Thursday, May 27, 2010

Why not a Spider Monkey Jesus?

Toronto Book Launch For "Why Not A Spider Monkey Jesus?" by A.G. Pasquella

Thursday June 17
The Ben Wicks Pub, 424 Parliament Street Starting At 7:00 PM

"Why Not A Spider Monkey Jesus?" available at http://agpbooks.com/
Written by A.G. Pasquella with cover art by Michael Kupperman: http://mkupperman2.wordpress.com/.

Part of this book appeared in McSweeney's #11 but this is the first time you can read the whole story. Check it out!

Ben Okri at Luminato

Luminato is only 2 weeks away - Ben Okri tickets are selling fast!

Join poet and Booker Prize-winning author Ben Okri (The Famished Road) for an intimate evening of literature and discussion, including readings from his most recent book, Tales of Freedom.

The event will be moderated by Donna Bailey Nurse, literary journalist and frequent reviewer for the Globe and Mail, the National Post and the Toronto Star. Her articles exploring race and culture have appeared in these publications as well as in Maclean’s, Publishers Weekly, the Washington Post, and the Boston Globe.

Don't miss out on this chance to hear Ben speak – it's a very rare appearance in Canada.

Monday, June 14th at 7:30pm
Al Green Theatre in the Miles Nadel JCC, 750 Spadina Avenue.
Buy tickets online at http://www.ticketmaster.ca/event/10004458E23B963A

Dub Poets Collective: Youth Reading Series 2010

Dub Poets Collective: Youth Reading Series 2010
"Blood. Sweat. & Dub!"

Event Co-ordinators: The M.A.D. Poet & Queen Tiyessential
Location: Ellington's Cafe (805 St. Clair Ave West)
Date: Friday, May 28th, 2010 Show
Time: 7pmFeatured Permormances + Open Mic
For more info: e-mail mad_poet@msn.com; or phone 647.892.2933

Please note: Artist Quentin Vercetty will be selling his artwork at "Blood. Sweat. & Dub!" Attached please find a sample of his work and pricing info. For more information: e-mail qvercetty@yahoo.com; or phone 416.882.5826

Monday, May 24, 2010

Diaspora Dialogues at Doors Open Toronto!

Diaspora Dialogues at Evergreen Brick Works

When: Saturday, May 29, 2010 - 1:00 pm - 4 pm
Sunday, May 30, 2010 - 10:00 am - 1 pm
Where: Evergreen Brickworks
550 Bayview Avenue
Toronto, ON M4W 3X8
Details

Diaspora Dialogues will take over Evergreen Brick Works for Doors Open Toronto! For two days, you can take a tour of the quarry with artists as your guide, witness a marching line of poetry, and see the installation of a photo-based mural.

Featuring:

Quarry Poem
Witness a permutating line of poetry as it marches through the quarry. If you’re nearby, come get your own take-home poem. Poetry by Priscila Uppal.

Literary walking tours
Take a literary walking tour of the quarry with Toronto artists as your guide, presenting work on themes of labour and architecture. With Gein Wong, janet romero-leiva, Gili Haimovich, Samantha Bernstein and Falen Johnson.

Photo-based mural installation
Come watch the fascinating process of artist Dan Bergeron as he installs striking photo-based murals of past Brick Works labourers on building walls.
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TIMES:

Saturday May 29th, event runs from 1-4pm. Sunday May 30th event runs from 10am-1pm.

Visit www.diasporadialogues.com for times and complete schedule information, or call 416-944-1101 x 363

Friday, May 14, 2010

9 PARTS OF DESIRE: Opens May 19th, seven shows only

A moving portrayal of nine Iraqi women making their way through love, motherhood, identity and dreams - all amidst the chaos of war. A universal story about the strength of women, bridging the global gap between 'them' and 'us'.

