Literary: Kempton Dexter Book Launch @ People's Co-op Bookstore

Date: Friday, November 23rd, 2012

Place: People’s Co-op Bookstore

1391 Commercial Dr, Vancouver, British Columbia

Time: 7pm

No Charge

Join musician/playwright/storyteller Kempton Dexter for the launch of his first collection of short stories, "Mrs. Ceperly's Garden and Other Plots" at Commercial Drive's People's Coop Bookstore.

What people are saying about the book:

In these pages you will read of sex and death and their dance partners love and life set to an Elmore Leonard like libidinous strum and you will laugh at a little devil with gas. Kempton Dexter works the darkness to let a little light shine in.  

- Grant Shilling, writer, journalist, visual artist, and author of The Cedar Surf

            Dexter’s “plots” are more than points in the passage of time. With each plot are interactions often deemed to rude for contemporary narrative literature. If this was all he did, they might be, but they are not. Dexter's ability to braid the sacred and the profane makes this book something to behold.  - Michael Turner, poet, author, essayist. Company Town, Hard Core Logo, The Pornographer's Poem.

            In  these stories Dexter shows a keen eye for the intersection of nature and human nature. The complicated human heart and it's treacheries...beauty and fallibility in drama. - Jan Kudelka, actor, writer, musician and creator of  Janus/Janus and Circus Gothic. 

Kempton Dexter, a.k.a. Hi-rise Dex  grew up in Nova Scotia with a view of the Bay of Fundy from his bedroom window. He had his first art shows and theatre performances while studying biology at Acadia University. 

 

After living in Toronto and Vancouver Island he arrived in Vancouver and helped start the artist run center, the grunt gallery. Shows include Ya Work, Ya Eat , the grunt; Forest Art ,UBC research forest in Maple Ridge, Digby County Pastures, Matane, Quebec and Post Pop for Now People at the Helen Pitt Gallery.

He formed the Stellar Jays, a dance band in the mid 90's. A handfull of self-produced tapes and CD's followed including Other Women, Other Men and Dex and Nicky, a collection of duets with actor Nicole Robert.

His first efforts in theatre in Vancouver were through his affiliation with Glenn Alteen and the grunt gallery. In 87 he wrote the music and lyrics for his first Fringe production, Ornery Magee. In 89 he did the same for The Renter's Tale. In recent years he has been musical director for a number of fringe plays with Jacques Lalonde, including The Kenny Rogers Experience, One More for the Road, and The Lost Supper.

Kempton wrote and presented two plays in this year’s Vancouver Fringe.

He performs solo and with the country trio, Blue Lasso. He hosts a musicians gathering at the Prophouse on Saturday afternoons..

There will be booze, music from the author and special guests, friends and good conversation!

For more information contact Steve Duncan at 604-788-8340 or srduncan@shaw.ca.

Literary: Local Writer Madelaine Standing Takes ‘Heaven In The Meat Packing District’ To The Worldwide Public Audience on Kindle Amazon

Beginning October 21^st 2012 writer Madelaine Standing will join the likes of Margaret Atwood, James Rollins, and Mr. Kurt Vonnegut, with the release of her debut novel ‘Heaven In The Meat Packing District.’ These writers share a passion for bringing cutting-edge insights centered around the world’s political, and environmental, affairs.  Just as Einstein said, ‘My understanding of the fundamental laws of the universe did not come out of my rational mind.’ It was the work of Ms. Standing’s imagination over the last four years that brings this book to you today.

Heaven In The Meat Packing District, follows two seekers of a new way, Valencia and Kai, on their path to realizing the power within themselves. Kai and Val become the subject of science experiments within the Meat Packing District of New York City. When Sheldon, the man conducting the experiments, is threatened by the police to take the participants out from his care, Ana McKenna, an investigative reporter, is called on to deliver justice where it is believed to be deserved.

Part One is Now Available for: $2.99

Part Two and Three are each available for only $0.99 each

To learn more about Madelaine Standing or for a complimentary sample of the book please visit: www.madelainestanding.com

Heaven In The Meat Packing District ‘s Worldwide Pre-Publication Reader Reviews call it “Universal and necessary,” “A trip into the landscape of your own mind,” and “An Affirmation of What is Strong in Humanity.”

