Shameless Self Promotion

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Watching and Writing with a Critical Eye: Making Sense of Inter-Arts Practices
Presented by the Collective Gutsink
St. John's Newfoundland


Writers refuse definitions, critics seem vague, institutes refrain and performers remain silent.
      David Young
   Director, LIVE Biennial of Performance Art

The Collective Gutsink is bringing internationally known writer/lecturer Philip Szporer this January, 2004, for two sessions that would aim to demystify the critical approaches taken when viewing/experiencing interdisciplinary art and build tools for writing about it.

Public Round Table ƒ² Wednesday, January 14. 7:00- 10:00pm. The Eastern Edge

The first segment of this project is a public round table discussion on critical writing for the arts. This will take place at the Eastern Edge Gallery, a non-profit, artist run centre in downtown St. John=s. This session will be facilitated by Philip Szporer and will feature three panelists that will each be given 15-20 minutes to present their views on a facet of critical writing for the arts. The panelists have been chosen because they represent in some - and sometimes overlapping - way one of the four players that David Young alludes to above: writer, critic, institute and performer. Noreen Golfman teaches Critical Theory at Memorial University, is the Founding Director of the St. Johns= International Women=s Film and Video Festival, and curates a film series with a commitment to otherstream work. Lori Clarke is an interdisciplinary artist whose ambitious holography/sound/video piece will be part of the inaugural exhibition for The Rooms in June 2004. Bruce Johnson is the curator of contemporary art at the Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador and sits on the editorial board of ArtsAtlantic.

The presentations would be followed by an open forum, moderated by Philip Szporer, where members of the audience will join in the discussion to voice concerns about challenges facing our community. Some of the goals of this event are: to spark a dialogue and open exchange between different constituencies, to publicly decode art practices that may seem inaccessible to non-specialized audiences, and finally, to encourage members of the writing community to engage with interdisciplinary artists in either a collaborative or critical way by writing about them. The expected audience for this is 40-50 people.







Professional Development Workshop for Writers (price TBA)
Saturday, January 17 (time TBA). Anna Templeton Centre

The second segment of the Critical Eye project will take place at the Anna Templeton Centre for Craft, Art and Design. A not-for-profit centre, that provides craft and art training to the general community (both adults and children) and to the professional craftsperson and artist. This site was chosen as an acknowledgment of the craft of writing and the materials of language that form any intellectual written engagement with inter-arts practices worth reading.
 
Watching and Writing with a Critical Eye: A Professional Development Workshop for Writers (12 people)

Workshop Facilitator - Philip Szporer

The workshop is aimed at demystifying the critical approaches taken when considering the arts, and at building tools for writing about the specifics of an art form and interdisciplinary practice in the arts. The one-day session, in two blocks of two hours, will first introduce viewpoints, approaches and ethical issues, as well as perspectives on form and clarity of writing. The second part of the workshop will be oriented to writing a critique. This is an excellent occasion for writers to develop the critical vocabulary to engage with work like that which is presented at the International Sound Symposium and by the various arts collectives around town that are producing challenging artistic works. Much of this work is so far off the radar that a recalibration of the critical lens needed.

All participants are required to read an article (t.b.a.) and must be prepared to write about a performance, exhibition, or concert.


Philip Szporer

Freelance writer, broadcaster, filmmaker and international lecturer based in Montreal. Philip is Scholar in Residence at the Jacobƒ­ƒ­s Pillow Dance Festival and was awarded a Pew Fellowship for the National Dance/Media Project at the University of California (Los Angeles). He has worked extensively for CBC-Radio in the arts, music and public affairs divisions and served as correspondent for The World, a BBC/ WGBH-Boston co-production, heard on Public Radio International. Currently he is dance columnist for Radio-Canadaƒ­ƒ­s 'Aux arts, etc..', as well as writing a weekly column for HOUR and contributing to Ballettanz, and The Dance Current. He recently contributed a chapter on Canadian dance for the screen to the publication project, 'Envisioning Dance on Film and Video' (Routledge Press). Amongst other writing and media projects, Philip is co-directing and producing, with filmmaker Marlene Millar, a documentary series on emerging Canadian choreographers, 'Moments in Motion', as well as a documentary on the Fresh Voices project for the Canada Dance Festival.

The Critical Eye Project was conceived by Kevin Hehir for more information contact Kevin at:
khehir@cs.mun.ca
722 ƒ² 0678

I have a nice watch.

