Diaspora Dialogues

We're Moving

2010-12-23T13:01:00.000-08:00

We're closing 2010 by thanking you all for helping Diaspora Dialogues to make our 5th anniversary year a great success, and wishing you all a very happy new year!!

We would also like to kick off the new year by inviting you to our blog's new home: diasporadialogues.wordpress.com

KAREN CONNELLY: Diaspora Dialogues Mentor in Fiction 2010

2010-12-19T06:40:00.000-08:00

by Janice Goveas

Karen Connelly bursts out laughing when I mention how impressed I am with her mastery of three genres: poetry, fiction and non-fiction. "I was writing in all three genres when I was twelve," she says, remarkably not sounding the least bit arrogant. She simply considers herself extremely lucky to have known from such a young age how she wanted to dedicate her life.

Her stunning accomplishments are easily googled. Before she was twenty-five, for example, she had won the Pat Lowther Award for her first book of poetry, The Small Words in My Body, and the Governor General's Award for Non-Fiction for Touch the Dragon: A Thai Journal. Her first novel, The Lizard's Cage, won the Orange Broadband Prize for New Writers. To date she has published nine books.

What won't come across in a google search is how down to earth she is despite those accomplishments. She speaks easily and openly about her life as a backdrop to her writing. She began writing stories and poetry at the age of ten, and makes the observation that poetry is the genre most appropriate to the emotional life of a girl. She went to Thailand when she was seventeen "because I wanted to go somewhere that was as different from Canada as possible. I wanted to go to India, but they were having political problems in the the place where they send exchange students, so I was sent to a village in Thailand, instead, which turned out to be great." Her non-fiction is rooted in the journals she kept on that trip to Thailand. Interestingly, twenty-five years later, she has yet to visit India.

In her early twenties, she became enamoured of Europe, spending time in Spain and France before travelling to and falling in love with Greece, where she owns a house and continues to spend time. She says she speaks Greek the best of the five languages she knows other than English, which include Thai, Spanish and French. She doesn't think her Burmese is fluent enough to count as a language, but she can speak it as well.

Mentoring in the Diaspora Dialogues program is part of a larger piece of her life in which she continuously mentors younger writers and instructs in Creative Writing at Humber College. She lauds the Diaspora Dialogues program for being open, community based and structured in a way that is not limiting to anyone financially or time wise. "Mentorship of younger writers is happening for free by older writers."

When I point out that some of the writers she mentors might in fact be older than she is, she responds: "Ah, but I'm a very old soul."

THIS WEEK IN TORONTO - DECEMBER 13-19

2010-12-13T11:57:00.000-08:00

1) Amplifying Voices: Reaching out to LGBTQ+* South Asians

There will be a panel of engaging speakers and discussion on: History of South Asian LGBTQ+ organizing in Toronto for the past 20+ years (Speaker: Zahra Dhanani), How to better serve LGBTQ+ South Asians (Speaker: Farrah Khan, Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic), Current realities of South Asian LGBTQ+ (Speaker: Shazad Hai, ASAAP)

When: Tonight December 13, 6:30-9pm
Where: Thomas Lounge, Oakham House (Ryerson Student’s Centre), 63 Gould St

2) Dead Poets Night

The Art Bar Poetry Series is proud to present the eighth annual meeting of The Dead Poets Society, with Host David Clink. Participants include: Duncan Armstrong, Domenico Capilongo, Jillian Christmas, Adebe D.A., Sonia Di Placido, Maureen Hynes, Luciano Iacobelli, Liisa Ladouceur, Lois Lorimer, Shawn McLeod, Jim Nason, Lishai, Tim Prior, David Silverberg, and Allen Sutterfield.

When: Tomorrow December 14, 8-11pm
Where: Clinton's, 693 Bloor St W

3) Plasticine Poetry

Come join us for another knockout punch of brilliant poetry featuring: David Clink, Adebe D.A., Dawn Promislow (a former DD Rising Artist in Fiction), and Rob Welch. The evening is hosted by our lovely, hilarious Cathy Petch.

When: Sunday December 19, 6-9pm
Where: The Central, 603 Markham St

CLAIRE DAVEY: Diaspora Dialogues Emerging Artist in Drama 2010

2010-12-09T09:45:00.000-08:00

by Janice Goveas

In my experience, it's unusual for a writer to compare Toronto favourably to London, England, but newbie Torontonian, Claire Davey, who moved here from London sixteen months ago, is adamant that is in fact true in her case.

That could, however, be due to the fact that if there is one thing that surpasses her passion for writing, it would be her passion for the outdoors. In the seventeen years she lived in London, "I would always make sure I lived close to a railway station so that I was twenty minutes away from Epping Forest," a 6000-acre open space beginning in East London. What she relishes most about Toronto is the opportunities to be outdoors in and around the city, as well as easy access to places like Wasaga Beach and Algonquin Park. An avid hiker, canoer and camper, in the short time she has lived in Canada, Claire has canoed in Ontario lakes that I had never heard of and, after our conversation, was heading to Frontenac to camp in minus two degree weather.

She also claims that Toronto is superior to London because it has more colour than grit and greyness, and more light. "I think it has something like 600 more hours of sunshine, actually, and the light right now, in the fall, is very similar to parts of Northern China."

She knows that because she lived in Shanghai for a year while doing an undergraduate degree in Chinese and Linguistics. She worked in the airline industry for several years before joining an international development charity. She came to writing in the last two years and quite by accident.

Claire and her partner were on a year-long sabbatical in New Zealand where, in the town of Te Anau, she discovered a movie theatre that had been built by a helicopter pilot to screen a film he had shot of the spectacular mountains, glaciers and lakes in which the town is nestled. It inspired her to write a film script. She first learned of the Diaspora Dialgoues mentorship program through a poster in the library, and hoped it would be an opportunity for her to workshop her screenplay - but then wrote a play when she realized the program does not include film. She was thrilled that her play was accepted to the program, and is looking forward to returning to her film script once it is done.

"All I want to do now is write."

THIS WEEK IN TORONTO - DECEMBER 6-12

2010-12-06T15:12:00.000-08:00

1) Wrecking Ball Toronto #11: Now what?

On Tuesday December 7, the new Toronto City Council including 14 new city councillors and His Worship Mayor Rob Ford will meet for the first time. The night before this new era of civic governance, The Wrecking Ball presents the works of six Toronto writers who consider the question, “Now What?”

Wrecking Ball Toronto #11: Now What? creators: Judith Thompson, Jovanni Sy, Anthony Furey, Darren O’Donnell and The Torontonians, Edwige Jean-Pierre, Yvette Nolan

When: Tonight December 6, 8-11pm
Where: The Theatre Centre, 1087 Queen St W

2) Brockton Writers Series #14

This month, the Brockton Writer's Series is excited to host 11 contributors to the recently released anthology, Canadian Voices 2 (edited by Jasmine D'Costa)

Readings and performances by: R.G. Thompson, Emily Dunn, Sherry Isaac, Donna Kirk, Maurus Cappa, Maria Pia Marchelletta, Cassandra Cronenburg Hunter, Brandon Pitts, Elizabeth Carina Ramos, Jefferson Guzman, and Gemma Meharchand

When: Wednesday December 8, 7-9pm
Where: St. Anne’s Church, 270 Gladstone St

3) Book Launch: Sheilagh's Brush, Other Tongues: Mixed-Race Women Speak Out, Living the Edges: A Disabled Women's Reader, Singing Me Home

When: Thursday December 9, 6:30-9pm
Where: Toronto Women's Bookstore, 73 Harbord St

4) Theatre Passe Muraille presents Anusree Roy's Roshni

When: Ongoing - Saturday December 11, 7:30pm
Where: Theatre Passe Muraille, 16 Ryerson Ave

JENNIFER MARSTON: Diaspora Dialogues Emerging Artist in Fiction 2010

2010-12-03T10:37:00.000-08:00

When I was a child, I liked to dress up. My parents tell a story that goes like this: It was the early 80s, and I was in kindergarten. My mother had an appointment, so my father was responsible for getting me fed and off to school. Instead of choosing an outfit for me, he sent me to my bedroom to dress myself while he made breakfast. When I emerged in a colourful ensemble of dresses and skirts layered over pajamas accessorized with belts and sashes and beads, my father stifled a smile.

He asked, “Are you sure that’s what you want to wear?”

I knew without hesitation that it was.

Telling stories doesn’t come easily to me. I struggle to know what to put in and what to leave out, what’s implied and what’s really part of another narrative. Knowing what to say, like knowing what to wear, gets lost among the complex constructions that dictate our adult choices: external expectations both real and projected, the difference between wanting something and wanting to want it, the proper ratio of standing out to fitting in, the effort of making all effort look accidental, and the self-consciousness of knowing how transparent the whole operation is. It’s safer to keep quiet. It’s safer to wear beige.

But caution is not a thing I want to cultivate. I don’t want to want safety, and so I write. For me, writing is a practice of stripping away those constructions and listening for what’s underneath. It’s about finding that version of a story that feels true, where the details aren’t embellishments for their own sake, but a means of illuminating what was there all along. And it’s a process of trial and error. I don’t know which scarf or word will work until I try it on.

All I can do is keep going until I hit the combination that I know is honest, so that when someone asks, “Are you sure that’s what you want to say?”, I can answer with the same certainty I had when I was four.

THIS WEEK IN TORONTO - NOVEMBER 29 - DECEMBER 5

2010-11-29T14:40:00.000-08:00

1) A Tribute to Nelson Mandela

Suhanna Meharchand, Andrew Moodie, and M.G. Vassanji read from Mandela’s new memoir, Conversations with Myself.

When: Tuesday November 30, 7pm
Where: Appel Salon, Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge St (2nd floor)

2) Theatre Direct presents Binti's Journey

A young African girl seeks her grandmother after losing her family to HIV/AIDS

Price: $20 December 1 (World AIDS Day), $10-15 December 4

Where: Wychwood Theatre, 601 Christie Street
When: Wednesday December 1, 7pm
Saturday December 4, 4pm and 7pm

3) Book Launch - Walk Myself Home: An Anthology to End Violence Against Women

Walk Myself Home is an anthology of poetry, fiction, nonfiction and oral interviews that chronicles the ways women experience gendered violence. Edited by Andrea Routley, it contains contributions from both emerging and award-winning authors such as Kate Braid, Yasuko Thanh and Susan Musgrave. Walk Myself Home makes a powerful statement. These women break the silence.

When: Thursday December 2, 7-9pm
Where: Toronto Women's Bookstore, 73 Harbord St

4) Theatre Passe Muraille presents Anusree Roy's Roshni

When: Ongoing, 7:30pm
Where: Theatre Passe Muraille, 16 Ryerson Avenue

LYNDA ALLISON: Diaspora Dialogues Emerging Artist in Fiction 2010

2010-11-26T11:09:00.000-08:00

I love learning and sharing, and find that writing provides the opportunity to do both. After delving in to explore the causes of tough issues and seeking out solutions, I find myself challenged to write about them. Approaching the issues from various points of view helps me gain perspective. It is my desire to write stories that reveal the difficult places people find themselves in, discover how they got there and share their hopeful futures.

Since I find it difficult to write in isolation, I enjoy writing in community. I suppose that is why Write-Up, my part-time business, is about creating communities in which writers can flourish.

When I am not teaching or writing, I am raising up inter-generational teams who hang out with at risk children, teens and their families. Together we enjoy meals, create art, play sports, explore stories and share life.

I learned of Diaspora Dialogues’ mentorship program through the e-announcements of the Writers’ Community of Durham Region and submitted a short story that explores how a young teen finds herself pregnant and living on the street in Toronto. I was surprised to discover that I had been accepted and paired with mentor, Karen Connolly, a fiction writer who coached me through several revisions. I appreciate the time she spent giving my story a careful reading and providing thoughtful feedback. I trust that what I have learned in the process will help me poignantly share stories that help us gain an understanding into who we are and who we can be.

THIS WEEK IN TORONTO - NOVEMBER 22-28

2010-11-22T13:39:00.000-08:00

1) A Drag Cabaret - My Baby's Got a Secret

My Baby's Got a Secret is an 8-week Asian Arts Freedom School Drag, Music, Dance and Theatre Program for youth of colour held at the 519 and at fu-GEN Theatre Company.

Cost: $5-10 Sliding Scale. No one turned away at the door because of lack of funds.

When: Tuesday November 23, 7:30-9:30pm
Where: Tallulah's Cabaret, Buddies In Bad Times Theatre, 12 Alexander St

2) Book Lauch of First Wives Club by Lee Maracle

join us for the launch of Lee Maracle's new book

When: Wednesday November 24, 1-2:30pm
Where: Toronto Women's Bookstore, 73 Harbord St

3) How to Attend the Salman Rushdie Event

Salman Rushdie discusses his new book, Luka and the Fire of Life, with author and professor Randy Boyagoda.

When: Wednesday November 24, 7pm
Where: Appel Salon, Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge St (2nd floor)

4) TSAR Fall Book Launch

Celebrating the 2010 release of A Cycle of the Moon (Uma Parameswaran), Bleeding Light (Sheniz Janmohamed), Echoes from the Other Land (Ava Homa), Jewels and Other Stories (Dawn Promislow), Lives: Whole and Otherwise (H Nigel Thomas), To Love a Palestinian Woman (Ehab Lotayef)

With readings by: Sheniz Janmohamed, Ava Homa, Dawn Promislow (a former DD Emerging Artist in Fiction), and H Nigel Thomas.

When: Wednesday November 24, Doors Open at 7pm
Where: The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St W

5) Theatre Passe Muraille presents Anusree Roy's Roshni

Roy plunges us headlong into the story of two fearless youths who work as beggars in a Calcutta train station. As they shine shoes, pick pockets and beg, Chumki dreams of the gift of sight, while King Kumar dreams of stardom.

When: Wednesday November 24 - Ongoing, 7:30pm
Where: Theatre Passe Muraille, 16 Ryerson Avenue

RABINDRANATH MAHARAJ: Diaspora Dialogues Mentor in Fiction 2010

2010-11-21T11:16:00.000-08:00

In the early 1990s Maharaj immigrated to Canada, and in 1993, he completed a second M.A. at the University of New Brunswick. In 1994 he moved to the town of Ajax, in Ontario’s Durham Region, where he taught high school for a number of years. In 1998, Maharaj, along with three other Durham Region writers, founded and co-edited the literary magazine LICHEN. Since then he has, among other posts, been a Writer in Residence at the Toronto Reference Library, a mentor for young writers with Diaspora Dialogues, and more recently an instructor with both the Humber School for Writers and the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies. Apart from his novels and collections of short stories, he has published in various literary journals and anthologies; written reviews and articles for The Washington Post, The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, and others; and written the play Malcolm and Alvin for CBC Radio.

His books have been shortlisted for The Commonwealth Writer’s Prize (twice); The Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award; and Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize.

THIS WEEK IN TORONTO - NOVEMBER 15-21

2010-11-15T14:26:00.000-08:00

1) Asian Arts Freedom School - with Sharanpal Rupai & Proma Tagore

* be/longings * queerloving * cultures * identities * sisterhood * struggle * strength * defiance *

Don't miss this special guest workshop with poets Sharanpal Ruprai and Proma Tagore (Proma who is only in the city for a short amount of time) for a poetry reading and workshop.

When: Tomorrow November 16, 6-8:30pm
Where: Kapisanan (in the basement), 167 August Avenue

2) Book Launch: DOCTORED by Sky Curtis

Many women are sexually abused by their doctors. Doctored is a moving true story about the devastating impact of this abuse of power. It is a first-person account of one woman’s steely determination to recover and to find justice.

When: Thursday November 18, 6:30-8:30pm
Where: Toronto Women's Bookstore, 73 Harbord St, at Spadina

TARA BEAGAN: Diaspora Dialogues Mentor in Drama 2010

2010-11-12T06:49:00.000-08:00

Tara Beagan is a proud halfbreed of Ntlakapamux (Thompson River Salish) and Irish Canadian heritage. She was a playwright in residence at Native Earth Performing Arts for the 2009/2010 season with her play, free as injuns, and she now works at NEPA as an Artistic Associate.

