POETRY NEWS
TWUC, PWAC, PGC AND LCP WILL SPEAK AS ONE ON COPYRIGHT REFORM
The four leading professional organizations representing Canadian writers have formed a coalition to ensure that proposed legislation to reform Canadian copyright law will respect our rights, including the right to be fairly remunerated for our work. We will be working together to engage our members to support appropriate amendments to C-32, the government bill that was given first reading in Parliament on June 2nd. The Writers' Union of Canada, the Professional Writers Association of Canada, the Playwrights Guild of Canada and the League of Canadian Poets will work together through the summer and fall to advise politicians and civil servants on required changes to the legislation under consideration. The four associations represent over 4000 professional writers. We will be sending you further information about these issues and also want your feedback and know your concerns. This process is very important to all of us as we hope it will influence the outcome of Bill C-32. We look forward to future dialogue with you.
ATTENTION TEACHERS, PITS PARTICIPANTS AND EDUCATORS, AN OPPORTUNITY FOR YOUR STUDENTS!
Call for submissions: Ekphrastic Poetry: Where do you find inspiration for writing poetry? Our feelings and experiences are often the fuel for poems, but what about drawing inspiration from a painting, a sculpture or a video installation? Poets have been using artworks to write poetry since Ancient Greece, and this type of poetry is actually called ekphrastic poetry (which comes from the Greek words ek, which means out, and phrasis, which means to speak). Ekphrastic poems speaking about or even to a work of art. Ode on a Grecian Urn by John Keats is a famous example of ekphrastic poetry, as Keats describes the various scenes of lovers, musicians and people performing religious rites that he sees painted on the urn, bringing it all to life.
If you leave near a gallery or museum, it's a great practice to make a trip with a notebook and wander until you find a work that draws you in. Try writing a poem about it--what is happening in the artwork? What does it make you feel? Do you feel like you can translate what the artist is trying to say in their work? If you don’t live near an art gallery, try visiting an online gallery like Stuart. Stuart is a very popular online gallery that showcases student artwork from around the world. It would be an excellent place to get inspired, try scrolling through the pages until you find an artist whose work jumps out at you. Here are some more examples of ekphrastic poetry to get you started.
Poems about art—poems about painting, poems about murals, poems about video art—your poems are part of an ongoing conversation between poetry and art and I’m looking forward to hear what they have to say! Please send your ekphrastic poems to Monique at reverseezine@gmail.com and a link to an image of artwork that inspired your poem.
Monique Mathew
Editor, Re:verse E-zine
www.youngpoets.ca/ezine
reverseezine@gmail.com
FIRST ANNUAL LITERARY FESTIVAL FOR COLLINGWOOD
Collingwood, Ontario will be hosting its first annual literary festival September 10 and 11, 2010. Wordstock will be a celebration of words both on and off the page, with readings and events for children, teens and adults.
The kick off celebration, Off The Page, taking place on Friday, September 10 at the Gayety Theatre promises an exciting evening of ‘expressed word’ with theatre, music, mime and storytelling.
Authors who will be offering readings on Saturday, September 11 include nationally recognized writers John Geiger, Giles Blunt, Linwood Barclay, Maureen Jennings, Catherine Gildiner, Penn Kemp and Robert Priest. Local authors include Christine Cowley, Dorris Heffron, Carolyn Smardz-Frost, Liz Zetlin and Kristan Anderson.
The poetry hub will offer readings throughout the day plus a poetry slam hosted by David Silverberg and the 2010 Toronto Poetry Slam Team—Kiki, Relevant, David Delisca, and Fraser, with open mics throughout the day.
The new Collingwod Public Library will host puppet shows for the children as well as a concert by the Funky Mamas, and life size book characters will be wandering the Farmer’s Market.
The festival will also offer a host of workshops for aspiring writers, including: Blood, Sweat and Fears--writing with the beginner’s mind (Ruth Garrett); Ins and Outs of Getting Published (Judy Ross and Janet Lees); That’s Entertainment--translating words into images (Garry Campbell and Warren Leonhardt); Songwriting Workshops with Tyler Firestone, Aaron Garner, Jason Redman and Patrick Ballantyne; Creative Writing with Richard Scarsbrook.