I don't get it

For the benefit or detriment of Ninja readers not already aware of the following:

I have a ltd. ed. chapbook of poems called Fool's Errand coming out in the spring with Saturday Morning Chapbooks (Charlottetown). Advance orders can be placed with the Reading Well bookstore: alligator@rebelreader.com.

Also, check out my "How Poems Work" column on ARC's website: http://www.cyberus.ca/~arc.poetry/howpoemswork/ I'll be doing two more such columns in January and February.

Hey, speaking of shameless self promotion and Newfoundland, what's the deal with this guy Kenneth J. Harvey? I never even heard of him, and then I start getting these personal e-mails telling me about his work, like I'm his best pal. He tries to engage me in discussions, pretending that he knows my work. Anyone else have this experience?

Haven't got anything personal, but did receive spam from him.

Shameless self-promotion from a regular lurker: I will be discussing my novel, Uncle Dirty, in an online chat session, Jan. 4, 2004, at 1pm EST (I hope that means Toronto time!) at this location:

http://www.escapemediapublishers.com/TheOxbarn.html

Why, you ask, would you waste a good Sunday afternoon engaged in a chat about a book you have never heard of? Beats me. I'm just putting the offer out there, as they say, shamelessly.

Even more shamelessly, I confess: My second novel, Fifteen Minutes to Anonymous, will be on shelves mid-March.

Insider, if you happen to be speaking with your pal Kennth J. Harvey, tell him to log in for my chat session. I could use a second friend.

P.S. My publisher made me do this.

This isn't a self promotion but since there was talk about Running the Goat a few days ago I thougth i'd post it. it should also be noted that it was in a review of Mary Dalton's book by Mark Callanan that I discovered Bookninja.Mark mentions the three way review in his review.

Lori Doody is really great. We've got three of her pieces in our house (http://www.papiercouture.com/)

Running the Goat Books & Broadsides

is pleased to announce the publication of

Turk's Gut Wolf

a poemphlet

 poem by
Mark Callanan

and

image by
Lori Doody


The text was hand-set in 14 pt Fournier type; letterpress and gocco printed on Arches Text. The poemphlet measures 18 x 7 1/2 inches when open; folded and hand-sewn in to a cover of brown Fabriano paper, it is 6 x 7 1/2.
It is limited to an edition of 150, signed by author and artist.

Available directly from the publisher or at Devon House Craft Shop in St. John's NL
Retail price $20.00
Shipping is extra.

I would add a hearty recommendation of Callanan's Scarecrow from Killick Press; excellent first collection.

Edited by author 01-02-2004 12:11 AM
Hey guys, I'm reading on Feb 17th at the Art Bar. If you're in Toronto, please come. If you're flying in, ask the Comfort Inn for the George Murray group rate...

Also, I did some minor minor minor updates on my little website.... The best part of which are gratuitous cute baby shots [bottom of "Bio" section]. Damn that kid's goodlooking. Who knew?

[P.S. Al Moritz gave him that blue "fly" outfit and a companion T-shirt -- with a spider. The guy never stops.]

Edited by author 01-02-2004 12:38 AM
handsome little ninja!

Edited by author 01-02-2004 01:51 AM
I'm reading in suburbia on January 25th:

http://www.suburbanspokenword.com/home.htm

I have no children. :(

Me neither. :(

I have a few gigs in Jan and Feb tho. Clap hard for Twinkle

And they are.... where? when?

I don't think she'll tell you, BN. It would mean blowing her cover. She just teasing us. She's an identity tease.

Tell you waht... if I ever publish a book, or heck, even do a reading somewhere, I'll reveal my identity.

Edited by author 01-04-2004 02:39 PM
identity tease
hmm.

Honestly, Twinkle, do you want people to NOT go to your readings? Why mention them?

Not quite self-promotion, though there is a bit of self-interest involved. . .

Tuesday, 6 January 2004
7:30 – 9:00 PM

A Poetry Reading With:
Adam Getty & Goran Simic

Beeton Auditorium
Toronto Reference Library
789 Yonge Street
Toronto, ON

For those who weren't able to be at the reading I posted, here's an article from The Star that gives an account of the evening.

http://www.thestar.ca/NASApp/cs/ContentSer...umnist1038222084768

Thanks, Sopwith. Just knowing that the Star would run Fiorito's piece on the reading has put me in a good mood. I'm sorry I missed the reading.