Tara’s debut play, Thy Neighbour’s Wife, was produced by UnSpun Theatre in 2004, and garnered three Dora Award nominations. Beagan won for New Play, becoming the first female First Nations playwright to take home a Dora. Ensuing plays include Dreary and Izzy, (Native Earth at the Factory Studio Theatre. In print, Playwright’s Canada Press.) Here, Boy! (halfbreed productions at the 28th Rhubarb! Festival) and the Crate Productions collective, The Fort at York. This expansive, site-specific piece marked Beagan’s directorial debut (she was one of two directors). Beagan was the head writer alongside fourteen other actor/collaborators. Tara has worked on the Playwrights Units at Tarragon Theatre and Nightwood.

Quilchena (halfbreed productions) which Beagan also directed, debuted in 2007. That same year, Beagan was named, in NOW Magazine, as one of the Top Ten Theatre Artists. Beagan further developed Quilchena during her playwright residency at Cahoots Theatre Projects in 2007/2008, and at the 2009 CrossCurrents Festival.

Foundlings (writer/director) is a mixed-media, interactive piece. Other short plays include the Caravan Farm Theatre commission, BLUEBEARD’S WI7E, TransCanada, (Native Earth at Harbourfront), and the topical Anatomy of an Indian, at the 8th Wrecking Ball, which starred Lorne Cardinal and was directed by Weyni Mengesha.

Beagan’s Miss Julie: Sheh’mah – a radical new adaptation of Strindberg’s play – brought fledgling company KICK Theatre tearing onto the Toronto theatre scene in ‘08. The production ultimately earned five Dora Award nominations.

Tara is one of four commissioned playwrights on the Theatrefront serial theatrical project, The Mill. The thesis for the series is that “Canada is a haunted house.” Her piece, The Woods, debuted this March at the Young Centre in Toronto, and returns in rep with all four plays in January 2011.

Tara is honoured to work as a workshop facilitator for youth, a playwriting instructor for First Nations theatre students, and a mentor for emerging First Nations artists. She also works as an actor, director and producer.

THIS WEEK IN TORONTO - NOVEMBER 8-14

2010-11-08T13:29:00.000-08:00

1) Asian Arts Freedom School - This Bridge Called My Baby

This writing/arts based workshop is dedicated to the child within us: our childhood experiences, memories, dreams and struggles.

When: Tomorrow November 9, 6-8:30pm
Where: Kapisanan (in the basmement), 167 August Avenue

2) Star Talks

Margaret Trudeau in conversation with Toronto Star columnist Susan Delacourt on her new memoir, Changing My Mind.

When: Wednesday November 10, 7pm
Where: Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge St

3) Off Bathurst Theatre District Marathon

2pm: Stretching and swag at Tarragon Theatre
2:30pm: Performance of Joan Didion's "The Year of Magical Thinking"
4pm: Head down Bathurst St to Theatre Passe Muraille
4:30pm: Performance of Andrew Kushnir's "The Middle Place"
6pm: Sprint to Epicure Cafe & Grill for Prix Fixe Dinner
7:30pm: Final Dash to Factory Theatre
8pm: Performance of Ken Gass's "Bethune Imagined"
10pm: Rehydration in Factory Lounge

Tickets on sale now for only $90!
Available through T.O tix or 416-596-8220

When: Saturday November 13, 2-10pm
Where:
Tarragon Theatre, 30 Bridgman Ave, 1 block north of Dupont St, 2 east of Bathurst
Theatre Passe Muraille, 16 Ryerson Ave, north of Queen St W, east of Bathurst
Factory Theatre, 125 Bathurst St

4) Project Humanity Presents The Middle Place

When: Ongoing - Saturday November 13, 10pm
Where: Theatre Passe Muraille, 16 Ryerson Ave, north of Queen St W, east of Bathurst

MARTIN MORDECAI: Diaspora Dialogues Mentor in Fiction 2010

2010-11-05T14:00:00.000-07:00

by Janice Goveas

Early into a conversation with Martin Mordecai (pictured with a young fan), one of Diaspora Dialogues' four mentors in fiction for 2010, it becomes understandable why his debut novel, Blue Mountain Trouble (Toronto: Scholastic Canada, 2009), has been so remarked on for its magical realism and the cadence of its language. A reviewer for the Quill & Quire, for example, comments on his surprise at finding himself interested in a children's book that mixes adventure with magical realism, and says this: "Most delicious of all in this plum pudding of a book is the language. For some young Canadian readers the diction and cadence of this story will be as comfortable and familiar as an old boot. For the rest of us, Mordecai, without resorting to explanations or a glossary, teaches us how to hear and understand."

The reason this is understandable is because, early into a conversation with him, Mordecai confesses to two passions: music and reading, especially the writing of Colombian novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez, winner of the 1982 Nobel Prize for Literature, whose work is most noted for its magical realism.

Mordecai recalls agreeing with a literary critique in which the critic argued that there were only two books that absolutely had to be read: Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude and the King James Bible.

As for music, Mordecai has had a life-long love of genres like classical, jazz, and 60's and 70's rock, but enjoys almost all other types of music except for some dance hall and much of rap. He believes, however, that a love of music transcends genre because "good songs get into you and bad songs irritate you."

Blue Mountain Trouble, incidentally, began as a bedtime story he created for his younger son, the youngest of his three children, who is now a struggling writer in his thirties. Mordecai hopes his son will consider applying to the Diaspora Dialogues mentorship program in the near future.

Over his lifetime, Mordecai has worked in newspapers, radio and television. His intriguing observation about television is that it is "the great wasted technology of the twentieth century" having not lived up to its potential to deliver quality work, unlike film, a medium created around the same time. Mordecai also spent twelve years in the diplomatic service for his birth country, Jamaica, much of it in England. He remarks on the delightful coincidence of the daughter of his one of his former diplomatic colleagues being one of his mentees in the Diaspora Dialogues' program.

THIS WEEK IN TORONTO - NOVEMBER 1-7

2010-11-01T13:32:00.000-07:00

1) Brockton Writers Series #13

Readings and performances by: Nehal El-Hadi, Carole Giangrande, Jules Lewis, and May Lui

Open mic sign up is 6:55pm. There will be three 5 minute slots.

When: Tomorrow November 2nd, 7-9pm
Where: St. Anne’s Church, 270 Gladstone

2) Dangerous Mammals Tour: Ivan Coyote & S. Bear Bergman

Come and celebrate the co-launch of S. Bear Bergman’s Butch Is A Noun and Ivan Coyote’s Missed Her, both hot off the presses at Arsenal Pulp Press.

tickets sliding scale $10-$20

When: Thursday, November 4, 8-10:30pm
Where: Buddies In Bad Times Theatre, 12 Alexander Street

3) Heart in Hand Theatre Presents The Commune - Excerpt Reading/Workshop

Written by Martha Schabas
Featuring Jessica Huras, Kiran Friesen, Nika Mistruzzi & Claudia Yiu
Directed by Esther Jun

Tickets for November 4th are $30 and include food and open bar.
Tickets for November 5th are $10 and there will be a cash bar.

When: Thursday November 4 & Friday November 5, 7:30-9:30pm
Where: Wylde Project Studio, 215-52 St Lawrence St (Near King & River)

4) Latin-Afro-South Asian Festival

The Latin-Afro-South Asian Festival is a 3-day contemporary multi-disciplinary arts festival that shows the fusion between the different cultures and roots of the Latin American, African and South Asian artists involved and the influence of the multicultural society where they work and reside.

Cover: $5

When: Friday November 5, 8pm
Where: Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St W

5) Anand (bliss, peace, happiness) Plays Toronto!

Yasmin Virani gets ready to close the North American tour of her successful one-woman play, Anand (bliss, peace, happiness), by performing her last show in Toronto.

Tickets are $15

When: Saturday November 6, 8-9:30pm
Where: The Second City Training Center, 70 Peter Street

6) Godot Art Productions Presents Homeland

When: Ongoing - Saturday November 6
Tuesday - Saturday 8pm
Where: Theatre Passe Muraille, 16 Ryerson Ave, north of Queen St W, east of Bathurst

7) Project Humanity Presents The Middle Place

When: Ongoing - Saturday November 13, 10pm
Where: Theatre Passe Muraille, 16 Ryerson Ave, north of Queen St W, east of Bathurst

DORIANNE EMMERTON: Diaspora Dialogues Emerging Artist in Fiction 2010

2010-10-29T14:05:00.000-07:00

by Janice Goveas

You wouldn't expect a self-described "femme, but low-maintenance femme" to be into Mixed Martial Arts. But then meeting Dorianne Emmerton will correct that expectation, because she has enough energy to snap you, me and a score of others out of our sleepy sense of contradictions and into a world where they make total sense.

Let's begin by qualifying our terms. On being femme, Dorianne includes among the things she enjoys: not wearing pants. Not, she explains, that she walks around with nothing on her bottom half, even if she does think that the recent trend for women to wear tights as pants is deplorable. She just prefers skirts and dresses. However, she can’t wear high heels and rarely wears makeup. Therefore, she’s femme, but low-maintenance femme. On her love of Mixed Martial Arts: it's the homoerotic text that most engages her. "It's goons in Tag Out shirts and oooh! they're hugging. That's so sweet," she coos. Even the language used, like doms and subs, is "totally kink terminology"

The other things she enjoys are cheese, cats, beer, direct sunlight, unconventional relationships and board games. We didn't discuss beer, direct sunlight, board games or unconventional relationships because those seemed self-explanatory - but now that I've met Dorianne I'm wondering if that was a misperception.

About cheese: "everything tastes better with cheese," she argues. She could write a commercial about it. She's not into very mouldy blue cheese, but judiciously consumed pizza topped with it when it was served to her on her second date with her current girlfriend. She remembers a recent trip to Paris where the cheese experience was outstanding. "But the French don't believe in refrigeration, and even my girlfried wasn't hard core enough to eat the furry parts, so we cut around them."

She is also an internet junkie. "If I could have a wifi connection implanted under my skin and wear glasses with screens displayed on the backside I would, and I don’t care how much that would make me look like a member of the Borg." She is a fiction junkie, as well, and would like nothing better than to spend all day reading and writing and tooling around the internet.

"However, I have not yet found a way to pay my rent with these pursuits, so I sadly spend 36.25 hours a week at an office job in the public sector."

THIS WEEK IN TORONTO - OCTOBER 25-31

2010-10-25T13:21:00.000-07:00

1) Rasik Arts Roundtable

We meet informally around a table, hand out scripts, read a play (outloud) together, and then talk about it. There is no admission charge. All are welcome. And anyone who wants to read a part is more than encouraged to do so! We will be reading "After the Fall," by Rafi Khan and Alim Khan of Ottawa and Toronto, respectively.

When: Monday October 25, 7-9pm
Where: Urbana Coffee, 1033 Bay St (corner of Bay & St. Joseph)

2) Project Humanity's The Middle Place

When: Ongoing - Saturday November 13, 10pm
Where: Theatre Passe Muraille, 16 Ryerson Ave, north of Queen St W, east of Bathurst

3) Toronto Women's Bookstore Three Day Re-Opening Party & Cabaret

The Toronto Women's Bookstore invites you to join us for our official opening party! Come celebrate the re-opening of the store with a three-day cabaret featuring readings, performances, DJ's and refreshments.

When: Wednesday October 27 - Saturday October 29, 7-10pm
Where: Toronto Women's Book Store, 73 Harbord St

4) Homeland

Presented by Godot Art Productions, Homeland is a multi-faceted examination of the meaning of home in a hybrid setting of dance, live music and documentary film. The words of the personalities in the film are translated into a solo dance and physical theatre against the beat of drums and flow of electronic sequences performed by two musicians on stage.

Tickets: $20, Mantinee & Preview $10, Advance in Group $15

When: Thursday October 28 - Saturday November 6
Tuesday-Saturday 8pm
Saturday Mantinee 2pm
Preview October 27
Where: Theatre Passe Muraille, 16 Ryerson Ave, north of Queen St W, east of Bathurst

5) WESTEND Stories

Spend Halloween 2010 by hearing ghoulish tales and horrifying stories to celebrate the joy of fears that we all secretly have deep within. Join us in friendship surrounded by books and stories from around the world and the intimate bookstore of The River Trading Company and WESTEND Stories, a different way to spend a Saturday night!

When: Saturday October 30, 7-9pm
Where: The River Trading Company, 1418 Queen St W

6) Latin-Afro-South Asian Festival

The Latin-Afro-South Asian Festival is a 3-day contemporary multi-disciplinary arts festival that shows the fusion between the different cultures and roots of the Latin American, African and South Asian artists involved and the influence of the multicultural society where they work and reside.

October 30, 2010 - TRANE STUDIO – Music and Dance
November 5, 2010 – GLADSTONE HOTEL – Music and Dance

Cover: $5

When: Saturday October 30, 8pm
Where: Trane Studio, 964 Bathurst St

PRADEEP SOLANKI: Diaspora Dialogues Emerging Artist in Fiction 2010

2010-10-22T13:12:00.000-07:00

The Inner Editor

When I first began writing in earnest, the words used to pour out like a river whose dam had just burst. Those were the good old days, when I could sit at the computer for hours on end. Of course, most of the things I wrote then have been deleted, banished to some cyber-purgatory. The writer, Carol Murphy. once told me about the ‘golden turd’ phenomenon. Babies, when they first learn to defecate, think they have produced the most wonderful thing in the world. New writers are not unlike babies. And if one keeps at writing, slowly the inner editor emerges. The stronger the inner editor, the better the quality of writing one produces. And also less the quantity.

Writing workshops help educate the inner editor, as does the guidance of a good mentor. I was lucky enough to have been guided this summer by Rabindranath Maharaj, through the Diaspora Dialogues Mentorship program. I have to be honest, the first time I sent a draft for him to review, I was apprehensive. Just who was this man, he didn’t even know me, nor the style of writing I was aspiring to? How could his advice possibly have any merit? It turned out that he is not only a seasoned writer, but a seasoned mentor also. He seemed to understand immediately both my strengths and my weaknesses. And he explained each one of his critiques in a way that made sense to me. That is important. Often in writing groups, people have valid feedback, but they are unable to express it in a constructive way.

Being a co-editor at Descant Magazine has also sharpened my inner editor. Seeing the mistakes in others’ writing helps one see them in one’s own writing because we all make very similar mistakes.

Thus, when the inner editor has sharpened enough, one finds the volume of writing slows to a trickle. One scrutinizes each word, every comma; the rhythm, the imagery of each sentence has to be sing before it allowed into one’s fiction. Sometimes, the inner editor can be debilitating for the writer. Writer’s block is sometimes a symptom of a too-powerful inner editor. When this happens, how does one learn to switch off the inner editor?

I discovered one way recently, quite by chance. A short story of mine, "The Glass Eaters", was published in Echolocations, the literary magazine for the University of Toronto English Department. This is a magazine that only began in 2002, and is thus not well-known. However, I knew anything to do with the U of T should not be underestimated. Atwood, Ondaatje, and many other literary stars are alumni and/or mentors there. Publishers read such publications, searching for the next fresh voice. When I was asked to read an extract from my story at the launch, my inner editor worried me. Each time I practiced reading aloud, it kept doubting my grammar, my choice of words and imagery. I wasn’t even sure why Echolocations had even accepted my story, it was so full of flaws.

To add insult to injury, the morning of the launch I woke up with a head cold, my nose stuffed up and my throat sore. Should I cancel? Luckily I didn’t. Because when I did read my work aloud, to a room of perhaps fifty students and alumni, a surprising thing happened: it was my inner editor who was silent with fright, not me. Reading the words without the editor, I began to appreciate what was good about the story.

I had discovered a wonderful secret: like fire, the inner editor is a good servant, but a very poor master.

DD Wraps Up Its Season with Fun at the Park and a Glowing Night at Scotiabank Nuit Blanche!

2010-10-22T10:26:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had a personal reading from a Giller Prize nominee? Or taken a psychogeographic tour of Queen’ s Park? Have you ever had a personal line of verse written just for you by a professional poet? If so, you probably participated in our Literary Scavenger Hunt at Word on the Street this year! We had close to 500 people divulge their favourite Canadian authors and books to us, find writers hidden around the park, and hit the tents and booths of our literary friends—all in competition for our fabulous grand prizes. The weather was lovely, competition was fierce but friendly, and it turned out to be a huge success! It was the perfect way to cap off a busy summer. Check out our pictures and video.