Box Office: 416.538.0988 or purchase online at TOtix

Wed-Sat, 8p / Sun, 7p - $25
Sat & Sun, 2p / $20 & pwyc
student, senior, arts discounts

The Theatre Centre
1087 Queen St West

Directed by Kelly Straughan
Assistant director: Rosa Laborde / Cast: Aviva Armour-Ostroff, Christine Aubin Khalifah, Lili Francks, Deborah Grover, Maryem Hassan Tollar, Brittany Kay, Anusree Roy and Melissa Jane Shaw / Original music composed and played by Maryem Hassan Tollar



Thursday, May 13, 2010

Issue # 6 of the Maple Tree :Literary Supplement - MTLS

IN THIS ISSUE:


Editorial -'The Good Book' (on the Espresso Book Machine)



Interview - Governor General Award winner Kate Pullinger

Plus- Poetry, fiction, essays, creative-non-fiction and more, including works by Diaspora Dialogues' artists Donna-Michelle St. Bernard and Dawn Promislow



Playing with Poetry

Play with Poetry!


Offered for kids ages 10-14 years old

Create your own Poem & Spoken Word!


COURSES LED BY RENOWNED DUB POET LILIAN ALLEN!


Explore your writing skills in fun and creative ways!

Work with renowned poets such as Robert Priest and Ronna Bloom, artists who will engage your creativity!


When: Saturdays, June 5th - July 10th, 2 – 4 pm

Where: Albert Campbell Branch, 496 Birchmount Rd., Toronto, ON M1K 1N8


For more information or to register contact the branch at 416-396-8890


Presented by the IMAGINE group, OCAD, the Toronto Arts Council and the League of Canadian Poets

Thanks and please let me know if you need further details.

festival of ideas and creation this weekend at canadian stage theatre berkeley street

Sunday May 16, 6 p.m.

In Conversation: Adapting in a Global Context; Politics, Revolution and Culture in Contemporary Translation
Free

Does the act of translation have political implications? This roundtable will look at the importance of process, collaboration and artistic license in contemporary adaptations, examining appropriation and redressing imbalances through reinterpretation.
Sunday May 16, 7:30 p.m.

New Creations: Yoruba Storytelling by Bamidele Bajowa
Free

Born into the Royal House of Rebuja Ruling Dynasty in Igbotako, Osooro, Ondo State, Nigeria, Bajowa embraces traditional folk music and storytelling of the Yoruba people of western Nigeria. His traditional songs and chants are in praise of the Yoruba Orishas (Shango, Oya, Egungun, Ogun, Yemoja, Oshun). Bajowa has played and recorded with the world music Juno Award-nominee Andrew McPherson of EccoDek, Dennis Gaumond of the Bhadra Collective. He composed and played for Adwoa Badoe's Griots Journey: DVD of African storytelling with songs, chants, drums, and dances in 2006. He has performed at many Canadian festivals including: Duncan Music Festival, Filberge Music Festival, Muhtadi International Drumming Festival, Hillside Festival, Vancouver Sacred Music Festival, Spirit of the Earth Festival playing music and conducting drumming workshops.
Sunday May 16, 8 p.m.

New Creations: word! sound! powah! by d'bi.young anitafrika
Free

word! sound! powah! is the final episode of d'bi.young anitafrika's seven-year-old biomyth trilogy three faces of sankofa. blood.claat is the first and benu the second. The trilogy charts the journey of three generations of afrikan-jamaican- becoming- afrikan-jamaica- canadian womben in one family: mudgu sankofa, her daughter sekesu sankofa, and sekesu's daughter oya sankofa. In word! sound! powah!, the grand-daughter of mudgu negotiates her own identity to the backdrop of a mythologized revolution and the birth of dubpoetry in jamaica.

Monday, May 17, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Artist Intensive: Bio-Mythology and Creation with Bamidele Bajowa and d'bi.young anitafrika (A)
$20

This special workshop for creators explores the Yoruba pantheon and archetypes in the development of new work as a lens for approaching inter- and cross-cultural performance. Participants will explore the Yoruba symbology with Nigerian master storyteller/ drummer/babalao Bamidele Bajowa, and learn the 'biomyth orplusi principles' for creative interpretation and adaptation with acclaimed dubpoet/monodramati st/educator d'bi.young anitafrika. This hands-on and immersive class will look at pathways for integritous trans-cultural creation and how to approach cultural adaptation with honesty, respect, accountability and artistic ingenuity.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Brian Brett Reading May 13th - TOMORROW

Join Brian Brett at Ben McNally books (366 Bay Street, Toronto) at 7 p.m. on May 13
  • Winner of the 2009 Writers' Trust of Canada Non-Fiction Prize
  • Long-listed for the BC Award for Canadian Non-Fiction
  • Winner of the BC Booksellers' Choice Award
  • Nominated for the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize
  • Nominated for the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Book Prize
  • Nominated for a ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award - Nature
  • Nominated for the William Saroyan Prize - United States

An Amazon top 100 book of 2009!
A Globe and Mail top 100 book for 2009!
A Times Literary Supplement top 100 book for 2009!