Adam's a good bloke and a good poet. I'm glad his book keeps surfacing in the newsies. He deserves it.

Extry, extry, my latest column on ARC's website, a must-see for Pete Trower fans:

http://www.cyberus.ca/~arc.poetry/howpoemswork/

Nice work, Zach. I've always liked that poem.

Ta. Hey, speaking of self-promotion, you came a well-placed tree or vehicle away from publishing my book posthumously last night. Word to the wise: a Grand Marquis does not handle well in snow.

Careful on them icy roads, mister. We want you around to shamelessly self-promote your book when it comes out.

I want a chauffeur. Is that in the budget? Am I still allowed to ride my motorcycle? I don't remember that in the contract, but my eyes did kind of glaze over at several points...

Edited by author 01-18-2004 05:02 PM
Might as well make use of this. I'm reading in north Toronto next week.

Sunday, January 25.
READING: Suburban Spoken Word features top-notch poetry with feature readers including poet Paul Vermeersch and poet/NOW writer Mike Smith, plus an open stage with new books as sassy prizes for the brave souls. At Queen of Hearts Pub, 390 Steeles Ave. W., 8pm, $5, 416-312-3865.

Crap, you're practically in Newmarket. Watch out for the guys named Skeeter in Harley Davidson painter's caps.

I'm Canlit!!!!

Reading from Way Up as part of a Canlit class at York University on February 4, 2004 from 12-1 pm

Glendon, York U
(Bayview & Lawrence)
York Hall
C Wing, 2nd floor, C115

 CBC Gallery February 14/15
Funny Kind of Love: Featured suite of end of love poems from Brenda Schmidt, with music improvisations from Lee Kozak. Also feline love from Carle Steele, and young love from Tracy Harmon.
http://sask.cbc.ca/radio/gallery/program.html

Could it be?

Is Twinkle really Brenda Schmidt?

Twinkle = Brenda Schmidt

Well, I'll be!

If any Ninjas in the Halifax area are looking for something to do on Groundhog Eve, I'll be reading at an open mic tonight at Salvation on Agricola St. (sorry, can't think offhand what the cross-street is, but it's just a few blocks south of North St. on the West side of the Agricola). 8 p.m. Probably accompanied by another Ninja. Sorry for the short notice, a spur o the moment engagement.

For John Stiles' fans, he has two new poems included in this month's edition of Todd Swift's online poetry magazine nthposotion.com

(Oh, and there's a couple of new poems by yours truly, as well, among others).

http://nthposition.com/

Nice stuff. Especially like the tat poem. Makes me want to get another one.

Friday February 20, at 8:00 pm
The 2004 National Poetry Face-Off Regionals - Saskatchewan.
This year the contestants include performance poet Tallis, Louise Halfe, Bruce Rice, Brenda Schmidt, and Allan Safarik.
In the CBC Galleria, 2440 Broad Street, Regina, SK.

Will it be recorded, Twinks? Can we get it thru the web or something? I don't know about the rest of em, but I'm intrigued by this "Brenda Schmidt" character....

Very funny.
It will be recorded. I'll post links to the text and the recording of Brenda Schmidt's experiment later on.

Oh yeah, that thing. Thanks for the reminder, Twinkle.

The 2004 National Poetry Face-Off Regionals - PEI. Tuesday, Feb. 10, 7pm at City Cinema on King Street in Charlatan.

Contestants are Charlie Sark, Laurie Murphy, Hugh MacDonald, Diane Morrow, and some lazy s.o.b.

rob mclennan is going to be there?

Heh. I'm sure rm will be present in spirit in at least one member of the audience. Isn't he always?

Lazy 'cause he hasn't written his piece yet?

Lazy 'cause it's an inherent property of me.

I'll be hosting Lisa Gabriele this Saturday in St. John's

8:00pm
The Studio
272 Water Street (above Auntie Crae's)
Free. Always.

Final installment of my How Poems Work column now up at the Arc website:

http://www.cyberus.ca/~arc.poetry/howpoemswork/

Zach,

Interesting. Don’t know if this post belongs here, but here goes:

Isn’t there another way to read that poem? Could the poet/artist not “be” either the gardener or excavator? This would keep the Mole as the object of the poet’s gaze—as it is plainly in the poem—going about his business, doing his thing, blind as a bat (forgive me), making his mountains. Perhaps it’s the poet who can see them for what they are: simply molehills.

