Reading at Mount A

Public Reading — David Adams Richards

David Adams Richards
Owens Art Gallery, Sackville, NB
February 13, 2008. 7:30 pm

Mount Allison University will welcome noted New Brunswick author and poet David Adams Richards to campus for a public reading on Wednesday, February 13 at 7:30 p.m. in the Owens Art Gallery. Everyone is welcome to attend this event, sponsored by Mount Allison’s Centre for Canadian Studies, the English department and the Office of the President, and presented in collaboration with the Frye Festival, and there is no admission charge. Sackville’s Tidewater Books will have a selection of David’s books available for sale at the reading, which will be followed by a book signing and reception with the author.

Nocturne: the Night in Music and Poetry (Sackville)

Nocturne: the Night in Music and Poetry

Janet Hammock and Robert Lapp
Brunton Auditorium, Marjorie Young Bell Conservatory of Music, 134 Main Street Sackville, NB
February 02, 2008. 8:00 pm

Piano nocturnes by Field, Fauré, Chopin, Poulenc, Barber, and the première performance of a nocturne by J.G. Code will be intertwined with the recitation of night poems by Frost, Barbauld, Keats, Eliot, and poems by Jernigan and Lerch written especially for this recital. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students and seniors (60+), and $25 for families, available in advance or at the door.

Contact: Margaret Ann (Peggy) Craig (506) 536-0295 mcraig@mta.ca

Winter Writers Retreat (NS)

Writers' Winter Retreat: February 21 - 24.

Location: the gracefully restored Morton House Inn on the banks of the Mersey River near Liverpool.

Maximum 12 authors. Some non-resident places available.

Price: $450 includes all except evening meals.

Discounts available for shared rooms. Register by emailing: creativehols@tallships.ca or calling (902) 677 2899. Visit the website for more details: http://www.tallships.ca/creativeholidaysns/retreat08.html

Writing from Away: A Postcard Story Workshop

Date: Saturday, February 2, 2008
Time: 12:00pm - 1:30pm
Location: Gallery Connexion
Street: 453 Queen st. (behind Justice building)
City/Town: Fredericton, NB

Writing from Away: Mistakes, Mischief and Miracles

You're travelling when you're supposed to be back at work. You meet someone who nearly makes you forget about going home. You run into a long-lost cousin who hasn't been totally upfront about what he's doing. You've jigged your German language class and taken off to the tourist attractions. You've left the Italian Masterpieces tour to meet someone at a café down the road. You've missed your train again. You get lost in the eyes looking out at you from the portrait and forget an appointment... Sometimes this kind of mistake can turn your life around.

How has art or travel led you to mischief or miracles? Care to share? At this workshop, Jo-Anne Elder will give you some tips about writing flash fiction, very very short stories, based on your photos, on postcard pictures or on the work in the Writing Home exhibition. You're welcome to bring your own family photos or postcards, and we'll have lots of other artwork to look at as well.

12:00 - 1:30 pm, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008. Thanks to the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, there is no charge for this program. For ages 14 and up, no writing or travel experience necessary, but we hope you'll learn a bit about travelling lighter.

To sign up for the workshop, contact Meredith or Patrick at Gallery Connexion at 454-1433 or connex@nbnet.nb.ca

Poet Laureate Reading at Mount A

Parliamentary Poet Laureate John Steffler Reads at Mount Allison
A 7 Mondays Event

Crabtree Auditorium
January 25, 2008. 7:30 pm

John Steffler is the Parliamentary Poet Laureate and author of six collections of poetry. He is also the author of the novel The Afterlife of George Cartwright, which won the Smithbooks/Books in Canada First Novel Award and the Thomas Raddall Award and was shortlisted for the Governor General's Award.

Contact: Bess W. Kosinec, (506) 536-0008, bwksnc@mta.ca

Noche Latina 2008

The Fredericton Chapter of the Breaking the Silence (BTS) Maritime-Guatemala Solidarity Network will host Noche Latina, an annual fundraiser, on Friday, February 1st. This lively annual event will be in support of a scholarship fund for indigenous students in Rabinal, Guatemala. Recipients are all students of New Hope Institute, a bilingual (Spanish and Achi) and bicultural school, operated by the New Hope Foundation, for children of families affected by the genocide during the early 1980s.

Each year Breaking the Silence commits to raising $10 000 – a five year commitment of $50 000 -- to fund the tuition for 40 students. The Fredericton chapter has been a key participant in this campaign and Noche Latina is an integral fundraising event. It is expected that this year will be as successful as ever and we hope that Frederictonians will get to share in this wonderful effort.

Come join BTS and friends in a celebration of Central American culture and food. Admission includes the chance to sample typical Guatemalan cuisine, along with an evening of Latin dance performance and the music of Cesar Morales. All proceeds from admissions and a silent auction will go towards the scholarship fund.

