Category Archives: BC

Reading is Sexy Calendar Launch

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It’ll be a dark and stormy night, and all the crew will be gathered in …

the suburbs????

Reading is Sexy back cover

Reading is Sexy back cover

Yes, join Lorraine Murphy, founder, president, and diva of the Shebeen Club along with other Vangroover literati for the launch of the first annual Reading is Sexy Calendar!

From the Facebook invite:

Eat, drink and be merry all in celebration of literacy and the fact that I AM MAKING MY DEBUT IN A CALENDAR!!!! (along with the sizzlingly sexy Monique Trottier, Lori & Richard Yearwood, Patrick Tubajon, Raul Pacheco, Ian A Martin, Rayne, Lorraine Murphy, Mark Leiren-Young, Monica Hamburg and Ian Ferguson). Special thanks to Robert Shaer and Tris Hussey, whose photography has made this calendar a piece of art.

And aside from using this as an excuse to convince my literary buds to peel off the layers for the camera, it was done in the name of literacy. Thats right, we shot this calendar to raise money for The International Dyslexia Association.

So come hang out with us at my favourite wine and cheese bistro, enjoy a drink and some nibblies, get your calendars signed by the models, listen to a few of our authors reading from their works, and for those of you that are a bit more daring, dance the night away with moi.

The event is free and everyone is welcome. The more, the merrier!

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

Of course there is. More, even, than the chance to rub shoulders (and other body parts, if you play your cards right) with the sexiest writerly types in all of the Wild, Wiled West!

So put on your best literary party duds, whether Baudelairian finery or spoken word funkitude, and join us:

Thursday, 03 December 2009 at 7pm
Gudrun Wine and Cheese Bistro
150-3500 Moncton Street
Steveston, BC

Yes, it’s bus-accessable!

By the way, the super-sexy book I’m reading is a special calf-bound book of whiskies of the world, specially borrowed from the bartender for the occasion. I had a couple of Vanity Fairs in my bag, but they weren’t quite as posh and retro-looking as that book. Also, I highly recommend posing for calendars: the drinks are free!

Meet Pamela Masik, artist of The Forgotten: Vancouver’s Missing Women

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(from Twitter, obviously, via the very handy Tweetshots utility)

NOV27, 7-10pm LANGLEY ARTS TALKS: Pamela Masik, artist of the painting series The Forgotten: Vancouver’s missing women. Talks beside Fort Pub, Glover Rd $7 OR$5/members

From her website, more information on the project:

THE FORGOTTEN is a large-scale, powerful series of portraits of women’s faces. Sixty-nine portraits, to be precise – the number of women from Vancouver’s downtown eastside who have been missing for more than a decade. The majority of them have now been identified, yet the public’s knowledge of them has, for the most part, consisted of small police photos aligned in a grid on a poster, showing most of them as blurred and haggard representations at their worst.

At one time these women had multiple faces and roles in the community. They left thousands of memories and historical details. They were mothers, friends, wives or daughters. They had run from abusive relationships, they were drug addicts, mentally challenged, or had families to support and little means to do it other than prostitution. Many were First Nations people. At this point, 26 of the missing women have been identified as slain by Port Coquitlam farmer Robert Pickton.

And here is my own post about my run-in with Pickton. My book, by the way, is called Terminal City: Vancouver’s Missing Women, so I already feel we’re on the same page. I highly recommend checking out the video on her website.

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A BENEFIT FOR POET MARC CREAMORE

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Got this via Facebook. Sounds like a terrific event and a good cause.

As a born socialist and also a Canadian who’s had cancer, I’d like to let you know that no, BC Medical does not cover all your costs. In fact, for many long months I was on an immune system booster that cost $1700 an injection, and had to be taken twice a month; it was not covered until my life savings had been eaten up completely and I was forced onto medical welfare. Even ambulance rides are no longer covered, remember. And when you are ill and in treatment, there are many small things, like neck pillows, special meals, and support services, that can make all the difference between enduring and living.

$20 for poetry, community, a good time, a burger and a beer. Can’t beat that with a shoplifted copy of On the Road. Geddit?

Cottage Bistro by berglind_hafsteinsdottir

Cottage Bistro by berglind_hafsteinsdottir

Wednesday Nov 25th
Pandora’s Collective Presents
A BENEFIT FOR FELLOW POET MARC CREAMORE
Pandora’s Collective and folks in the poetry and music community are holding a Benefit for our friend Marc Creamore, who is battling lung cancer. Marc has been an active part of Vancouver ‘s poetry community for many years. Join us in support of Marc and his family at this evening of poetry, music, spoken word and shared memories.

Tickets: $20 at the door includes entertainment, a burger with fries and beer. After costs, all proceeds go directly to Marc and his family.
There will also be door prizes, and Marc’s published poetry books will be available for sale.