The point, however, is not whose reading is “right.” I guess I want to ask a question: what is the philosophy behind these “how poems work” things? I wonder if they don’t reinforce the idea of a poem as a cryptic crossword. The how-poems-work I’ve read, mostly in the G&M, all seem to hastily end along the lines of, “But hey, it’s still a good poem on the surface,” as if the author didn’t want to lose the I-just-want-to-be-entertained type. (Thank God my next poem has a $100 million budget, so no worries there.)

Dunno. Don’t want to pick a fight--hard to balance a chip on a bony shoulder anyway. Lot to ask from a 400-word article, but maybe the approach should be more free-for-all. Emphasize the plurality of readings.

As an aside: I’ve always found Frost’s “Road Less Traveled” to be more interesting if you consider that the roads really aren’t different at all. Frost gives clues: “the other just as fair”; “the passing there / Had worn them really about the same”; “equally lay”. So really, “all the difference” is tenuous. Then again, if the poet really believes it’s different, maybe that’s all that matters. Uh, corner…paint approaching…no escape…aghhh! (Insert CGI effects here.)

Hey meaty, thanks for your comments. I don't know that there's any overarching "philosophy" to the HPW column. I received no specific instructions from Arc on what to write or how to write it. Their input was pretty much just copy-editing my draughts. Personally, I saw the essays as opportunities to examine the nuts and bolts of how poems are made and how they achieve their effects. In my John Clare and Peter Trower columns, I brought in some historical context, too, as I think this is something that is oft over-looked in close readings, and is a very important part of how a poem means.

Absolutely, I'd never suggest that one reading is right and another wrong (tho some readings are bound to be more convincing than others), and your identification of the poet as excavator/gardener occurred to me, but as you say 500 words run out in a hurry. Frankly, I don't see the point in "emphasizing the plurality of readings," as that's pretty much a given. And I'd say that any poem that HAS to be plumbed ten fathoms deep to be enjoyed/understood is a fatally flawed poem. A poem has to convince the reader to read again and read more deeply; it has to make us love it before we can try to understand it.

So yeah, I think a poem should be enjoyable for the story it tells and the music it makes, if that's all a reader wants out of it. But if one's going to leave it at that, then there ain't much point penning an essay; better to just post a "poem I like" rather than a "how poems work". I certainly don't want to turn anyone off poetry by falling into the academic trap of extreme vivisection, but I also think it's fruitful to teach people about different ways to appreciate poems, including the technical. I encouraged Arc to create hyperlinks to an online glossary of poetic terms, in the interests of making my essays more readily accessible to the layperson, but for whatever reason they opted not to do that, which is unfortunate, as it's one of the great advantages to online publication.

An afterthought on my last post. Given the extent to which the speaker identifies with the mole, I don't think it would be a great stretch to say that gardener/excavator/mole/poet/speaker are not separable one from the other; that this poem shows how all animals are related and, whatever their differences in size and subtlety, engaged in the same basic tasks. Or, as I ended the essay: "The reader can identify with the mole in a complex manner; can see all life on this planet as worthy of notice on its own terms as well as in ours." This gives the poem a political/ecological dimension that sets it apart from a simple love poem to a rodent, and does so in a way that manages to eschew heavy-handed didacticism. I think it's a real dilly of a poem, this.

Er…nothing mediocre about a meaty ochre, is there? Apologies. Too enamoured with my own cleverness to spot the connotations (My m.o.? Somebody please put me out of my misery.) And I had to go and register it too. Think I’ll go and hide in the shed.

Zach,

I guess “philosophy” was a lazy choice of words, sorry. I’ve just been confused by what the agenda is for HPW in general, some of which you addressed in your response. My question is, who is the audience for these columns? Is it people unfamiliar with poetry, who approach it with trepidation? If it is, then I don’t think “emphasizing the plurality” can be taken for granted. When people believe they don’t get poetry, it’s because they’re searching for that elusive “right” reading of the poem, usually assumed to be the one intended by the author. Isn’t “teaching people different ways to appreciate poems” emphasizing plurality?

I had no idea metaphor literally meant “carrying over.” Now there’s a tool you can use to discover how poems work. More of that. I also think (though I try not to think too much, it hurts), that there’s a distinction between “how poems work” and “poems I like and this is why I like them.”