Noche Latina will take place at Wilmot United Church (corner of King St. and Carleton St.) on Friday, February 1st. Doors will open at 5:30 pm and food service will begin at 6:00. Tickets are available for sale at Doodles Café (inside the Charlotte St. Arts Centre), Multicultural Association of Fredericton (123 York St.), True Foods Organics (207 Charlotte St.), and at the door. Ticket prices are as follows: Adults - $10, Students - $8, Children - $5 (ages 5- 12), Family - $20.

For more information about the New Hope Foundation and the scholarship fund please email Valerie Kilfoil at vkilfoil@rogers.com
For more information about Noche Latina, please email Judy Loo at loo.judy@gmail.com
For more information about the Breaking the Silence Maritime-Guatemala Solidarity Network please visit: www.tatacentre.ca

Fredericton Arts Alliance Arts Evening with Pauline Bourque from the NB Arts Board

The Fredericton Arts Alliance will be hosting an Arts Evening at 7 PM on Wednesday, January 16 in the multi-purpose room of the Charlotte Street Arts Centre, 732 Charlotte Street. Artists, arts organizations, and all those interested in the arts are welcome.

Pauline Bourque, Executive Director of the New Brunswick Arts Board (ArtsNB), will provide a history of the organization, an update on the ArtsNB grants and will also discuss the changing profile of the Arts Board.

For more information please contact the Arts Alliance at frederictonartsalliance@yahoo.ca.

edVentures Fredericton

Atlantic Canada’s Riverfront Capital is set to become one of Canada’s leading centres for vacation learning in craft and culture with the launch today of edVentures Fredericton, an innovative new program developed by Fredericton Tourism and it’s cultural sector partners.

The edVentures Fredericton program, which will run from July 7 to August 22 in 2008, will be Atlantic Canada’s largest vacation learning program.

More than 60 New Brunswick artists, like Trudy Gallagher, William Forrestall, Brigitte Clavette, Peter Thomas, Deanna Musgrave and Doris Norman, will teach five-day weekday, along with one-day and two-day workshops.

The new program, developed in large part by Fredericton special projects consultant Nancy Lockerbie, features some of New Brunswick’s best-known artists, offering more than 140 workshops in craft and culture. Courses range from pottery and jewellery making to rug hooking and digital photography. For a full list of workshops, visit www.edventures.ca.

“edVentures demonstrates in living colour what a vibrant, cultural City we have. We’ve got so many talented, creative people in our community and we’re already known as a learning centre. By combining the strengths of our cultural sector and our tourism industry, we’ve created something truly exceptional,” said Mayor Brad Woodside.

“This is among the most significant cultural programs launched in New Brunswick in the last decade or two. It‘s going to be good for the arts community, good for the City and good for the economy,” says Woodside.

The Province of New Brunswick is contributing $10,000 towards the edVentures program. Entreprise Fredericton is contributing $5000.

Partners in the new program include Fredericton Tourism, the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design, the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, the University of New Brunswick Kings Landing Historical Settlement, the Charlotte Street Arts Centre and the Historic Garrison District.

The College of Craft and Design will offer more than 50 edVentures workshops this summer.

“The College is already a leader in craft education with its winter academic programs. We’re excited to partner with Fredericton Tourism on edVentures. It allows us to offer a summer program with the same talent base of exceptional instructors,” says NBCCD Principal Michael Maynard.

edVentures workshops will take place at the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design, Kings Landing, the Beaverbrook Art Gallery and the Charlotte Street Arts Centre.

Fredericton Tourism has negotiated exclusive accommodations rates for out of town participants.

“The idea behind edVentures Fredericton is to combine an exceptional learning experience with the rich program of cultural and entertainment offerings the City has each summer and facilitate real connections to our community. We think we’ve developed something truly exceptional,” says David Seabrook, manager of Fredericton Tourism.

When EdVentures participants aren’t in workshops, they can take in summer concerts, festivals, outdoor films, heritage walking tours, haunted hikes wine-tastings, gallery tours and cultural lectures. Exercise enthusiasts can join local residents for free Tai Chi, yoga, group runs and walks, along with biking tours along the City’s 82-kilometre riverside trail network.

To register for an edVentures program, call Fredericton Tourism at 460-2233 or go online at www.edventures.ca.

UNB Reading Jan 22nd

Kathy Page Tuesday, January 22nd, 2007 Alumni Memorial Lounge (UNB)

The Canada Council for the Arts, the University of New Brunswick Department of English, and the UNB Bookstore are proud to present acclaimed author Kathy Page.

When: Tuesday, January 22nd at 8PM
Where: Alumni Memorial Lounge (UNB). Free Admission.

A finalist for the Governor General's Award, Kathy's latest novel, Alphabet, delves deep into bleak world of prison-lifer Simon Austin as he grapples with the devastating aftershocks of his crimes, and struggles to reform himself brick by brick from the ground up. In learning to read, his triumphant awakening is profoundly tempered by the horrific toll his years in ignorance have taken.

A past nominee for the Orange Prize (The Story of My Face, 2002), Kathy's work plumbs the turbulent waters of human behavior with compassionate honesty and triumphant reverence. A compelling and earnest read, Alphabet is a seminal work from a writer whose talents continue to surge and surprise. Alphabet will be available for purchase after the reading, and Kathy will be on hand to answer questions and personally sign your copy. Admission is free. Come out and join us for a great evening of literature!

