Calendar of Events
Past Events

September 21, 2008
7:00 pm

SOIRÉE D’OUVERTURE : VOIX D’OODENA

Comme l’ont démontré les dernières années, de nouvelles oeuvres d’écrivains manitobains établis illustrent la puissance du langage pour préciser et inventer un sentiment d’appartenance à un lieu.

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September 21, 2008
7:00 pm

OPENING NIGHT: VOICES FROM OODENA

As we’ve seen for the past few years, new work by accomplished Manitoba writers demonstrates the power of language to mark and invent our sense of place.

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October 28, 2007
12:00 am

TOUR: Joanne Arnott, Marilyn Dumont, Erroll Kinistino

Joanne Arnott, Marilyn Dumont, and Erroll Kinistino have connected with hundreds of people through writing, teaching, acting, and advocacy work. Any one of them demonstrates the power and vitality of contemporary aboriginal literature and experience—together they’ll raise the roof. For tour details, email info@winnipegwords.com.

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October 25, 2007
12:00 am

Brandon Aboriginal Literary Festival

Renowned and award-winning writers featured at the Festival include: Joanne Arnott, Marie Annharte Baker, Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm, Maria Campbell, Warren Cariou, Rosanna Deerchild, Paul DePasquale, Marilyn Dumont, Kristina Fagan, Louise Halfe, Tomson Highway, Erroll Kinistino, Emma LaRocque, Lee Maracle, Lorraine Mayer, Neal McLeod, Duncan Mercredi, Daniel David Moses, Beatrice (Culleton) Mosionier, Yvette Nolan, Eden Robinson, Armand Garnett Ruffo, Darrell Racine, and Gregory Scofield. Participating writers will be reading from their published works and talking about their work. We will be selling books by the authors and also featuring tables by Aboriginal and Métis organizations. There will be four panel discussions at the Festival, on topics ranging from “Life and Writing” to “The Politics of Aboriginal Theatre.” Most of the writers will be attending the whole Festival. There will be a musical event on Saturday evening. The Brandon Aboriginal Literary Festival is hosted by the Departments of English and Native Studies and the John E. Robbins Library at Brandon University, with co-sponsorship from the BU Faculty of Arts, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Manitoba Writers’ Guild, the Manitoba Association of Playwrights, the League of Canadian Poets, the Brandon Friendship Centre, and the Manitoba Métis Federation (Southwest Region). For more information please call the Faculty of Arts at Brandon University: (204) 727-9790.

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October 24, 2007
7:30 pm

WORKSHOP: Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm, Yvette Nolan, Gregory Scofield

Writer-editor-performer Kateri-Akiwenzie Damm, playwright Yvette Nolan, and poet Gregory Scofield have made a dramatic impact on the Canadian literary scene. They’ll gather to speak frankly about how they use the tools of their trade. Bring your questions.

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October 1, 2007
8:00 pm

READING: George Ellenbogen

George Ellenbogen reads from Morning Gothic, a poetry collection which confirms him as one of the most astute and eloquent readers of contemporary life.

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September 30, 2007
1:30 pm

MATINÉE AT THE RALPH CONNOR HOUSE: THE WRITERS' GALLERY

The writers are here! The historic Ralph Connor House in West Gate transforms into a gallery space to showcase 19 whimsical papier-maché busts of Canadian writers by artist Susan Longmire. Join local writers David Bergen, Lise Gaboury-Diallo, and Chandra Mayor as they read their own work alongside snippets of the work by the Manitobans in the cast: Carol Shields, Gabrielle Roy, and Margaret Laurence. On hand to represent the presiding spirit of the house, the prolific novelist Ralph Connor, is his granddaughter, Toronto writer Alison Gordon.

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September 30, 2007
11:00 am

SPOTLIGHT: WHERE DO I SIGN?

For novice and veteran alike, understanding a publishing contract and knowing your rights can be daunting. Add to that the delicate art of negotiating the best possible contract. Join the veteran negotiating team, Martha Brooks (True Confessions of a Heartless Girl) and her husband Brian Brooks, and lawyer Brian Bowman (Pitblado LLP) and learn how to understand a contract, negotiate a deal and much more. Registrants will receive a complimentary resource package. Tickets: (204)-942-6134, www.mbwriter.mb.ca, or at the door.

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September 29, 2007
10:30 pm

DJ CODA & VJ GREG HANEC

You got a rhyme? The CYRK lights up tonight with a spectacular soundscape thanks to the beats of DJ Coda and VJ Greg Hanec’s video loops. Bring your best stuff—or just come to be amazed.

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September 29, 2007
8:00 pm

MAINSTAGE: POETRY BASH!

The poets are back, spinning their linguistic webs to catch us all. Trisha Cull takes us to the west coast, while Alison Calder shows us the prairie. Niels Hav brings us a Danish sensibility, while John Havelda weaves together Hungarian and English and Portuguese. Paul Savoie and George Ellenbogen spin visions from adopted homes. Let the magic begin!