For what’s it’s worth, I now appreciate the poem under discussion more than I did when I first read it. Now, to find that key to the shed…

Audience: I assumed, given that I was writing for "Canada's National Poetry Magazine," a journal that does poetry and nothing but, that the majority of readers would already be reasonably familiar with the various arrows in a poet's quiver. If I was writing for the Globe, I might have altered my angle somewhat. But not a whole lot, because I prefer to assume that my audience is intelligent, literate and open-minded enough that they will seek out unfamiliar terms on their own if they don't immediately understand them. Perhaps a rash assumption, but hey, they're only paying me 30 bucks a shot, so I'm basically gonna write what I feel like writing. There's very damn little you can do for the guy or gal who "just don't get it." It's a self-fulfilling statement, so I'd rather not try to convert them to the light side.

Arc was concerned, in my Trower piece specifically, that I was using a lot of technical terms like "trochaic" and "spondee" and such that some readers wouldn't understand. I suggested linking to the online glossary, but that was the last I hoid of it.

As for emphasizing plurality, yes, you're quite right, I just don't feel like doing it explicitly. I'd rather acknowledge it than emphasize it; an aesthetic preference as much as anything. I think that phrases like "Readings such as the one I've provided" hint that I'm not saying I've got THE key to this poem. Again, I'm assuming that my readers are reasonably literate folk to begin with.

I agree that there's a distinction to be made. I've never been crazy with the "HPW" title, if only because if anyone could actually figure that out they'd only write exceptionally powerful poems. Maybe it should be "How Poems Fail Better."

Anyway, I'm glad that my column was better than useless for ya. That's all one can really hope for, eh. And thanks again for the comments; sometimes feels like I'm pitching these things at the void.

Edited by author 02-10-2004 10:34 PM
Speaking of lit mags and poetry, what, if anything, do people think of the work being done by the folks at Contemporary Verse 2?

I've enjoyed the interviews so far...it strikes me that they're doing something a little different from most lit mags.

Not bad cover/website design, either...

Tilda, I don't know CV2 other than having seen it on the shelves.

Edited by author 02-11-2004 11:05 PM
I'll be in Toronto reading at the Art Bar Series this coming Tuesday, February 17th, at 8pm.
 
It's upstairs at:

The Victory Café
581 Markham St
(one block west of bathurst; one south of bloor)

All ninjas welcome (read required) to show. Maybe we could take over the open mic....

Hey, if yer doing a reading, does that mean you'll be publishing that manifesto soon?

It's a bit far for hitchhiking in the winter, G, otherwise I'd be there with ya.

Hi Ninjas,

I have put together a new website at:

http://www.jonpaulfiorentino.com

If you get a chance, drop by and let me know what you think either on this board or privately by emailing jonfiorentino at yahoo dot ca. (I may have gone overboard with the colours; I'm no html expert so I don't know how it looks to the web savvy public.)

thanks
Jon

I like it, JPF. It's nice and simple to navigate. I agree that you went overboard on the colours. Here's a link to a page of colour codes, if that's of any use.

----

In other news, I just got a note from a friend in Iowa. Apparently SBP is in Walmart down there. What the hell does that mean? Is this like A-Rod playing third base for the Yankees?

John, it means that the hobbits are in Mordor.

JPF: site looks good. A couple suggestions, besides colours:

1)"Press" page is very crowded. I'd space out the articles more, one from another, and maybe use different fonts/sizes for headlines etc. Also, maybe provide hyperlinks to stuff that's on the net like the TDR interview.

2)The titles for the photos seem kinda redundant. I'd get rid of em. It's pretty clear that they're photos of you (but maybe just 'cause I know ya) and that they could be used for promotion. What I want to know is: where are the naked JPF shots? Raow.

John: I got rid of the colour nonsense.
Zach: Digital camera + liquid courage = Naked JPF pics for everyone (promotional naked JPF pics that is)!

Thanks for the tips. I will continue to clean up the site with these helpful suggestions.

JPF -- There's a little dot under another dot on the title page. Morse code?

I also think your cv is too extensive though this may be jealousy.

I really like the medical script page and was a bit disappointed this wasn't the front cover to the book. Still an inspired touch.

Also, some sites link the pix of books to more info about said books -- this is handy but maybe difficult to do??

I'm thinking about making a website too. What do people, ie you, think of them generally? Useful? Pretentious? Both? Unnecessary? Controlling? Wha?

