THIN AIR presents...HOT AIR 2010

Random ABC

2010-09-27T13:12:00.001-07:00

Random Mainstage

2010-09-27T13:07:00.001-07:00

you can't escape the crying

2010-09-27T09:57:00.000-07:00

I'm afraid to report this, but I fear I've gone and made the ultimate spy mistake.
A mistake so sever, it will force me into early retirement.

I've become emotionally invested in my mission.
I've failed to remain an absent presence, a literary fly on the wall.

spy fail #5: having feelings
##beingaspyisimpossible

Saturday night at mainstage I learned important lessons in dying. I ask you, how does one stay distant from that? I tried my hardest to keep my gaze upon the suspicious crowd, but to no avail. I was thoroughly caught up in the lessons of Paul Quarrington's life and death.

To add to it, Charlene made sure to thank all of the volunteers who help make the festival possible by doing things such as handing out surveys, greeting people, serving wine and much more.
I thought my suspicions were confirmed, that my mission was still on track. She hadn't mentioned the bloggers. Charlene did see us as a lower class of volunteers, and there was reason to remain on the lookout for more attempts to bring us dowm.
We were unmentionable, even in her heartfelt thank yous.
I mean, we didn't even get magnetic badges this year.

And then she gave us our very own thank you.

Apparently her brother had never been to a Thin Air event until this year.
And the reason he came?
He read the blog. It inspired him to check out an event or two.

With this uncomfortably warm and melancholic feeling in my heart as I left Saturday night, I knew my mission was doomed.

And if that wasn't enough, in pondering how I might report to you one last time, I came across Jay's final post. Ever.

I swear it didn't even make me cry. ##imstillabigsensitiveliar

And he spoke the truth of this mission, as I believe we all have.
Thin Air teaches us about ourselves.
My first conclusion, so many nights ago, was correct.
We are drawn to this celebration of writing and self expression, not because we are all a bunch of book snobs dressed in tweed with our red wine accessories, but because we are people who seek. Seek out truth and understanding and compassion and laughter. We seek out language to engage and connect with.

Being a spy isn't the only lonely job in the world.
Being a person is a pretty damn lonely job too. Especially if you are a writer.
This is why we have Thin Air.

We find people like us, and a space is created, if only for 1 week each year, where we are held up.
And so together we explore weddings and cowboys. Hunting and kugle. Ectoplasm, fathers and the redemptive qualities of coffee.
It is the magic of people working through their lives, with words.

As we learned in the documentary on Paul Quarrington, the boogie man isn't death, the boogie man is not being creative on a daily basis. And when creativity can be brought together and shared, something happens that not even the best spy can name.
##iclearlyhandnochance

And so, as I hang up my stick on moustache on last time, I say to you all
Thank You. For all that you give of yourselves through writing, reading, talking and being.

None of us are the same because of it.
##somuchfornotgettingsappy

Over and Out

* * *
Courtney Slobogian was born in Winnipeg and likes it that way. She is a writer/understated activist/ irreverent feminist.

Some of her work can be tracked down in quiet corners of the internet.

She co-hosts a radio show on CKUW called Tiger Lilies are Poisonous, dislikes cotton socks and is currently working on developing her spy skills.

Outro

2010-09-26T20:04:00.000-07:00

Okay I'll admit it. I skipped a lot of the festival this year. There were events I had planned to go to, like the Family Business mainstage and Amy Jo Ehman's Big Ideas reading to name only two. But sometimes, life gets in the way, or you just get tired.

But I did catch a few of the nooners, an afternoon bookchat, a big ideas session, but only one-and-a-half mainstages. All of these events I enjoyed, some just more than others.

The Tuesday's mainstage (which I had to leave halfway through) was well worth going to for Ken Finkleman's performance alone. A slightly self-deprecating, slightly off-colour reading from and critique of his first novel, Noah's Turn, which is "minor stuff," he said casually as he held up the book and shrugged. At least compared to great poetry. Poetry is the great art.

Here is a photo from that night of hunter-turned-conservationist David Carpenter, author/photographer AJ Somerset, and former Winnipegger Ken Finkleman perusing his book with sunglasses on. He took the glasses off when he took to the podium because, he said, "the speaker's gotta see the fuckin' audience."

I also quite enjoyed David Carpenter's reading that night, and then again the next day at the Big Ideas series. David's reading from his latest work of fiction in addition to his non-fiction went on a little too long and took away from the discussion that was supposed to happen. And that's what the Big Ideas are supposed to be about. Still, the reading was good, and David's a nice man.

Here's a picture of him:

And then there were the little things. Beers with Toronto poet Michael Lista and Hot Air blogger-in-chief Ariel, and the brief time spent in the hospitality suite getting a glimpse of what it's like to be one of the authors at a festival like Thin Air. It's things like these that are worth the most.

And there's always the wine and there's always the cheese.

Served up by fine folks like these ones:

I don't know quite what else to say. It was a different festival experience than last year. I think that has to do in part with not being at the opening on Sunday night. Because of that it was like the festival didn't start. There were just all of a sudden all these things to go to. I should have planned better.

But let's end this thing on a good note. The festival was good, and I enjoyed it. There's no poison, psychotropic drugs, or brainwashing. It's just good people having a good time talking about good books. And there isn't any harm in that. See you next year?

****

Brandon James Bertram is a perpetual student. When he's not at the university you might find him going casually about his business in his West Broadway apartment or spending his leftover student loans on beer at Cousins. He sometimes reviews music for the Uniter and his poetry has been published in Rhubarb magazine. He might graduate with a bachelor's degree next year.

The End

2010-09-26T15:44:00.000-07:00

I don’t really know what to write. Since this is my last Hot Air post ever, I want to write all sorts of things about my feelings, but that’s not really what I do. When I try, I usually come across sounding like a 12 year old girl writing in her diary. Not that that’s an inherently bad thing, but I am a 35 year old man and that's not really the image I’m shooting for. So that leaves me here, unable to write this post, for fear of sounding like a sissy.

Ah well, I can’t really have all that much in the way of credibility by now anyway, so here goes nothing;

I like the Winnipeg Writer’s Festival. Every year I learn something important about myself when I attend festival events. I hear ideas and poems and jokes and writers. Sometimes it triggers an epiphany, other times, a roll of my eyes, but without fail, it teaches me something about me that I need to know. If I hear something that rocks my world, I’m usually hearing for the first time a feeling I’ve had, but could not put into words. When I want to heckle, it’s usually a discovery of something I disagree with. Neither reaction is right, they’re just the amazing little gifts of self knowledge this festival gives me every year I attend. I’ll really miss my free pass.

I like the Winnipeg Writer’s Festival Organizers. Without Charlene, Perry and the rest of the executive types, we’d all be just a bunch of people standing around wearing magnetic badges. They tell us what to do and keep in mind the big picture. They make sure every detail is looked after to insure this festival performs like a well oiled machine year after year. No Thin Air team, no Thin Air. Thank you.

I like Ariel Gordon. She keeps bringing me back and has no problem with me making a fool of myself. Thank you Ariel, for not only being a friend and blog mentor, but for also not getting mad at me for my limited production this year. Twins are harder than I thought. Thanks for understanding and don’t worry, we’ll still see each other lots at Aqua Books. I know you can’t wait.

I like the rest of the Hot Air team and will miss seeing them. I got to know you guys better this year and it was nice. Even though I’m not much for going out in crowded public places, knowing that I’d see one of you all there made it a lot well worth the stress. It almost makes me think I should get out more. Thanks guys.

Well, I don’t really know what else to write. This took me 4 hours. It was hard, but as they say, goodbyes always are. Thanks for reading. Take care.

J

PS Don’t fill out the surveys, that’s where they put the poison.

* * *
Jason Diaz is a Winnipeg-based writer, bookstore employee and handyman (the bookstore business isn't as stable as you'd think). His poetry and prose has been published in dark leisure magazine. He has no idea why he keeps working for these meanies and volunteers coaching basketball to all the artsy kids in Wolseley so they never have to sit on the bench. He has a wife and many children.

Volunteer party!

2010-09-26T12:34:00.001-07:00

At Aqua Books, everyone with their mouths full of tiny perfect cupcakes...

Hands on: Charlene Diehl

2010-09-26T12:03:00.000-07:00

Charlene has been everywhere this week. All over HOT AIR. All over THIN AIR. So it's easy to forget that she's a writer too, that October 7 is as significant, event-wise, as September 19-26.

Because October 7 is when Charlene has the launch for her new memoir, the first book she's published since joining Winnipeg's lit community.

And it's just a coincidence that her sweater matches the cover of her book. Really.

* * *

Out of Grief, Singing is an achingly beautiful account of how a woman comes to terms with the loss of her newborn. After a bewildering series of rapid diagnoses and emergency interventions, Charlene’s daughter Chloe is born. But her too-brief life is spent in the neonatal intensive care unit, and her mother, leveled by an epidural anaesthetic procedure gone wrong, can barely make it to her daughter’s side. In the months following Chloe’s death, more medical crises further complicate matters, making it nearly impossible to even begin the grieving process, let alone return to any semblance of a normal life. But return she does, and with a poet’s ear for language, Charlene Diehl

Charlene Diehl is a writer, educator, critic, teacher and the director of THIN AIR, Winnipeg’s annual literary splash. She has published essays, poetry, non-fiction, reviews, and interviews in journals across Canada, and has to her credit a scholarly book on Fred Wah as well as a collection of poetry, lamentations, and two chapbooks, mm and The Lover’s Handbook. Excerpts from Out of Grief Singing, which appeared in Prairie Fire, won a western Canadian Magazine Gold Award. She was the featured poet in the fall 2007 issue of CV2. When she’s not chasing literary language (or her two speed pre-teens), she edits dig! Magazine, Winnipeg’s little-jazz-engine-that-could.

A Pint of Bitter Murder: GB

2010-09-26T00:48:00.001-07:00

My thanks to Mike Deal, who attended the event and sat in the front row and took these pictures. Well, except for the one of the books, which were on Aqua's counter.

A Pint of Bitter Murder: Giles Blunt

2010-09-26T00:45:00.001-07:00

Everything except Giles Blunt in and around Aqua Books.

Hands on: Nora Gould

2010-09-25T17:57:00.000-07:00

It's sort of a tradition for me to shoot the hands of the Bliss Carman winner. Apparently, it's also a tradition for me to shoot a blurry picture of the Bliss Carman winner. Sigh...it didn't help that Nora was standing in the doorway of the hospitality suite, on her way out, and kept on saying in her oh-so-wry way, "Are you done yet? Are you done?"

But the moment I want to leave you with is this: in the green room before the Poetry Bash, Nora re-braided her long hair. And so I idly watched her hands comb through all that hair, as she un-made and then re-made a knot of her hair.

* * *

Nora Gould has studied at Sage Hill, St Peter’s, Banff Wired Writing and Piper’s Frith in Newfoundland, and her poetry has appeared in echolocation, The Society, cv2, and The Prairie Journal. She is the 2010 recipient of the Bliss Carman Poetry Award, one of the prizes supported by the annual Prairie Fire Press-McNally Robinson Booksellers Writing Contests. Her winning poem, “Some nights he breathed up all the air,” appears in the summer issue of Prairie Fire, and she will be presented with a replica of Bliss Carman’s ring at the Poetry Bash! Gould writes from a ranch near Consort, Alberta, and volunteers in wildlife rehabilitation with Medicine River.

Afternoon Book Chat: kevin eckhoff mcpherson & Ariel Gordon

2010-09-25T13:58:00.001-07:00

A bird's eye view of the last ABC.

The Revolution is Now

2010-09-24T09:06:00.000-07:00

I definitely think Courtney the Spy is on to something. Somebody IS out to get us. But it's not who we think. So Agent C., count me in. We gotta be one step ahead of them. I'll be your sidekick in the land of spies, big ideas, truth and seeking. You know what's what; I had suspected this previously and only added in the DOUBLE AGENT comment to gauge your reaction to be sure of your allegiances. But at the hospitality suite late into the night last night after The Play's the Thing, I knew you could be trusted. We sized them all up, the drunken playwrights, poets, deemed them worthy. Got right to the heart of the matter. They're in on it too and can be trusted. The Revolution is happening and it's right in front of us at the Festival. So yes, I'll be the Robin to your Bat-Man. Moustache or otherwise. We gotta keep this festival safe from infiltrators. It's never been more important.

This was the scene as I left work yesterday, wanting to get back to another BIG IDEAS at Millennium. But I never got there. The police had Main Street all blocked off.