And while our energy was still high, we geared up for collaborative project Future City at Scotiabank Nuit Blanche. On a night where the city belongs to pedestrians, artists and art lovers, we transformed the top floor of the Gardiner Museum. With help from poet Heather Hermant and glass artist Melina Young we mounted an installation called “Nice Bumping Into You” — an open exchange of poetry, art, ideas and anything else you can express with a piece of glowing glass, a sharpie, and a crowd of good-spirited and like-minded people. Atop a custom built light table courtesy of Humber College, visitor’ s thoughts, fears, desires, drawings – and sometimes even phone numbers! – glowed. People wrote or drew whatever they wanted, with our artists there to guide them should anyone need inspiration—and our guests didn’ t let us down. One guest captured the night perfectly, writing “ stoplights in the rearview, as the city falls cold” and another advised “ don’t let life and love slip by.” A young sightseer declared his hunger, and an even younger one told us how much her family meant to her. By the time the sun broke through the windows of the Gardiner, “ Nice Bumping Into You” had been an outlet for the whole spectrum of human emotion and thought, and it was hard to know if it was the journey or the all-nighter that had us all so spent. Either way, it was exciting, inspiring and gratifying to see how excited and willing people were to share.

It was a hectic change in season for us, with two major events back-to-back, but WOTS afforded us the opportunity to enjoy one of the last days of summery sunshine by soaking up the air in Queen’ s Park. And we kept warm all night long despite the first chill of autumn, bumping into strangers and huddled over the glow of our art exchange at Scotiabank Nuit Blanche. As always, it was beyond worth it to share in the enthusiasm, curiosity and talent of everyone who came out to both events, our endlessly talented writers and artists and our ever-patient volunteers. Thank you to all, and we hope to see you at the next one!

THIS WEEK IN TORONTO - OCTOBER 18-24

2010-10-18T13:21:00.000-07:00

1) Asian Arts Freedom School - Vivek Shraya

You don’t want to miss this special writing workshop facilitated by Vivek Shraya focusing on creative and editing processes and techniques derived from working on his collection of short stories, God Loves Hair.

When: Tuesday October 19, 6-8:30pm
Where: Kapisanan Centre (in the basement), 167 Augusta Avenue

2) Book Launch: Imagining Toronto

Amy Lavender Harris will launch her long-awaited new book, Imagining Toronto. This is also Mansfield's 10th anniversary party, and other books launching the same evening will include Leigh Nash's Goodbye, Ukulele, Peter Norman's At The Gates Of The Theme Park, Natasha Nuhanovic's Stray Dog Embassy and Priscila Uppal's Winter Sport: Poems.

When: Tuesday October 19, 7pm - Wednesday October 20, 1am
Where: The Boat, 158 Augusta Avenue in Kensington Market

3) imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival

The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival is an international festival in Toronto that celebrates the latest works by Indigenous peoples on the forefront of innovation in film, video, radio, and new media. The works accepted reflect the diversity of the world's Indigenous nations and illustrate the vitality and excellence of our art and culture in contemporary media.

Ticket pricing here.

When: Wednesday October 20, 1pm - Sunday October 24, 9pm
Where: See here for events and locations.

4) Rakkatak's Cd Release

Rakkatak is Anita Katakkar's solo project, incorporating Indian classical rhythms, lustrous melodies, tabla soaked electronica and waves of synths. She collaborates with like minded Toronto musicians to create an atmospheric backdrop for her work.

Cover: $15 (including cd)

When: Wednesday October 20, 8-11:30pm
Where: The Painted Lady, 218 Ossington just south of Dundas West

5) The Middle Place

Project: Humanity's The Middle Place starts this week at Theatre Passe Muraille. Come see this new version of the play, further developed since our SummerWorks showing.

When: Thursday October 21, 7:30pm - Saturday November 13, 10pm
Where: Theatre Passe Muraille, 16 Ryerson Avenue, just north of Queen
St. West, east of Bathurst Street

6) Book Launch: Echoes of the Other Land

You are invited to the book launch of Echoes from the Other Land, a collection of short stories by Ava Homa. Event is free. Books will be available to purchase at the launch, along with author signing, readings and light refreshments.

When: Friday October 22, 6:30-8:30pm
Where: Beit Zatoun House, 612 Markham Street (Bathurst Station, beside Honest Eds)

7) Latin-Afro-South Asian Festival

The Latin-Afro-South Asian Festival is a 3-day contemporary multi-disciplinary arts festival that shows the fusion between the different cultures and roots of the Latin American, African and South Asian artists involved and the influence of the multicultural society where they work and reside.

October 22, 2010 - LULA LOUNGE - Music, Dance and Video
October 30, 2010 - TRANE STUDIO – Music and Dance
November 5, 2010 – GLADSTONE HOTEL – Music and Dance

Cover: $5

When: Friday October 22, 7:30pm
Where: Lula Lounge, 1585 Dundas St. W.

8) Canzine 2010: Canada's Largest Festival of Zines and Underground Culture

Over 100 zines, book publisher, comic artists and crafters will take over The Great Hall. Plus play homemade video games on the Hand Eye Society's video console and buy tiny poems from the Toronto Poetry Vendors poem vending machine.

Cost: $5 at the door. Includes a copy of the fall issue of Broken Pencil.

When: Sunday October 24, 1-7pm
Where: The Great Hall, 1087 Queen Street West (Dovercourt and Queen)

THIS WEEK IN TORONTO - OCTOBER 11-17

2010-10-12T14:41:00.000-07:00

1) OUTwords 2010: a queer| spectrum community arts exhibition & fundraiser

When: Ongoing - Friday October 15th at 9:30 pm
Where: The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen Street West

2) Hard Times

based on the novel by Charles Dickens
adapted and directed by Chris Earle, with the company

performed by Ann Powell, David Powell, Anand Rajaram
puppet design and construction by Ann Powell and David Powell
dramaturged by Shari Hollett
music by Rick Sacks
design consultant Camilla Koo
Stage managed by Bonnie Thomson

Performances:
Tuesday-Saturday 7:30pm
Saturday Matinees 2:30pm
Tickets $15 - $25 at Arts Box Office or at 416.504.7529

When: Ongoing - October 16 at 7:30pm
Where: Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace, 16 Ryerson (East of Bathurst & North of Queen)

3) 10½ Stories

A night of ten 5-minute stories on a common theme, "Choices", told by volunteer audience members drawn at random from a hat. The eleventh story will be left unfinished – its ending will begin our next storytelling night. Hosted by MothUP Toronto's Daniel Goldbloom.

When: Wednesday October 13, 8-10:30 pm
Where: Terrazza Restaurant, 372 Harbord St. (Just east of Ossington)

4) Breakfast Club Series: Bravo!FACT & You

Discuss with Executive Director Judy Gladstone why both established and emerging filmmakers are interested in working on shorts, and pick up some tips on how to put together a great application.

When: Wednesday October 13, 8-9:30 am
Where: Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, 49 Ontario Street, Suite 501

5) Broken Pencil's Indie Writers Deathmatch IV

Enter your best story (1500-3000 words) by December 31, 2010!

JOYCE WAYNE: Diaspora Dialogues Emerging Artist in Fiction 2010

2010-10-09T08:46:00.000-07:00

When you’re my age, 59, being included in the Diaspora Dialogues literary mentorship program is the most rewarding experience imaginable. This year I completed my first novel, The Cook’s Temptation and I also began writing short stories focused on the 1947 spy trials of Soviet sympathizers in Canada. Robin Maharaj is my mentor and his editorial comments have been so helpful that I can envision writing more stories (maybe even a novel) based on the tragic characters embroiled in the start of the Cold War. I think this is called “finding your voice.”

My day job is as the head of the Media for Global Professionals program at Sheridan College. Right now I’m leading a research project investigating the relationship between diversity arts organizations and “mainstream arts” in the GTA. By the way, it was a former student of mine, and an emerging voice in last year’s Diaspora Dialogues contest, Mayank Bhatt, who encouraged me to submit my story to the 2010 competition. I’m so thankful that he did.

THIS WEEK IN TORONTO - OCTOBER 4 - 10

2010-10-04T14:12:00.000-07:00

1) The Brockton Writers Series - readings and performances by:
Vivek Shraya, Catherine Paquette, Michael Erickson,
Fraser Sutherland and Hema Vyas

We pass a hat for the writers ($3-$5, pwyc suggested donation).
Books and drinks also available by donation to the Jeremiah Community, who provide us with yummy baked treats.

Limited parking available--choose spots labelled "St. Anne's Church"

When: Tuesday October 5th, 7-9 pm
Where: St. Anne's Church, 270 Gladstone Ave (just north of Dundas)

2) Asian Arts Freedom School - Free Silk Screening with No One Is Illegal

This is a free silkscreening from No One Is Illegal-Toronto!
Bring Shirts. Patches. Canvass. Enthusiasm. We will use art as a tool
of resistance within the migrant justice movement and highlight through
our workshop changes in the immigration system, lived realities of migrants in this sweatshop city, and resistance both globally and locally.

When: Tuesday October 5th, 6-8:30 pm
Where: 167 Augusta, Kapisanan Centre in the basement

3) 2010 De Colores Festival of New Works

The playwright’s festival that started it all for Latin American writers in Canada is back and better than ever! Toronto audiences will be able to hear the new works in development by Martha Chaves (Nominated for Best Female Stand-up, Just For Laughs), Amaranta Leyva (one of Mexico’s most prolific playwrights for children), Marilo Nuñez (Artistic Director of Alameda Theatre Co.) and Juan Carlos Velis (Lead actor in The Refugee Hotel by Carmen Aguirre).

General tickets $15, Students/Seniors $12, Festival Pass $28 (HST Included)

When: Thursday October 7th, 8 pm - Friday October 8th at 8 pm
Where: Theatre Direct's Wychwood Theatre, 601 Christie St. (at St. Clair Ave. W.)

4) Music and Stories from Persia

Shahin Fayaz (tar, setar)
Kouhsa Nakhaei (kamanche)

special guest:
Ariel Balevi (storyteller)

With storyteller Ariel Balevi, Sarv Ensemble will take you on a journey to the mysterious land of Persia. Close your eyes, open your ears, and let your imagination
bring the story to life.

Admission: $15

When: Thursday, October 7, 2010 at 7 PM
Where: Musideum, 401 Richmond St W. suite #133

5) OUTwords 2010: a queer| spectrum community arts exhibition & fundraiser

This exhibit showcases the work of the participants of OUTwords, a free and intensive eight month Media Arts and Leadership program for LGBTTQQ2SIA* youth. Their work engages themes of homophobia, gender performance, and racism, with proud and political undertones. The photography and short films being screened communicate the vulnerabilities and resilience of diverse queer/trans personalities.

October 8 opening 7pm | 2nd floor
October 9 tour & talk back 1pm | 2nd floor
October 13 OUTwords @ Granny Boots 7pm. after party at Vitamin G 10pm | Melody Bar

When: Friday October 8th at 12 pm - Friday October 15th at 9:30 pm
Where: The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen Street West

6) Broken Pencil's Indie Writers Deathmatch IV

Enter your best story (1500-3000 words) by December 31, 2010. Grand prize includes publication in the Spring 2011 issue, $300 cash money, a BP prizepack worth $300, and, most importantly, bragging rights forever more. Two runners-up Will also receive publication in Broken Pencil and paid standard publication rates.

Entrance fee: 20 dollars (includes a 1 year subscription to Broken Pencil).

SARAH FELDBLOOM: Diaspora Dialogues Emerging Artist in Poetry 2010

2010-10-01T17:23:00.000-07:00

I've lived with my best friend for a cumulative five years. We've had homes blocks from both oceans that touch Canada's toes, but spent the majority of our cohabitation in one kind old house in Toronto's annex. We aren't big partiers, but have been known to throw hullabaloos here that make everyone laugh sideways. One February when we were undergrads we had a Valentines celebration. We had prepared a piñata but couldn't figure out how to hang it up. A small team of guests drunkenly bashed it open on the floor atop a spilling pile of hermaphroditic porno magazines that someone had brought to craft magnets out of. This was the crowning ceremony for the main event - a poetry reading where we recited our worst love poems. Encouraged were those written in high school or earlier. The idea was to take something that wasn't “good” and appreciate it for how raw and emotionally elicit it was. My favourite piece was a narrative rhyme-scheme written by the fifteen year-old version of a flower of a friend about the experience of giving her first blow job.

I've read lot's of “bad” poems that I've admired. I've also read many poems that have disappointed me - in that they relied too much on prettiness, or used language so well to say something that didn't feel particularly new. Of course everyone has their own preferences, but there are many “fine” poems that I find haughty or gushy and really turn me off. I guess that's why I write poetry, because I see more than your insecure, brainiac older brother in it. It's got wide shoulders, and pink lips. I don't want it to have a lame-o reputation.

To me poems are the delivery of special moments. They are the bird's eye view of a great story, or the magnification of an integral flash in one. They are songs without melodies. I like when they prickle like record static over and over in my head. I like to watch the words up close, look at their curves, see where they shake or stay still.

I spent much of this year living in St. John's, Newfoundland, a place of fairies, and forest ponds, and kind eyes. I had fallen in love with the city when I moved there on a whim the summer before, and had returned to it with a hasty lack of self-control. As much as I wanted to be there I was finding it a struggle to be actively “different” everyday. I didn't talk like a Newfoundlander, think like a Newfoundlander, joke like a Newfoundlander, or drink like a Newfoundlander. The culture there has defined itself through hundreds of years of invasions, isolation, and heartiness. I often felt like a lone mainlander living in a foreign country that was considered part of my own in name only. All winter I came home from my day job and sat in my living room in the dark, craving stories from my home, written by poets who had developed similar ticks and cultural reflexes to my own, as a result of exposure to concrete, admirably hard-working Toronto. When I visited my family in December I grabbed books to bring back to the rock, titles by Stuart Ross, Zoe Whittal, Tara Michelle Ziniuk, Elyse Friedman and Pasha Malla - contemporary Toronto writers, who are funny, and frank and weird. Such books weren't stocked in the Memorial University Library where I scouted out reading material in St. John's.

After that trip I decided to move back to T.O. I felt like I needed to find a sturdy place in my mind so I could reflect. I missed the comfort of being somewhere where everyone belongs because no one seems to more than anyone else. I came to Diaspora Dialogues to explore this feeling, and am working on poems that shriek and giggle about the wide-world of Toronto. Though I'm sure I will continue to move around this country and live beyond it too, I'm glad for this time to write about home from home.

“Nice Bumping Into You”: Future City at Scotiabank Nuit Blanche - Part III

2010-10-01T04:26:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, October 2, Diaspora Dialogues is gearing up for another all-night-long, twelve-hour, caffeine-fuelled annual art extravaganza – otherwise known as Scotiabank Nuit Blanche.

This year, we are partnering with the Gardiner Museum
and the Humber School of Creative and Performing Arts to present a joint project called
Future City – an imaginary public square of a future Toronto, if it were run by artists. In this future city, your civic responsibility is to give a little art in order to get a little art.

In DD’s corner of the City is “Nice Bumping Into You,” co-created by spoken word artists Heather Hermant and glass artist Melina Young, and we asked them explain the installation in their own words. Here is part three of a three-part interview.

DD: How are the preparations going?

Heather: Production designer Heather Kent and her students at Humber have been incredible. Under Heather's guidance, the students have built us the light table, and they are also building what we hope will work out as the projection surface. (I don't want to give away that part!) We'll be running some tests in the lead-up out at Humber, and sorting out the logistics of sound, video and light with the essential help of our tech guru David Findlay, as well as the great folks at Gardiner. But really, you just can't prepare for what will happen when you don't know what will happen till it's up and running!

DD: What can people expect to experience that night?

Heather: Funny that that's the next question! Well, the thing about Nuit Blanche is that everything depends on what the people do who come into contact with the work throughout the city. In the least, people who visit Nice Bumping Into You will experience the sight of moving colour and hands as the activity of the table is projected. They'll experience this against the backdrop of the city at night as seen from the wide open window space of the Gardiner restaurant. Those who are drawn in to the table itself--and I hope many will be--will at first witness others engaging, like they're watching a kind of chess game or something.