Literary: The Written and Spoken Word Heats Up @ Britannia

4th Tuesday of every month
Pandora's Collective Presents
WORD WHIPS WRITING SERIES
Take the challenge. We provide the writing prompts and the opportunity for sharing. 10 -15 minutes to write to each prompt. See what you can whip up. 
Hosts: Sita Carboni, Mary Duffy, Maureen Egan, Wendy Goldsmith, Stephen Karr, Suzy Malcolm, Eva Waldauf
Time: 6:30 - 8:30pm
Location: Britannia Library, Gallery Room,
1661 Napier Street, Vancouver, BC
http://www.vpl.vancouver.bc.ca/branches/details/britannia_branch
Contact: sita@pandorascollective.com
www.pandorascollective.com


2nd Wednesday of every month
Presented by Pandora’s Collective and Britannia Branch
BOOK TALKS - BOOK CLUB
Join us for Book Talks book club! We will be discussing a preselected book each month, with the occasional session reserved for a discussion on a theme. Bring your favorite passages, points of interests, and share your reading experiences with us. Each person is responsible for either borrowing or buying their own copy to read. This is an open book club. Drop ins are welcome.

Aug 8th: The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steve Galloway
“Gripping. . . . Every action, no matter how mundane, is charged with tension. . . . Galloway has shown that contemporary fiction can move beyond the minute examination of self and relationship. We are asked to gaze, instead, on a city, a society, in the process of being destroyed, and on the tiny human gestures that represent the only means to repair the damage.” – National Post
Sept 12th:This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel Levitin
Oct 10th: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Nov 14th: Annabel by Kathleen Winter
Dec 12th: Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat
Jan 9th: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Feb 13th: Books We Love (book recommendation night - tell us about the books/authors you love)
March 13th: The Measure of a Man: The Story of a Father, a Son, and a Suit by JJ Lee
April 10th: The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Time: 6:30 – 8:30 pm
Location: Britannia Library, Gallery Room, 1661 Napier Street, Vancouver, BC
Hosts: Mary Duffy and Sita Carboni
Contact: booktalks@pandorascollective.com
www.pandorascollective.com

Bolen's "Anticipated Results" Book Trailer Hits YouTube

Local writer, Denis E. Bolen has been getting rave reviews for his latest book, "Anticipated results.  Check out the trailer and watch close for some other familiar favorites like Clint "Father Goose" Wilson, Soressa Gardner and Susan Cormier, who also directed the video.

Literary: Crackerjack Lipsmacker Youth Slam #43 with Justin McGrail

Time	Monday, July 25 · 8:00pm - 10:30pm
Location	Cafe Deux Soleils 2096 Commercial Drive Vancouver, British Columbia

What kind of words does the summer bring? Tales of relaxation, summer school, love in the heart of it all? Or something completely different? Come find out what the youth are talking about at this month's Youth Poetry Slam. It's open to all poets 13-22 years of age.

This month we continue to feature poets from the 1996 Vancouver Poetry Slam Team...the team that started it all...Van Slam is 15 years old this year.

Our featured poet is Justin McGrail

• First forays into spoken word came through a series of house “Performance Parties” in Montreal (BYOA – bring your own art)

• Was considered too old (at 26) for the poetry stages of Lollapalooza, 1994

• Co-authored “Fluffy Pagan Echoes: Resistance is Reasonable”, a feature length spoken word performance for five voices, presented at the Montreal Fringe Festival, 1995

• Once landed a performance contract with Lancome Cosmetics for the promotion of Poeme, a perfume that launched in 1996. Along with recitations in the cosmetics section of Eaton’s in Vancouver, and other promo appearances, this contract called for extensive brooding and use of waist-coats and poetry-shirts

The Youth Poetry Slam and open mic is open to all poets 13-22 years of age. All styles of poetry are welcome.

Sign up begins at 7pm. Show starts at 8 o'clock.

$3 for 18 and under. $6 for everyone else.