The authorities are getting restless. They know something is afoot. They're trying to stop us.

As I began snapping a few photos, you know, in case, who do I see stroll by? If you can believe it, one of the Thin Air Attendees I had met at the BIG IDEAS session w/ David Carpenter the previous day. I was shocked. What a coincidence. But I've learned at the festival this year there is no such thing as a coincidence. The astute and helpful festival-goer shall remain unnamed to protect his/her identity. But suffice it to say s/he reminded me of Freedom of Expression and to Be Ready. Knowing glances were exchanged.

There are more of us out there than what we might think. And we're ready. For the Revolution.

And I think Charlene knows much more than what she's saying. And is indeed the one behind it all anyway. The Festival is the front, so to speak, albeit, it's doing the work too, the work to get us to revolution.

Jay Diaz, fear not. She's just testing you with her jabs, her bobs and weaves. To make sure you're strong enough. Your drunken monkey kung fu is good, my friend. You're ready.

It's nearly time, people. You can smell it in the September air, feel it in the audience as they take in the words, the wine, creative flow. You can see it in festival-goers' eyes when you see them in the city, on the street. Call on Akna, Charlene. Folks, call on your goddesses or knomes, your own inner artist. Cover yourself in mud. Embrace the proud beaver, the moon-phases of our Canadian landscape.

It's the dawning of a new age (isn't that what they were talking about in the 60s, the coming of the Age of Aquarius?). The "pseudo fascist Canadian government" is going down.

Thank you, Greg MacArthur, and your rousing call to action from Main Stage last night in your daper (orange-plaid!) ensemble from Ragpickers. You're right, the world is waking up.

And thank you for asking, kevin mcpherson eckhoff, denim jacket and all, poetry is life. And you're doing it now. Be the Che to Charlene's Fidel. Bring the Great Exchange of Ideas all the way West when you go home to the Okanagan. Then we have the whole country covered (well, except Vancouver and Victoria, but we'll deal with them later.)

A new world, a new beginning. And Charlene, her Thin Air Minions, and all Festival-goers alike are leading the charge.

To Art. And Love. Poetry. Plays. To Wine and Cheese. Blogger Hugs. Jumping in all the way, not looking back, like only melancholy writers can. And pouringdownrain that lets you see right through to your own heart.

We can't be stopped. The Revolution is now. And Thin Air is the breeding ground for revolutionaries.

See you in the streets, in the woods, in the deep dark night or blinding sun, all over the place, everywhere.

**

Stacy drove to Winnipeg in two days and five hours from Clydesdale, Nova Scotia. She only planned to stay for a year, but it has been four already, because this city keeps you, holds you. Though she works at a corporate publishing company, she has learned about writing, art, urban living, praying mantis kung fu, cycling, goddesses, and the middle while here. She hopes to figure something out about preserving, wool, gentleness, Mandarin, and movement. And, always, poetry. For the duration. Email Stacy at anastasie.doiron@gmail.com.

Hands on: Amy Jo Ehman

2010-09-24T07:11:00.001-07:00

Amy Jo is a locavore. Which puts her in the same camp as slow food enthusiasts. But Amy isn't slow. During her lecture, she bumped the mic twice. And while she was graciously chatting with the people wanting her to sign their books, her hands were constantly in motion. I couldn't get a sharp image and I was pestering her and them every instant I stood there, taking pictures...so you get a diptych.

Line of Inquiry: George Murray

2010-09-24T07:10:00.000-07:00

George Murray has published poems and fiction in journals and anthologies in Canada, the United States, Australia, and Europe.

His work has been recognized with the PIP Gertrude Stein Award in Innovative Poetry, and has been shortlisted for other awards, including the EJ Pratt Poetry Prize, the Atlantic Poetry Prize and the CAA Poetry Prize.

His five books of poetry include The Hunter, The Rush to Here, and a new collection, Glimpse: Selected Aphorisms (ECW).

He frequently reviews books for The Globe and Mail, and is the editor of the popular literary website bookninja.com.

Murray lives in St John’s, Newfoundland.

1) As a writer (i.e. someone whose artistic practice is predicated on time spent alone) how do you approach performance? What do you get out of it?

I am a somewhat reluctant performer, in that I don't make a lot of big gestures or inflect my voice in that "poet" way some people like to. I just simply read the work at hand, though I am pretty good at joking with the audience between pieces. I like the immediate feedback of the audience energy, but I also like the nerves of getting there. Backstage I'm a wreck, but once on stage, I'm usually fairly okay.

2) What do you want people to know about Glimpse: Selected Aphorisms?

It's fun and has depth and is accessible and interesting to other poets and critics, but also to the general public. Besides the breadth of its content, this range of accessibility is probably the reason I'm most proud of it. I like it when people who got dragged out to a poetry reading (boyfriends, wives, friends of poetry lovers, etc.) come up to me all excited after and say, "Hey, I don't normally read poetry, but I'll read THAT." I hope Glimpse is a good gateway book for people you feel might otherwise be too reluctant (or intimidated) to try reading contemporary poetry.

3) Will this your first time in Winnipeg? What have you heard?

I've been to Winnipeg several times before, but mostly on business. I've heard great things about the arts and culture community there, and I know the literary community is first rate. I've published a few times in Prairie Fire and CV2, so I hope I have a foot in the door with the locals and see some friends.

4) What are you reading right now? What are you writing right now?

I'm reading several novels and a raft of poetry books. Notably: Annabel by Kathleen Winter and Far to Go by Alison Pick, as well as new poetry by Robin Robertson, Seamus Heaney, and Geoffrey Hill.

5) What was your process for writing/editing the aphorisms that make up Glimpse? Did it differ markedly from your process when writing long poems?

With Glimpse, I culled most of the aphorisms whole from old journals. I hadn't even realized I was writing them at first. Once I harvested a critical mass of them (about 1000), I went about sorting and discarding the bad or repetitive ones, and then edited the good ones for craft and brevity. Since then, now I've realized they are part of my writing process, I am much better able to recognize them as they form. So now, when I write an aphorism, it's not by pleasant accident, but generally on purpose.

* * *
George Murray will be appearing at THIN AIR, Winnipeg International Writers Festival:

September 23 - Campus Reading at RRC.
September 24 - Panel, with Sina Queyras.
September 24 - Mainstage, with Ariel Gordon, Nora Gould, Ignatius T Mabasa, kevin mcpherson eckhoff, Sina Queyras.

* * *
Ariel Gordon has two chapbooks to her credit, The navel gaze (Palimpsest Press) and Guidelines: Malaysia & Indonesia, 1999 (Rubicon Press), and this spring, Palimpsest published her first full-length poetry collection, Hump. She recently won the John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer at the Manitoba Book Awards. When not being bookish, Ariel likes tromping through the woods and taking macro photographs of mushrooms.

We were good as married in my mind

2010-09-24T06:41:00.001-07:00

there was definitely something queer in the air last night.
Besides the obvious i mean.

I've been pondering how to convey to you the debauchery of the evening past, without of course, giving too much away.

I would have to say it started when Charlene walked on stage wearing a pants suit. Immediately I knew something was off.

Jay, Stacy, Chandra and I serendipitously met up in the lobby and decidedly stuck together for the remainder of the evening. I knew this would compromise my stealthiness slightly, but what with the electricity in the air, I figured tonight I may need to throw caution to the wind, and see if that would lead to further developments in my case. Sometimes, you just have to lose some to win some.
##thatisnottheexpression

It became painfully obvious that the four of us were having the most fun. It wasn't the wine. What was it??

I pointed out to Stacy the error of Charlene's ways, as she she informed the crowd that if they wanted more information on the festival to check out the information table in the lobby.
"Wrong!" I yelled (to Stacy only. And perhaps the few audience members in close proximity)
"You mean check out the blog!" (but still, I yelled it)

Spy fail #4: Do I even need to tell you. Really. I yelled about the freaking blog for crying out loud.

She did proceed to mention the blog, as she informed the crowd we were "creeping around the events" (direct quote)
My stomach sank. My suspicions were confirmed. Charlene was onto me.
Worse yet, she suspected us all. Had I compromised the safety for my fellow bloggers, i wondered, as I threw back my red wine.

As for the other indications that there was something afoot, they are almost too many to name. I will provide them in list form:
A guitar named Verna, a post modern mash up, Pink Triangle by Weezer. Vagina jokes with surprisingly heartfelt laughter from unnamed Thin Air staff. Stacy going for a run at intermission. Jay giving blog hugs. Fashion shows, beaver references, WD40, and Charlene calling on the spirit Akna. And actors.

My head was spinning.
This mission had taken a sharp turn.
We were no longer on the straight and narrow, so to speak.

Now, every spy has to have a line they just won't cross
##imnotsurethisistrue
And so, while the events that unfolded in the hospitality suite, post reading, add significantly to my case, I am unable to reveal the details of them at this time.
Just trust me when I tell you, the night was chaos of the best kind.

Conclusions are hard to come by at this point. Perhaps the linear approach of my detective mission has been permanently skewed.
Perhaps there are no conclusions, save one.

Just when you think the queer is missing, coordinated chair shuffles happen like a rehearsed dance performance. An involved discussion of salmon vs magenta unfolds and clarification is provided when someone points out that magenta is "like red, but gay".
And someone somewhere eats a cheese curd in a hotel room filled with joyfully melancholic writers.

over and out

Courtney Slobogian was born in Winnipeg and likes it that way. She is a writer/understated activist/ irreverent feminist.

Some of her work can be tracked down in quiet corners of the internet.

She co-hosts a radio show on CKUW called Tiger Lilies are Poisonous, dislikes cotton socks and is currently working on developing her spy skills.

Hands on: MP part the second

2010-09-23T15:23:00.000-07:00

Usually I don't "groom" the hands-on photo set-ups. But Marj's friend wanted to. So I let her.

* * *
Ariel Gordon has two chapbooks to her credit, The navel gaze (Palimpsest Press) and Guidelines: Malaysia & Indonesia, 1999 (Rubicon Press), and this spring, Palimpsest published her first full-length poetry collection, Hump. She recently won the John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer at the Manitoba Book Awards. When not being bookish, Ariel likes tromping through the woods and taking macro photographs of mushrooms.

Hands on: Marj Poor

2010-09-23T15:21:00.000-07:00

Marj Poor, teacher and editor of Prairie BOOKS now. She takes a week off work during THIN AIR. If you go back through the four years of HOT AIR, there are probably several pictures of her, because she's at everything...and because she's at everything, she carries around several book bags. So for this photo, I got her to empty one of her book bags.

* * *
Ariel Gordon has two chapbooks to her credit, The navel gaze (Palimpsest Press) and Guidelines: Malaysia & Indonesia, 1999 (Rubicon Press), and this spring, Palimpsest published her first full-length poetry collection, Hump. She recently won the John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer at the Manitoba Book Awards. When not being bookish, Ariel likes tromping through the woods and taking macro photographs of mushrooms.

Big Ideas: Eating Local

2010-09-23T14:46:00.001-07:00

Amy Jo Ehman's big ideas lecture at the millennium library.

The Nooner: Sandra Birdsell

2010-09-23T12:58:00.001-07:00

I missed mainstage last night so I made sure to catch Sandra Birdsell today when she read for the largest nooner crowd I've seen yet.

She read from Waiting for Joe, her new novel that was sparked by an infuriating comment about the right religious beliefs being the key to financial abundance.

Waiting for Joe is about a couple who has gone bust and the spiritual journey that Joe embarks upon alone. (From what I gather, although I haven't read it yet.)

Sandra said the novel took six months to write, but really it took over four years. Writers are a bunch of liars.

*****

Brandon James Bertram is a perpetual student. When he's not at the university you might find him going casually about his business in his West Broadway apartment or spending his leftover student loans on beer at Cousins. He sometimes reviews music for the Uniter and his poetry has been published in Rhubarb magazine. He might graduate with a bachelor's degree next year.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.9

Tea & sympathy

2010-09-23T12:38:00.001-07:00

A Thin Air lunch...

Library humor

2010-09-23T11:02:00.001-07:00

All the suits quizzing by, the slightly quizzical looks...

hot on the trail: revolutions and mothers

2010-09-23T09:52:00.000-07:00

i think someone or some thing, may be onto me.

I can't be certain, nor could I reveal the information were I certain, but lets just say that yesterday afternoon in the midst of one of the most personally profound readings I have ever attended, the soothing voice of David Carpenter expressing the profundity of engaging with nature in the role of hunter, was suddenly interrupted by the sound of what seemed to be a large plane or tank of some sort, overhead.