They can then step in to experience the tactility of the glass themselves, and the moment of the glass and the words and doodles of others inspiring their own impromptu response(s) on the glass. Like a chat, with the time available to just stay, find the words, compose. Those who are drawn into the exchange might also experience moments of collaboration with others. And maybe some of those collaborations will involve spoken word performance.

DD: What do you hope will happen?

Heather: I hope people will be engaged by the installation and want to contribute to it -- by writing or drawing on the tiles, by moving the tiles around, by collaborating with other people around the table, and/or by collaborating on the mic in performance, with each other, or with me. Or all the above. I hope the gorgeousness of the tiles will do something to highlight words in a new way, their meaning, their weight, their worth, potential and power. I hope the table of tiles will be like a collective journal, as intimate, lighthearted, serious or profound, as critical, moved or silly as people may feel in the moment.

Melina: My work is done but Heather's going to be performing live throughout the night with spoken word. I hope people will play with the tiles and text and also feed from the performance. It'll be a loop, a creative play between performer, glass tiles and participants. It's a beautiful space at night with a gorgeous view of Toronto. When we created this piece we were mindful of the way the projection,performance, glass and light table could create an ethereal sense of being part of the city just by being in the space.

DD: Tell us a bit about your other creative work.

Melina: I love working with glass and I'm going to continue creating glass work using especially warm glass techniques. I'm also a video maker and have a video to finish about Lesbos, the actual Greek island from where we get the word "lesbian". Heather and I have invitations to do video production workshops from Athens Pride in Greece and from a lesbian group in China.

Heather: I'm just about to head to Montreal for a run of a stage adaptation of my multidisciplinary performance installation, ribcage: this wide passage, at Le Mai (Montreal Arts Interculturels) at the end of October. This piece incorporates spoken word, physical theatre, live fiddle music by Toronto composer/player Jaron Freeman-Fox, and live videomixing by Kaija Siirala, another Toronto artist. Melina did much of the videography for the live videomixing. ribcage is based on an historical tale of a Jewish woman who came to Canada in the 1730s passing as a Christian boy and was then deported. I also do community-based work, largely through Toronto's backforward collective, and as a Resident Artist of Vancouver's urban ink productions. I dabble in curation, sound work, video and writing of many forms, and have been teaching at York University for the Community Arts Practice certificate since 2006, taking a teaching hiatus this year though to start a PhD.

“Nice Bumping Into You”: Future City at Scotiabank Nuit Blanche - Part II

2010-09-30T02:18:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, October 2, Diaspora Dialogues is gearing up for another all-night-long, twelve-hour, caffeine-fuelled annual art extravaganza – otherwise known as Scotiabank Nuit Blanche.

This year, we are partnering with the Gardiner Museum
and the Humber School of Creative and Performing Arts to present a joint project called
Future City – an imaginary public square of a future Toronto, if it were run by artists. In this future city, your civic responsibility is to give a little art in order to get a little art.

In DD’s corner of the City is “Nice Bumping Into You,” co-created by spoken word artists Heather Hermant and glass artist Melina Young, and we asked them explain the installation in their own words. Here is part two of a three-part interview we’ll be posting this week.

DD: How did you make the glass tiles? What was the experience like?

Melina: We had lots of fun making the tiles. I had a basic design in mind that would represent meeting,gathering, exchange. We wanted it to be full of colour so that people would want to play, with colour, with the image, with the text and with the glass itself. I approach glass as a plastic medium and always create by feel. The scale, the shapes and images are as organic as the process. The approximately hundred tiles assembled make up an image of a kind of cell measuring about ten square feet.

Heather: Melina's work is really organic. In the process and in the outcome. The works are really flowing, you feel the life in them. Most people who have responded to the glass tiles for Nice Bumping Into You so far haven't gotten beyond the wow factor in concrete words. But my sister did and I love her response: "They look like a cross between cellular activity and press-on nails." There's definitely something of the micro and the macro in them, something of the abstract and the more literal or concrete, something of the contemplative and the more lighthearted.

I was Melina's assistant in the creation of these tiles. I don't know what it says about me, but there is nothing quite so exhilarating as smashing beautiful glass to ever smaller bits with a hammer. That's where we started. Making fused glass with Melina is really physical. It's a kind of drawing that she does, she has an idea of the design, but the picture is really created in response to the material in hand and how it happens to land into the design when she pours it. What's so interesting about the smash-up is how beautiful the broken pieces are at every stage of the crushing--this is metaphorical material for a poet!--I didn't want to lose a single little fragment, they looked like jewels the smaller they got. It was really something new for me, not being afraid of shards of broken glass, which has been my engagement with broken glass until now.

And then, how Melina makes the pieces fall is just really gorgeous to watch. The tiles that were laid out to be put in the kiln were insanely detailed, piles of minute pieces of glass, held together delicately by their own weight and a little glue. It was a really delicate process getting them into the kiln one at a time. That was my job. The pre-kiln image was an entirely other universe than the
fused works that ultimately came out. I feel like Melina made two pieces. It's the end piece that she has in mind, but to get there, there's this interim stage that's pretty breathtaking too. I think the excitement of the unexpected permeates Melina's process. And I think and hope that that will be the spirit of the evening at Gardiner, as the piece becomes other pieces once people step up to the table.

"Nice Bumping Into You”: Future City at Scotiabank Nuit Blanche - Part I

2010-09-29T02:15:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, October 2, Diaspora Dialogues is gearing up for another all-night-long, twelve-hour, caffeine-fuelled annual art extravaganza – otherwise known as Scotiabank Nuit Blanche.

This year, we are partnering with the Gardiner Museum
and the Humber School of Creative and Performing Arts to present a joint project called
Future City – an imaginary public square of a future Toronto, if it were run by artists. In this future city, your civic responsibility is to give a little art in order to get a little art.

In DD’s corner of the City is “Nice Bumping Into You,” co-created by spoken word artists Heather Hermant and glass artist Melina Young, and we asked them explain the installation in their own words.

Here is part one of a three-part interview we’ll be posting this week.

DD: Explain what you will be doing at Scotiabank Nuit Blanche.

Heather: Melina Young and I have created a poetry performance fused glass installation piece called "Nice Bumping Into You". I know, "poetry performance fused glass installation"? That's a mouthful. DD had proposed the idea of "give a poem-take a poem" as an exchange with participants. So I was thinking about how to think outside of the expected from that idea. I was imagining the Gardiner Museum, the presence of precious tactile objects in glass cases throughout the building, and
also about the presence of windows, up the stairwells and especially on the third floor. Glass seemed like a perfect medium for the venue. So together with Melina Young, we came up with the idea of a light table dining room place of gathering, with fused glass tiles as the medium of exchange for words, for conversation. These tiles are inspired by the "post-it note".

Post-it notes are little portable containers for memory, for quick thoughts, pieces of a larger puzzle that can be easily moved around to complete an idea. Post-it notes are disposable, crushable in an easy way. But the fused glass incarnations that Melina has made are gorgeous, glowing, vibrant objects that are very tactile, verging on three-dimensional and very inviting of touch. There are about one hundred of these tiles, which though they appear really precious are actually really sturdy, not fragile, and together they compose a single image that's about ten square feet.

When you add handwritten text onto the tiles with marker, in response to the tiles themselves, in response to the room, to the experience of the city that evening, to the people at the table with you, there's a whole other layer of puzzle to be mixed and remixed, so that the image takes on whole new dimensions and ceases to be what it started out as. There will be a lot of markers available, and the text is erasable, so the experience that is being tracked, the relationships and thoughts and exchanges recorded in the moment, all of it is ephemeral, subject to uncertainty.

There are yet two more components to this installation. First, the activity on the table will be videoed from above, and projected, rendering the activity--the hands, the text, the tiles--as a kind of moving painting, like a blurry reflection of colour in a pool of water as an instant record of performance. And then there's the more obvious kind of performance. There's me the commissioned spoken word artist, and my job that night as a poet is to undertake a collaborative poetry marathon within this installation. I'll have spent a good while responding to the tiles myself in the lead-up to Nuit Blanche, and so I'll have a body of spoken word already created. The night of, I'll facilitate, in a way, the ever-changing gathering of people at the table in the hope that I can foster potential collaborations for short impromptu performances at intervals over the course of the evening, with the material the table generates as the source of the performances, and with participants and myself as performers.

THIS WEEK IN TORONTO - SEPTEMBER 28 - OCTOBER 3

2010-09-27T19:38:00.000-07:00

1) Ehrenworth and Uppal art exhibit continues through October 3rd.

Curse. Sleep. (That's The Thing About Trouble) features haunting photographs and audio works by Daniel Ehrenworth accompanied by poetic texts written by Priscila Uppal, who is a former poetry mentor at Diaspora Dialogues.

When: September 9 - October 3, 2010
Where: One 800 Gallery, 800 Dundas St. West

2) TOMORROW!! September 28, join Dawn Promislow, a Diaspora Dialgoues emerging writer in 2009 and published in TOK 5, for the launch of her colloection of short stories, Jewels, and Other Stories.

When: September 28, 7:00 p.m.
Where: Type Books, 883 Queen St. West

For more about the book and the launch visit the publisher's website

3) Thursday, September 30
Filmi South Asian Film Festival

4) Thursday September 30, join Pradeep Solanki, Disapora Dialogues 2010 emerging writer in fiction, and other writers for the launch of Issue 10 of Echolocation, the literary magazine for graduate students at the University of Toronto.

When: Thursday, September 30th, 7:30 p.m.
Where: The Arbor Room, Hart House
(Hart House is located on the St. George Campus of the University of Toronto, just east of University College.)

To find out more about Echolocation, visit their website

5) The Toronto arts event that translates into English as 'Stay up all night: Nuit Blanche

When: October 2, 6:57 p.m. to October 3, sunrise.
Where: in different locations acorss the heart of downtown Toronto.
Check out the details of Diaspora Dialogues' Future City

MAHLIKAH AWERI: Diaspora Dialogues Emerging Artist in Poetry 2010

2010-09-24T14:19:00.000-07:00

I am who I am
I b who I b
The one angelheart
Mahlikah Aweri

I follow that ancient afro-native prophecy
All Things Must Be Shaken
I am that child of corn
Taken sometimes forsaken
Left out of our forefather’s will
Instead of inheriting the earth
I received hand me downs
Societal ills and like oil
The blood of my people still spills
Flooding sound waves
Polyphonic/Stetsasonic/Reverberations
Breaking the colonial sound barrier at the speed of light
I am a Red Slam Collective member
We create Spoken Lyricism Arranging Meaning
We fight the good fight
Am I a spoken word success
Or Toronto Poetry SLAM Semi-Final sacrifice?
Are my words truly a beacon of light?
Life is soooo precious
Sooo precious to me
So I celebrate my 3 seeds constantly
My motherhood
Mothered in the hood
I be a testament that good can come from the hood
Sometimes I feel completely misunderstood
Cuz I grew up in the Meeting Place
My Roots are Atlantic Shores etched in my Mig’Maw eyes
Haudenosaunee false face

I write
I write rhymes
I write lessons for the youth
I write poetic truths
I write hip hop so I can write the blues
I write proposals for change
I write courses for immigrant and newcomer women to become engaged
I write and I speak
I speak and I am spoken
Vocalizing matrixities cuz I am the one who was chosen

Dramatist
Dancer
Teacher
Cultural Arts Facilitator
Herbal Healer
8 bar metaphorical syllabetic beat dealer
Turtle Truth Rooted
Never Convoluted
Blk Star Shinning
Rizin’ Red Sun
My Endz never split
My Endz are never done

I am who I am
I b who I b
The one angelheart
Mahlikah Aweri

The Word On The Street 2010

2010-09-20T16:05:00.000-07:00

by JULIA CHAN

Thus begins our countdown to another year at The Word On The Street – our fifth, to be exact! We love being part of WOTS, not only because the people who run the show there are lovely to work with, but also because we love being part of the energy and vibe of the day where so many people come out to celebrate their love of books.

This year we really wanted to do something a bit out of the ordinary, something that would give our writers and our audiences a new way of connecting with each other. We’d seen from the successes of some of our past events that breaking down the “fourth wall,” so to speak, between writer and reader could be so rewarding and invigorating – and the wide open space that is Queen’s Park seemed to be begging us to take advantage of it.

An intense brainstorming session finally yielded the concept of a scavenger hunt – send people on a search, with a checklist of clues, to seek out writers for one-on-one readings, poets for original pieces of poetry, hidden boxes for literary quotations, and all manner of literary oddities.

We’ve got all kinds of writers and poets up our sleeve – you’ll be able to get readings from Marianne Apostolides, Anthony De Sa, Farzana Doctor, Michael Fraser, Kyle Greenwood, Dawn Promislow and Priscila Uppal. You can get your very own poems from Chelsea Gamble, Aisha Sasha John, Marge Lam, and Ian Malczewski. And you can join Shawn Micallef for a guided psychogeographic walk around the Queen’s Park neighbourhood.

For those of you eager to get a jump on the hunt, we’ll be posting the checklist ahead of time on our website as of September 24. For everyone else, just stop by our tent that day and pick one up.

And don’t worry – there will be plenty of prizes for your efforts. Visit our website for details.

See you there!

THIS WEEK IN TORONTO - SEPTEMBER 20 - 26

2010-09-20T13:35:00.000-07:00

1) TONIGHT!! The launch of the anthology, Canadian Voices, Volume Two, edited by Jasmine d'Costa

When: Monday, September 20th, 6:30 p.m. to 9:99 p.m.
Where: Supermarket Art Bar, 268 Augusta Avenue

Click here for a review of Canadian Voices, Volume One

2) Ehrenworth and Uppal art exhibit continues through October 3rd.

Curse. Sleep. (That's The Thing About Trouble) features haunting photographs and audio works by Daniel Ehrenworth accompanied by poetic texts written by Priscila Uppal, who is a former poetry mentor at Diaspora Dialogues.

When: September 9 - October 3, 2010
Where: One 800 Gallery, 800 Dundas St. West.

3) Book launch of Sheniz Janmohamed's Bleeding Light.

When: Friday, September 24th, 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Where: Beit Zatoun House, 612 Markham Street

Visit the publisher's website for full details.

4) Rasik Arts is proud to be part of the Culture Days movement with thousands of other organizations and communities across Canada that believe in promoting cultural participation to the public by bringing a participatory staged reading of Habib Tanvir's masterpiece, Charandas Chor [Charandas the Thief] in English, and some audience members may have to fill in the parts!

Charandas, the thief, is a Robin Hood-like figure who is a very successful thief, but has one problem--he cannot tell a lie! Based on a popular folk hero, this rambunctious comedy is a satire on greed on all levels of society.

Come hear this legendary piece - and if you're adventurous, come early (6:30pm) to help us fill in the cast. Featured readers are: Amish Patel, Dinesh Sachdev, Nisha Ahuja, Paloma Nunez, Anita Elisha, Lorne Hiro, David Fujino, Ishwar Mooljee, Ali Rizvi Badshad, Ash Knight, and ???? (warning - some coarse language).

Admission is free.

When: Friday, September 24th, 7 p.m. (arrive by 6:30 to sign up to read a part)
Where: Palmerston Library Theatre, 560 Palmerston Ave.

5) And, finally this week, the literary event in Toronto that needs no introduciton: The Word on the Street.

When: Sunday, September 26th, 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Where: Queen's Park, 111 Wellesley Street W.

Check out the details of Diaspora Dialogues' Literary Scavenger Hunt (among other upcoming DD events).

TERRI FAVRO: Diaspora Dialogues Emerging Artist in Fiction 2010

2010-09-17T13:24:00.000-07:00

The first story I was ever told came from my grandfather, Giovanni-Batista (John the Baptist) Favro, who came from the Italian Alps. The story involved a vat of polenta being cooked outdoors and a group of alpini whooping it up and enjoying the polenta (which they found even more delicious than usual) until they got to the bottom of the pot and discovered that a snake had fallen out of a tree and drowned in the polenta –– yewww!

The snake-at-the-bottom-of-the-pot story pretty much sums up the literary tradition that formed me: a combination of dark humour, hidden evil (watch out for snakes!) and fatalism (don’t go around thinking you’re having fun until you see what’s on the bottom of the pot, my friend). If you can work food into the story, all the better.