Literary: A Legacy of Love - Remembering Muriel Duckworth @ People's Co-0p Books

Muriel Helen Duckworth née Ball, CM, ONS (October 31, 1908 – August 22, 2009) was a Canadian pacifist, feminist and social and community activist.She was a practising Quaker, a religious denomination committed to non-violence. Duckworth maintained that war with its systematic violence against women and children is a major obstacle to social justice. She argued that money spent on armaments perpetuates poverty while reinforcing the power of privileged elites She believed that "war is stupid" and she steadfastly refused to accept popular distinctions between "good" and "bad" wars.  More from Wikipedia.

Literary: Salish Seas Reading at The Pond

Talking Stick Festival and The Aboriginal Writers Collective West Coast present an evening of readings featuring:
Lee Maracle, Russell Wallace, Janet Rogers, Wil George, Joanne Arnott, Greg Coyes, Wanda John, Gunargie O'Sullivan
Mon Feb 7th, 7pm @ The Pond, 1441 Commercial Dr

Salish Seas is an exhibition of works by prominent and emerging Aboriginal artists in conjunction with the upcoming anthology, Salish Seas: An anthology of text + image. This project offers perspective to urban Aboriginal peoples living within these Coast Salish lands who are influenced and inspired by the Salish Sea and its associated rivers.

Salish languages are a grouping of indigenous languages of the Pacific NorthWest (BC and adjacent American states). The power of our words, either in our original languages or in English is manifest in the new and powerful works by the The Aboriginal Writers Collective West Coast, a collective of Aboriginal writers and multidisciplinary artists.

Curated by Tania Willard and featuring work by artists Sonny Assu, Janice Toulouse, Charlene Vickers, Merritt Johnson, Kevin McKenzie, Duncan Murdoch, Dionne Paul, joAnne Noble, Cease Wyss, Kelly Roulette, Kamala Todd and Michelle Sylliboy.

Artist works featured in the publication and exhibition include installation, painting, digital illustration and video. From Sonny Assu's culture jamming Coke Salish print to expressive paintings by Janice Toulouse dealing with Aboriginal relationship to land, this exhibition examines ideas of home, origin, identity and 
honouring the land we come from, the sea and the rivers that connect us.

Kamala Todd's film, Indigenous Plant Diva documents the urban aboriginal and plant based knowledge of Coast Salish artist Cease Wyss. Wyss's work in the exhibition showcases three generations of Coast Salish women in vibrant digital illustrations from the book, Squamish People of the Sunset Coast. joAnne Noble's powerful crow mandala image and Kelly Roulette's portrait painting of a Native woman offer a strong aesthetic experience of the West Coast. Dionne Paul's Coast Salish borders offers an abstract approach to representing West Coast territories; while Michelle Sylliboy's close up images of the sea makes you feel like you are standing on a beach. All works are united in an exploration of living on the Coast surrounded by and connected to the Salish Sea and all the rivers that connect to it.

The Aboriginal Writers Collective West Coast publication, Salish Seas: An Anthology of Text + Image will be launched at the exhibition closing, Sat Feb. 26th at 6pm at Gallery Gachet featuring a number of writers form the collective including Garry Gottfriedson and Michelle Sylliboy. Presented by the Talking Stick festival authors from the book including, Janet Rogers, Wil George, Russell Wallace, Greg Coyes, Wanda John and Joanne Arnott, will read at The Pond on Commercial drive. Mon Feb.7th at 7pm.

media contacts:

Exhibition:
Tania Willard, curator. t: 250 299 5835
Lara Fitzgerald,Programming Director, gallerygachet t: 604 687 2468

Book:
Joanne Arnott @ 604-277-7940

Live On The Drive: Summer Dreams 2010

Live On the Drive caught up with Bonnie Nish, executive producer of the 7th Annual Summer Dreams Literary Arts Festival happening August 13-24 and featuring several local writers and musicians.
For more info about the event, check out their schedule at: https://sites.google.com/site/summerdreamsfest/
for full details.

Special Event: Summer Dream Literary Arts Festival

Volunteers Wanted:

The 6^th Annual

Summer Dream

Literary Arts Festival

Aug.19-Aug.29, 2009

Presented by Pandora’s Collective

Summer Dream was created to raise public awareness about on-going literary events, programs and resources available in the local writing community.

Now in its sixth year, the festival proudly features over 100 of the West Coast’s best authors, musicians and performers, including Governor General nominee Evelyn Lau, Vancouver’s first Poet Laureate George McWhirter, Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize winner Rita Wong, quirky Commercial Drive anti-heroes Al Mader AKA “The Minimalist Jug band” and the surreal RC Weslowski, plus Seattle spoken word legend Jack McCarthy, to name just a handful.