I was immediately alarmed, though the Millennium library security calmly closed the door to the the Carol Shields Auditorium, as if this was a regular occurrence.

'Has this happened during the Nooners?' I thought to myself.
'Or does this unidenitfied onlooker only concern itself with monitoring the Big Ideas series?' Afterall, we all know what happens when people have big ideas. Revolutions happen, is what.

(Another clue? Is this why people attend the festival? Are they are looking for a revolution?? Is Charlene ready for this? Does she know? Can she tell? The audience has been a little feisty this year. Nothing like bringing up the long-gun registry or an interest in break and enters during a writers festival.
Oh wait. It was Charlene that brought up B&E's....)

I quickly reached for my sunglasses and sunk lower into my seat.
Stacy shot me a knowing glance.
Could it be the Millennium Library hot on my trail? Was Thin Air using the library to try and scare me out of my mission?
It could make sense, but I am not jumping to any conclusions.
And we all know, I am not the only blogger with a sense that something might be out to get them ##jaydiazvsthinair

More recently, I came across Stacy's hypothesizing of my double agent status and was absolutely shocked at the suggestion.
Once I had googled it.
But I can assure you that the target agent I am spying on (Thin Air Attendees) is one and the same as the controlling organization I am claiming to be a part of (I am a Thin Air attendee). Therefore, the only threats against my life, are the ones I create......
##thatsdeep

With the possibility of being found out at the forefront of my mind, I knew that my cover for mainstage last night had to be as inconspicuous as possible.
The theme for the evening was Family Business.
The only option: bring my mother.

It worked well, though I was so caught up in being an 'authentic' looking audience member, I barely payed attention to the goings on. So much so, that as Stacy, my mother and I sat discussing the first half of the evening, expressing our intellectual musings over the magnificent readings of Uma Parameswaran, Craig Frances Power and Sharon McCartney, I failed to notice that 2 of the 3 were sitting DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF US.

Spy fail #3: Do not discuss the mission, at the mission site. And for f*** sakes, pay attention to your surroundings.

Luckily Stacy didn't think they had been there the whole time. I'm considering asking her to be my side kick. I will have to consult my spy manual to see if spies are allowed to have those ##myspymanualisgoogle

My most recent conclusions are as follows:
Families, hunting, spy work and Thin Air are complicated matters. You can never be too careful, but if you pay attention in the right ways, you will learn more then you bargained for.

All four are breading grounds for revolution. You just have to look for the signs.

And don't forget to keep an eye out, you never know who might be watching. Your mother, a bull moose, Charlene, the Tin Man. Anything is possible.

over and out.

Courtney Slobogian was born in Winnipeg and likes it that way. She is a writer/understated activist/ irreverent feminist.

Some of her work can be tracked down in quiet corners of the internet.

She co-hosts a radio show on CKUW called Tiger Lilies are Poisonous, dislikes cotton socks and is currently working on developing her spy skills.

Swag swag author bag!

2010-09-23T09:14:00.001-07:00

So when I dropped by the hospitality suite on Sunday, THIN AIR staff person Tavia Palmer did two very important things:

1) She posed underneath the see-thru glass sink in the bathroom, which made me happy because it was blog-worthy.

2) She made me sign for my author bag. Which made me happy, and, as it turns out, is blog-worthy.

It should go without saying that I'm honoured to be reading at the festival this year. But I think I should say it.

And then roll around on the all the goodies in the author bag like I was Demi Moore and I just got a million dollars for sex. In paroxysms of desperate glee. Yes...

...except the author bag had a mug in in, which would probably work best in my cupboard with all the THIN AIR mugs I've accumulated from years of HOT AIR-ing for the fest.

After it's been washed, that is. And I'll probably use the pad for grocery lists, as I've used other THIN AIR note pads, as I prefer a full-sized notebook for my lit jottings. (Specifically, black with a spine and lined paper. NOT a moleskine.)

And the pen will rattle around the bottom of one of my bags. And be used for lit jottings AND for grocery lists.

I don't think the feeling-honoured will get used up the same way. Because I've been dreaming of reading at THIN AIR for a long time. And the festival has been very kind to me.

(The Poetry Bash! An Afternoon Book Chat! i.e. JUST what I would have chosen to do, if I'd been asked...)

Of course, I hope that kindness is because of the work and not because of this impertinent blog or the years of impertinent volunteering or because I work at Aqua impertinently. Because the (impertinent) work is what's most important.

* * *
Ariel Gordon has two chapbooks to her credit, The navel gaze (Palimpsest Press) and Guidelines: Malaysia & Indonesia, 1999 (Rubicon Press), and this spring, Palimpsest published her first full-length poetry collection, Hump. She recently won the John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer at the Manitoba Book Awards. When not being bookish, Ariel likes tromping through the woods and taking macro photographs of mushrooms.

Line of Inquiry: Sandra Birdsell

2010-09-23T08:10:00.000-07:00

Sandra Birdsell was born in Winnipeg, the fifth of eleven children, to a Dutch-Mennonite mother and a French-speaking Métis father.

Among her nine fiction titles are The Two-Headed Calf, The Chrome Suite, The Russländer, and Children of the Day.

Along with several Manitoba and Saskatchewan book awards, Birdsell’s work has been recognized with the WH Smith Books in Canada First Novel Award and the Marian Engel Award, as well as nominations for two Governor General’s Awards and the Scotiabank Giller Prize.

In 1996, Birdsell moved from Winnipeg to Saskatchewan, a relocation that is mirrored in her new novel, Waiting for Joe (Random House).
She lives in Regina.

1) As a writer (i.e. someone whose artistic practice is predicated on time spent alone) how do you approach performance? What do you get out of it?

When I read from my work it is a chance for me to "hear" it as readers' might be hearing it as they read. I have within me the impulse and emotion of what the characters are thinking, saying and doing and I think that comes out during a reading.

2) What do you want people to know about Waiting for Joe?

Waiting for Joe was 4 years in the making and behind it is a lot of reading about the roots of his boyhood faith.

3) Will this your first time in Winnipeg? What have you heard?

Winnipeg is my second home. I lived there for decades, and Westminster Avenue, the elms, still has a strong pull.

4) What are you reading right now? What are you writing right now?

I'm in a book club and reading for that right now. I've begun writing what I think could be a short story.

5) The majority of the action in The Russlander took place in 1910. The Children of the Day is set in 1953. After spending so much time fictionally in other eras, what is it like writing something so contemporary?

Writing something so contemporary is really not much different than writing Historical fiction. People are moved and changed by the same things regardless of the time period.

* * *
Sandra Birdsell will be appearing at THIN AIR, Winnipeg International Writers Festival:

September 22 - Mainstage, with Sharon McCartney, Uma Parameswaran, Craig Francis Power, Michael Wex.
September 23 - Nooner.
September 23 - Rural Tour, Portage la Prairie.

Hands on: Michael Wex

2010-09-22T23:52:00.000-07:00

When I explained to Michael Wex why I wanted to take a picture of his hands, he said "sure...I mean, I'm not a tongue and toes man." And then told a story about how he lived down the block from the building that printed those Christmas cards, you know the ones with scenes painted by artists that used their feet or their mouths to paint. How he used to hang around the building, thinking that eventually one of the artists would HAVE to visit...

* * *
Michael Wex is one of the leading lights in the current revival of Yiddish, lecturing widely on Yiddish and Jewish culture. He is the author of three books of non-fiction: Born to Kvetch, a New York Times bestseller; Just Say Nu, a book which offers more Yiddish vocabulary and support; and How to be a Mentsh (and Not a Shmuck), a happiness manual of sorts. Wex also has three books of fiction: Shlepping the Exile; The Adventures of Micah Mushmelon, Boy Talmudist; and his corrosively funny new novel The Frumkiss Family Business (Knopf). Wex was born in Lethbridge, Alberta, and lives now in Toronto.

* * *
Ariel Gordon has two chapbooks to her credit, The navel gaze (Palimpsest Press) and Guidelines: Malaysia & Indonesia, 1999 (Rubicon Press), and this spring, Palimpsest published her first full-length poetry collection, Hump. She recently won the John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer at the Manitoba Book Awards. When not being bookish, Ariel likes tromping through the woods and taking macro photographs of mushrooms.

Wednesday Night Pics...

2010-09-22T21:03:00.001-07:00

The Great Exchange between the Art Communities of Atlantica and Prairieville has already begun in earnest, friends. (Watch out Stephen Harper. Watch out Sam Katz. We're talkin bout a revolution.)

Craig Francis Power rolled into town this morning from Newfoundland in a magic wheelbarrow, departing westward right after his book launch in St. John's last night. I like your plaid shirt, sir, as well as your book Blood Relatives. Your reading made me lament the misplacement of my accent. Bring more plaid shirts next time you come here, Craig. Lord tunderin jayzuz.

Sharon McCartney nearly had us all rolling in the aisles with her poems, including one from the voice of Marie Antoinette seconds after the guillotine dropped its silver fist ("a short poem" ha!) and one channelling a lusty Dorothy who has the hots for The Tin Man that set the audience a'titter, pleasantly. Sharon arrived to us from lovely Fredericton and had a leisurely, though vibrate-y, journey to Winnipeg in a coffee-propelled hovercraft. Nevermind that there is no actual way to get here by water all the way (hmmm, or is there?... Saint John River, St. Lawrence, Red River...) but the JavaHopper is amphibious as well as environmentally sound, so no worries. Sharon! You can recruit me anytime for your Railing Against Things movement. Dear Readers, get her book of poems, For and Against!

Marjorie Poor won the draw for all the books that were read tonight. Lucky! (I keep fillin out those ballots, but...)
Marjorie is one of my favourite people in Winnipeg, though I don't know her that well, but I often see her at literary events out and about.
A shout out to Sarah Klassen who helped convince Marjorie I should take her picture.
Marjorie... what are you favourite books?! Like ever, I mean.

Michael Wex signs a copy of his book for me.
It'll be hilarious if tonight's reading is any indication.
"Like The Godfather but without the crime," his book details the life and times of a noodle kugel-eating old fellow whose dying words are, "Of course I'm alright. I'm a blogosphere celebrity."
I've been trying to get through Skinny Legs and All for months, but The Frumkiss Family Business is next on the list.

At the very end of the night, theatre all but empty, four writers remain standing:
Michael Wex, Craig Francis Power, Sandra Birdsell, Sharon McCartney.
Also, four wine glasses missing, says bartender.
Coincidence? I think not.

* * *

Stacy drove to Winnipeg in two days and five hours from Clydesdale, Nova Scotia. She only planned to stay for a year, but it has been four already, because this city keeps you, holds you. Though she works at a corporate publishing company, she has learned about writing, art, urban living, praying mantis kung fu, cycling, goddesses, and the middle while here. She hopes to figure something out about preserving, wool, gentleness, Mandarin, and movement. And, always, poetry. For the duration. Email Stacy at anastasie.doiron@gmail.com.

Hospitality

2010-09-22T20:46:00.001-07:00

The hospitality suite, where everyone sits as if they're waiting for the bus...

Mainstage: Family Business

2010-09-22T19:12:00.001-07:00

The mingling at half time after two novelists and a poet regaled us...

Line of Inquiry: Sharon McCartney

2010-09-22T17:25:00.000-07:00

Sharon McCartney has an MFA in poetry from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a law degree from the University of Victoria in British Columbia.

She has published several poetry collections, including Under the Abdominal Wall, which was selected for the BC 2000 Book Awards Program, and The Love Song of Laura Ingalls Wilder, which won the Acorn-Plantos Award for People’s Poetry.

Her new collection is For & Against (Goose Lane).

A former resident of Victoria, she now works as a legal editor in Fredericton, New Brunswick, and is a member of the editorial staff of The Fiddlehead.

* * *

1) As a writer (i.e. someone whose artistic practice is predicated on time spent alone) how do you approach performance? What do you get out of it?

I really enjoy readings. A reading is a chance to connect with real people, with an audience. Though I write for myself, in order to understand and interpret the world and my own position in it, the audience is always in mind, that need to connect with other people. So, the reading is an opportunity to do that. Plus, readings can be great fun, particularly if you're reading with other writers and there's a lively crowd. I'm happiest if I get a few laughs and maybe a few questions. I have been heckled: in a bar in Victoria, a guy yelled out, "Ah, get over it!" I kind of loved that. It's like getting a bad review--a response, even a negative one, is better than indifference.

2) What do you want people to know about For & Against?

