Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Eleventh Transmission Fiction Contest: 1 Week to Enter!!

Hello georgous Calgarians,

The Eleventh Transmission Fiction contest closes in 1 week time! (Jan 31)
Get your story in a.s.a.p.!

3000 words or less! Previously unpublished! $10 to enter!

Full contest details available at www.eleventhtransmission.org.

Come on local writers. *Trust me*, your odds are very good of winning one of the excellent prizes. Let's keep the winnings in Calgary!

-Kirk

Friday, January 19, 2007

February flywheel - Calgary Ink Invasion!

filling Station magazine presents:

February flywheel – Calgary Ink Invasion!

Performances by:

Christopher Blais
Alyson Fortowsky
Rebekah Jarvis
Paul Kennett
Crystal Mimura


... hosted by Chris Ewart and Mark Hopkins!

Thursday, February 1 – 7:30 pm
McNally Robinson – 120 8th Ave SW


What happens when flywheel teams up with Calgary Ink? An evening of prose prowess! Five fiction writers unite to share their freshest creations. Join us downtown on this First Thursday to catch the next generation of Canadian superstar authors!

PLUS: Don’t forget the flywheel prize draw! Not only will attendees get to hear top-notch literature, but they’ll also have the chance to win swag from filling Station magazine and McNally Robinson Booksellers.

EXTRA BONUS: Sandy Lam’s limited edition flywheel poster, up for grabs in July 2007, continues to accumulate writers’ signatures in special silver ink!

Every month since November 2003, filling Station magazine's flywheel reading series has brought poetry, prose, music, lectures and performance to the heart of downtown Calgary. It’s a place for first-time readers to share the stage with professional authors, for Calgary audiences to see their favourite writers alongside the next generation of literary superstars.

Next flywheel: March 1, 2007
McNally Robinson – 120 8th Ave SW


CONTACT: Mark Hopkins
403.710.0093 – mark.c.hopkins@gmail.com

Call for CISWF Volunteers

Calgary International Spoken Word Festival

Call for Volunteers!


The 4th annual Calgary International Spoken Word Festival is almost upon us, running April 5-22, 2007. You can check out the high-octane assortment of events and artists at www.calgaryspokenwordfestival.com

We need YOUR help to make this the biggest and best festival yet!

Available volunteer roles include:

- Billets: invite an artist into your home!
- Publicity: distribute programs and posters throughout the city!
- Transport: help our out-of-town artists navigate Calgaria!
- Ushers/Booksellers: be on the scene at brilliant poetry events!

Volunteers will receive thank-you gifts, invitations to special after-parties, the chance to meet festival artists and more!

There are volunteer opportunities from March 15 to April 23, so you have plenty of time to lend a hand! If you’re interested in volunteering, please contact:

Mark Hopkins
markhopkins@ciswf.com
403.710.0093

Information we will need:

Name:
Phone:
E-mail:
Languages spoken:
Access to a vehicle?
Availability (dates; daytime, evenings, weekends):


Thanks; we look forward to working with you!
For more information about the festival, please contact:

Sheri-D Wilson – Artistic Director
Calgary International Spoken Word Festival
www.calgaryspokenwordfestival.com
403.686.4292 – sheridwilson@shaw.ca

Monday, January 15, 2007

Calgary Poetry Slam - January 25, 2007

The Calgary International Spoken Word Festival presents:

Calgary Poetry Slam!

Thursday, January 25, 2007 – 8:00 pm
Beat Niq Jazz & Social Club – 811 1st St SW
Hosts: Sheri-D Wilson & Mark Hopkins
$5

Last month, Zack Davis walked away from the Calgary Poetry Slam with prize money and a shot at joining the 2007/08 Calgary Slam Team, to represent Calgary in national international Slam competitions. This month, it could be you!

Every month, 10 poets storm the stage to share their words and beats with packed-out, cheering crowds. Judges from the audience score their performances in two intense rounds of poetic excellence, until a winner is crowned! With different local performers every time, Slam nights are impossible to predict and not to be missed!

If you want to Slam, bring a $5 registration fee and 3 poems (three-minute MAX, each) and sign up with Mark Hopkins. Sign-up will be first come, first served, so be sure to arrive early!

For Slam procedures and rules, please visit www.calgaryspokenwordfestival.com


NEXT SLAM:

The CBC Poetry Face-Off!
Thursday, February 22, 2007 – 8:00 pm
Auburn Saloon, #163 115 9th Ave SE



CONTACT:
Sheri-D Wilson – 403.686.4292
sheridwilson@shaw.ca
www.calgaryspokenwordfestival.com


-30-

Friday, January 12, 2007

Free Exchange 2007

The University of Calgary is hosting the Free Exchange graduate conference yet again, in March. The theme this year is "Spring Cleaning: Rediscovering and Revitalizing the Artifact." Calls for papers are located HERE.

Below is the Call for Papers for MY panel.... SUBMIT!!!! Essays on poetics in relation to the artifact welcome, to this or to the general call, or other panels. Spread the word!

The Creation and Collection of Artifacts

In “Unpacking My Library,” Walter Benjamin discusses the act of collecting, and then states that “[o]f all the ways of acquiring books, writing them oneself is regarded as the most praiseworthy method. Writers are really people who write books not because they are poor, but because they are dissatisfied with the books which they could buy but do not like.”

There is a sense, then, in which the act of collecting and the act of creation are interconnected. Creators are figured, in the above quote, as collectors who desire nonexistent artifacts, who call these artifacts into existence in order to collect them, and who produce artifacts which are then collected by others. Collectors are also, in some respects, creators—categorizing and structuring raw materials in such a way to achieve a desired aesthetic effect. The creator and the collector also seem connected in their attempts to impose order and arrangement on ephemeral, imaginative chaos. But what is the attraction of specific artifacts—both those collected and those produced for collection—and how does the fact of their being “collected” alter the aura of these artifacts? How and why does the compulsion to collect, or to produce artifacts worthy of collection, attach itself to specific, fetishized objects? In what ways might impurities in the artifact challenge this taxonomic impulse—and why are these “exceptions” (which might be expected to cause anxiety) considered to be “rare” and thus more desirable?

Papers discussing the artifact in terms of its collection and/or its creation will be considered. Presenters are also encouraged to think beyond the borders of literature, and consider the artifact in film, art, history, mythology, folklore, and popular culture.

Deadline for submissions: 2 February 2007

Please submit 250 word proposals (for papers approx. 15 minutes in length) to panel chair Jonathan Ball at jgball@ucalgary.ca (subject heading: “artifacts conference”). Attachments should be in Rich Text or Word format only, and please include your name, professional affiliation, and contact information in the body of your email.