27 September 2009

25 September 2009

influencywest

The KSW and the Downstream Project present: InfluencyWest!

The KSW and the Downstream Project with the support of the Canada Council for the arts are proud to present the InfluencyWest Literary Salon.

This fall we are pleased to offer an exciting lecture and reading series modeled on the highly successful Influency Reading series curated by Margaret Christakos. We share her dedication and enthusiasm for bringing poetry and readers together in dangerously close proximity with the goal of revising the relationship between readers, writers and text.

Facilitators: Jordan Scott and Jason Christie

Location: Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, Room 410b

Time: 7:00pm

Cost for the entire run: $20 – $30 (Sliding scale in full effect). If the cost is prohibitive, please let us know. We will not turn anyone away.

Schedule

October 14th: Introductory Session
October 19th: Ken Belford on Lisa Robertson
October 20th: Lisa Robertson on Ken Belford
October 28th: Kim Duff on Larissa Lai and Rita Wong
November 10th: Larissa Lai and Rita Wong on Kim Duff
November 12th: Stephen Collis on Oana Avasilichioaei
November 19th: Oana Avasilichioaei on Stephen Collis
November 26th: Final Session

24 September 2009

15 September 2009

Marguerite Pigeon readings

Marguerite Pigeon is a writer of poetry and fiction. Since completing her MFA at the University of British Columbia in 2004, she has been working as an editor of academic publications while completing this collection of poems and her first novel. Her work has appeared in a variety of journals, including subTerrain, The Capilano Review, dANDelion, Grain, and Taddle Creek. Originally from Blind River, Northern Ontario. She currently lives in Vancouver.

Inventory is a collection of 58 object poems. Taking as a starting point the reciprocal relation between subjects and objects, the book explores the unique way that objects appear in an individual consciousness. Each object in this Inventory exists on its own and also reflects the author’s experience, from the mundane stapler and tea bag, to the mysterious, extinct dodo bird, to entities that blur the line between person and thing.

In this way, the collection highlights the often hidden dimensions of the objects we encounter, including their temporal, political, locational and psychic aspects. It offers an opportunity for readers to reconsider their own investments in what, by dictionary definition, should be static categories.

Monday, Sept 21st

UNBC at 1:00PM in Rm 10-4558
CNC at 7:30PM in Rm 1-306

07 September 2009

'Democratas'

"P.G. will speak through portrait"

Written by Christine Skorepa
Citizen staff
Wednesday, 02 September 2009


There is an art project being created one photograph at a time at the Farmers' Market over the next several weeks in order for a whole community to tell a story.

The idea is to take snap shots of the citizens of Prince George holding up a sign with their favourite word on it and gather the photos all together to make one statement of who we are.

Last week there were 80 people who participated and only one word was repeated. Can you guess what it was? That's right, it was “love” - but only used three times and written in three different languages.













Dr. Rob Budde, who works at the University of Northern British Columbia is a poet, creative scholar, and cultural worker, Hardy Friedrich, poet, journalist and photographer and Denielle Wiebe, poet and masters student at UNBC, are working together on this project called ‘Democratas’ - voice of the people.

Each portrait will have a face and a word, an expression, a handwritten declaration of identity and the changing Prince George light that will be placed side-by-side on a large wall like a collective poem stating who we are, explained Budde.

"I'm always a bit dissatisfied with the way Prince George is represented in the media, especially in the South," said Budde. "Stereotypes come through and I thought, how can I counter that with a portrait of Prince George that is more organic and from the people - that's how I came up with the name ‘Democratas’, thinking about democracy and the voice of the people. Instead of votes it's a word."

Budde thought collecting up to 1,000 portraits with just a word and a face and displaying them all on a big wall would give us a picture of Prince George not otherwise seen.

Budde does not know where the exhibit will be displayed because he does not know how big the display will be. Some suggestions include the Two Rivers Gallery, city hall, UNBC, the airport, or even as a mobile unit could be considered. He doesn't even know how many portraits will be enough. Someone suggested 600 as Prince George sits at 600 feet above sea level.

When Budde, Friedrich and Wiebe set up at the Farmers' Market last week, Budde found people's reaction to it surprising in a couple of ways, he said. "It was a bit easier than I thought it would be," Budde said. Physically setting up the photos went well.

"The second surprise was how tentative people were," said Budde. "People were reluctant to come up to the table." And people would say they would have to come back after choosing the perfect word.

"There were some very rich, powerful words and each word tells its own story," said Budde. There were two that stood out for him when a police officer wrote the word 'shepherd' and an older Aboriginal man who just lost his mother, wrote 'mother'.

Visit the Democratas table at the Farmers' Market on Saturday, Wilson Square at Third and George Street to become a part of this work of art.