Despite its potentially-negative subject matter (divorce, illness, confoundment, rage), For and Against was a lot of fun to write. I worked really hard on language in those poems, on sound and rhythm, in addition to metaphor and imagery. While I hope that people connect with the subject matter (and some have already), I also hope that people notice that it's poetry. Reviews tend to focus on the subject matter, which is fine, but I am a writer and language is uppermost in my mind.

3) Will this your first time in Winnipeg? What have you heard?

I spent one night in a motel in Winnipeg ten years ago when my family was relocating from Victoria to Fredericton. We drove across the country in a van (three kids and two cats and my husband and me). Our house deal in Fredericton was closing as we drove, but the guy at the bank in Fredericton neglected to have us sign one essential document. There were frantic phone calls and we got into a CIBC somewhere in Winnipeg at 7 a.m. the next morning to sign the document and then left Winnipeg. I look forward to a more pleasant stay this time. I've heard that it's a wonderfully cosmopolitan city and I look forward to wandering around, but I also hope to find a gym and get in a good workout too!

4) What are you reading right now? What are you writing right now?

Right now, I'm reading James Hillman, The Soul's Code. I've been reading Jungian psychological works lately and getting a lot out of them. I'm working on a new manuscript called "Gravitas" which will have nothing to do with marriage, divorce or relationships. It's all about the relationship with one's self and the need to explore that. It's also about bodybuilding - I work out a lot and spend a lot of time in gyms and am having fun with all of the metaphoric opportunity that the gym presents (redefining one's self, getting strong and lean, etc.).

5) You seem almost fearless in your writing on your childhood and the end of your marriage. How do you negotiate the divide between your life and your writing and your writing life?

I don't know how to divide writing from life and I don't know what else to write about. I have relied on the dramatic monologue quite often to facilitate writing, but even when I'm using someone else's voice, it's still me. I'm happiest when I'm actively writing, when the notebook is always at my side and I've always got a few drafts on the go. That makes life easier. So, I don't think that there's a need to divide writing from life. The overlap can be hard on other people though. When I'm writing stuff that involves other people (e.g. ex-husband and other ex-partners), being honest and respectful is essential. If I'm blaming, I try not to let myself off the hook. I'm lucky in that my ex-husband is also a writer who understands that your material is your material. As a writer, I'm responsible first to myself, to be honest and as "true" as possible. And, in that, I hope that I am honest and true to other people too, even if what I say is not always pleasant.

* * *
Sharon McCartney will be appearing at THIN AIR, Winnipeg International Writers Festival:

September 22 - Afternoon Book Chat, with Craig Francis Power
September 22 - Mainstage, with Sandra Birdsell, Uma Parameswaran, Craig Francis Power, Michael Wex.

Woods Versus City - nature wins every time

2010-09-22T17:07:00.000-07:00

Rain. Late.
Drenched posterior on two wheels - on way from work to home (to pick up overdue books) to library for BIG IDEAS w/ David Carpenter - encountered:

cars cars cars
nearly clocked by one car on Notre Dame
stared down by anti-abortion activists circling HSC
elderly man (won't say gentleman b/c he was far too chippy) w/ cane ambling across Toronto Street cursing at passing car because it was there and even stopped for him
potholes that add years
lakes of scummy rainwater between traffic and curbs
barricades blocking one-way streets
cut off by tour bus (probably carrying the Chicago Blackhawks) near MTS Centre
cars cars cars

Came to dripping halt right outside Millennium doors. Arrived at Carol Shields Auditorium on second floor, only five minutes late.

The Big Idea? Nature.
The reverence for it, respect. The solitude and serenity it can provide.

And David Carpenter rocks.
Self-proclaimed old fart and ex-hunter, he was irresistibly refreshing, kind, astute in his comments and answers, affable. He slowed down the pace of the entire day, in a good way. Allowed focus, clarity. An hour of calm. I'd listen to him, chat with him, any day, way more than I would Poe's raven or the Ancient Mariner.

Am also intrigued by "The Return of Artemis," a chapter in one of his books. The huntress. David says women are increasingly turning to hunting, more than anyone. Even more than aliens, which we all kind of are anyway, at least to moose.

And he knows how to get right to the core, doesn't he, albeit gently.

He asked me, "Do you willingly live in the city?"

Sigh.

Alright, David Carpenter, I'm moving to the woods. I just might need you to teach me how to hunt, though. My naturopath says I must eat meat.

(Also... may or may not have seen Courtney The Spy there. But if so, I am inclined to believe she's a DOUBLE AGENT. The plot thickens. May need to move to woods for my own safety as I am not sure of intentions and allegiances of said Spy; and I overheard this agent say her father used to hunt, and so he may have passed skills on to her so I may not be safe in woods either. Tricky.)

Ok, off to Main Stage, Family Business. Late! Feet soaked, wool socks funky. Going anyway, with or without rubber boots.

David Carpenter.
A Hunter's Confession
Inspiring fellow.
Please tell me what muskeg is. And coolies.
And how to get to the Wild Hay Valley.

Rubber boots in audience.
We all need a pair. City or Woods.

The Return of Artemis, dawn of a new age, people.
Somethin's happenin up there in the atmosphere.
Long gun registry or otherwise.

She's comin back.

Pick your wild zone.

**

Stacy drove to Winnipeg in two days and five hours from Clydesdale, Nova Scotia. She only planned to stay for a year, but it has been four already, because this city keeps you, holds you. Though she works at a corporate publishing company, she has learned about writing, art, urban living, praying mantis kung fu, cycling, goddesses, and the middle while here. She hopes to figure something out about preserving, wool, gentleness, Mandarin, and movement. And, always, poetry. For the duration. Email Stacy at anastasie.doiron@gmail.com.

The Punch

2010-09-22T16:01:00.000-07:00

First off, let me apologize for being two days late with my Monday post. Some of you were probably worried that the Festival had finally had enough of me and had me eliminated, (Grosshans isn’t really his last name; it’s what they look like when he’s done with you). But fear not, for I am alive and well. Well, not really well, but alive none the less. And though I may be slowed by the same horrible illness that the Festival administered to my family, it will not stand in the way of me exacting revenge on my tormentors. Festival enjoyment will be my decongestant.

Now, though Sunday night was wonderful, by Monday morning I was starting to realize the chilly outdoor setting was merely meant to weaken my immune system and allow their virus to take hold. I awoke with a runny nose, sore throat and a cough. Instead of succumbing to the illness, I quickly set about writing my previous post. By 2 O’clock, my symptoms had worsened and I began to wonder whether I was even healthy enough to attend the afternoon book chat with Carolyn Smart and Richard B Wright. What to do? Go to the book chat and risk exposing you, the innocent festival goers, to the nefarious biological weapons residing in my body, or stay home, sleep and let the festival ruin my festival, thereby robbing us of our fun powered revenge. Being a man dedicated to the public interest, it really wasn’t much of a decision. Sniffles be damned, I was going to the festival.

I arrived just before the book chat started. I scanned the room and saw Ariel seated at a table near the front with a man I recognized as her husband Mike (you know, he doesn’t look half as beaten as you’d think). I decided to test our tenuous alliance and fish for an invitation to join them. To my surprise, that invitation came. I sat down and informed them I was sick (as if Ariel didn’t know). They told me to stay away from them and shuffled their chairs a few feet away. It was about this time the unthinkable happened; I was attacked.

That’s right, attacked. Right there in McNally Robinson, in front of world famous authors, the director of the Winnipeg International Writer’s Festival took a swing at me. Thank the lord I’m spry. I narrowly evaded Charlene’s right hook, and out of instinct assumed the drunken monkey fighting stance. I thought for a minute it was finally going to happen. Me and Charlene were finally going to throw down. But as I stood there on one foot, arms above my head, pythons ready to strike, I realized I couldn’t let this happen. Not here. We were surrounded by innocents. I couldn’t risk letting anybody get hurt. I decided the end would not justify the means and took a very different approach; I pretended to be scared. I let Charlene think she had won the day. I had to; it was for the public good. As I backed down, she smiled at her perceived victory and continued to the stage.

Now I’ll have to admit, the last few times I’ve been to these afternoon book chats, I’ve generally been quite distracted (you can see by my recounting of “the punch”, why I may have been). However, this afternoon, I decided before hand that I would do my best to block everything out and for once focus on why I was there. To hear the authors speak. And you wouldn’t believe what they said.

They talked about having writer’s block and how they get through it. They talked about getting into character when they’re writing, and how that relates to the writer’s imagination. Did you know writers are allowed to live in two worlds? The real one and another one they make up. This was probably the idea that got me the most excited (I was getting kinda tired of living in this one anyway, what with everyone always out to get me).

The authors talked for about an hour. I soaked it all in. Unfortunately the joy on my face must have been apparent. Around 3:30 Charlene forced the Q &A to an end. I suspect she was attempting to ruin my good time. I wish she wasn’t so spiteful, but she’s like that. Luckily I heard from Ariel that they have these book chats every day, all week at 2:30, so I can go to a few more. Shocking as it may sound, I’m starting to believe I might learn a whole bunch if I keep going to these things and ignore the festival’s distractions.

Anyway, that’s about it.

Book chats are good.

Charlene is bad.

Talk to you soon.

* * *
Jason Diaz is a Winnipeg-based writer, bookstore employee and handyman (the bookstore business isn't as stable as you'd think). His poetry and prose has been published in dark leisure magazine. He has no idea why he keeps working for these meanies and volunteers coaching basketball to all the artsy kids in Wolseley so they never have to sit on the bench. He has a wife and many children.

ANOTHER author sighting

2010-09-22T12:57:00.001-07:00

Prairie Fire's Janine Tschuncky squires Thin Air author/Bliss Carmen winner Nora Gould around...and ALSO stops in at Aqua Books.

(Colin Smith was making funny...)

Author sighting

2010-09-22T12:51:00.001-07:00

Thin Air author Lawrence Scanlan is brought to Aqua Books for lunch by YA writer/editor Anita Daher.

Author sighting 2

2010-09-22T11:33:00.001-07:00

The blur when poet and scallawag Colin Smith told Anita and Lawrence that saying the word "shit" produced the same expression as saying the word "cheese".

Literary Lunch

2010-09-22T10:20:00.001-07:00

lunch break crowd waiting for Uma Parameswaran's nooner

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tweed and truth and the case of the stick-on moustache

2010-09-22T07:10:00.000-07:00

spy fail #2: In an attempt to be incognito, i sat in the far back corner of the MTYP theatre last night at main stage. I thought I was being soooo clever. Turns out this meant that eavesdropping was out of the question.

Here are the clues I gathered about men:
hunting, pornography, aging, silver hair and women who turn them down for sex. Winnipeg love and hate, murder, kindness, grief, courage and moderation.

From this I can only conclude that men are people too. ##statingtheobvious

I was disappointed to see none of my female comrades but I did see a lot of sweaters, leather and tweed. Not of the hispter variety, but of the authentically refined older man variety.

I thought I hit the jackpot when a very classy looking man sat down at the end of my row. Sadly his body language indicated he would not be interacting with me. I don't push. I don't want to be too noticeable. That said, I can't help but wonder if it was my stick-on moustache and tweed blazer that made him shy away.

Turns out, the man was Lawrence Scanlan.
I need to do better research.

Other important events were the cell-phone-ringing- on-stage-right-after-Charlene-told-the-crowd-to-turns-theirs-off incident and when Charlene fired Perry in front of us all.

What with the bar on stage right and McNally Robinson on stage left, Charlene tried to convince the crowd that Thin Air was simply a corporate enterprise guised as a cultural event.

That was clearly a decoy. The tweed gave the truth away.

And speaking of truth, I think I may have gathered the most important clue of all.

It's entirely possible that the reason we all gather every year at Thin Air is not for the wine, or the tweed, but to try and seek out just a little truth from each story we hear.

I'm not convinced this is it, but I will keep this in my notebook for future events and see if it holds true.

over and out.

Courtney Slobogian was born in Winnipeg and likes it that way. She is a writer/understated activist/ irreverent feminist.

Some of her work can be tracked down in quiet corners of the internet.

She co-hosts a radio show on CKUW called Tiger Lilies are Poisonous, dislikes cotton socks and is currently working on developing her spy skills.

The Matter With Men

2010-09-21T18:44:00.001-07:00

Ken Finkleman engages the mainstage audience

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Afternoon book chat #2

2010-09-21T12:52:00.001-07:00

David Bergen and Michael Lista at the afternoon book chat at McNally's.

the perfect disguise

2010-09-21T09:03:00.000-07:00

I am working on my cover.