Summer Dream incorporates literary performances, dancers, local bands, panel discussions, open mics and a children’s area with puppet shows, music, story tellers, face painting and craft tables. There are also information tables showcasing community groups and resources like the Vancouver Public Library and The Federation of BC Writers.

Preparations are now well-underway for the event that local critics have called “Vancouver’s best-kept summer secret!”

Festival organizers Bonnie Nish and Rhonda Milne are anxious to meet people who want to be a part of this engaging, entertaining, family-friendly celebration of literary-based art.

”There’s always lots do,” Nish, the festival’s Executive Director, pointed out in a recent interview. “We need people to lend a hand with everything from spreading the word before the event, to helping out with set-up and tear-down on Saturday’s big outdoor happening.”

Milne, who acts as Volunteer Coordinator for the festivities, was quick to add, that what first convinced her to become involved was the sense of “camaraderie and community” that the festival fostered.

“The first time I got involved with Summer Dream,” Milne said, “I was inspired all the great talent and great people who really go out of their way to make you feel like your part of something very special and important. It’s like a big family!”

For volunteer opportunities you can contact Rhonda Milne at rhondamsel@yahoo.ca 778-928-1147

For media information and full festival details visit http://www.pandorascollective.com/sdrfestival.html or call Steve Duncan at 604-788-8340. srduncan@shaw.ca.

For all other inquiries contact Bonnie Nish at Bonnie Nish at 778-322-4039 blnish_pandoras@yahoo.ca

Pandora’s Collective would like to thank the following sponsors for making this event possible: Giest, Vancouver Review, Subterrain, Event, Room With A View, 3 Day Novel Contest, Prism, Capilano Review, One Cool Word, Vancouver Story Tellers, Vancouver Public Library, Quills, Nestor's Market, Graphic design by CWCLCOGY with Wera, Vancouver Parks Board, 2008 Celebrations Grant c/o The City of Vancouver and The Office of Cultural Affairs, CBS Outdoor, Starbucks, VanCity, Christianne's Lyceum, Coast Capital Savings, The Federation of BC Writers, Burnaby Writers Society, Industrial Alliance Pacific Life Insurance Company, BC Poetry, Jaffer Speech and Language Services, Irene Livingston, Don Simpson, Joyce Statton, Randy Jacobs, Bernice Lever, Andrea Winterbottom and Robin Susanto.

Literary: 2004 Daemon"s Revenge

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
(Click the above type for larger version)

Note: The author will be reading from his work on Co-op Radio 102.7 fm, on Wednesday, December 10th at 2pm on Wax Poetic. Find out more at www.poetryradio.blogspot.com

Literary: Joe Rosenblatt & Catherine Owen

Just making sure the People know about the Vancouver Book launch of "Dog" . Poets Joe Rosenblatt and Catherine Owen will be reading from their amazing new book.
When: August 3rd 2:30-5pm
Where: Timbre 2068 Commercial Dr.
Also featuring the photographs and songs of Karen Moe....
Hope you can drop by...
Catherine Owen is a Vancouver poet. Her poems have been published in journals across Canada and her books include - Somatic-The Life and Work of Egon Schiele (Exile Editions, 1998, nominated for the Gerald Lampert Award), Black Milk, Starvation Landscape, and The Wrecks of Eden (Wolsak & Wynn, 2001, nominated for the Dorothy Livesay Award). She also has a CD out - Cusp - and is working on the play Circe and Cougars with La Leona Productions. She is currently completing a book of sequences, FYRE, a West Coast collection, Seeing Lessons and Frenzy, featuring poems on the fusion of metal music and the troubadour culture.
Joe Rosenblatt was born in Toronto in l933. He started writing seriously in the early sixties, and in l966 his first book, The L.S.D. Leacock, was published by Coach House Press. Since then he has published more than a dozen books of poetry and fiction. His selected poems (1962-1975), Top Soil, won the Governor-General's Award for poetry. Another volume of selected poems, (l963-l985), Poetry Hotel, won The B.C. Book Prize, l986 for poetry. His poems have appeared in numerous anthologies and periodicals in North America.