Most events will be free to the public. Come on out and experience Collingwood’s inaugural literary event! For more information go to: collingwoodwordstock.com. Submitted by Harry Posner.
NEW COPYRIGHT LEGISLATION IS BAD NEWS FOR CANADIAN WRITERS
On paper, this is certainly a formidable group. Organizations representing poets, fiction and non-fiction book writers, playwrights, translators and freelance journalists have announced they will join forces to protest amendments to the copyright bill. They fear these amendments, introduced in June just before Parliament adjourned, could be devastating to the writing trade. You can view this Toronto Star story at: http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/835450--new-copyright-legislation-is-bad-news-for-canadian-writers
BOOK PUBLISHERS TO BENEFIT FROM IMPROVED CANADA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS TRANSLATION PROGRAM
Over the next three years, more money than ever before will be available for official language translations by professional publishers through the National Translation Program for Book Publishing. In addition to increasing the availability of books in English and in French, the program will include three pilot initiatives to build capacity in the industry and improve the quality of translations.
The Department of Canadian Heritage is extending for three years its one-year agreement signed in 2009-10 with the Canada Council for the Arts and is transferring a total of $4.25 million to the Council to help publishers in Canada translate Canadian-authored books into English and French. This initiative is part of the Government’s Roadmap for Canada’s Linguistic Duality. The annual allocation is:
- 2010-11: $1.25 million
- 2011-12: $1.5 million
- 2012-13: $1.5 million
Read the complete news release here or by copying and pasting the following URL into your web browser’s address bar: www.canadacouncil.ca/news/releases/2010/yr129234140052337728.htm. Visit our website at www.canadacouncil.ca.
League News
A NEW BENEFITS PLAN IS AVAILABLE TO OUR MEMBERS AT:
www.writerscoalition.com
The new benefits plan, the Writers' Coalition Program, was started three
years ago by Susan Swan and Deborah Windsor when Swan was chair of The Writers' Union of Canada. The new plan is run by Actra Fraternal, under Bob Underwood. It was originally designed to serve the 2,000
writers who are TWUC members but the plan has since expanded to include
artists and musicians, with a membership totalling over 18,000. Home and auto insurance can be
purchased separately from drugs and dental. For a free quote on your
home and auto insurance call 1-800-365-3387. Currently, membership is
limited to those under 71 years of age but if you join now, there is no
age limit. Premiums are expected to go down as membership increases. The
League of Canadian Poets was one of the original founding organizations
along with PEN Canada, PWAC and Access
Copyright. (For more information, see www.writerscoalition.com)
NEW COUNCIL MEMBERS AT THE LEAGUE
One of the main tasks at the annual LCP Poetry Festival and Conference was to elect the people who will serve on the League’s National Council for the upcoming year. Here are the new council members as voted in at the AGM members meeting in Toronto. Welcome to all the new and returning council members. For a full list of current council members and committees see http://www.poets.ca/linktext/council.htm. You can find the bios of each council member online in our member’s pages: http://www.poets.ca/linktext/whos.htm
Advisory Committee:
President: Joe Blades
Vice President/Membership Chair: Susan McMaster
Treasurer: Ray Mitchell
Past President: Dennis Reid
Secretary: TBD
Regional Reps:
Newfoundland/NS rep: TBD
NB/PEI rep: Kathy Mac
Quebec/Nunavut rep: Ian Ferrier
Ontario rep: Terry Ann Carter
Toronto rep: Paul Sanderson
Manitoba rep: Ariel Gordon
Saskatchewan rep: Lynda Monahan
Alberta/NWT rep: Patrick Pilarski
BC/Yukon: Hilary Peach
Associate rep: Sherrene D. Kevan
The League of Canadian Poets
192 Spadina Avenue, Suite 312
Toronto, ON M5T 2C2
Phone: 416 504 1657 / Fax: 416 504 0096