An important part of being a good spy is to be able to be where you need to be, without people knowing why you are there.

My cover on opening night was totally blown, hence my reluctance to report.

That said, I couldn’t help but notice that all attendees appeared to have been under dressed for the crisp fall weather.

This tells me one thing: everyone was a Winnipegger.

Whether through birth, travels, or heart, all thin air guests on opening night had Winnipeg living somewhere inside them. Otherwise they would have been bundled in proper fall attire, hats and scarves and such. Or, more likely, they would have been at home, not realizing that they were missing out on the magic that happens every year at Odeeena on opening night of the festival. They’d probably be watching Brothers and Sisters instead.

Spy lesson: Do not sit with other bloggers and be introduced to the entire crowd as the blogging crew. No one will ever tell you their honest reasons for attending the writers festival once they know your identity. No matter what colour you dye your hair.

Solution: find the perfect disguise, in the next 6 hours, for attending an evening of men discussing what they want.

over and out.

* * *
Courtney Slobogian was born in Winnipeg and likes it that way.

She is a writer/understated activist/ irreverent feminist. Some of her work can be tracked down in quiet corners of the internet.

She co-hosts a radio show on CKUW called Tiger Lilies are Poisonous, dislikes cotton socks and is currently working on developing her spy skills.

Research Methods

2010-09-21T08:31:00.000-07:00

Last night's Mainstage was entitled Re: Writing History. I have long admired and been frightened by the tremendous amount of research it must take to write historical fiction, or historical poetry.

Joan Thomas said she read about Mary Anning and the events of her life for an entire year before even beginning the writing process of Curiosity.

After stumbling upon Louis Slotin's wikipedia page and becoming fascinated by the story there, Michael Lista must have done a ton of research in order to write his fascinating first collection of poems, Bloom.

Eva Wiseman went back into her childhood to a name her mother used to mention. She underwent the research it took to find out about young Jewish traitor, Morris Scharf, and she wrote Puppetbased around the real life trial of which he was a part.

I think what it is is finding that itch that you have to scratch.

A story that you happen upon or someone tells you about or is somehow connected to your own history that you just can not ignore. It gets under your skin and you have to scratch and pick at it, peel away layers of skin, undergo whatever pain it may cause you for the sake of the story. Whether you like it or not, no matter how hard you try to escape, it's something that must be done...a story that must be told.

But it's probably research that you enjoy doing, and that's the reason you do it.

Joan Thomas talked about Curiosity being almost a 'found novel,' the way that poets talk about found poems. The research fell together in such a perfect way.

Still, writing is hard work. Re-writing history is probably even harder, no matter how well the research fits together.

But sometimes you get an itch

* * *
Brandon James Bertram is a perpetual student. When he's not at the university you might find him going casually about his business in his West Broadway apartment or spending his leftover student loans on beer at Cousins. He sometimes reviews music for the Uniter and his poetry has been published in Rhubarb magazine. He might graduate with a bachelor's degree next year.

Monday Night Pics...

2010-09-21T07:50:00.000-07:00

My Mom, Dorothy, picked up a copy of Theodore Fontaine's Broken Circle: The Dark Legacy of Indian Residential Schools.

She was in town with my Dad, Paul, for a week. My Mom loves northern Manitoba and lived in three different communities there, God's Lake Narrows, St. Teresa's Point and Garden Hill, where she taught early years school children. My Mom also has much better style than I do.

Carolyn Smart's Hooked chillin with smart red couch;
"Life is murder. Art is worse."
Carolyn is a great reader, very expressive.

I like Eva Wiseman and would like to have coffee with her.
I like her hair and her jacket. Vibrant.

Audience member Leanne Fournier buying a copy of Eva's book Puppet for her daughter, Angela. Leanne, I like your scarf and your smile. Angela, be good to your Mom.

**
Stacy drove to Winnipeg in two days and five hours from Clydesdale, Nova Scotia. She only planned to stay for a year, but it has been four already, because this city keeps you, holds you. Though she works at a corporate publishing company, she has learned about writing, art, urban living, praying mantis kung fu, cycling, goddesses, and the middle while here. She hopes to figure something out about preserving, wool, gentleness, Mandarin, and movement. And, always, poetry. For the duration. Email Stacy at anastasie.doiron@gmail.com.

Manitoba-Maritimes Underground Network Looking for You

2010-09-21T06:59:00.000-07:00

There are two things I know this morning: I love fog and I miss my parents already. They were here for a week, and if Air Canada does it's thing (doubtful), they took off from the Winnipeg tarmac twenty-eight minutes ago. I can count on less than one hand (can you do that?) the times I've seen fog enfolding itself around Winnipeg and the times I get to see my Mom and Dad here. So I got to have both last night, fog and my Mom and Dad... at the first Main Stage show no less. Ok, I can't help it; I'm a little melancholy this morning. They're headed back east (the actual east, not Ontario) and I'm installed in my cubicle; my lungs miss fog and my lonely heart misses family. But we had a good time last night at the Re-Writing History show, and I'm glad they got to take in at least one Thin Air event. And meet a good friend of mine who shall remain nameless for the moment because s/he brought a lovely bottle of peach liqueur and shared it with my Dad who said it was delicious. We were sitting near the back. (Sorry, Michael Lista if we were rowdy-ish towards the end of the show; you were right in front of us.)

My Dad the electrical engineer was here for a conference about lightning and grounding. Before an Aqua Books event the other night (On the Same Page panel), I overheard him telling Chandra that if you're caught in a lightning storm it's best to stand on one leg, not under a tree and not holding metal. You can't tell me engineers aren't poets. (I think my Dad liked Michael Van Rooy, too, but we're shy sorts sometimes so didn't talk to him, even though he seems very friendly and approachable.)

Anyhow, last night my Dad quite liked Carolyn Smart's poem "Ardent" from her book Hooked, which contains seven poems from the perspective of seven different women. "Ardent" captures Elizabeth Smart's voice, of course the lady who wrote "By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept," which has to be one of the best titles out there. Dad jotted this quote down from Carolyn's reading of "Ardent":

"Life is murder. Art is worse."

Indeed. What else can you say?

I dragged them around to some of the places I haunt in Winnipeg. They are definitely more patient than I am. And I'm quite sure I'd drive them crazy if they had to be around me all the time or if they couldn't go back to their house in the countryside... Though all three of us agreed we quite liked Eva Wiseman and Carolyn Smart's readings best.

And last night brings me back to fog. I really think the prairies (what I have seen of them anyway... I haven't been west of Brandon yet, yikes, so Manitoba anyway) and the Maritimes (which doesn't include Newfoundland by the way, not that I have anything against Newfoundland, but if you want to include The Rock then you have to say the Atlantic Provinces, and I think for these purposes, geographically and otherwise, it's best to put limits and say the Maritimes), especially Nova Scotia have a lot in common and we should band together and make things happen. Make art happen. Life and Art. Damnit. We can just bypass Ontario, stop for croissants in Quebec, and get right to it. Maybe my Dad the engineer and my engineer brothers can rig up some sort of easy, eco-friendly transport device so all the artists between Manitoba and the Maritimes can flow freely between... salt ocean air and clear blue prairie sky, rolling green hills and jovial flatness all in the same day; this could change us, could change the world. I hear there's an artist in town already who regularly rides the rails between Winnipeg and Halifax. If you know anything about this idea, tell me, share, put it out there. I think there's lots of fodder here, lots of grounded, colourful, self-driven and determined folk, lots of beauty and connection to nature; and goshdarnit we know how to get things done, yep. G'wan now (Go on now), as my Mom says. Let's get 'er done. The relationship would be mutually beneficial and supportive. It's not about taking over the country, because you know, we would have already if we really wanted to, but we have better things to do; we're better doing our own thing, on our own terms.

Do you have Manitoba-Maritimes Underground Network (or a better name) ideas? We can save the grain silos and lighthouses, or use them to make solar villages, treehouses, art and music...

I don't know what exactly this has to do with Re-Writing History, but I have a few ideas, ahem. Email me yours or post a comment. I think it's more about where we're going though, the movement forward... what we can do now...

**

Stacy drove to Winnipeg in two days and five hours from Clydesdale, Nova Scotia. She only planned to stay for a year, but it has been four already, because this city keeps you, holds you. Though she works at a corporate publishing company, she has learned about writing, art, urban living, praying mantis kung fu, cycling, goddesses, and the middle while here. She hopes to figure something out about preserving, wool, gentleness, Mandarin, and movement. And, always, poetry. For the duration. Email Stacy at anastasie.doiron@gmail.com.

The bright lights...

2010-09-20T23:11:00.001-07:00

Line of Inquiry: Michael Lista

2010-09-20T22:24:00.000-07:00

Michael Lista is a poet and essayist whose work has been published in The Walrus, Maisonneuve, The Malahat Review, Arc, Descant, Canadian Literature, and Border Crossings, as well as in the companion book to Guy Maddin’s film, My Winnipeg.

He has been a finalist for a National Magazine Award, the Arc Poem of the Year Prize, The Malahat Review Long Poem Prize, and the Descant/Winston Collins Prize, and he has been shortlisted twice for the Pushcart Prize.

Bloom (Anansi) tracks the last days of Louis Slotin, the Winnipeg born physicist who died in a fatal radiation burst at Los Alamos in 1946. Lista lives in Toronto.

1) As a writer (i.e. someone whose artistic practice is predicated on time spent alone) how do you approach performance? What do you get out of it?

What excites and terrifies me about readings is the way that my work changes the instant I start reading it for people. Sometimes it feels like I can actually hear the chemical reaction in the air as I read a poem for a crowd; you can feel some lines falling and some sticking. It’s easy as a writer — as a poem’s craftsman — to think that your poem arrives at a state of completion, a state of rest, when you publish it. But weird things happen when you let that poem out into a room, and at a reading I have the chance to get a glimpse of the catalyzing effect — sometimes good, sometimes not so good — that a poem can have.

2) What do you want people to know about Bloom?

It's a collection of poems about one of Winnipeg’'s own sons, Louis Slotin. He was a Manhattan Project physicist who helped design and hand-build the first atomic bombs, including the ones dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

3) Will this be your first time in Winnipeg? What have you heard?

This’ll be my third trip to Winnipeg. Quick story: In 2007 a poet friend suggested I send some of my Bloom poems to Border Crossings magazine. He had just published a poem with them and said I should give it a shot. So I sent the editor, Meeka Walsh, a clutch of them. About a week later I got a response from Meeka. She was astonished. It turns out that Meeka'’s daughter is married to a man named Louis Ludwig. And he takes his first name from his uncle, Louis Slotin.

The poems, which were the first from Bloom to be published, came out in their fall issue and in November I came to Winnipeg for the first time to meet some of Slotin’s relatives and dig around, do some research. When I was here I met the filmmaker Guy Maddin at a party at Meeka’s house. I came back to Winnipeg about a year later to do some cutting and pasting at one of Guy's collage parties. In January. It was like -40 the whole time. I really do like Winnipeg. I’m so exciting and honoured to be bringing Bloom to Slotin’s city, where he was born, where he is buried. And it'’ll be nice to see a bit of its gentler side come September.

4) What are you reading right now? What are you writing right now?

I've been going back through Yeats, Frost, and Berryman. The book of the season for me is Don Paterson’'s new collection of poems Rain. It hasn't strayed far from my desk for the past couple of months. I'm trying to read Dante in Italian to mixed results. In April I read Auden’s lectures on Shakespeare and in the chapter on Antony and Cleopatra he says that if he had to choose only one play of Shakespeare'’s to save from oblivion, to the peril of all the others, it’d be A&C. So I'’ve been reading it over and over all summer. Also Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur and Trisan and Iseult.

5) Your first book was published this past spring. What's that been like? Roughly equivalent to handling the core of an atomic bomb with a screwdriver?

Writing the book felt like that. Publishing the book was the irradiating flash: intense and over in an instant. These days feel like the long wait after the accident, anxious of what changes may come.

* * *
Michael Lista will be appearing at THIN AIR, Winnipeg International Writers Festival:

September 20 - Mainstage, with Carolyn Smart, Joan Thomas, Eva Wiseman, Richard B Wright
September 21 - Afternoon Book Chat, with Michael Lista

Mainstage: Re-Writing History

2010-09-20T18:13:00.001-07:00

All the traditional elements of a mainstage: wine, cheese, books and red chairs full of people.