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September 29, 2007
5:00 pm

A PINT OF BITTER MURDER: Karen Dudley, Alison Gordon, Alison Preston

Take your mysteries neat with a glass of beer and a plate of fish and chips. These three mystery mavens will set you up with great stories seasoned with plenty of wit.

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September 29, 2007
2:30 pm

TRISHA CULL and GEORGE ELLENBOGEN

How do poets attach words to their world? Join two accomplished practitioners, Trisha Cull and George Ellenbogen, as they probe that process.

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September 29, 2007
2:30 pm

FAMILY STORY TIME: Roch Carrier

The writer of one of Canada’s all-time classics, The Hockey Sweater, will delight children and parents—and grandparents!—with this abiding story of a boy experiencing the collision of French and English cultures.

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September 29, 2007
2:30 pm

L’HEURE DES HISTOIRES : Roch Carrier

L’auteur d’une des histoires canadiennes classiques de tous les temps, Le Chandail de hockey, plaira aux enfants, à leurs parents et à leurs grands-parents avec cette histoire d’un garçon qui vit une collision entre les cultures française et anglaise.

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September 29, 2007
1:30 pm

MAINSTAGE MATINÉE : TRANSIT OF VENUS

How does an award-winning play become an arresting new opera? Join Rory Runnells as he explores the process with playwright/librettist Maureen Hunter, composer Victor Davies, and director Larry Desrochers. Expect to see some bits enacted right in front of your eyes. Get the scoop on the Manitoba Opera’s world premier of The Transit of Venus this fall.

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September 29, 2007
1:00 pm

LANCEMENT: France Adams

France Adams lira pour les jeunes son nouveau livre pour enfants, Les Étrangers, publié aux Éditions des Plaines. Toutes les personnes qui ont de l’imagination sont les bienvenues!

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September 29, 2007
10:00 am

STORY TIME: Marie-Louise Gay

Calling all readers between 3 and 9 (and others who have been there once)! The wonderful, whimsical worlds of Sam and Stella and On My Island and Caramba are yours to visit up close with their creator, Marie-Louise Gay. While you’re upstairs at McNally’s, check out the other books featured in our THIN AIR School Program.

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September 29, 2007
10:00 am

ACCESS 2 PUBLISHERS: Publisher Pitch Sessions

Here’s your chance! Representatives from Fernwood Publishing, Heartland Associates, Les Éditions des Plaines, Pemmican Publications, Turnstone Press and University of Manitoba Press will be on hand to hear your pitch. Register: www.mbwriter.mb.ca or (204)-942-6134.

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September 29, 2007
10:00 am

SPOTLIGHT: SO YOU WANT TO GET PUBLISHED?

Sometimes getting published seems an arcane art form, but it needn’t be such a mystery. Join acclaimed author Lawrence Hill (The Book of Negroes, 2007), editor Pat Sanders (University of Manitoba Press) and Gordon Shillingford (J.G. Shillingford Publishing) as they talk about the querying process, the differences between literary and scholarly publishers, and what to expect once a publisher finally says yes. Registrants will receive a complimentary resource package. Tickets: (204)-942-6134, www.mbwriter.mb.ca, or at the door.

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September 28, 2007
10:30 pm

WINNIPEG'S POETRY SLAM TEAM

The poetry slams have winnowed away the playing field, and this year’s Poetry Slam Team is in place—and they’re good. Leif Norman, Skip Stone, Andrea von Wichert will give you a taste of what they’re taking to the National Spoken Word Festival in Halifax next month!

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September 28, 2007
8:00 pm

MAINSTAGE: ENCOUNTERS

Crossing into new territory, whether it be cultural or linguistic or imaginative, challenges characters and readers to reconsider what they know to be true. Lawrence Hill and Linda Leith move characters through changing landscapes. Brenda Hasiuk, David Chariandy, and Marie-Clair Blais gather intersecting characters in one space. William Gibson hooks those two ends of the spectrum and complicates it with virtual dimensions.

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September 28, 2007
8:00 pm

GALA DE LA PAROLE: Une soirée avec « Les Boys »

Une occasion unique de voir une grande partie de l’histoire littéraire franco-manitobaine en parade. Accompagnement musical.

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September 28, 2007
4:00 pm

READINGS: A Sip of Juice

The U of W’s talented writing students share new work to kick off the school year.

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September 28, 2007
2:30 pm

WILLIAM GIBSON and JOHN HAVELDA

Technology, text, and the way those forces impact on ideas of a self underpin the work of cyber-tech novelist William Gibson and multi-lingual poet John Havelda.

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September 28, 2007
2:30 pm

PANEL: Writing through Race

David Chariandy’s debut novel, Soucouyant, tracks a troubled Trinidadian family in white suburban Toronto. Lawrence Hill’s epic The Book of Negroes follows a girl from her capture by slave-traders to free old age in London. In What Happened Last Summer, Paul Yee shows Asian teenagers balancing between two cultures. Join these three writers as they talk about using fiction to explore and expose the meanings of racial identities.

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