Literary: Poets Norwich & Duncan Explore Duality

Creation. Destruction. Light and dark. Join Commercial Drive poets Steve Duncan and Marni Norwich and dancer Natalie Hobbs as they explore the theme of duality in a performance that combines spoken word and improvisational movement.

Take Eve's Eden and the fickle wishbone of relationship and juxtapose them with the gritty substance of modern urban life

Music and More on Main
Thursday, May 22nd
Featured performance: 8:45pm
Doors: 7:30pm
Open Mic: 8pm
By Donation
Hosted by Rick Keating

Little Mountain Neighborhood House
3981 Main Street
For more information call 604-788-8340
or email srduncan@shaw.ca

Painting by Kim Edward Black

"Duality"

Literary: Van Lip

EVIL BOY GENIUS PRODUCTIONS

AND

NEW MUSIC WEST

PRESENT

VAN LIP: A NIGHT OF VANCOUVER SPOKEN WORD

SATURDAY MAY 17TH

@

CAFÉ DEUX SOLEILS: 2096 COMMERCIAL DRIVE

DOORS AT 7PM

SHOW STARTS AT 8:30

$10 AT THE DOOR

FEATURING PERFORMANCES BY

2008 VAN SLAM TEAM MEMBERS

SCRUFFMOUTH, RADAR, FAUST McKENZIE, ZACCHEUS JACKSON AND AL MADER

PLUS

SEAN McGARRAGLE, THE SVELTE MS. SPELT, CJ, BARBARA ADLER

JULIE PARRELL, RC WESLOWSKI

WITH SPECIAL GUEST

ARDATH WHYNACHT FROM HALIFAX

Contact rcarcee@yahoo.ca for more info

Or

604 215 9230

Literary: Margaret Mitchell

Brit Library
Necessary Voices Lecture series
Margaret Mitchell
No Laughing Matter: Adventure, Activism & Politics

Vancouver Public Library invites you to join Margaret Mitchell as she reads from her book, NO LAUGHING MATTER: ADVENTURE, ACTIVISM & POLITICS.

The woman who first brought the issue of spousal abuse to the forefront in Canada presents her memoirs in this interesting, informative, entertaining and often humourous book. Margaret Mitchell is a social activist who pioneered community development in Vancouver, was a courageous feminist MP for Vancouver East, and an international adventuress. Her book is a testament to the struggles and achievements of women MPs, and chronicles her life’s adventures and work.

DATES OF PROGRAMS:

Tuesday, May 6 – at 7:00 p.m.
Britannia Branch Library, 1661 Napier St.

Literary: Local Poet Offers "Bonus" Poem With Chapbook Purchase

Poet Rob Taylor has come up with a chapbook, splattered earth. It features a fistful o' poems inspired by some time he spent in China. Here's the set list:


If you'd like a copy, they are available at the People's Coop Bookstore (1391 Commercial Drive, Vancouver) and Magpie Books (1319 Commercial) for $2.00, or you can track him down and buy one in person ($1.50, or $1.00 each for orders of 3 or more). Also, you can order one through PayPal now for $3.25 and Rob will send it right to your doorstep. I'm also certainly open to chapbook trades.

IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE, I KNOW, BUT IT GETS BETTER: While supplies last, all in-person and online sales will include a bonus poem, "viciously in our throats", from his upcoming chapbook child of saturday.
Go here to order a copy
http://rollofnickels.blogspot.com/2006/03/chapter-book.html
A sample page from the chapbook can be viewed here.

A brief review of the chapbook, by Leopold McGinnis, editor of Red Fez Magazine, can be read here.

Literary: New Books at People's Coop

New books in this week at People's Coop Books include:

Fidel Castro's own autobiography "My Life". $39.00 hardcover.

For years people have tried to persuade the leader of the Cuban Revolution to tell his own life story. Here, finally, Ignacio Ramonet, well-known activist and editor of Le Monde Diplomatique,has succeeded.