Hands on: Carolyn Smart

2010-09-20T16:23:00.000-07:00

We decided to have Carolyn grasp the tree (!) in McNally's newly-renovated atrium because she's all woodsy (i.e. she likes spending great gobs of time outdoors). She also confided that she went around fondling all of the decorative silk flowers/foliage strewn about the store prior her afternoon book chat (mostly to see if they were real...), so it seemed apt.

*
Carolyn Smart has published several poetry collections, including Swimmers in Oblivion, Power Sources, and The Way to Come Home. A section of her memoir, At the End of the Day, won the CBC Radio Literary Contest in the Personal Essay Category. In 2009, Brick Books released Hooked, a poetic examination of seven famously obsessive women. Smart came to Canada at the age of six, and has lived in Ottawa, Toronto, and Winnipeg. Since 1983, she has grown lilies and vegetables north of Kingston, Ontario. She is the founder of the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers, and is in charge of the Creative Writing program at Queen’s University.

* * *
Ariel Gordon has two chapbooks to her credit, The navel gaze (Palimpsest Press) and Guidelines: Malaysia & Indonesia, 1999 (Rubicon Press), and this spring, Palimpsest published her first full-length poetry collection, Hump. She recently won the John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer at the Manitoba Book Awards. When not being bookish, Ariel likes tromping through the woods and taking macro photographs of mushrooms.

Panorama: Smart & Wright

2010-09-20T12:59:00.001-07:00

Can you tell I've got a new device to train on the festival?

Chittery chat

2010-09-20T12:40:00.001-07:00

Carolyn Smart reads from Hooked at the afternoon book chat at McNally's.

Dirty Pool

2010-09-20T11:15:00.000-07:00

Alright, I have taken all I can stand and I can’t stands no more! These festival organizers will stop at nothing to quench their thirst for making me miserable. You’re not going to believe what they did this time. It’s horrendous. In the most despicable attempt yet to slow my efforts to enjoy this festival at their expense, they actually made my entire family sick. Not just my wife. Not just my boys. But the girls too. They’re only 6 weeks old for crying out loud! I mean really, what kind of people make babies sick? I don’t even know what to say. I’m absolutely speechless.

I’ll have to admit, I didn’t really put two and two together at first. Initially I thought my family’s ill health had nothing to do with the festival at all, just an unlucky coincidence. But after what happened opening night, it all became clear; it was just another facet of their all out assault on my good time.

The night started very much as I’d imagined it would. The chill of fall was in the air, but the warmth in my chest was beating it back. In my heart I knew, my enjoyment of this year’s festival would be the ultimate revenge on the perpetrators of my literary misery. As I reached the edge of the bowl the breeze coming off the river swept coolly across my face, and I smiled. I wore long johns. Everything was perfect.

I scanned the crowd and saw Ariel sitting off to the side, just behind and to the right of the podium. I thought it would be a great time to show her how much fun I was having. That should get her goat. I tried to hide my excitement and ran over. We chatted for a bit about our kids and complained about the bugs (well, she complained about the bugs. Bugs don’t like the smell of stale cigarette smoke and baby spit up). It was actually quite nice. My plan was working. Even Ariel seemed to be softening to me. Maybe an ally? I couldn’t be sure, but with positivity being crucial to my new strategy, I made a conscious decision to hope.

About five minutes before show time He finally arrived. Ismaila Alfa. And let me tell you, if you think his voice is a warm hug, there is no describing receiving the real thing from him. The scene was dreamy. I handed him his water and we reminisced. I could see Charlene squirming as I soaked it all in. Eventually my happiness must have become too much for her , and without warning she started the show. Poor Ismaila had to scurry to his seat. I felt bad he got caught in the crossfire, but everyone should know by now, there’s a target on my back.

Now earlier I said I thought Ariel may have been softening to me, but the opening moments of the night’s reading soon had me questioning my faith as folly. When she asked me to sit with her, I thought it may have been a olive branch, after listening to the thank yous, I suspected it was merely to ruin my festival with bad audio.

From what I’ve been told, the sound was great in front of the stage, but from where Ariel had me sit, behind it, I couldn’t hear anything. Who knew? I could feel my trademark crankiness rising in my belly. I had to try and stop it or my plan would fall apart. But what was I going to do. I felt powerless. Sadly, I thought, this must be my last stand. Then, out of nowhere, help arrived from the most unlikely of sources. Ariel, festival employee, Bloginatrix, sworn enemy, turned to me and said “don’t sit here, move so you can hear better.” I couldn’t believe it. She was actually trying to help me. After all these years I must have finally gotten through to her. The festival is bad, we must defeat it.

Funny thing is, I decided not to move. Pretty soon Courtney joined us (one of the other bloggers), and we all sat there, together in defiance. The bad kids at the back of the classroom. We shared my coat and stayed warm listening those magic mumblings in the crisp autumn air (well, they put their hands in the sleeves while I huddled under most of it. They must have been reluctant to share it entirely due to my renowned reproductive powers. I don’t blame them. My wife seems to prefer me sleeping as far away from her as possible too).

Even the guy the festival sent to harass me during the reading didn’t dampen my spirits. Though the entire crowd turned to look at me as he loudly asked, if I was his friend who worked at Kustom Kulture, I couldn’t help but grin politely, say no and continue enjoying the ridiculousness that is my life.

The show ended wonderfully with Ismaila rapping and singing. It was better than when I saw Tom Jones. Opening night had been nothing short of perfect. Not only was the reading great, but by the end of the evening I had gained two allies in my battle with this festival.

My guess is this is why the festival has decided to attack my family. If you can’t stop the man, go after his family. But I can tell you right now, it isn’t going to work. It will only make me stronger. Because anytime I feel like giving up, all I’ll have to do is look into my sick babies’ eyes to know why I have to keep going...

It’s because somebody has to think of the children.

Talk to you soon and remember, join the revolution, have fun at the festival.

* * *
Jason Diaz is a Winnipeg-based writer, bookstore employee and handyman (the bookstore business isn't as stable as you'd think). His poetry and prose has been published in dark leisure magazine. He has no idea why he keeps working for these meanies and volunteers coaching basketball to all the artsy kids in Wolseley so they never have to sit on the bench. He has a wife and many children.

Surroundings #1

2010-09-20T11:00:00.001-07:00

I met 62 year-old Beau Daniels outside the library before Joan Thomas' nooner. He writes songs and plays guitar. He kindly spoke with me for a few minutes and gave me some valuable advice about the future. About not putting all my eggs in one basket, and not missing the boat. He likes to read mystery and crime fiction. He may have read something about Thin Air but has never attended the festival. I hope to meet more interesting people in the places surrounding the festival as the week goes by.

*****

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.9

Line of Inquiry: Richard B. Wright

2010-09-20T10:34:00.000-07:00

Richard B Wright published his first novel in 1965, and since then has produced over a dozen titles.

His 1995 novel The Age of Longing was shortlisted for the Giller Prize and the Governor General’s Award, but Clara Callan, published in 2001, cemented his reputation by winning the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Governor General’s Award, the Trillium Book Award, and the CBA Libris Awards for Best Book and Author of the Year.

His next novels, Adultery and October, were best-sellers, with October being long-listed for the Giller.

Wright’s new novel is Mr. Shakespeare’s Bastard (HarperCollins). He lives in St Catherine’s, Ontario.

1) As a writer (i.e. someone whose artistic practice is predicated on time spent alone) how do you approach performance? What do you get out of it?

How do most people who no only work alone but are also reclusive by nature approach performance? Probably with fear and trembling, but I have been reading to audiences for many years now and actually – despite the normal apprehension that accompanies them – I have come to enjoy the experience. There is a buzz attached to engaging an audience through words alone. It doesn’t always happen, but if I am lucky I can see people getting caught up in the story as they listen, and that is very gratifying.

2) What do you want people to know about Mr. Shakespeare’s Bastard?

I want them to know that the novel is set in two time zones of the 17th century: the period in which Shakespeare was living in London, and later in the century following the Civil War. They should know that it’s the story of a young girl who listens to her mother tell of how she went from a village to London and met the poet when he was only 23 and had a child by him. It’s also the story of how that child grew up and at the age of 14 set out for London to find her father.

3) Will this your first time in Winnipeg? What have you heard?

I have been to Winnipeg several times for readings, but they have been of necessity quick visits, and so I haven’t been able to form any lasting impression of the city. I have heard that it’s very cold in winter. But where in Canada is it not cold in winter? In Toronto you can your freeze your...well never mind, it can be cold.

4) What are you reading right now? What are you writing right now?

I have just finished re-reading Martin Amis’s The War Against Cliché and I’ll soon be re-reading Turgenev’s A Sportman’s Notebook. This summer I have also enjoyed Graham Swift’s memoir, Making An Elephant.

5) The prospect of writing from the point of view of a woman would probably give most male writers cramps. After eleven books, is there anything you can't/won't try to write?

I have never thought about such a question, but now that you ask, I don’t think I could or would want to write a science fiction novel or one that includes vampires. I don’t believe it should be that unusual for a man to write from a woman’s point of view. After all, women sometimes write novels from a man’s perspective. The whole point of being a novelist is being able to imagine the lives of others, whatever the gender.

* * *

Richard B. Wright will be appearing at THIN AIR, Winnipeg International Writers Festival:

September 20 - Afternoon Book Chat, with Carolyn Smart
September 20 - Mainstage, with Michael Lista, Carolyn Smart, Joan Thomas, Eva Wiseman
September 21 - Campus Program, U of M.

MY HANDS ARE MISSING!

2010-09-20T07:09:00.000-07:00

ok, not actually. they are right here, helping me type. I simply used that line as hook, to get you to keep reading my post.

I was the outcast who couldn't make our hot air meeting and I happened to notice that there are lovely pictures of everyone else's hands but mine.

that's fine. totally fine. I'm not even crying right now or anything. ##imabigsensitiveliar

In fact, i think it fits perfectly into my role this year. Like others, I am back again, trapped in the endless lure of the writers festival, and more then that, the seduction of being a blogger. Who knew blogging could be sexy. And seductive. While I too may have spent all last year thinking "There is no way I can volunteer again this year", as soon as Ariel was like "hey Courtney, wanna blog" I was like

"YES!!"(in my head)

but in an attempt to play it cool, simply said "Sure, whatever."

It has become, like Stacey mentioned, a ritualistic part of fall in the city.
But decididly, my role this year needs to change. I am bored with my ramblings on the deep and meaningful interpretations of authors and stories.

Mostly I'm interested in improving my spy skills. Imagine Gossip Girl meets Veronica Mars.

If the pop culture reference is lost on you
## noteveryonewatchesasmuchtvasme

it basically means don't be alarmed if you see me lurking around, in dark corners, with sunglasses and my notebook. Rest assured that I'm just engaging in my spy mission. I will be watching the festival, and the festival goers, with the sole purpose of figuring out why you people keep coming. And what you do while you are here.

Pay no attention to me. This is important data for you to know. it may help you figure out something about yourself. Though i may need to interview you. don't be alarmed. its all completely annoymous. Except for the part where I put it on the internet.

Number one spy fail: telling you about my spy plans. ##imnotreallyaspy

I would love to tell you about the events I plan on attending, but due to the nature of my mission, I'm not able to.

hint: where the rivers fork.
over and out.

* * *
Courtney Slobogian was born in Winnipeg and likes it that way. She is a writer/understated activist/ irreverent feminist.

Some of her work can be tracked down in quiet corners of the internet.

She co-hosts a radio show on CKUW called Tiger Lilies are Poisonous, dislikes cotton socks and is currently working on developing her spy skills.

Impressions

2010-09-19T22:53:00.000-07:00

Geese overhead. Songbirds in the yellowing trees. Mosquitoes, quick and nasty, despite the frost.

Peals of laughter from the paths to either side of the Oodena amphitheatre. Children that nearly kill themselves on its bricky shoulders.

Shod feet on grass, the soft sound of hair parting.

Throats clearing.

Mainstage: Opening Night

2010-09-19T22:34:00.001-07:00

And yes, the sound man was eating an ice cream cone...

Hands on: Simone Chaput

2010-09-19T21:14:00.000-07:00

This is a pic of Simone's hands on the lit podium at THIN AIR's opening night at the Oodena. (Oodena! Oodena!) She doesn't rest her hands on the podium when she reads - or grip the sides as some writers do - so this pic is the really the worst kind of artifice. But when you're shooting in the dark, you take whatever light's available...

(Simone reads with her hands clasped in the small of her back.)