Storytelling was considered a practical skill. In an area where Hannibal had once hauled his elephants through the mountain passes, my grandfather and his brothers would find themselves snowed in with their herds and need a way to keep themselves entertained for weeks on end without going mad. The Favros were intensely practical and skilled with their hands –– as indicated by the name, which means ‘fabricator’, in the sense of a blacksmith or artisan, but could as easily apply to fabricating tales. On my mother’s side –- Lombardian lowlanders from the Po valley –– stories were also necessary but they required a punch line. Being able to make one another laugh was highly valued and if you were very, very good at it, you were rewarded with the sight of someone from the quiet, practical Favro side laughing until hot liquids shot out of their nose.

I started telling my own stories by about age four, eventually turning to writing when I knew how. I grew up in a small vineyard on what was then the outskirts of St. Catharines –– Grantham Township –– near a lock on the Welland Canal. We were used to seeing the superstructures of ocean going ships pass over the horizon, appearing to cut through farmers’ fields. In the sixties and seventies, the neighbourhood was almost totally immigrant, Italians, Ukrainians and Polish families, as well as Black families descended from arrivals on the Underground Railroad. Living so close to the border we tended to look south to the States rather than north to the rest of Canada –– everyone seemed to know someone who knew someone who’d been smuggled over the Niagara River. It was a neighbourhood of biker gangs that met at flower shops, floating crap games and Catholic street festivals. Most of my relatives lived in the States –– New York City, New Jersey, Buffalo –– because my mother and her parents had been deported from Ellis Island, banished to the wilds of Canada (the Niagara Peninsula being as close to the U.S. as you could get without actually being inside it).

I’d always planned to be a writer –– the practical choice since it was my only skill. I went to university in Hamilton, graduating into the stagflation period of the early eighties (no jobs). One day I discovered that the house where I was renting a flat was being demolished –– by the demolition men showing up at my door. No one had thought to evict me so I quickly packed my stuff in some boxes while they stood around with sledgehammers snickering at the New Yorker cartoons pasted to the walls. Within minutes I was homeless and jobless in Hamilton. Again, there was that dead snake at the bottom of the polenta pot.

Around this time I spent a day with the poet Milton Acorn. He’d come to McMaster for an arts festival for which I had volunteered. My job was to get him from venue to venue, which was harder than it sounds. He would occasionally wander off or start declaiming poetry to medical students at the hospital caf, but he had moments of lucidity when he talked to me about being a writer. I remember sitting on a curb with him, traffic whizzing by on Main Street West, talking to him about needing a place to live, and a job, and not wanting to go home; I understood that back in Toronto, he was living over a notorious bar near Spadina and College. And this was a guy I’d read in school, a genius poet, and he was living over a bar? It gave me a notion of what a writer’s life might be like. I can’t remember exactly what he told me except that it came down to not having a choice: if you were a writer, you were a writer, and that was that.

Thanks to Tut the Boy King, I ended up in Toronto selling chocolate death masks at the AGO Gift Shop and living in a house on Robert Street full of cockroaches and grad students, most involved with cancer research (the students, not the roaches). I was eventually hired by the Writers’ Union of Canada as an assistant to the Executive Director, a job that involved spending a lot of time taking meeting notes at local Hungarian restaurants. June Callwood was the chair of the Union at that time and her reputation as a great woman was proven by the fact that she was unfailingly generous to me, the youngest of the office staff.

Still, despite her efforts to make me feel appreciated, the job totally freaked me out. At the tender age of 23 I found myself giving GO train directions to Margaret Laurence and getting drinks for Pierre Berton and finding a place for Timothy Findlay to catch a few winks. Coming from St. Catharines where the local celebrities were usually grape farmers or that year’s Peach Queen or polka band leaders, hobnobbing with writers was pretty strong stuff for me –– plus I noticed that a lot of them just didn’t seem all that happy. How could you be a published writer and not be happy? This just didn’t make sense to me. Frankly, it scared me: I started to think that I was too “Favro-ish” to be an artist and that I needed something a bit more practical that would allow to me to write without feeling on the knife edge of insecurity at all times. I couldn’t live with my scientist friends forever.

I fell into advertising by accident –– in the eighties, it seemed like a lot of people ended up as copywriters by sitting on a bar stool and saying something witty in front of the right person. (“Say kid, that’s pretty funny –– you think you could write me up a snappy headline?”) And so, I found myself finally paid to write, as well as to sit around trading bon mots with art directors and wearing a lot of black. Advertising isn’t a truly creative industry, despite the hype, but being a Favro I appreciated the steady work. It also fed my story machine: if there’s one snake-in-the-polenta-pot industry, it’s advertising. I spent a few years as an agency writer, then turned to freelancing to keep more time open for my own writing. Then I fell quite seriously in love.

He was an artist, an abstract expressionist-experimental filmmaker from Montreal, this big gorgeous muscular blonde Viking who could quote from Russian novels and Monty Python, lived in lofts when they were still illegal and knew where all the booze cans were. He also knew how to cook. We started collaborating on experimental films together. When I brought him home to meet the folks he was so intrigued by the old neighbourhood that I started seeing my life through his eyes, which seemed to suggest my stories were worth telling. I married him, had two sons, spent a few years in Northern Ontario, did some humour stuff for CBC Radio, eventually returned to Toronto and kept writing –– for literary mags, for commercial mags, for online pubs, for agency clients.

I’ve won or been short listed for a few contests (including three short listed pieces in CBC Literary Awards, possibly making me the Jeff Bridges of that competition). I’ve also managed to write a novel about the old ‘hood (which made the rounds of publishers –– close but no cigar) and I’m in the process of completing another.

My husband and I are collaborating again, now on graphic stories, the first of which we’ve posted online at www.coxwellstation.ca. And so it goes. I’m curious to see what happens next.

THE SPADINA MONOLOGUES - by Christine Estima

2010-09-13T11:45:00.000-07:00

Foundry Theatre Company proudly presents the reading of the new play:
The Spadina Monologues
By Christine Estima

Christine Estima was an emerging writer in the Diaspora Dialgoues mentorship program and is published in TOK 1

Play Synopsis: What happens when your first date is on the Spadina Street car? King is African; Queen is Portuguese/ Lebanese. Told through random anecdotes, monologues, experiences and observations, their date plays out like a consumer contemplating a new car. Witty dialogue, faced-paced sparring, and engaging characters make this is an encounter you don’t want to miss.

The writer: Christine Estima is a playwright, novelist and arts journalist. Her writing has appeared in many local and online publications such as Now Magazine, Exclaim!, Bitch Magazine, and The Canadian Theatre Review.

The director: Richard Beaune is a critically acclaimed director who’s worked across Canada. Most recently, he directed the award winning “The Belle of Winnipeg”, is also the winner of a Canadian Comedy Award for “Trapped in Taffeta”, and is the Artistic Director of Keystone Theatre.

Click here to learn more about The Spadina Monologues, with Christine & Richard, in our inaugural video series, Forging Ahead.

The Company: Foundry Theatre Company is a nonprofit organization registered in Ontario that produces eight full-length readings, selected by a jury, over the course of its season. Our main objective is the development of Canadian full-length works that reflect the cultural diversity in Toronto, Ontario and across the nation.

*Foundry Theatre engages under the terms of the Independent Theatre Agreement, professional Artists who are members of the Canadian Actors’ Equity Association.

THIS WEEK IN TORONTO - SEPTEMBER 13 - 19

2010-09-13T07:47:00.000-07:00

1) TIFF - The Toronto International Film Festival - continues through September 18th.

2) Ehrenworth and Uppal art exhibit continues through October 3rd.

Curse. Sleep. (That's The Thing About Trouble) features haunting photographs and audio works by Daniel Ehrenworth accompanied by poetic texts written by Priscila Uppal, who is a former poetry mentor at Diaspora Dialogues.

When: September 9 - October 3, 2010
Where: One 800 Gallery, 800 Dundas St. West.

3) Emma Donoghue, a Diaspora Dialogues mentor in 2009 and published in TOK 5, will be celebrating the release of her Booker long-listed novel, Room.

When: September 15, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Where: Dora Keogh Irish Pub, 141 Danforth Avenue

4) Toronto launch of Natasha Henry's Emancipation Day: Celebrating Freedom in Canada.

When: September 16, 7:30 p.m.
Where: The Cathedral Church of St. James, King and Church Streets.

Go to her poster for full details.

5) Performance event with Gabriela Alonso and Nelda Ramos, visiting artists from Argentina.

When: September 16, 8:00 - 10:00 p.m.
Where: Toronto Free Gallery, 1277 Bloor Street West

Click here for full deails.

6) September 16-20, 2010
The International Festival of Poetry of Resistance

Day 1: Thursday, September 16th

5:00 pm-10:30 pm
New Horizons Auditorium
1140 Bloor Street West (at Dufferin).

Day 2: Friday, September 17th

10:00 am-12:00 pm, and 2:00 pm.-10 pm
519 Church Street Community Centre.

Day 3: Friday, September 18th

10:00 am-10:00 pm
New Horizons Auditorium
1140 Bloor Street West.

Day 4: Sunday, September 19th

11:00 am-1:00 pm
Ellington's Music and Cafe
805 St. Clair Avenue West.

2:00 pm-9:30 pm
Beit Zatoun
612 Markham Street (at Bloor).

Day 5: Monday, September 20th

10:00 am- 12:00 pm

Ellington's Music and Cafe
805 St. Clair West.

2:00 pm-5:00 pm
Beit Zatoun
612 Markham Street at Bloor Street

7:00 pm
Steelworkers' Hall
25 Cecil Street.

Click here for a background article on this festival, which includes the work of Diaspora Dalogues emerging artist from 2007, Monica Rosas.

PHOEBE WANG: Diaspora Dialogues Emerging Artist in Poetry 2010

2010-09-10T11:10:00.001-07:00

The two of us are thrashing through the tall, prickly ragweed and burdock that
snag our socks and sleeves to leave behind their seeds. Sarah, another Diaspora Dialogues participant, stops to pull them off, but inevitably more adhere.

“Nature is so smart,” she says.

I imagine depositing them on the subway platform and sidewalks later on, when we’ve left these trails. We’re both itchy but far from irritable, thrilled, in fact, to be finally exploring these skirts of bush and ragged fringes of park that we’ve both glimpsed wistfully at during the commute between the Downsview subway station and the York University campus.

We’ve only met a few weeks ago, but discovering another person who also felt a
curiosity at this area’s incongruous landscape forges an immediate sense of mutual sympathy between us. Beyond the windows of the York Rocket Express, the edges of Downsview park, the old airplane hangars, the ravines that plunge below Dufferin Street, have drawn my eyes inexorably throughout the school year, elusive and attractive. It is more than mere curiosity – rather like a seizing of the attention or powerful absorption, though each of us are engrossed in different, particular ways. As we walk, we see plastic bags, remains of squatters or campers, but also a row of Canada geese, crossing the road to bathe in the pond behind the campus. We talk of the writing process, our different reasons for living in Toronto, the way that nature intercepts and invades the city. All these things become related.

As I walk, I break off seedpods and blossoms to identify later. It’s the height of summer, and the growth of the tall grasses and Queen’s Anne Lace is profuse. I want to know the names of the yellow, sunflower-like plants that leave behind the tick-like seeds on our backpacks, where dry creekbeds lead, what might have been on this land before Keele street and the York campus were put in. The desire to know comes as an insistent, intuitive feeling that grows more clamorous and refuses to be ignored.

It’s my belief that such deep, urgent experiences aren’t exclusive to poets or artists, but occur for everyone. For others, they may come at the sight of a beloved’s face, a piece of haute couture clothing, the early morning on a still lake. These events are the sparks and the flashes that call us back to ourselves and our connection with the world. The knowledge that we gain from them cannot always be rationalized, we cannot always speak about it. In fact, when we make the attempt, language often fails us to render their visceral reality.

And so, the role of the poet, has been for me one that involves bearing witness.

This has not been a role that I have easily come to accept. When I was younger, I felt detached and uninvolved, isolated by a role that felt both self-inflicted, yet also, paradoxically, predetermined. As if some other, starker, braver and brutal self insisted upon looking with a gaze that could not close. Now I understand that bearing witness is the opposite of isolation. Instead, it is a commitment to paying attention to the world and to being implicated by one’s continual involvement in it. The discipline of writing poetry, then, becomes not restrictive, but a way of reminding myself of what connects me to my environment. Recognizing such connections and interrelations is freeing, as we are relieved from the confines of ego-driven, self-centred, and possibly, human-centred knowledges. With faith, I hope that such experiences will continue to happen, and that I will have the courage to keep on listening, attending, and being accountable to them.

While I won’t always get it right, the world sends out its sticky burrs and leaves behind its seedpods on our sleeves to propragate in our imaginations.

THIS WEEK IN TORONTO - SEPTEMBER 6 - 12

2010-09-06T13:21:00.000-07:00

1) Tomorrow! Brockton Writers Series #11 with Lana Pesch, Kenji Tokawa, Adebe D.A. and Angelica LeMinh.

When: September 7, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Where: St. Anne's Church, 270 Gladstorne Avenue (just north of Dundas)
270 Gladstone Ave

2) TIFF - The Toronto International Film Festival - opens this Thursday, September 9th, and runs to September 18th.

3) Art exhibit opening September 9th.

Curse. Sleep. (That's The Thing About Trouble) features haunting photographs and audio works by Daniel Ehrenworth accompanied by poetic texts written by Priscila Uppal, who is a former poetry mentor at Diaspora Dialogues.

When: September 9 - October 3, 2010
Artist Reception (Ehrenworth and Uppal will be present): September 9th, 6 - 9 pm.
Where: One 800 Gallery, 800 Dundas St. West

Third Annual Plasty Awards

2010-09-02T07:56:00.000-07:00

The 3rd annual Plasty Awards will celebrate some of the stellar poets and performances that have graced the plasticine poetry stage during the past year.
Who is this year's Poet of the Year? Who will win Funniest Poet? Who'll take home the coveted Best Audience Member award? Who will take Cathy Petch home? Will Kanye West interrupt Phoebe Tsang's acceptance speech? Come join the city's best female MC's, Cathy Petch and David Bateman (yes, he'll be in drag), to partake in the antics and celebration!

PLASTICINE POETRY
Presents
The Plasty Awards FEATURING:
Lara Bozabalian
Ian Burgham
Philip Cairns
Molly Peacock

+ Open Mic
Hosted by:
Cathy Petch
David Harry Bateman

September: Join Three Diaspora Dialogues Artists for Their Book Launches

2010-09-02T06:47:00.000-07:00

SEPTEMBER 15 - Emma Donoghue, a Diaspora Dialogues mentor in 2009 and published in TOK 5, will be celebrating the release of her Booker long-listed novel, Room. Join the award-winning author, HarperCollins Canada, and Ben McNally Books The Fine Print for this exciting evening.

Meanwhile, enjoy this book trailer Room.

WHEN: September 15, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
WHERE: Dora Keogh Irish Pub, 141 Danforth Avenue

SEPTEMBER 20 - Join Mayank Bhatt, Diaspora Dialogues emerging writer in 2009 and published in TOK 5, along with other contribiuting writers to the launch of the anthology. CanadianVoices, Volume Two: An Anthology of Prose and Poetry by Emerging Canadian Writers. Click here for details on the event.

WHEN: September 20, 6:30 - 9:00 p.m.
WHERE: Supermarket Art Bar, 268 Augusta Avenue

SEPTEMBER 28 - Join Dawn Promislow, also a Diaspora Dialgoues emerging writer in 2009 and published in TOK 5, for the launch of her colloection of short stories, Jewels, and Other Stories.

WHEN: September 28, 7:00 p.m.
WHERE: Type Books, 883 Queen St. West

For more about the book and the launch visit the publisher's website.

THIS WEEK IN TORONTO - AUGUST 30 - SEPTEMBER 5

2010-08-31T01:53:00.000-07:00

All donations from the September 1st yogabhen in the park will go to support flood relief in Pakistan.

THIS WEEK IN TORONTO - AUGUST 23 - 30

2010-08-24T14:58:00.000-07:00

1) TOMORROW NIGHT!! wombanifesto album launch by d'bi.young, Click on 'schedule'

2) Poetiks:A Live Exhibit of Word and Sound!

