety to melt into the oil and heat of the meal. Here is the story of a man bogged down by sudden celebrity, mounting expectations, and the weight of a brilliant title without the legs of the story to hold it up.



Yann Martel, our final speaker, holds the interesting position of being among the few present-day authors with whom nearly every North American of my generation is familiar (who hasn’t at least heard of Life of Pi?). His accolades include a Man Booker Prize, Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction, and the Governor General’s Award for Fiction shortlist. Tonight he brings both Beatrice & Virgil (Knopf Canada), and What is Stephen Harper Reading?(Vintage Canada). The former tells the tale of internationally famous author Henry D’Hôte, who has found that his latest novel is so layered in convolution that he is unable to explain its premise. The latter follows Martel’s vow to mail to Canada’s Prime Minister an open letter every other Monday, alongside “a book that has been known to expand stillness.”


*Note - all photos supplied by readings.org.



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