*
Simone Chaput is a franco-manitobaine born in St Boniface. She has degrees in both French and English literature, and teaches language and literature at the Collegiate at the University of Winnipeg. A two-time winner of Le Prix Littéraire la Liberté, she has four titles in French, all published by Éditions du blé: Incidents de Parcours; Le Coulonneux; Un Piano dans le Noir; and La Vigne Amère. She has also written two novels in English, Santiago and A Possible Life (Turnstone). Chaput has another French novel coming out this fall. She lives in Old St Vital.

Simone Chaput est originaire de Saint-Boniface. Elle a obtenu des diplômes en littérature en français et en anglais, et elle enseigne la langue et la littérature françaises au Collegiate de l’Université de Winnipeg. Elle est l’auteure de quatre livres en français, Incidents de Parcours, Le Coulonneux, Un Piano dans le Noir et La Vigne Amère (Éditions du Blé) et de deux livres en anglais, Santiago et A Possible Life (Turnstone Press). Elle a été deux fois récipiendaire du Prix littéraire la Liberté. Son nouveau roman en français sera publié en automne. Elle vit dans le Vieux Saint-Vital.

* * *
Ariel Gordon has two chapbooks to her credit, The navel gaze (Palimpsest Press) and Guidelines: Malaysia & Indonesia, 1999 (Rubicon Press), and this spring, Palimpsest published her first full-length poetry collection, Hump. She recently won the John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer at the Manitoba Book Awards. When not being bookish, Ariel likes tromping through the woods and taking macro photographs of mushrooms.

Hosp suite hijinks 3

2010-09-19T20:50:00.001-07:00

Tavia getting out from under the glass sink in the hosp suite...

Hosp suite hijinks 2

2010-09-19T15:45:00.001-07:00

Tavia in the hosp suite bathroom, under the glass sink. Really.

Hosp suite hijinks

2010-09-19T15:44:00.001-07:00

Tavia and Michael in the hosp suite, pre-fest...

Blogatrix

2010-09-18T21:02:00.000-07:00

I'll admit it: after four years doing the HOT AIR blog, I'm officially a blogatrix.

That mostly means I'm bossy. But also that I've carried laptops, camcorders, cameras, and phones into THIN AIR events and trained them on THIN AIR festival staff/authors/volunteers.

Inevitably, one of the days of the festival, I forget batteries and the device in question takes a dirt-nap, mid-event. Inevitably, I start to sag mid-festival and either miss or am egregiously late to an event I'd circled and underlined earlier in the week.

(I like it when the venues have back doors, so I slip in without being noticed. I also like it when the venues serve tea. So that the sag is slightly less pronounced.)

Before this degenerates any further, I'll offer a snippet of advice or two on how to get the most of your festival.

My ABSOLUTE favourite events at THIN AIR? The afternoon book chats, for their shocking yet consistent intimacy.

The nooners are anything but intimate, given the venue (the Carol Shields Auditorium at the Millennium Library), but they're always interesting.

The campus readings get you up close and personal with the authors if you can figure out getting to events during the day and can navigate the various campuses. Campi? (I have to admit, the U of M is still too far away for me to bother...)

In terms of authors, I particularly want to see/hear Carolyn Smart, Sandra Birdsell, David Bergen, Michael Lista, and Joan Thomas...

...but I will admit that the author I'm most looking forward to seeing/hearing is myself. Which sounds ABSOLUTELY awful, but reading at THIN AIR has been a dream of mine for as long as I've been attending the festival. I'm so honoured that me and my book are being included and more than a little nervous I'll fuck it all up.

Heh.

* * *

Ariel Gordon has two chapbooks to her credit, The navel gaze (Palimpsest Press) and Guidelines: Malaysia & Indonesia, 1999 (Rubicon Press), and this spring, Palimpsest published her first full-length poetry collection, Hump. She recently won the John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer at the Manitoba Book Awards. When not being bookish, Ariel likes tromping through the woods and taking macro photographs of mushrooms.

September Air

2010-09-18T20:21:00.000-07:00

When I walk down sidewalks now, autumn, true autumn in this city is Thin Air, is about writing, words, and a clean slate, a time to be less small and more brave. The air is different, catches you, wakes you up. Our pendulum days that chill you to the bone but for mugs of tea, and the was-just-wearing a sarong-last-week, but-I-didn't-get-to-Gimli-yet, frost-could-wreck-the-last-stalks-of-rhubarb, I-have-no-idea-where-my-winter-coat-is-and-I-refuse-to-find-it, kind of cold. The kind of air that only lasts a few breaths of days, before winter hits and we're on to other things, survival. The air where for a few days our world seems suspended.

September. Pull on your wool sweater. Lock the door behind you. Step into the chilly evening, already surprisingly dark. Not in too much of a rush. Feel crisp, clear air through you. Breathe in memory, exhale present.

Head over to Main Stage.

I remember my first Thin Air: 2006. I had just moved to Winnipeg and had only been here a month, and I knew exactly one person in the city. I didn't know anyone in the writing community, but back east Anne Simpson had tipped me off about the existence of Winnipeg's writers' festival. I came across one of the glossy, free programs and that was that. I couldn't tell you what writers I saw at Main Stage that week the first year. I was just happy to be somewhere, literally in from the cold, and listen to someone speaking their own words to a warm audience. I could sit at the back with my toque pulled over eyebrows, drink my glass of white, wear an ugly plaid shirt from the 90s, and no one minded. I didn't have to say anything. I just had to be there. That's something, and it felt pretty important, good, hopeful. For someone who felt like she had no place in this city, for one week out of that year I had one.

All those years we groan about the end of summer, the sadness in the pit of stomach, the coming of September, school, whatever that might mean for you... maybe that's still there a bit.... But one of the best things I've learned in Winnipeg so far is that September doesn't have to be a time of endings necessarily; it is one of beginnings.

Thin Air had a hand in turning that one over in my head for me, drawing me in and linking me with this city when it could've been easier to leave, head for higher, warmer ground.

The air is pretty damn good here, I'd say.

What is it to you, September air?

Hope to see you at the festival!

**

Stacy drove to Winnipeg in two days and five hours from Clydesdale, Nova Scotia. She only planned to stay for a year, but it has been four already, because this city keeps you, holds you. Though she works at a corporate publishing company, she has learned about writing, art, urban living, praying mantis kung fu, cycling, goddesses, and the middle while here. She hopes to figure something out about preserving, wool, gentleness, Mandarin, and movement. And, always, poetry. For the duration.

It's not that bad

2010-09-18T19:00:00.000-07:00

Maybe it was the cigarette I smoked with Gregory Scofield, or the proposition I received from Jon Paul Fiorentino, or the time I met George Elliot Clarke, but I rather liked my first Thin Air experience. Maybe it's the cheese. Or maybe I am brainwashed. But for whatever reason, here I am again.

Psychotropic drugs or no psychotropic drugs, I'll be there. Watching, listening, wondering, photographing, drifting, blogging. And ignoring my (formal) education for a few days.

So you may see me at the library for the nooners, or you may see me in the audience at the mainstage or more likely lurking in the shadows by the wine and cheese bar, or you may see me downtown at the university taking in the events there, but you won't see me at opening night. I'll leave that one for Jason to battle on his own.

And you know, he could be right, I may very well be brainwashed, or better yet drugged. But who knows? He is, after all, only the second best poet to come out of Hastings Junior High.

****

This Festival is a Big Jerk

2010-09-18T09:06:00.000-07:00

This festival is a big jerk. Ya, that’s right I said it. It’s a big jerk. I thought after last year we were letting bygones be bygones, but this festival holds a vendetta longer than the nastiest, car scratchingest, where’d my cat go?, ex-boyfriend or girlfriend anyone have ever had. Let me explain.

You see, last year I tried to be a good boy. I tried to write nice little posts about how quaint everything was. I tried to make amends for the mass hysteria caused by my first year’s posts. Even though it wasn’t my fault I got some bad information about the festival using psychotropic drugs to enslave and fleece this city’s literarily inclined public, I still tried to make nice.

But they couldn’t let sleeping dogs lie. No, they had to go digging around in my past and find some nefarious way to make me pay. They needed revenge. They needed Ismaila Alfa.

Ya, that’s right, first they trick me into doing this blog thing again, then they go and get Ismaila Alfa for opening night. I know you’re probably wondering what that sweet, foggy voiced, young man responsible for the traffic on CBC has to do with anything, but let me tell you, we all have pasts.

You see, there once was a little boy who really liked sports, especially football and basketball. Now this boy wasn’t the fastest, or the jumpiest, but he had heart. He worked hard, made both teams and things were good. However, there was another boy who also liked sports, like football and basketball. Now this boy was the fastest and the jumpiest boy there was and he even had heart too. So naturally, he also made both teams. But what a sad day it was when the poor boy who only had heart realized that because he only had heart he would forever ride the pine, and watch the fastest and jumpiest kid get all the girls. Though you wouldn’t think it from seeing me now, that poor little boy with heart was me. And that fastest, jumpiest kid...you guessed it, Ismaila Alfa.

Now as time went on, I eventually came to grips with the fact that my sports dreams were over. I decided to take up something I knew no athlete would even want to beat me at. I took up poetry. I thought the failures of my past would be buried in the accolades I would receive as being the best poet ever to come out of Hastings Junior High. Evidently, the festival felt it necessary to rob me of that delusion too. Let’s check the scoreboard:

International Writer’s Festival Reading Gigs

Ismaila Alfa 1

Jason Diaz 0

And the best poet ever to come out of Hastings Junior High is....Ismaila Alfa!!

He’s probably still faster than me too.

Now please, don’t get me wrong. I don’t think Ismaila is in on this. He was a good guy. And the warm hug in his voice as he informs me that Osborne is backed up to Jubilee, tells me he still is. He’s just being used as the festival’s pawn. But not me, not anymore.

If Ismaila goes down with a bad hammy opening night, I will not be stepping in to read. Hear that festival, I’m out. Your scheme won’t work. I’ll write your blog, tweet your twitters and eat your room temperature cheese, but if you think for a second that I’m going to let you make me feel like I should quit poetry like I did sports by making me the back up again, you’ve got another thing coming. Dig up whoever you want. Being a poet is my life. It’s what I do. It’s the only good reason I have for working in a bookstore at the age of thirty five when I have four kids. It’s all I’ve got.

Anyway, psychological warfare, that’s why the festival is a big jerk. See you opening night.

PS I’m sneaking into the comp room this year and I will not be there getting Ismaila water. Take that Festival!

* * *
Jason Diaz is a Winnipeg-based writer, bookstore employee and handyman (the bookstore business isn't as stable as you'd think). His poetry and prose has been published in dark leisure magazine. He has no idea why he keeps working for these meanies and volunteers coaching basketball to all the artsy kids in Wolseley so they never have to sit on the bench. He has a wife and many children.

THIN AIR author at Aqua

2010-09-17T21:27:00.001-07:00

Ignatius Mabasa is a writer and storyteller from Zimbabwe. He'll be the storyteller-in-residence at the U of M this fall...and also doing events at THIN AIR. And he walked into Aqua last week and headed straight for the theology section. Where I persecuted him with my camera.

A little birdie...

2010-09-11T08:21:00.001-07:00

...sent me this photo of the THIN AIR programmes spread out on the reception desk of the Winnipeg Free Press newsroom.

(Speaking of programmes, I have to start poking through mine and figure out, precisely, what I'm going to...)

Hands on: Jay Diaz

2010-09-09T21:20:00.000-07:00

This is Jay's third year blogging.

Here's last year's bio:

Jason Diaz is a Winnipeg-based writer and stay at home dad. His poetry and prose has been published in dark leisure magazine. Last year he joined the Thin Air collective and has been awaiting the festival’s arrival ever since. He has still only been interviewed by The Uniter once, and is sadly no longer licensed to drive forklift.

Here's 2008's bio:

Jason Diaz is a Winnipeg-based writer and bookstore employee. His poems and prose have been previously published in dark leisure magazine. He was interviewed for the Uniter once and is probably the only blogger here licensed to drive forklift. He doesn’t have any books coming out, but would most likely write one if asked.

Hands on: Stacy Doiron

2010-09-09T21:15:00.000-07:00

This is Stacy's first year blogging.

I'm looking forward to getting to know her. You should too.

Hands on: Brandon Bertram

2010-09-09T21:04:00.000-07:00

This is Brandon's second year blogging.

Here's last year's bio: Brandon James Bertram is an English/Creative Writing student at the University of Winnipeg. He reads, writes, rides bikes, and drinks coffee.