Wednesday, August 25, noon - 2 p.m.
Nathan Philips Square (Yonge Street, boredered by Dundas West on the north and Queen Street W on the south)

MotionLive Ent and Fresh Wednesdays in association with the City of Toronto presents Poetiks, a multi-arts event, bringing together a collective of artists representing poetry, music and visual arts. Enjoy all that urban-art has to offer in this celebration of words and sound.

Hear performances by poets:
J Wyze
Sheniz J
Juanita Stephens
and David Delisca

...and introducing next generation poets
Roots Kizzy
and Amiga Taylor.

Groove to musical performances by
Deejay L’Oqenz

Live band featuring
Motion
Michael Shand
Kenny Neal
and Adrian Bent.

Plus see amazing live graffiti by Toronto’s own Artstarts Graffiti Transformation Project.

THIS WEEK IN TORONTO

2010-08-16T05:06:00.000-07:00

SummerWorks has wound down, which means this summer is approaching fall, with Word on the Street and TIFF and Nuit Blanche to look forward to in the comin months. For this week, however, there are these events worth checking out:

1) Opening tonight, August 16, Sexual Perverstiy in Chicagoby David Mamet at the Red One Theatre Collective.

2) August 17, a Public Reading of Red Snow by Diana Tso at Theatre Centre.

3) August 18, Marguerite Pigott moderates this month's Lift Out Loud's Script reading Series.

4) August 20, Jibola Fagmabiye's Art Exhibition

THIS WEEK IN TORONTO

2010-08-09T06:51:00.000-07:00

1) SummerWorks continues until August 15.

2) Amish and Steve are back with The Syndicate at Bread & Circus at Kensington Market. Check out their video

3) THE PLASTICINE POETRY SERIES:
Featuring: James Deahl, Barry Dempster, Lesley McAllister, Ruth Roach Pierson
Hosted by Cathy Petch
@ The Central
Sunday, August 15, 2010 @ 6:00pm Free

Diaspora Dialogues in In Other Words

2010-08-06T08:37:00.000-07:00

Judith Fitzgerald of "In Other Words", the Globe and Mail's blog on books, has a second post on DD - this one about our Poetry, Prosecco and Pasta series.

THIS WEEK IN TORONTO

2010-08-02T18:35:00.000-07:00

It's all about SummerWorks, which runs August 5th to the 15th. Check out plays by artists like d'bi young, Marcia Johnson and former Diaspora Dialogues' emerging writer, Leah Jane Esau.

For full information on the plays and the different series in the festival, click here.

And note that 3-play, 7-play and 10-play Passes go on sale August 5th @ 4:00pm at the Factory Mainspace Box Office.

SHED , by Leah Jane Esau at SummerWorks

2010-07-28T12:45:00.000-07:00

Shed runs Aug 5 - 14. Factory Theatre

Diapora Dialogues is proud to support a play by one of our past emerging writers, Leah Jane Esau.

Shed is based on the 2006 incident where a group of children, aged 8 to 11, pushed 14-year-old Brian McKay into a shed, closed the door, and lit the shed on fire. They blocked the door with heavy garbage bins and left him there to burn. Brian, who suffers from spina bifida
was an easy target for bullying, and was saved by a neighbour. Because the children involved were under the age of 12, they were protected by the Canadian Youth Justice Act, and, therefore, could notbe charged. The police gave them "a warning".

Shed was written by Leah Jane Esau, under the dramaturgy of Judith
Thompson and Brian Drader. Shed begins with Mitch, age 13, accused of
killing his friend, high on drugs, and on the roof of a two story
house, downtown Winnipeg, 40 below zero.

Shed

A play by Leah Jane Esau
Directed by Justin Madol

SEE IT AT SUMMERWORKS!!!

SHOW TIMES

Thurs Aug 5th: 5:00
Sat 7: 2:30
Sun 8: 7:30
Tues 10: 10:00
Fri 13: 5:00
Sat 14: 10:00

Factory Theatre Mainspace: 125 Bathurst Street. Corner of Bathurst and
Adelaide

For more information check out Les Novelles Theatre, SummerWorks and the Facebook event.

Meeting the Mentees

2010-07-27T14:08:00.000-07:00

One of the loveliest pieces of being associated with Diaspora Dialogues are the parties to which I get invited. Helen Walsh, head of DD, and her trio of assistants, Julia Chan, Aisling Riordan and Natalie Kertes, have mastered the art of hosting soirees that are both casual and elegant. The food is always simple but edgy, the wine well-selected, and the locations both classy and comfortable.

But it's the conversations that happen that at these events that truly make them memorable.

The party to meet and greet this year's participants in the mentorship program was no exception. There, one of the mentees, Sarah (far right in the picture to the right), confessed it was her birthday that day, so a spontaneous cake - consisting of a slab of chocolate and a decorative candle (picture above) was fashioned to celebrate her day.

Rishma Dunlop, poetry mentor, did what poets do - at least as I imagine them. She entered gracefully, left her elegant imprint on each of the emerging artists she'll be working with as well as others among us, and then exited with equal style. Tara Beegan, drama mentor, was the antithesis of 'drama' (in the negative) as she unobtrusively circulated the room engaging in conversations that were pleasant and insightful. When I first spotted him with pen and notebook in hand talking to a mentee, I mistook fiction mentor, David Layton for a journalist. Although I didn't get a chance to talk with him, I did observe that as sole representative of the four mentors in that genre (Karen Connelly, Rabindranath Maharaj, and Martin Mordecai were out of town), he did hold down the fort with the questions from the fiction mentees, the majority of the emerging artists in the program this year. Perhaps that explains the note-taking?

In the following weeks, I will be blogging about each of the mentors

As well as the mentees. There are twenty in all, each of them a character unto his or her own right. Like Pradeep (fiction), an editor at Descant, who tells a hilarious story of how his visa to India was processed before that of any other member in his family because he has the same first name as the Indian consulate. And Tish (poetry) who teaches English as a Second Language to adult Tibetan refugees has done something I want to do - serve on a jury. Malikah (poetry) spoken-word artist of no-slouch fame casually mentioned that she has three children under the age of twelve. And Dorianne (drama) argued convincingly that working full time for the provincial government does not in fact suck the soul out of you.

Poetry, Prosecco and Pasta - Three

2010-07-27T13:43:00.000-07:00

This year's final Poetry, Prosecco and Pasta evening featured First Nations (Delaware) poet and playwright, Daniel David Moses, reading from his book with the deliciously intriguing title, Sixteen Jesuses.

In the conversation with him, moderated by Moira MacDougall, Moses told of how wrote his first poem one weekend when he was in grade 11 when he bet his best friend - he believes it was ten dollars - that he could write a piece with an abab rhyme pattern after an English class in which they had studied a poem with that rhyme pattern - a poem that had impressed the best friend, but left Moses decidedly underwhelmed. However, in writing that poem, despite his disdain for the rhyme pattern, he discovered that something interesting was going on with the language, and so the poet in him was born.

Interestingly, though, he is much less cavalier with his work since, laboriously editing and re-writing until he is satisfied with each piece. In Sixteen Jesuses, Moses confessed, only one poem landed whole on the page: "Some Grand River Blues", and only because it had been swimming around in his head for a long time before he penned it.

When asked if it was difficult working across genres - playwriting and poetry - Moses responded with a succinct metaphor: "No matter what shape the jar is, that's my voice inside it."

Of course, the food at Grano was, as it always is, understated and exquisite, and all the more delightful accompanied by a glass of prosecco.

All in all, it was memorable sultry summer evening. We look forward to next year's Poetry, Prosecco and Pasta.

THIS WEEK IN TORNTO

2010-07-25T16:41:00.000-07:00

Sing For Your Supper - Monday, July 26th at their new venue

Charlie's Gallery

Poetry, Prosecco and Pasta - Three

2010-07-19T12:35:00.000-07:00

As Diaspora Dialogues' Poetry, Prosecco and Pasta winds down with the third in the three-part series taking place next Thursday, July 22nd, I finally find myself in familiar territory. The featured artist, Daniel David Moses, is someone whose name and work I recognize - as a playwright. Twenty years of accolades predominantly in drama, including Finalist for the 1991 Governor General's Award for Drama, winner of the 2001 Harold Award and a three-year stint, beginning in 2003, as Queen's National Scholar in the Department of Drama at Queen's University, suggest that in theatre is perhaps what he is best-known for.

What I was intrigued to learn, however, is that he has been publishing poetry since 1974, and produced two collections - The White Line and Delicate Bodies, before the one from which he will be reading next Thursday: Sixteen Jesuses.

To find out more about him, go here, from where I pulled this quote of his: “There was something mysterious about poetry…It’s an expressionistic way of using language that allows writers to think in different ways.”

Be prepared to be blown away. The man is both prolific and astoundingly accomplished.

Moira MacDougall, who will be moderating the conversation with Moses following his reading, is Poetry editor for the Literary Review of Canada. She began her artistic life began as a serious student of classical ballet and modern dance, but it is poetry that has wed her love of movement and rhythm with voice and linguistic performance. Her collection of poetry, Bone Dream, received rave reviews widely, but I most enjoyed this comment by Elizabeth Switaj in her review for the feminist blog, Gender Across Borders

"Bone Dream remains a strong meditation on the connection between the usual and the strange, the embodied and the physical. Moira MacDougall has found a distinct way to explore a life in all its strangeness and familiarity."

Promise of an interesting conversation, don't you think?

Add a glass of prosecco and great food at the fabulous Grano Restaurant, and there couldn't be a better way to spend a summer evening.

WHEN: July 22nd. Doors open at 6:30 pm

WHERE: Grano Restaurant, 2035 Yonge Street (at Davisville)

COST: $75 per evening - includes dinner, a drink, and a copy of the book under discussion. A $25 charitable receipt for single tickets can be issued upon request. Tickets are non-refundable and non-transferrable. Contact Natalie or Aisling on 416 944 1101 to purchase tickets. Due to limited space, advance booking is strongly recommended.

The line up:

July 8: Molly Peacock and The Second Blush, with moderator Olive Senior
July 15: Erín Moure and O Resplandor, with moderator Priscila Uppal
July 22: Daniel David Moses and Sixteen Jesuses, with moderator Moira MacDougall

Poetry, Prosecco and Pasta - Two

2010-07-19T12:22:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday's Poetry, Prosecco & Pasta event featured Erin Moure and her intriguing book, O Resplandor. Our moderator, the always excellent Priscila Uppal, helped us enter this complex work by picking recurring or signifcant words out of the poems and using them as a springboard for discussion, as well as taking "question-postcards" from the audience.

The discussion ranged from the art of translation, to the conceptual gap of a character in the book translating a Romanian text without actually knowing Romanian, to the limericks Erin started writing at a young age - one of which she kindly recited for our enjoyment.

Of course, the food at Grano was bellissimo! So all in all, it was a fantastic night and we're looking forward to our final one this Thursday July 22 - featuring Daniel David Moses and his book Sixteen Jesuses, moderated by Moira MacDougall.

THIS WEEK IN TORONTO

2010-07-15T12:25:00.001-07:00

1) The next Trampoline Hall will take place on Monday, July 19, 2010. Kelly Jenkins is the curator of this show, and he has chosen these three lecturers:

Amanda Happe: Winging It
Buffy Childerhose: Lovesickness
Chris Reynolds: My Pet Worms

The show takes place at the Garrison (1197 Dundas St West), starting at 8:00 sharp.

For ticket information.

2) Fade to Brown's Daniel Stolfi is performing his one man show "Cancer Can't Dance Like This" in Toronto at the St Lawrence Centre on Thursday July 22nd.

Tickets available here or here

Check out the trailer for the show on Youtube.

3) July 23-25, 2010, Masala! Mehndi! Masti!, North America’s largest free South Asian festival, fires up Toronto’s Exhibition Place for a jam-packed weekend of lively entertainment, vibrant colours, savory dishes, majestic art, and star-studded performances.

4) Toronto's premier festival, Caribana, is already underway.

5) Writers Forum will celebrate the life and works of Prof Ahmad Ali, South Asia's iconic writer, scholar, diplomat, and co founder of progressive movement in Urdu literature, on the occasion of his 100th birthday.

For full information, go here.

When: Sunday July 25, 2010, 2p.m.
Where : North York Central Library, 5120 Yonge Street

This is a free event.

Poetry, Prosecco and Pasta - One

2010-07-13T07:06:00.001-07:00

We had great fun last Thursday at our first Poetry, Prosecco and Pasta event at Grano Restaurant.

The night began with a few glasses of prosecco outside by the fabulous foundation in the courtyard. It was a really humid day - way too hot for eating outdoors - so we made our way inside for the three-course meal. DD president Helen Walsh welcomed everybody and introduced Molly Peacock, the featured poet, and Olive Senior, the moderator and poet in her own right. These two talented poets had engaging personalities that played off each other well and made us all laugh with their humour.

Olive really did her research on Molly's book The Second Blush. She was quite impressed with Molly's approach to form and structure. Molly was genuinely delighted with Olive's thoughts and read a number of poems - some which focused on her lovely partner who was sitting at the nearby table. She reassured us she had his permission to do so!

The food was great and everybody got their book (which was included in the ticket price) signed by Molly who was only too happy to meet and chat with everyone there.

Our next Poetry, Prosecco and Pasta installment is Thursday, July 15 featuring Erin Moure and her intriguing book, O Resplandor, moderated by Priscila Uppal.

THIS WEEK IN TORONTO

2010-07-12T06:19:00.000-07:00

2010 BITE ME! Toronto Int’l Body Image Film & Arts Festival, July 16 - 18. Check out the flyer. For the full schedule, click here

TOK 5 is being talked about in In Other Words!

2010-07-09T09:50:00.000-07:00

Judith Fitzgerald at the Globe and Mail's book blog - In Other Words - is a fan of Diaspora Dialogues latest anthology TOK 5.

Check it out what she says here

To get your copy of the book - or copies of TOK 1, 2, 3 and 4, contact Aisling at aisling@diasporadialogues.com or Natalie at natalie@diasporadialogues.com.

Poetry, Prosecco and Pasta - Two

2010-07-09T06:52:00.000-07:00

If you're like me and intimidated by poetry, the two women participating in the second of Diaspora Dialogues' three-part poetry series - Poetry, Prosecco and Pasta - will do a lot to ease the pain.

Erin Moure, who will be reading from her collection, O Resplandor, writes poetry in English and Galician and translates poetry into English from French, Galician, Portuguese and Spanish. Check out her amazing resume right here

She also teaches Creative Writing at Concordia University in Montreal.

Priscila Uppal, who will be moderating the conversation with Erin Moure, is also a professor, but here in Toronto at York University. She is a talented poet as well. Check out her bio.

But, hey, even superwomen have to eat, right?

So why not join them for some fabulous Italian food at the elegant Grano Restaurant and figure out what makes them tick.

I'm figuring they'll be less daunting if I'm breaking bread with them.

WHEN: July 15th. Doors open at 6:30 pm
(Don't forget Poetry, Prosecco and Pasta - Three on July 22nd)

WHERE: Grano Restaurant, 2035 Yonge Street (at Davisville)

COST: $75 per evening - includes dinner, a drink, and a copy of the book under discussion. A $25 charitable receipt for single tickets can be issued upon request. Tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable. Contact Natalie or Aisling on 416 944 1101 to purchase tickets. Due to limited space, advance booking is strongly recommended.

The line up:

July 8: Molly Peacock and The Second Blush, with moderator Olive Senior
July 15: Erín Moure and O Resplandor, with moderator Priscila Uppal
July 22: Daniel David Moses and Sixteen Jesuses, with moderator Moira MacDougall

THIS WEEK IN TORONTO

2010-07-05T07:56:00.000-07:00

You may not want to miss these fabulous events in Toronto this week.

(If the link isn't live - as sometimes happens - please copy paste it to search window.)

1) Tomorrow evening, July 6th at 7 p.m.

THE BROCKTON WRITERS' SERIES - a monthly PWYC event - showcases Mary Lou Dickinson, Faye Guenther, Perparim Kapllani and Heather Wood.

The evening closes with a few souls braving the open mic.

Show up! Sign up!

Click here for full details.