6:00-6:30 Brief Introductions by Bonnie Nish and Ruth Kozak followed by
Poetry and ♫♫ David Campbell
6:30-7:00 Spoken Word Al Mader The Minimalist Jug Band
7:00 – 7:30 ♫♫ Jess Hill
7:30 -7:45 Spoken Word CJ Leon
7:45- 8:15 Spoken Word and Poetry Steve Duncan and Diane Laloge
8:15-9:00 ♫♫ Sandy Bone
9:00- 9:30 Open Mic
9:30-9:45 Spoken Word & ♫♫ CR Avery
9:45-10:15 Poetry Daniela Elza and Robin Susanto
10:15-10:45 ♫♫ Hi-Rise Dex (Kempton Dexter)
10:45-11:15 Spoken Word Bill McNamara and RC Weslowski
11:15-12:00 Open Mic Closing Words.

There will be an open mike for poets and friends to share their words with Marc.
Time: 6 – 12pm
Location: The Cottage Bistro
4468 Main Street @ 29th Avenue
Hosts: Bonnie Nish and Ruth K ozak
RSVP if possible
Contact: blinsh_pandoras AT yahoo DOT ca
www.pandorascollective.com

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Writing Short Screenplays: The Good News and Bad with Ric Beairsto

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Ric Beairsto

Ric Beairsto

Got this from a Facebook message from the Vancouver International Film Festival group or page or whatever it is that I joined sometime last year and now can’t remember. But I found the direct Facebook Link anyway. I’m dogged like that, yo.

And really, you CANNOT beat that price! Best price I’ve ever seen on a screenwriting workshop, and with the VIFF behind it, you know it’s going to be quality.

Attention Filmmakers and Creative Writers:

This Saturday Nov 22, 2:00pm, Vancity Theatre

Writing Short Screenplays: The Good News and Bad with Ric Beairsto

This three-hour workshop will address the art of storytelling in its broadest, most accessible sense, then range through to the much more exacting craft of short story writing for the screen. Focus will be on the increased flexibility of short form (the good news) but will include discussion of the impact of the obvious constraints of writing within more immediate boundaries (the bad news). Particular attention will be paid to the evaluative skills involved in determining which story ideas lend themselves best to short screenplay, as well as an examination of the means of writing a short screenplay designed to give the filmmaker the best chance of producing a truly compelling ‘calling card.’ A number of successful short films will be screened during the workshop, some locally produced, some international in their origins, with a continued emphasis on the story characteristics and genres which lend themselves well to successful execution in short form. Copies of  THE TYRANNY OF STORY: Audience Expectations and the Short Screenplay will be available for sale to workshop attendees at a discounted rate.

Ric Beairsto is an award-winning screenwriter, director and producer who has been active in the Canadian film and television industry since 1980. He has written more than a dozen feature-length screenplays, and his TV writing credits begin with The Beachcombers for CBC and extend to Mixed Blessings, currently in production for APTN, where Ric is the Creator and Head Writer. Since 1987, Ric has also taught screenwriting on a part-time basis at various post-secondary institutes, including the Vancouver Film School, The Interior Film and Television Centre, Trinity Western University and Langara College, where he has actively workshopped more than 1500 short screenplays. He is the author of  THE TYRANNY OF STORY: Audience Expectations and the Short Screenplay, first published in 1998, and now available in a revised 2 nd edition. The book is about story form in general, and short screenplay form in particular, and has been used as a regular textbook in over a dozen North American film schools, including UCLA and the American Film institute

Adults $20 // Students $15

For tickets and info: http://www.viff.org/tixSYS/vifc/filmguide/event.php?EventNumber=1711

FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9198386989&ref=ts#/event.php?eid=212018593942&ref=mf

http://vifc.org

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Kim Minkus at the Open Text Reading Series

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Another from the Instant Coffee email list, which rocks my world and should rock yours, too, if you live in or around Vangroover.

OPEN TEXT READING SERIES: KIM MINKUS

Kim MINKUS

Kim MINKUS

Sponsored by the Canada Council for the Arts & the Creative Writing Program at Capilano University

The Fall 2009 OPEN TEXT series at Capilano University concludes on Thursday, November 12th, 2009 with a reading by Vancouver poet/CapU instructor Kim Minkus

CE 148 @ 11:30
Capilano University
2055 Purcell Way
North Vancouver

Kim Minkus is the author of 9 Freight (LINEbooks 2007) and Thresh(SnareBooks 2009). Other work appears in FRONT Magazine, Interim, West Coast Line, The Poetic Front, LOCUSPOINT, ottawater, Memewar and Jacket. Her academic research focuses on contemporary poetry, feminist poetry and the archive. In the spring of 2006 she was a fellow at King’s College in London, England and the archival research she completed while there lead to the publication of her book 9 Freight. Currently she is a writing instructor at Capilano University.

stripped down. crawl and stick. folds flutter. stress random stress
cathexis stress stumble. bare seizure. entrails near the surface. bodily
movements ratchet each emotion. they all exhaust me. tremble while you tell
me it matters. glean meanings where there are none.

— from “Station”

For info:
Roger Farr, Creative Writing Convener
rfarr AT capilanou DOT ca
604.986.1911 (2291)

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