Kathryn,

I think the prescription pad is being incorporated in the book design somehow. I can thank the brilliant people at Coach House Books for that.

I think a website is both useful and pretentious. It helps me get jobs and media coverage; it makes me feel great shame for being so vain.

I think websites are a good idea for anyone in the public sphere. Like anything else quality and pretension depend on execution. I'm in the midst of sort of learning HTML from my wizkid brother. Site forthcoming.

My brother explained the pics=info link thing and it's not hard. Not that I could tell anyone how to do it, but he assures me it's easy as pie.

Kathryn, I can't speak for others but I personally think less of you for not having one. You ALMOST achieve brilliance in your stories, but they are sorely lacking in HTML code and 75 dpi scans of your book cover.

Sorry, chickita. You blew it.

And there's that problem with punctuation too.

Am gonna git me wunna those there whatchimacallits HT camels and smoke youse guyz right outta town...

You better all be at my reading tomorrow. Roll call will conducted at 8:05pm.

How'd the reading go?

John, It was a lotta fun. All three readers very interesting in their poetry and amusing in their banter. Then the real show transpired. Open mic!

What Kathryn said.

The open mic was the place to be, man.

(Actually, there was one kid right at the end who redeemed the entire night. His work was far too dense, but was obviously far far beyond everyone else's. I wish I'd caught his name.)

See, that's what the o.m. is about, that diamond in the rough. I saw Wakefield Brewster at that open mic when I read there a couple years ago, and all I can say is I'm glad I didn't have to go after him. Everyone else in the o.m. was stinkorific, but it was worth sticking around just for him.

ok, be nice...
Brenda Schmidt, aka Twinkle, was one of five SK poets invited to face-off in the 2004 CBC National Poetry Face-Off Regionals on February 20 in the CBC Galleria in Regina.

Tune in to CBC Saskatchewan's Morning Edition on Wednesday March 10 between 6:00 and 8:30 a.m. for the radio broadcast and cast your vote! Voting will close at day's end on March 10. To check out the five poets and the poems click here http://sask.cbc.ca/radio/morningedition/

Kick arse, Twinks! No mercy, no prisoners!

Edited by author 03-03-2004 06:42 PM
Speaking of the face-off:

http://www.isn.net/buzzon/frames/frames_writing.htm

[click on "Poetry Face Off" at the top of the page to get to the article]

Wouldn't it just rock if it came down to an all ninja final? Evil vs. da Twininator....

Hey, Ninja types:

Janinja informs me that she has problems seeing my website on her 14" monitor. Just wondering if anyone else has difficulties?

Edited by author 03-06-2004 01:49 AM
Looks fine to me.

Sites often look different depending on whether you're looking at them on a Mac or Windows, in Explorer or Netscape, if the monitor resolution is set different than usual, etc. I find the graphics on my site look a little different on every computer.

zach,

I can't really make out what the cover of "Unsettled" looks like. Since it's an insomniac book, there's no doubt that it looks great, but can you get a bigger image on the site?

Thanks, Jon; I embiggened and sharpened it. It does look great, in my opinion. The colour scheme and simple layout were my ideas, but I couldn't have envisioned it looking so sharp. It's not final yet, but I doubt it'll be much different from that.

Edited by author 03-07-2004 10:38 PM
I listened to some of the poems from the night Twinkle shone.
 I tried to vote but I'm not sure how.
Great stuff. Ice fishing with a very urban sound score. very cool. how did you work the music out?

i play tomorrow here in st. john's. it's a bit short. good thing tomorrow will be a snow day. i bought the wrong cartridge for my printer. too bad it's a snow day and the city is shut down. yikes.

I'm right excited. exhausted.

Sheila Copps as Little Red Ridingless Hood.

Yay! The vote takes place on Wed. March 10 after the broadcast. Voting closes at day's end on March 10. I'll post a reminder on Wed :)

The music? Well, we had an hour to work together that afternoon. It was my first time with a musician, so it was all new and great fun. What guitar, what to do... I was open to anything, whatever was suggested. He was so cool

Is that the title of the poem you're performing tomorrow?
Too good.
All the best, kevinja!

I see I'm behind on my yays...

Yay Kevinja, facing off tomorrow
Yay Tilda, who is facing off elsewhere
Yay Evilninja, who faced off so well

Damn, we're a veritable wrestling federation here. Go ninjas!

today i'm snowedinja.

the poem is called Domino Effect. it's about the tory and toryesque governments.

that's why i was asking about Grant Devine. i was doing research. i grew up in sk and it aften finds a way into my work.