2) And please don't forget that the inimitable d'bi young's word! sound! powah! continues at The Toronto Fringe Festival$10

wed june 30th 10:30pm | fri july 2nd 5:15pm | sat july 3rd 5:45pm | sun

july 4th 1:45pm | mon july 5th 5:00pm | tues july 6th 3:15pm

theatre passé muraille. 16 ryerson avenue. fringetoronto.com

Poetry, Prosecco and Pasta - One

2010-06-30T07:11:00.000-07:00

I confess: I'm not a big lover of poetry. Give me fiction or theatre. You know, something alive and dynamic with characters and a story. That I'll take any day of the week. But poetry, with all that imagery and, well, language that I'm supposed to appreciate for its beauty? And look interested while I'm doing it? Yawn.

If you're anything like me, Diapsora Dialgoues' poetry reading series - Poetry, Prosecco and Pasta - could change your mind. The series takes place over three Thursdays in July - the 8th, the 15th and 22nd. It puts together three poets and three moderators - who are poets themselves - for a discussion on poetry that has me thinking this might be more like theatre where the poets are the characters and the stage is the gorgeous Grano Restaurant.

(And speaking of poets. Check it out: Maya Angelou knows and loves this place!)

Of course, if you like poetry, you could go for the poetry itself.

And if you like edgy Italian, you could go for the food and stay for the poetry.

First up, on July 8th, is a reading by Molly Peacock from her latest book, The Second Blush, with a discussion to follow moderated by Olive Senior.

To learn about Molly Peacock, visit her website: http://www.mollypeacock.org/

And check out her poem "The Cup". Turns out that there can be characters in poetry, after all. Huh. Who knew?

To learn more about Olive Senior, go to http://www.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=455

From where I pulled this slice of her poetry.

perhaps as you sip your tea
at three in the afternoon
a bit incontinent
despite your vast holdings
(though I was gratified to note
that despite the difference in our skins
our piss was exactly the same shade of yellow)

Oh, yes! This does promise to be fun!

WHEN: July 8 Doors open at 6:30 pm
(Don't forget Poetry, Prosecco and Pasta - Two on July 15th, and Three on July 22nd)

WHERE: Grano Restaurant, 2035 Yonge Street (at Davisville)

COST: $75 per evening - includes dinner, a drink, and a copy of the book under discussion. A $25 charitable receipt for single tickets can be issued upon request. Tickets are non-refundable and non-transferrable. Contact Natalie or Aisling on 416 944 1101 to purchase tickets. Due to limited space, advance booking is strongly recommended.

The line up:

July 8: Molly Peacock and The Second Blush, with moderator Olive Senior
July 15: Erín Moure and O Resplandor, with moderator Priscila Uppal
July 22: Daniel David Moses and Sixteen Jesuses, with moderator Moira MacDougall

Brockton Writers' Series #10

2010-06-17T14:26:00.002-07:00

Featuring: Mary Lou Dickinson, Heather Wood, Perparim Kapllani and Faye Guenther.

Tuesday July 6th, 7-9, at A NEW LOCATION THIS MONTH: the beautiful and historic St. Anne's Church.

Plus Open Mic! Don't be shy--sign up at 6:55 if you want to share a 5 minute piece with us during the open mic.

We pass a hat for the writers ($3-$5, pwyc suggested donation). Books and drinks available for sale. Lots of time for neighbourly chat.

fu-GEN Asian-Canadian Theatre Company @ The Waves Festival

2010-06-17T14:26:00.001-07:00

When: Friday June 18 - Sunday June 20 (performance times vary)
Where: The Young Centre Library, 55 Mill Street

This event is freel

Check out Interim Artistic Director David Yee's "The Blind Woman" featuring the talents of Karen Ancheta, John Ng, Marjorie Chan, Nicco Lorenzo Garcia, Jenna Rodgers and Benny Min.

For more information, go to:
http://www.facebook .com/l/5baefCP7T xEBM2tzYKy3s821t 6w;www.youngcentre. ca/productions/ 10_season/ waves_festival. html>

Poetry, Prosecco & Pasta - a Poetry Series with a Twist!

2010-06-17T10:41:00.000-07:00

Diaspora Dialogues invites you to get up close and personal with three celebrated poets Molly Peacock, Erín Moure and Daniel David Moses. and their work!

Where: Grano Restaurant, 2035 Yonge Street (at Davisville)

When: July 8, 15 and 22, 2010 – Doors open at 6:30 pm

July 8: Molly Peacock and The Second Blush, with moderator Olive Senior
July 15: Erín Moure and O Resplandor, with moderator Priscila Uppal
July 22: Daniel David Moses and Sixteen Jesuses, with moderator Moira
MacDougall

Cost: $75 per evening - includes dinner, a drink, and a copy of the book under discussion

(A $25 charitable receipt for single tickets can be issued upon request. Tickets are non-refundable and non-transferrable)

To purchase tickets or for more information, contact Natalie or Aisling at 416-944-1101.

For full information, including biographies of the poets and the moderators visit www.diasporadialogues.com

word! sound! powah! - d'bi young

2010-06-17T10:33:00.000-07:00

FREE TICKETS to see d'bi young in the final play of her monodrama trilogy, ‘word! sound! powah!’

d’bi.young will be showcasing the third and final episode in her biomyth monodrama trilogy called sankofa at both the fringe and summerworks festivals.

the trilogy charts the journey of three generations of afrikan-jamaican womben: mudgu sankofa, her daughter sekesu sankofa, and sekesu's daughter benu 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. dub, mysticism, lyricism, politics, love, stick playing, and courage frolic in this part-real, part-fiction universe of 1970s/80s jamaica.

for free tickets to the opening night performance of word! sound! powah! on wed june 30, 2010 @ 10:30pm be one of the first 30 people to arrive at theatre passé muraille. 16 ryerson avenue @ queen street west of bathurst. first come! first served!

http://www.facebook .com/l/1fa01b9Ur 7WP2haRRKr9yy8rM Lg;fringetoronto .com

http://www.facebook .com/l/1fa01Pc58 7bTd714Fru8LKF81 rQ;summerworks. ca

Replenish! A Pride Celebration

2010-06-17T10:26:00.000-07:00

Michele Chai is a former emerging writer with Diaspora Dialogues!

‘A’ is for Orange - a reading series featuring queer Caribbean writers hosts

Replenish! A Pride Celebration

When: Friday, June 18, 2010, 8 pm (doors open at 7:30 pm)
Where: Palmerston Library Theatre, 560 Palmerston Avenue (two blocks west of
Bathurst, just north of Bloor)

Co-hosted by Michele Chai and Kyisha Williams, the evening will feature fresh faces and familiar favourites including trey anthony, D-lishus, Dianah Smith, Kim Quashie, Zakiya, Kyisha Williams, Kadeem Brown, tonya parriag and others.

Tickets are $8-10 sliding scale (No one turned away for lack of funds)

For more information contact Dianah Smith (Curator): d@aisfororange.org

www.aisfororange.org

Luminato - plan yours!

2010-06-12T15:54:00.000-07:00

http://www.luminato.com/2010/

Invitation to Scarborough Arts Council Cultural Showcase & Fundraiser

2010-06-09T02:32:00.000-07:00

WHERE: Centennial College Science and Technology Centre
(Ellesmere & Morningside)

WHEN: June 24, 7 - 9 p.m.

The event will feature a silent auction, light snacks and performances from:

* Fashion show from A.N.A.S.A. Collective
* Performance exploring mental health issues among youth by Elevated Grounds
* KasheDance dancer/choreographer Kevin Ormsby
* Pop/R&B artist Barry Szeto
* Duo from the Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra

Please visit http://www.scarborougharts.com/2010/03/20/save-the-date-starborough-is-coming-june-24/ If you are interested in purchasing tickets, please contact us at office@scarborougharts.com or 416-698-7322

The Plasticine Poetry Series

2010-06-09T02:31:00.001-07:00

The Plasticine Poetry Series presents a night of poetry featuring: Jeanette Lynes, Moira MacDougall, Cathy Petch, Goran Simic, plus an Open Mic.

Hosted by Heather Wood.

When: June 27, 6 p.m.

Where: The Central, 603 Markham St. thecentral.ca

Cost: Free.

INTI RAYMI - Festival of the Sun

2010-06-09T02:03:00.000-07:00

WHEN: SATURDAY, JUNE 19TH,12 PM - 10 PM
SUNDAY, JUNE 20TH,12PM - 9PM

WHERE: CHRISTIE PITS PARK (CORNER OF BLOOR AND CHRISTIE)

SAN LORENZO INVITES YOU TO EXPERIENCE
THE INCAN CELEBRATION OF THE SUN WITH DELICIOUS
LATIN AMERICAN FOOD
LIVE MUSIC AND DANCE

FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.sanlorenzo.ca 416-782-2953

Aubrey Dayle's "My id" is playing @ the Rex - TOMORROW!!

2010-06-09T01:50:00.001-07:00

The band:

Rich Brown-Bass
Robi Botos- Keys
Aubrey Dayle - Drums.
Richard Underhill - Alto Sax

Where: The Rex Jazz and Blues Bar, 194 Queen Street West.
When: Thursday, June 10, 9 p.m.

TOK: Writing the New Toronto, Book 5 (2010)

2010-06-05T09:30:00.000-07:00

TOK: Writing the New Toronto, Book 5 is our latest anthology and it's available online!

It contains new short stories and poetry from Toronto's talented emerging and established writers who teamed up together throughout the year as part of Diaspora Dialogues annual mentoring and commissioning program. The program commissions established writers to create original Toronto-set work, while mentoring emerging writers.

Order TOK Book 5 and all other TOK books here. (http://zephyrpress.ca/catalogue.htm)

Why not a Spider Monkey Jesus?

2010-05-27T07:04:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-27T07:02:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

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

Diaspora Dialogues at Doors Open Toronto!

2010-05-24T14:32:00.000-07:00

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.
--------

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

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

2010-05-14T08:15:00.000-07:00

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

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

2010-05-13T12:24:00.000-07:00

Check it out!:http://www.mtls.ca/issue6/

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

2010-05-13T12:20:00.001-07:00

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 5^th - July 10^th, 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

2010-05-13T12:17:00.000-07:00

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.

Brian Brett Reading May 13th - TOMORROW

2010-05-12T12:30:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-12T12:27:00.000-07:00

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

TOK: Writing the New Toronto, Book 5

2010-05-07T11:44:00.000-07:00

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

hum presents the Toronto premiere of "Shudder"

2010-05-04T06:59:00.000-07:00

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 4Shudder
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

Tertulia: The Short Fiction Edition (working title)

2010-04-27T06:55:00.001-07:00

When: Thursday, April 29, 2010 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Where: Poor John's Cafe, 1610 Queen Street West (@ Callender Street)

Featuring three fabulous fictionistas: Anar Ali, Emily Schultz, and Sarah Selecky!!

Anar Ali's first book Baby Khaki's Wings (Penguin) was a finalist for the Commonwealth Writers' Best First Book Prize (Canada and the Caribbean), the Trillium Book Award, and the Danuta Gleed Literary Prize. Her work has also appeared in The Globe and Mail, The National Post, and The New York Times. She was born in Tanzania, raised in Alberta, and now lives in Toronto where she is working on a novel.

Emily Schultz's first collection of short stories, Black Coffee Night, was shortlisted for the Danuta Gleed Award for Best First Fiction in Canada, and for the ReLit Award. Schultz followed up with a novel, Joyland, and a collection of poetry, Songs for the Dancing Chicken, which was named a finalist for the 2008 Trillium Prize for Poetry. Her newest novel, Heaven Is Small, was released from House of Anansi Press in 2009.

She has held the position of editor at two national magazines, run an experimental art space from her home (with artist/writer Brian Joseph Davis), and currently teaches story writing at George Brown College in Toronto. She also hosts Joyland.ca, an online hub for short fiction featuring writing specific to eight different cities across North America.

Sarah Selecky has been facilitating non-competitive, inspiring workshops for writers since 2001. She has studied writing with Natalie Goldberg and Lynda Barry and earned her MFA in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia. Her writing has been published in The Sun, Geist Magazine, Prairie Fire, The New Quarterly, Event and The Journey Prize Anthology. Her short story collection, This Cake is for the Party, will be released by Thomas Allen Publishers in May 2010.

Don't Miss the Final Night of "Friday Nights with Diaspora Dialogues"

2010-04-27T06:52:00.000-07:00

This coming Friday - April 30

We've had two fantastic Friday nights so far! Don't miss the last night of our popular series 'Friday Nights with Diaspora Dialogues' of free readings and performances. It's all part of Keep Toronto Reading festival 2010.

Sample a captivating cross-section of writers, performers, and artistic forms, including fiction, poetry, spoken word, theatre and music.

April 30 at Palmerston Library, 560 Palmerston Avenue, @ 7 p.m.

Readings by Drew Hayden Taylor, Ibi Kaslik, Deepa Shankaran, Kaie Kellough, Rachel Zolf

Excerpted play reading of A Song for Tomorrow by Christina Wong with Diana Tso and Richard Tse; directed by Ruth Madoc-Jones

Aurash

2010-04-27T06:50:00.001-07:00

A decade after its award-winning Toronto premiere, Aurash returns...

Originally produced by Modern Times Stage Company in 1998, Aurash was nominated for four Doras and received the awards for Best Direction (Soheil Parsa) and Best Sound Design (Richard Feren).

We've since taken Aurash to Iran, Cuba, Colombia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. ..and now it's coming home.

Aurash runs May 14-29, 2010
at the Tank House Theatre, Young Centre for the Performing Arts.
tickets $12-$28

Saturday matinees just $12...but the second Saturday's already sold out so jump on it!

tickets online at
http://www.youngcen tre.ca/productio ns/10_season/ aurash.html
or call 416-866-8666

Diaspora Dialogues and Keep Toronto Reading

2010-04-20T12:28:00.000-07:00

This coming Friday - April 23

What a great night we had last Friday! Don't miss the second night of our popular series 'Friday Nights with Diaspora Dialogues' of free readings and performances. It's all part of Keep Toronto Reading festival 2010.

Sample a captivating cross-section of writers, performers, and artistic forms, including fiction, poetry, spoken word, theatre and music. April 23 and 30 at Palmerston Library, 560 Palmerston Avenue. 7 pm

Host CBC's Garvia Bailey

Readings by Jaspreet Singh, Monica Rosas
Spoken word by Heather Hermant
Musical performance by Brenda MacIntyre
Excerpted play reading of Spin Alley by Donna-Michelle St Bernard

>> For more details on line up

Daniel MacIvor, Bruce Barton, and Anusree Roy: One Night Only!

2010-04-17T06:36:00.001-07:00

Come to Factory Theatre on Sunday, April 25 at 6:00pm to see Daniel MacIvor, Anusree Roy, Bruce Barton, and moderator Aynsley Moorhouse talk about their lives in the theatre out of the spotlight.

What drew them to the theatre? What keeps them coming back? What are the many roles they play?

You can bring your drinks into the theatre, so you'll be well oiled for the Q and A! Ask them anything you want, and get the answers you need to create your own path.

After the panel, stick around for more drinks, and then see the very first public reading of Daniel MacIvor’s new play "Bingo" at 8:00 pm.

Tickets are PWYC, with a suggested donation of $10

Where: The Studio at Factory Theatre, 125 Bathhurst Street
When: April 25th, 6:00 p.m.

Sing for Your Supper - Cold Reading Seried

2010-04-17T06:33:00.000-07:00

COME AND HAVE YOUR WILD IDEAS HEARD AND SEEN
THIS MONTH AT THE ONE AND ONLY

Here with a brand new format and an exciting new venue.

The next Sing For Your Supper will take place on

TUESDAY APRIL 27th

The Lower Ossington Theatre
100a Ossington ave

Sign up starts at 7:00pm, show starts at 8pm.

Red One Theatre Collective is offering a $500 prize for the development of a new script.
The winner will be determined by YOU, the audience, at each of our monthly SFYS installments!

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION IS

MONDAY APRIL 26TH

PLEASE SUBMIT 15 PAGES OR LESS IN EITHER .pdf or .doc FILE FORMAT

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO SUBMIT A SCRIPT
PLEASE CONTACT US AT
SINGFORYOURSUPPERTORONTO@GMAIL.COM

www.redonetheatre.com

NEW PLAYS

NEW FACES

Ignite Poets in Kenya

2010-04-11T07:12:00.001-07:00

Wondering what Ignite Poets achieved in Kenya?