KHL! Into THIN AIR II

2010-09-07T20:42:00.000-07:00

Host Kelly Hughes interviews Writers Festival performers Ismaila Alfa, Ignatius Mabasa and Dominique Rey, with music by Naomi Guilbert and Hiroshi Koshiyama of Fubuki Daiko

When: Friday, September 17/10 7pm
Where: Aqua Books, 274 Garry Street
Cost: Free

Winnipeg's only live talk show, Kelly Hughes Live! brings you all the trappings you've come to expect from the television talk show: comedy, music and celebrities.

The only difference is that (with the exception of a few ringers like Kids in the Hall's Kevin McDonald and Hugo-nominated writer Nick DiChario), it's all local heroes.

Guests like Tina Keeper, Fred Penner, Al Simmons, Brian Glow, Margaret Sweatman and Robert Enright have been joined onstage by the likes of stellar Winnipeg musicians The Paperbacks, Todd Hunter, Ingrid Gatin and Rollin Penner and the Traveling Medicine Show.

(But it's not like TV in that you will have to leave your house.) It's the TV talk show without the TV.

* * *

Ismaila Alfa completed his early school years in Edmonton, then moved to Winnipeg. After starting a civil engineering degree at the University of Manitoba, he followed his musical dreams and spent eight years touring North America as a hip hop musician. Magnum KI, a band he formed in 2005 with DJ Michael Arnone, opened for the legendary band The Roots at this year’s TD Winnipeg International Jazz Festival. When he’s not on a stage tangling with words, he is an audio technician, jingle writer, and traffic reporter for CBC Radio.

Ignatius Mabasa is an acclaimed writer and storyteller from Zimbabwe. He has published stories and poems for children and adults in both English and his native language, Shona. His most recent book, The Man, Shaggy Leopard and Jackal and other stories (Lion Press), was nominated for Zimbabwe’s National Arts Merit Award as the best book in the children’s literature category. Mabasa has performed his stories and poems in many countries, and will spend the fall term in Winnipeg as storyteller-in-residence at the University of Manitoba’s Centre for Creative Writing and Oral Culture.

Dominique Rey is a painter, photographer, video artist and performance artist. She has shown her work across North America with solo exhibitions at Plug In ICA, Clark Gallery, Michael Gibson Gallery, Alternator Gallery, Gallery TPW, Truck Gallery, Gallery One One One and La Maison des artistes. As part of the Winnipeg Cultural Capital of Canada 2010 program, Dominique was selected as the Arts Ambassador for Visual Arts.

As founding members of Fubuki Daiko, Naomi Guilbert and Hiroshi Koshiyama have shared a stage with luminaries such as Blue Rodeo, the Nylons, the McGarrigle Sisters, Cake and a ventriloquist. They received their formal training from the founder of North American Taiko, Grandmaster Seiichi Tanaka. After leaving the San Francisco Taiko Dojo and moving to Winnipeg, they’ve been in constant contact, rehearsing, performing, touring, and writing/editing bios for close to fifteen years. Not once have they ever wanted to kill each other (well, maybe once).

KHL: Charlene Diehl

2010-09-06T12:52:00.000-07:00

Thanks to M and his incessant gadgeteering for this pic...

Raffled

2010-09-03T09:13:00.000-07:00

* * *

After five years in a writers group together and four years doing a blog about Perry's day job, I've gotten to the point where I can persecute him...

...as in this photo, where I asked him to hold up one of the festival's raffle prizes. And, in doing so, made him blush. And then I chased him around the office, trying to get a picture of him blushing.

So this is Perry Grosshans, THIN AIR GM, hiding from the camera.

Heh.

New swag

2010-09-02T19:30:00.000-07:00

Old swag

2010-09-02T19:15:00.001-07:00

Kelly Hughes Live! Into THIN AIR I

2010-08-31T08:27:00.000-07:00

Host Kelly Hughes interviews writers Charlene Diehl, Ariel Gordon and Jordan Wheeler, with music by classical guitarist Skender Sefa

When: Friday, September 3/10 7pm
Where: Aqua Books, 274 Garry Street
Cost: Free

Winnipeg's only live talk show, Kelly Hughes Live! brings you all the trappings you've come to expect from the television talk show: comedy, music and celebrities.

The only difference is that (with the exception of a few ringers like Kids in the Hall's Kevin McDonald and Hugo-nominated writer Nick DiChario), it's all local heroes.

Guests like Tina Keeper, Fred Penner, Al Simmons, Brian Glow, Margaret Sweatman and Robert Enright have been joined onstage by the likes of stellar Winnipeg musicians The Paperbacks, Todd Hunter, Ingrid Gatin and Rollin Penner and the Traveling Medicine Show.

(But it's not like TV in that you will have to leave your house.) It's the TV talk show without the TV.

* * *
Charlene Diehl is possibly best known in these parts as the brightly plumaged dynamo at the hub of the THIN AIR writers festival. But she is also a hard-working poet, and the author of the new book, Out of Grief, Singing.

Ariel Gordon is a Winnipeg-based writer and editor. She has two chapbooks to her credit, The navel gaze (Palimpsest Press, 2008) and Guidelines: Malaysia & Indonesia, 1999 (Rubicon Press, 2009) and this spring, Palimpsest published her first full-length poetry collection, Hump. She is the 2010 recipient of the John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Writer. When not being bookish, Ariel likes tromping through the woods and taking macro photographs of mushrooms.

From the Charles Gordon First Nation (Southern Plains Cree), Jordan Wheeler has been writing professionally since 1982 and working in film and television since 1984. An author (Brothers In Arms, Just A Walk) and columnist (Winnipeg Free Press, Weetamah), Wheeler’s focus since 1992 has been scriptwriting, story editing and show running for television drama including the award winning series North of 60, The Rez and renegadepress.com. He’s been nominated for numerous awards including three Geminis. He won one, but still smarts at losing to Paul Haggis in ’94.

Skender Sefa is a professional classical guitarist with four full length classical guitar CDs on the GFI Masterworks, Uncontrollable Records and Marquis Record Labels. He teaches classical guitar performance and music theory at the Manitoba Conservatory of Music and Arts and is a Director of the Winnipeg Music Festival and the President of the Winnipeg Classical Guitar Society. In recognition of his career in classical guitar performance, Skender has received awards from both the Canada Council for the Arts and the Manitoba Arts Council. In addition to performing, teaching and recording, Skender is an active music adjudicator/clinician.

The Entire Line-up

2010-08-23T10:07:00.001-07:00

August 23, 2010

For Immediate Release:

THE 2010 THIN AIR FESTIVAL PROUDLY ANNOUNCES ITS ENTIRE LINE UP

THIN AIR proudly announces that THE ABORIGINAL WRITERS COLLECTIVE, ISMAILA ALFA, DAVID ARNASON, DAVID BERGEN, SANDRA BIRDSELL, GILES BLUNT, BATHELEMY BOLIVAR, MARTHA BROOKS, MARGARET BUFFIE, REYNALD CANTIN, DAVID CARPENTER, RHEAL CENERINI, SIMONE CHAPUT, NATE CRAWFORD, DONNA CREIGHTON, DORA DUECK, AMY JO EHMAN, KEN FINKLEMAN, THODORE FONTAINE, ARIEL GORDON, NORA GOULD, MARCEL GOSSELIN, CAROLYN CRAY, JAN HORNER, JUDITH KEENAN, ROGER LAFRENIERE, RACHELLE LAMOUREUX, MICHAEL LISTA, IGNATIUS T. MABASA, GREG MACARTHUR, SHARON MCCARTNEY, kevin mcpherson eckhoff, JENNY MUNDAY, GEORGE MURRAY, BETRAND NAYET, UMA PARAMESWARAN, SHANE PEACOCK, LAURENT POLIQUIN, CRAIG FRANCIS POWER, SINA QUEYRAS, DOMINIQUE REY, LAWRENCE SCANLAN, CAROLYN SMART, A.J. SOMERSET, ALLAN STRATTON, COLLEEN SYDOR, JOAN THOMAS, ANNE VILLENEUVE, MICHAEL WEX, JORDAN WHEELER, EVA WISEMAN and RICHARD B. WRIGHT will ALL be attending the 2010 THIN AIR Winnipeg International Writers Festival which runs from September 19-26.

These authors come from all across the country and represent some of the best and brightest in Canada’s vibrant literary world. Dealing with an infinity of subjects the festival is bringing books and authors designed to appeal to readers of all persuasions.

About the Festival

In September each year, Winnipeg welcomes writers from Canada and around the world for a week of readings, lectures, interviews, conversations, book launches, and other events. That week of literary feasting—which reaches out into the rural areas of the province as well—is THIN AIR, the Winnipeg International Writers Festival. With programming for adults and children, in English and French, THIN AIR is an infusion of energy into the thriving literary culture of this city.

For more information please contact Michael Van Rooy, Publicist, publicist@thinairwinnipeg.ca or contact the THIN AIR office at info@thinairwinnipeg.ca or 927-7323

Some More Great Authors...

2010-08-12T17:51:00.000-07:00

August 12, 2010

For Immediate Release:
SOME MORE GREAT WRITERS ATTENDING THE 2010 THIN AIR FESTIVAL

THIN AIR proudly announces that the ABORIGINAL WRITERS COLLECTIVE, ISMAILA ALFA, GILES BLUNT, BATHELEMY BOLIVAR, MARTHA BROOKS, GREG MACARTHUR, SHARON MCCARTNEY, JENNY MUNDAY, and GEORGE MURRAY will be attending the 2010 THIN AIR Winnipeg International Writers Festival which runs from September 19-26.

These authors come from all across the country and represent some of the best and brightest in Canada’s vibrant literary world.

This year some of the featured books include Crime Machine (Random House Canada), Mots de terre/Voices of the Earth (Create Space), Queen of Hearts (Groundwood Books), Isolated (Coach House Books), For and Against (GooseLane Editions), Relatively Harmless (PCP), and Glimpse (ECW).

Other authors, and their books, will be announced in the near future.

About the Festival
In September each year, Winnipeg welcomes writers from Canada and around the world for a week of readings, lectures, interviews, conversations, book launches, and other events. That week of literary feasting—which reaches out into the rural areas of the province as well—is THIN AIR, the Winnipeg International Writers Festival. With programming for adults and children, in English and French, THIN AIR is an infusion of energy into the thriving literary culture of this city.

Naming the names 06

2010-08-06T21:44:00.001-07:00

THIN AIR proudly announces two excellent writers who will be attending the festival. Quebec’s Reynald Cantin and Winnipeg’s Margaret Buffie will be attending the 2010 THIN AIR Winnipeg International Writers Festival which runs from September 19-26.Reynald will be presenting his latest book, Mes parents sont gentils, m...ais tellement peureux (by FouLire), and Margaret will be presenting Winter Shadows.

Naming the names 05

2010-07-30T12:58:00.001-07:00

THIN AIR proudly announces that Winnipeg’s Eva Wiseman and Ontario’s Richard B. Wright will be attending the 2010 THIN AIR Winnipeg International Writers Festival which runs from September 19-26. Eva will be presenting her latest book, Puppet, and Richard will be presenting his Mr. Shakespeare’s Bastard.

Naming the names 04

2010-07-29T19:56:00.000-07:00

THIN AIR proudly announces that Winnipeg’s David Arnason and Toronto’s Michael Lista will be attending the 2010 THIN AIR Winnipeg International Writers Festival which runs from September 19-26. David will be presenting his latest book, Baldur’s Song, and Michael will be presenting his Bloom.

Naming the names 03

2010-07-29T15:32:00.000-07:00

THIN AIR proudly announces that former Winnipegger Sandra Birdsell and Toronto’s Michael Wex will be attending the 2010 THIN AIR Winnipeg International Writers Festival which runs from September 19-26.Sandra will be presenting her latest book, the acerbic and poignant Waiting For Joe and Michael will be presenting his truly hilarious The Frumkiss Family Business.

Naming the names 02

2010-07-28T16:30:00.000-07:00

THIN AIR proudly announces that Winnipeg’s JOAN THOMAS and Montreal’s SINA QUEYRAS will be attending the 2010 THIN AIR Winnipeg International Writers Festival which runs from September 19-26. Joan will be presenting her latest book, Curiosity, and Sina will be presenting her Expressway.

Naming the names 01

2010-07-27T09:51:00.000-07:00

THIN AIR proudly announces that COLLEEN SYDOR and A.J. SOMERSET will be attending the 2010 THIN AIR Winnipeg International Writers Festival which runs from September 19-26.Colleen will be presenting her latest book, The McGillicuddy Book of Personal Records, and A.J. will be presenting his 2009-2010 Metcalf-Rooke Award winning Combat Camera.