Bob Mersereau launches Frye Festival lecture series, January 22

Radio producer, columnist and author Bob Mersereau will lead off the Frye Festival’s Pop et Frye series for 2008 with a talk on the connection between Canadian music and the Canadian identity. His presentation, scheduled for Tuesday, January 22, at Timothy’s World Coffee in Moncton, raises the question: “Can we find it (Canadian identity) in the popular song?”

Mersereau will share stories from his search for The Top 100 Canadian Albums and reflect on the common thread that weaves through Canadian songwriting.

Mersereau is Arts Producer for CBC Television in New Brunswick and weekly music columnist on CBC Radio's Shift program, focusing on Maritime music. He also pens a weekly music review column Backbeat, which appears each Wednesday in The Telegraph-Journal newspaper, covering the provincial, regional and national music scene. Mersereau recently contributed the liner notes to the Rhino/Warner Music release Atlantic Standards Volume 2, a top five album in Atlantic Canadian markets, and the recent Atlantic Standards Christmas.

His book, The Top 100 Canadian Albums, was published nationally by Goose Lane Editions last October to critical acclaim.

Mersereau will discuss the process involved in researching and writing the book, including the discovery he made from his interviews with dozens of songwriters behind the best Canadian albums. He found a group of people “in love with their country, and desperate to write about it, to capture it, and reflect it back”. From Joel Plaskett's national anthem-quoting hit True Patriot Love, to Neil Young and Joni Mitchell's continued use of Canadian nature, to The Tragically Hip's morale-boosting name-dropping, the nation's best musicians “go out of their way to sing about home”, says Mersereau.

Mersereau’s Pop et Frye talk begins at 7 p.m. Pop et Frye is a lecture series, presented free of charge by the Frye Festival, and dedicated to the discovery and appreciation of popular culture.

The series will feature four lectures in total, leading up to the Frye Festival, April 23-27, 2008, in Moncton. All lectures this year will be held at Timothy’s World Coffee, 735 Main Street, Moncton.

Writing for Profit Workshop in Moncton

Think you have the “write” stuff to become a writer? Then plan to attend a “writing for profit” workshop, Saturday, January 26, 2008 at the Moncton Public Library. That’s where Moncton and area professional writers will unlock a treasure chest of trade secrets.

This interactive and informative event is a presentation of MonctonWriters.ca, a group of freelance writers which meets monthly to network, discuss ideas, share potential markets and generally support each other in their individual businesses and endeavours.

Members of MonctonWriters.ca will lead a series of sessions on the possibilities and realities of the professional writing world at this month’s workshop. Session topics include: what it takes to be a writer; opportunities for writers; writing about what you know; finding appropriate markets and protecting your rights as a writer.

Session presenters include:

Kate Merlin, a specialist in science and nature writing and author of the book Trails of Greater Moncton;

Brian Cormier, humour columnist and blogger with an extensive public relations background in government and corporate sectors;

Deborah Carr, website designer, newspaper and magazine writer, who focuses on conservation, business and people profiles and travel writing;

Allison Finnamore, an award winning agriculture writer, columnist and author of two creative non-fiction books;

Wendy Kitts, a children’s literature expert, columnist, and regular contributor to the Globe & Mail, and;

Rayanne Brennan, communications consultant, former newspaper editor and press secretary to government leaders and corporations.

The presenters are also members of the Professional Writers Association of Canada, Southeast NB Chapter. PWAC is a nation-wide non-profit organization, with over 600 members, that works to improve rates and working conditions for writers in Canada's magazine and newspaper industries.

The workshop will be held in Room AB from 1-5 p.m.

Cost is $35 on or before January 19 and $40 at the door. Payment can be made by cheque, payable to "PWAC SE New Brunswick Chapter". For complete details on the workshop and the presenters, visit the group’s website at www.monctonwriters.ca.
To register for the workshop, email info@monctonwriters.ca or call Allison Finnamore at (506)860-776.

Biff Mitchell’s Writing Hurts Like Hell workshop begins Jan 28

Biff Mitchell's Writing Hurts Like Hell is a 12 session workshop designed to force you into doing the thing you've avoided most – actually writing that novel you've always talked about. It works on the theory that, if you're writing, you're a writer; if you're not writing, you're nobody. Through a series of character and scene-building field trips, brutally honest discussions about the use of sex, humour, violence and four-letter language in writing, and no-excuse flash fiction exercises, you'll get the writing juices flowing and build a solid foundation to launch your novel into being.

This is not a workshop on how to write (though we'll cover some of that) … it's a workshop on how to be a writer. If you're not serious about writing, don't even think about taking this workshop. If you are serious, welcome to Writing Hurts Like Hell.

Instructor: Biff Mitchell
January 28 – April 21
Every Monday from 6:30 - 8:30 PM.
Tilley Hall, Room 124 (first meeting only … and then we head out into the world)
Cost: $155 (+HST)
To register, call UNB College of Extended Learning at 506-453-4646.