Read the Founder's article on the trip and the show:

http://www.facebook .com/l/9594a;www.goodnewstoronto .ca/archive/ paper/february20 10/pages/ 10.html>

fu-GEN 's 7th Annual Pot Luck Festival

2010-04-11T07:10:00.000-07:00

May 3, 2010 marks the beginning of the Festival and we invite you to the Opening Night Launch at Factory Studio Theatre. The festivities begin at 7:00pm and include Obscura, an installation by Camellia Koo, a welcome from Artist Director, Nina Lee Aquino, the first Artist Panel entitled The Asian-Canadian Canon? and excerpt readings from Love and Relasianships. Co-presented with Playwrights Canada Press and sponsored by our friends at Epicure Café and Grill, it is a packed night that is sure to start the Festival off right! Attendees include Senator Vivienne Poy, leading theatre academics and artists from across Canada, and the community - that means you!

Join us in celebration, as we launch the 7th Annual Potluck Festival featuring GENesis: Asian-Canadian Theatre Conference.

For complete Potluck Festival Info, including Schedule, Ticketing and works synopses, visit www.fu-GEN.org

audre lorde festival at anitafrika! dub theatre

2010-04-11T07:08:00.000-07:00

anitafrika! dub theatre presents the audre lorde festival

featuring works-in-progress by 2009-2010 resident artists

April 28 -May 1st 2010:

admission: pay-what-you- can (suggested $10)

venue: anitafrika! dub theatre, 62 fraser ave. @ king and dufferin

time: 7:00pm doors | 7:30pm show

For more information: www.anitafrika. com

Tel: 416.294.4584

New Harlem Productions presents DIS PLACE

2010-04-08T06:38:00.000-07:00

The evening features sixteen artists whose work encompass theatre, dance, literature, new media, spoken word, visual arts and any number of hybrid forms comprising the vanguard of evolving performance disciplines. Guided by host Nawa Nicole Simon, audiences will witness the first breath of new works read / presented by playwrights Allison Chung, Audrey Dwyer, Dharini Woollcombe, Gein Wong, Kern Albert, Leah-Simone Bowen and nisha ahuja, documentarian Malinda Francis, dancers Pulga Muchochoma, Sale Mirante, visual artists Shara Mohamed and Isidra Cruz, novelist Farheen Khan, storyteller Nana Boateng-Frimpong and spoken word artists The Storm and Truth Is…

Dis Place ~ April 12, 2010 @ 8:00pm ~ Factory Theatre, 125 Bathurst ~ Admission: pwyc

Info : http://newharlemproductions.wordpress.com

Contact: Donna-Michelle St. Bernard at newharlemproductions@gmail.com

The Year of Finding Memory - book launch

2010-04-08T06:29:00.000-07:00

The launch of Judy Fong Bates' book, The Year of Finding Memory (Random House)

When: April 28th, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Where: Ben McNally Books, 366 Bay Street, Toronto

Please RSVP to this event if you plan to attend: (416) 957-1539 or rsvpcanada@randomhouse.com

Visit the Random House website for more information: www.RandomHouse.ca

THROAT at CrossCurrents

2010-04-06T08:52:00.000-07:00

Throat,by Jason Maghanoy, is going to read as part of the 2010 CrossCurrents New Play Festival at the Factory Theatre (125 Bathurst Street, corner of Bathurst and Adelaide) on Sunday, April 25th starting at 2pm (Factory Theatre Studio).

A life-changing storm. A displaced community. Throat follows three friends who start a business cleaning up the government sanctioned trailer park they live in. Their goal: to raise money to buy back their old lives... or live a better one.

http://www.factorytheatre.ca/PFcrosscurrents.htm

BookCamp Toronto

2010-04-01T16:42:00.000-07:00

Registration is now open for BookCamp Toronto 2010, the city's second unconference on book publishing. BookCamp will be held on Saturday, May 15, at the University of Toronto.

http://bookcampto. pbworks.com/

2010 Theme:

"Book Publishing Is Going Digital, Now What?"

DETAILS:

Date: Saturday May 15, 2010, 9am-5pm + drinks afterward
Location: University of Toronto iSchool [map]
Cost: Free
Registration at EventBrite
Session information (please: propose a session!)
Food: Lunch provided courtesy of BookNet Canada
Twitter: follow @BookCampTo for update

Peña: Alameda Theatre's Annual Fundraiser

2010-03-30T10:45:00.000-07:00

We are pleased to announce our Peña: Alameda's Annual Fundraiser! Come and enjoy an authentic Latin American experience! Hosted by the award winning Martha Chavez! Featuring Latin American artists and musicians including a very special guest, Latin Jazz sensation Amanda Martinez!

Each year we celebrate the country of origin of the playwright whose play will be produced by Alameda Theatre Company in the coming season. This year we celebrate Mexico to honour our first playwright-in-residence Amaranta Leyva, whose play The Intruder will be showcased at the 2010 De Colores Festival of New Works in September 2010 and which will have a world premiere with us in 2012!.

Funds raised through the event will go directly to the development of excellent new work by Latin American-Canadian playwrights through our De Colores Festival of New Works, to inaugurate our youth program- Nueva Voz: A Latin American Youth Theatre Initiative and to enable Alameda Theatre Company to continue producing landmark and groundbreaking plays by Canadian Latin Americans. This year we will also be sending a portion of the proceeds raised at the peña to Habitat for Humanity: Chile to help victims of Chile's recent earthquake.

Join us! You won't want to miss this peña! (Have you ever hit a piñata! Who knows what goodies it will hold!)

LAL - in Toronto

2010-03-30T10:42:00.000-07:00

1. WED MARCH 31ST - OCIC - E-MAG LAUNCH - NIC & ROSE FROM LAL 10 MINUTE PERFORMANCE (5-6PM) - LAUNCH TILL 8PM

2. WED MARCH 31ST LAL FREE SHOW AT RYERSON - 1 HOUR! 8PM

3. FRI APRIL 2 - RAFEEF ZIADAH & LAL - 8:00 PM - 11:00 PM - Beit Zatoun - 612 Markham St.

**********************************************************************

1. OCIC Invites you to the launch of its annual E-Magazine:

iAM: Ideas, Actions, Movements

Perspectives for Global Change

Featuring live performaces by:

abstract Random

Brescia Birdthroat Bloodbeard

Nic & Rose of LAL (10 minute performance!)

Stacey B

Wednesday March 31, 2010 from 5-7 pm

Naco Gallery Café

1665 Dundas St. West (East of Landsdowne)

***This event is FREE. Everyone is welcome***

*********************************

2. LAL + Ryerson University FREE!

LAL is a Toronto based band that drew our curiosity not only because of their unique sound, but also because they are always fighting for change in our communities. When I met Rosina for tea one day, I learned that LAL has been in the Toronto music scene for 10 years and their socially conscious music has taken them around the world to places like Pakistan and India.

They will be making an appearance at Ryerson University’s Oakham House (55 Gould St., Toronto) on Wednesday March 31st from 8pm-10pm. The show is FREE, so bring your family and friends.

Join their Facebook Fan Page for more details.

**********************************

3. RAFEEF WITH LAL AT

Rafeef Ziadah and Lal at Beit Zatoun

Friday, April 02, 2010

8:00 PM - 11:00 PM

Beit Zatoun

612 Markham St.

Toronto

What

With audience favourites like "Baghdad" and "Shades of Anger" and new pieces including "Trail of Tears". Come hear pieces from Hadeel performed live with music by the incredible "Lal". Also appearing is Reena Katz.

Rafeef Ziadah is a Palestinian spoken-word artist and activist. Rafeef started performing poetry in Toronto in 2003 with the spoken word collective Pueblo Unido and is the winner of the 2007 Mayworks Festival Poetry Face-Off. Rafeef’s poetry speaks to the struggle of immigrants to “make it to/in Canada ” and the politics of exile. Being Palestinian she reflects, in the CD, on the realities of her homeland today, a homeland to which she is not allowed to return.

Learn more about Rafeef and Hadeel at: www.rafeefziadah.ca

Need to know:

- Admission $10 ($5 unwaged)

- Sorry, no reservations

- Doors open at 7:30 pm

- Sorry, not wheelchair accessible

Tasty refreshments (non-alcoholic) and oliveoil+za'atar dipping, included in admission.

Click for Facebook Event

Diaspora Dialogues - Open Call for Submissions 2010

2010-03-28T08:49:00.001-07:00

Looking for emerging writers of short stories, poetry and drama in the GTA.

If you are interested in developing your writing skills then look no further. We here at Diaspora Dialogues are looking for emerging writers of short stories, poetry and drama in the GTA. Diaspora Dialogues invites submissions to its annual publishing/mentoring program from emerging GTA writers of short stories or creative nonfiction less than 3,000 words in length; plays of any length; or up to 5 poems, with each poem being no more than 75 lines. Applicants are welcome to enter more than one category, but no more than one submission per category, please.

For full details: http://diasporadialogues.com/docs/DD-OpenCall2010.pdf

ARE ASIANS THE IGNORED MAJORITY?

2010-03-24T11:14:00.000-07:00

TORONTO, ON – Sat. April 3rd, 2010, 7:30-10:30pm

The Asian Summit invites Asians and South-Asians to come together to discuss issues that effect our community. This is one of the few times both communities will unite on a shared platform to address challenges that are quite different although Asians and South-Asians come from the same wider continent.

A popular and talented Korean spoken word artist, rapper and singer, sun a.k.a The Real Sun, is the Summit’s featured performance artist. Gifted South-Asian Toronto Poet who leads Ignite Poets and studied cultural issues, like those the Summit will address, for her Masters thesis - Sheniz Janmohamed - is the special guest artist. Both will also act as hosts of the Asian Summit, which poses several questions of Asians and South-Asians under the umbrella question, ‘Are Asians the Ignored Majority?’ on the talk show. “I like the question because its broad enough to ask many other important questions of the talk show panelists, whether they are east Asian or South-Asian,” said Sheniz Janmohamed, “Like, Is Canada’s multi-culturalism real or are Asians and South-Asians expected to keep discussions of issues in our communities to ourselves? Shouldn’t we be able to discuss things out in the open like this event provides us an opportunity to do?”

The Asian Summit will be held at University of Toronto’s George Ignatieff Theatre at 15 Devonshire Place, just south of St.George subway station, just east of Spadina and south of Bloor, downtown Toronto. The Summit will be held as the talk show component of Toronto Poets’ 86th Saturday Night Love night of talent, talk and teaching. Both sun a.k.a The Real Sun and Sheniz Janmohamed have been featured at Saturday Night Love in the past. In addition to closing with a talk show component, each Saturday Night Love event consists of talent acts and a teaching component. There will be other Asian performers accompanying sun a.k.a The Real Sun and Sheniz Janmohamed, and an open mic component for new talent that registers to perform leading up to the event.

Our panelists will include the talented South Asian actress and playwright Anita Majumdar (The Misfit, Fish Eyes). Don't miss this opportunity!

Mortgage-broker Tricia Trotter will be the teacher for the evening, educating first time home buyers and taking questions from the theatre on establishing and re-establishing credit, and all the steps involved with buying a home and preparing to do so. Toronto Poets thanks the its generous sponsors, The Dream Decade Challenge, Arang TV and Asian Freedom Arts School.

Toronto Poets started the Increase the Peace campaign in 2002 east of Toronto, and has taken it across the GTA, sending poets east to Ottawa, north to Brampton, south to New York, and as far west as Guelph since then. Toronto Poets is a registered non-profit corporation whose mission is to Increase the peace by helping people to be healthy, wealthy and wise, first in Toronto, and then worldwide. For more information visit www.torontopoets.com/poetry/. View the video preview of this event on Toronto Poets’ video channel: www.youtube.com/TorontoPoets/ , along with videos from past Toronto Poets Increase the Peace events. Toronto Poets helps people rise out of poverty by giving free financial, job-search and career planning advice out in the Saturday Night Love Inspirer in print and online: www.torontopoets.com/inspirer/

Media Contact: Toronto Poets Asian Summit featured performer and Asian Summit co-host sun a.k.a The Real Sun sun@therealsun.com and Toronto Poets Media Relations Officer, Special Guest performer and Summit co-host Sheniz Janmohamed shenizjanmohamed@torontopoets.com 416-737-0843 416-737-0843.

Brockton Writers' Series 7

2010-03-24T11:13:00.001-07:00

Join us Tuesday April 6, 7-9pm at Zoots Cafe, 1438 Dundas Street West, to hear readings by:

CLAUDIA DEY is a novelist, playwright and columnist. For two years, she wrote the weekly ‘Group Therapy’ column for the Globe and Mail, and during its brief but illustrious life, Claudia also wrote the sex column for Toro magazine under the pseudonym Bebe O’Shea. Her plays have been translated into French and German and produced internationally. They include Beaver, Trout Stanley and The Gwendolyn Poems, which was nominated for the Governor General’s Award and the Trillium Award. Her debut novel, Stunt, has been praised by – among others – Time Out Chicago, which called it ‘deeply weird and totally beautiful.’

IBI KASLIK is an internationally published novelist, freelance writer and teacher. Her most recent novel, The Angel Riots, is a rock n’ roll comic-tragedy and was nominated for Ontario’s Trillium award in 2009. Her first novel, Skinny, was a New York Times Bestseller and has been published in numerous countries. Ibi teaches creative writing at The University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies.

MO PIGEON is an emerging Canadian Writer of Ojibwa First Nations, and Celtic Descent. Her father was a Story Teller and Teacher of the Old Stories and Legends which was a time honored position within tribes that was passed from one generation to the next. Mo learned the gift and responsibility of becoming the next generations’ Story Teller around the fire as a child, and was trained for three decades by Elders in The Ojibwa, and Seneca Teachings, Ceremonies, Legends and Stories. She is columnist for May Day Magazine, and is working on her first fiction novel, Strange Things Done.

SUDHARSHANA RAJASINGAM has been writing for many years. Her first book of poems “Call of the Sea” was published in 2006 . She writes both in Tamil and English. Her work reflects her experiences with migration, loss, grief, rebirth and love.

There will also be a 15 minute open mic session at the end. Hey don't be shy! Prepare a five minute reading/performance, and show up by 6:55pm to sign up!

Free! Books, drinks and other goodies available for sale. Lots of time for neighbourly chat.

If you a writer who'd like to get involved in a future event, contact farzanadoctor@rogers.com. We give some preference to those who live, work, and hang out in the Brockton area (loosely defined as the West Toronto neighbourhood bordered by Lansdowne, College, Queen and Gladstone)--but we're no longer making this a requirement.

All genres, experience level, ages, styles etc welcome!

Diaspora Dialogues - April Events as part of Keep Toronto Reading

2010-03-22T09:46:00.000-07:00

Friday Nights with Diaspora Dialogues as part of Keep Toronto Reading Festival

Diaspora Dialogues returns with its popular Friday night series of free readings and performances. Sample a captivating cross-section of writers, performers, and artistic forms, including fiction, poetry, spoken word, theatre and music. With Edeet Ravel, Jaspreet Singh, Brenda MacIntyre, Drew Hayden Taylor, Ibi Kaslik, Rachel Zolf, Kaie Kellough and many more.

Where: Palmerston Library, 560 Palmerston Avenue Toronto, ON, M6G 2P7

When: April 16, 23, 30

Time: 7-8:30 p.m.

Cost: Free - First come, first served

For more information about this upcoming event, visit www.diasporadialogu es.com or call 416 944 1101 ext 363

Priscilla Uppal and Meaghan Strimas launch their poetry collections

2010-03-22T09:37:00.000-07:00

Priscila Uppal and Meaghan Strimas are launching new poetry collections- - Traumatology and

A Good Time Had By All--and you're invited to the party!

It will be at the Monarch Tavern in Toronto on 12 Clinton St (at Henderson)

on Wednesday March 24th, 8pm.

Nibblies will be provided.

Cash bar. Cash book table.

Feel free to bring friends and to pass this evite along to lists.

Everyone is welcome.

Also: Uppal's dispatches and sport poems are still being produced

for The Literary Review of Canada (games.reviewcanada. ca) and for

Canadian Athletes Now (canadianathletesnow .ca). You can also

visit priscilauppal. ca for links to other venues featuring the poems.

Past entries and poems are still up on the websites. She'd love

to hear from you about them!

She will return from Vancouver on March 22nd.