Why do we learn, as kids, to spell Mississippi but not Saskatchewan?

M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-P-I. S-A-S-K-A-T-C-H ok, I see your point.

thanks for the good wishes. i'll try to vote again today.

alas, the st. john's face off was won by Alison Pick. i had the best laughs though.

How come some poetry-face-offs (like Regina's) have votes some weeks after the event, and other ones seem to have votes on the day of by the audience members? Do Regina's poets get both votes from audience members and later listeners?

Rachel, Regina's face-off counts votes from both the audience members and from listeners who vote on Wed March 10 after the radio broadcast and/or listening to the work online. I'm not sure, but I suspect Regina's is done this way because the poets come from all over the province. This year a couple are from Regina, a couple in or near Saskatoon and then me -- 800 km or so from Regina. And all of us are from somewhere else to begin with, so... it's great that the listener can vote, I think, but I imagine that involves a fair bit of extra work on CBCs part.

kevinja, is your poem online?

Alison Pick won something? There's a first...

in our case, all of the poets were from St. John's. we had a crowd of about 150 crammed into the bar. i also notice that Regina has an external website that has all of the poems up to read and listen to.

I guess they figured the home rink advantage would make things unfair for those who had to travel 800km to get to the gig.

The poems here will be broadcast on the Week-end Arts Magazine show which airs from 6:30 - 9:00 sat/sun. Ungodly, yes.

i guess it was up to the regional producers to decide how it would work.

on-line? no but on lined paper.

i'm not sure if they will be posting any of our poems on-line. I've asked for a copy and been given a bit of a runaround. CBC is very tight with stuff they get other people to write for them. i've got stories.

i was still editing the poem as I sat waiting my turn. the poem that won was perfectly crafted. actually, i've realized that i don't really write poems as much as lines.

My place of employ put off a conference last week-end so we're pretty busy trying to get re-organized. I'm having trouble doing poetry related things today, such as make the edits for the poem.

if you like, i can send it to anyone. e me at khehir at cs dot mun dot ca

Here's info on my book launch and the Poetry Train. I hope to meet some of you prairie/western ninjas along the way.

11 March – Hello Serotonin launches in Winnipeg!
Please join poet and raconteur Jon Paul Fiorentino as he launches his brand new book of pharmaceutical poetry, Hello Serotonin, along with Chandra Mayor, author of Conundrum Press’s Cherry. Hosted by Rosanna Deerchild. Music by DJ O.
11 March, 8.00 pm
Downstairs at Happenings
272 Sherbrook
Winnipeg
Free
204 989-8619

http://www.jonpaulfiorentino.com
http://www.chandramayor.com

Some of Canada’s top poets will join with poetry enthusiasts during a unique train trip from Winnipeg, Manitoba to Prince George, BC. The Poetry Train will ride the rails from March 14-17, providing an opportunity for people to see a beautiful part of Canada aboard a Via Rail train while learning from some of the country’s most talented poets: Kate Braid, bill bissett, Deborah Stiles, Chandra Mayor, Jon Paul Fiorentino, and Jay MillAr.

Instructional workshops on board will be joined by public readings at Winnipeg, Dunster, and McBride. The group will continue onto Prince George to participate in the annual Just West of Unruly creative writing festival at the University of Northern British Columbia.

http://www.logonlog.ca/poetrytrain.htm

I wish they had called it the Po Train...

Edited by author 03-10-2004 08:32 AM
Brenda Schmidt aka Twinkle is facing off this morning
 If ya wanna vote, voting for Regina's CBC Poetry Face-off closes at noon SK time...
The CBC Radio Saskatchewan's Morning Edition site: http://sask.cbc.ca/radio/morningedition/
has the poems and audio and online voting

Just in case you don't have Flash to access the site, here's the voting page:
http://sask.cbc.ca/radio/morningedition/feature6.html

the phone number: 1-800-661-7540

that 1-800 number will only work in SK.

I hope I got my vote in on time. i'm never sure what time it is there with the extra half hour here and the eschewing of daylight savings time there.

go twinkle!

Edited by author 03-11-2004 02:07 PM
ninjas, thank you so much
for putting up with me and
for your support

so who won?
i can't find it on the cbc website.

http://www.cbc.ca/poetryfaceoff/

me

Rockrockrockrock Rock'n'roll Twinkle!