An irreverent and illuminating journey through a day in the life of the affectionately named Trauma Farm, with numerous side trips into the natural history of farming

Beginning naked in darkness, Brian Brett moves from the tending of livestock, poultry, orchards, gardens, machinery, and fields to the social intricacies of rural communities and, finally, to an encounter with a magnificent deer in the silver moonlight of a magical farm field. Brett understands both tall tales and rigorous science as he explores the small mixed farm—meditating on the perfection of the egg and the nature of soil while also offering a scathing critique of agribusiness and the horror of modern slaughterhouses. Whether discussing the uses and misuses of gates, examining the energy of seeds, or bantering with his family, farm hands, and neighbours, he remains aware of the miracles of life, birth, and death that confront the rural world every day.

Sashar Zarif Is Dancing with Friends

We would like to invite you to a night of Music and Dance improvisation with an eclectic group of Toronto’s Great Artists and performances...

>>>>Otherwordly glass music by two members of Toronto's Glass Orchestra, Eric Cadesky and Rick Sacks and dance by sashar zarif

>>>>Dance improvisation duo by Beautiful
Sylvie Bouchard's and Sashar Zarif,

>>>>Breathtaking Spiritual music of
Pirouz Yousefian and his Persian music Ensemble Nobang with dance by Sashar Zarif
.

watch noubang ensemble http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUd7VUJeYX4

watch glass orchestra http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouIK__pq7no

Dovercourt $20
THE THEATRE CENTRE BOX OFFICE 416.538.0988 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm)

for more information please contact us at sashar@sasharzarif.com or 416 4504529

Friday, May 7, 2010

TOK: Writing the New Toronto, Book 5

TOK: Writing the New Toronto, Book 5

Diaspora Dialogues invites you to celebrate the launch of

TOK: Writing the New Toronto, Book 5

on Thursday May 20 from 7:30 pm

at the Bram and Bluma Appel Salon

Featuring readings and lively conversation with contributors Shyam Selvadurai, Emma Donoghue, Marjorie Chan, Mayank Bhatt, Marni Van Dyk, Michael Fraser and Chang Liu.

TOK, Book 5 features a dynamic mix of voices from across the city and across communities — stories and poems about journeys to fantastic places and deep into the heart and about the sometimes uneasy space one occupies between multiple identities. From a father’s rampant infidelity and violent episodes to an alternate Toronto where lizards thrive and it’s legal to keep chickens in your backyard, this anthology has it all.

The pieces in TOK, Book 5 are created through Diaspora Dialogues’ annual mentoring and commissioning program, which commissions established writers to create original Toronto-set work, while mentoring emerging writers.

WHAT:
Launch of TOK: Writing the New Toronto, Book 5
WHEN:
Thursday, May 20 at 7:30 pm - Doors open at 7:00 pm
WHERE: Bram and Bluma Appel Salon, Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street
COST: Free
FOR MORE INFO CONTACT: Aisling Riordan, 416-944-1101 x 363, aisling@diasporadialogues.com

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

hum presents the Toronto premiere of "Shudder"

Shudder
Susanna Hood dreams the canvases of Francis Bacon to life


Presented in co-production with Théâtre La Chapelle
with support from Studio 303 and in association with

Buddies In Bad Times Theatre

April 29 – May 9, 2010 | Box Office 416-975-8555
Pre-show Artist Talk with Sarah Porter: Tues May 4
Shudder
April 29 – May 9, 2010
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 12 Alexander Street, Toronto ON
Shows: Tues – Sat, 8pm – Sun, 2:30pm
Tickets: Tues & Wed, $20 – Thurs & Fri $25, Sat $29, Sun PWYC
Students, CADA, CAEA, $15 (with valid ID)
Box Office: 416-975-8555
www.humdansoundart. ca
www.artsexy. ca


Media Contact: Shawn Hitchins, industry@artsexy. ca