For the first time, in a series of probing interviews, Fidel Castro describes his life, from the 1950s all the way up to the present day. He discusses his parents, his earliest influences, the beginnings of the revolution, his relationship with Che Guevara, the Bay of Pigs, the Carter years, Cuban migration to the US. And along the way, Ramonet challenges Castro to discuss his views on a number of controversial questions, from human rights and freedom of the press to the repression of homosexuality and the survival of the death penalty, and he gives his opinion of other leaders, alive and dead, including George Bush and Tony Blair.

For those who can't afford the $39.00...or who are looking for a stocking stuffer:

"Che Handbook" by Hilda Bario and Gareth Jenkins. Hardcover originally $25.00 now $9.99

This is the most comprehensive and accessible photographic and iconic record of Che Guevara, including never-before-seen photographs and exclusive first-time interviews.

Hardcover |431 pp | ISBN:1840725028
5x7 |Color

Plus our usual selection of fine fiction, poetry, chidlren's books, humour, and current affairs. We are running low on some of the calendar favourites...so if you don't want to miss out on yours - better stop on by.

People's Co-op Bookstore (est 1945) - For the reader with a social conscience.

1391 Commercial Drive Vancouver, BC 604-253-6442

www.peoplescoopbookstore.com

Literary: Alvin Lau at Vancouver Poetry Slam

THE VANCOUVER POETRY SLAM

"poetry that doesn't suck unless you say it does…"

CONTINUES

@

CAFÉ DEUX SOLEILS: 2096 COMMERCIAL DRIVE

(5TH AND COMMERCIAL)

THE 1ST, 3RD AND 5TH MONDAY OF EVERY MONTH

THE NEXT SLAM IS MONDAY DECEMBER 17TH

FEATURING

CHICAGO'S, ALVIN LAU

http://www.myspace.com/alvinlau

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNlJpTzh5CE

He has ranked among the top seven poets in the country four times in as many years, a feat no other competitor has accomplished, and he is youngest poet to ever make individual finals in national competition. His work has featured in numerous literary journals including Red River Review and Rattle Magazine's Tribute to Slam, as well as multiple newspapers including the Chicago Tribune, Santa Cruz Sentinel, and Georgetown Voice. Recently, he was also featured on NPR, the Poetry Foundation online, and HBO's Def Poetry Jam. In 2007 he was named Amnesty International's Poet on Conscience and nominated for the Pushcart Prize in poetry. In addition to performing on three nationwide tours, he regularly hosts lectures and creative writing workshops at dozens of universities across the country including Sarah Lawrence College, Grinnell, the University of Chicago, and Yale. Favorites include redheads, tequila, and Kanye West.

THIS WILL ALSO BE ANOTHER QUALIFYING SLAM FOR FEMALE POETS TO MAKE

THE WOMEN OF THE WORLD POETRY SLAM PLAYOFFS, JANUARY 7TH, 2008

AND A CHANCE TO TRAVEL TO DETROIT NEXT MARCH.

PLUS:PLUS:PLUS

YOU CAN ALSO PICK UP YOUR VAN SLAM NEW YEAR'S EVE ADVANCE TICKETS AT THIS SHOW

THEY ARE ONLY $10

AND YOU GET TO BE BLOWN AWAY BY CR AVERY AND THE BOOMCHASERS

AS THEY FEATURE AT OUR NEW YEAR'S EVE POETRY SLAM

COME CHECK IT OUT.

Literary: Adeena Sumter-Frietag Book Launch

Literary: Prince George Poets Crash Commercial Drive

Sun. Nov. 18th 7:30pm
Budde/Belford/Transken Honeymoon Tour.
Join Prince George poets Rob Budde, Ken Belford and Si Transken as they read from their engaging work.
Wed. Nov. 21st 7:30 pm
Local writer William Neil Scott reads from his new novel Wonderfull.
Free event. Refreshments served.
1391 Commercial Dr.
Vancouver, BC
V5L 3X5
Tel/Fax 604-253-6442
Toll Free 1-888-511-5556
www.peoplescoopbookstore.com

The "Shane" on Bravo Tonight!

Season 2 of Heart of a Poet will begin airing on BRAVO! tonight.

Check it out if you can. The series starts with a bang, with an episode shot in Vancouver, featuring spoken word sensation Shane Koyczan.

It's a great season with some stellar poets and spoken word artists ... see the release below, or www.heartofapoet.ca for more info.

Poets on prime-time ... woo hoo! Please help spread the word!