Edited by author 03-11-2004 05:02 PM
If you are in Ottawa this weekend, check out Adam Getty and myself reading at Collected Works bookstore at 2 pm.

Congrats, Twinkle.

Zach, just got a look at your site. My only concerns are that with so much text on the home page, vision seems to blur a bit after a couple of sentences -- you might consider dropping down the brilliance of the white text a little (or it may be that the black is too black), or experimenting with a different set of contrasting colours. Also, there is a slight coding blip in the poem DREAM VISION OF THE FLOOD:

" Island's borders redrawn"

Conundrum, you neglected to mention which day you and Getty are reading in Ottawa.

Twinkle, what do you know? I finally voted for a winner!

I'm really happy for you Twinkle...

Thanks, John. I dimmed the font a bit and made 'er bigger for easier reading.

If by coding blip, you mean the drift from the left margin, then nay, 'tis no blip.

That would be Sunday, of course. Thanks Paul for pointing my over-sight. I wrote up 76 report cards today and I'm feeling a bit zombified.

Edited by author 03-12-2004 08:43 AM
Whoo-hoo!

This is so cool. To be honest, despite my fond wishes for the ninjas participating, I wasn't really following the face-off (I'm not sure it's the sort of thing that really turns my crank when it comes to poetry.) However, today I decided to check out the site, only to find that not only were ninja Twinkle and Evilninja the winners in their respective regions, but that my old buddy Marvin Francis was the Winnipeg winner. (Although he may not know it, Marvin gave me a moment of grace once--a thing I always treasure no matter whom it comes from or how tenuous our connection.)

I'm all a tither now...whom do I root for?

I heard that Hilary Peach won out west. I've only seen her once, but she's an industrial welder (which is just plain cool in my books) and a helluva writer and performer. She'll provide stiff competition for any ninja-affiliated contestants.

Edited by author 03-12-2004 05:46 PM
Zach, re: /m107. Your website seems to be down at the moment, so I can't speak to the change. The coding blip ... is [  Island's ] part of your poem?

curiouser and curiouser...

I'm having no problem with the site and the square brackets don't come up on my screen.

Anyone else seeing what John's seeing?

Site's down. And there's a link to www.kafkaporn.com (home of The Anguished Autoerotic Entomolophiles of America) in its place... hmmm.

yep, I saw the  Island's
that John talks about
(I'm not an IE user)
can't get to your site right now
how come?

Yay, Hilary Peach! Yer right, Zach

I have no freakin idea. It works fine on my computer.

Hm, I just looked at it with Netscape and it's all facked up. Looks fine on Explorer. Must consult my webmaster.

Who's yer webmaster, Zach? Bill Gates?

Martin,
I hear Marvin Francis gives a great performance
and gave a great performance
yep, I have ears in Winnipeg :)

I haven't bought his book yet, but it's on my list...

Zach, what program do you use, or do you write your own html?

Worse: my little brother...

I think I fixed the problem with the coding.

This just in from the webmaster: "everything seems fine, no reason it shouldn't load for them. There is some server mainance tonight, but it shouldn't be effecting page loading."

That's why I pays 'im the big bucks. All that mainance :)

He says it must be the server work that's blocking you guys. Patience, my pets, all in due time.

The guy begs us to come to his freaking party and then leaves us on the doorstep in the freezing cold.

That's it. I'm going to over to Zwicky's place.

Thanks for all the troubleshooting, ninjas. Very new at all this jazz.

Say hi to Ludwig for me, will ya?

"everything seems fine, no reason it shouldn't load for them. There is some server mainance tonight, but it shouldn't be effecting page loading."

And, indeed, it wasn't "effecting" page loading as they weren't loading at all -- but it was "affecting" page loading.

Explorer, Zach? Get a real browser. Open source and sweet sweet speed. Built-in ad-blocker and popup-blocker, all kinds of lovely little extensions being built for it all the time, and more friendly (and better judgement) than a man with three drinks in a strip joint.

Thanks for the tip, John. I'm still sittin in Plato's cave when it comes to computer stuff. I'll try downloading it when I don't need the phone for a few hours.

If you want to give my brother a tutorial on spelling, you can reach him at ben at alphaflight dot net. Or you can just give him shit today when you get into town. It won't do much good; my mom and I have been trying to fix it forever. He got my dad's orthography genes.