Intermission
Rob Chaplin brought us back to our senses by making us do an about face (90 degrees) with our seats. This was for better lighting and to make the room feel a little cosier. He read to us and turned the pages of his book while showing off his beautiful illustrations. And then we had the pleasure of listening to Buck Buchwald's "Cabin Fever", an excerpt from his blog project eyes of vancouver (http://eov2010.wordpress.com), which looks like a very cool project. He also read an excerpt from the novel that he's working on, tentatively called, 'Hunting Ground'. Jennica Harper was next with her collection of poetry in "What it Feels Like for a Girl". Cathleen With read from Skids. Then we had Kevin Spenst doing a remix of his Twitter poems (checkout the link!) followed by a 'B' poem in progress. This poem was brought to us by the letter, "B". Earlier in the evening Kevin had been showing me a copy of Ron Silliman's The Alphabet, an incredible piece published in 2008. It's reminiscent of Christian Bok's Eunoia, published in 2001 by Coach House Books. Kevin also read a Valentine's Day poem of his that was a finalist in last year's Writers' Digest love poem contest. Finally, we had Brendan McLeod, whose bit was more like a stand-up routine until it turned into an impromptu sing-along. Great way to end a great night!
MOVING RIGHT ALONG
to the FEBRUARY 10 installment of the W2 Real Vancouver Writers' Series
I guess February 10 was the official launch of the W2 Perel Gallery space, because this event suddenly received a face-lift. The proper recording has begun. Made me want to bring along my dictaphone to make some improper recording. Burgundy leather loveseats and chairs have been placed alongside a Sam@#%! monitor on a platform in front of a video camera. The monitor features black and white images of Vancouver, photographed by Emmanuel Buenviaje. His photos are also featured in Vancouver Special, written by Charles Demers , who is serving as this evening's co-host. When describing this book our other co-host, Sean Cranbury, says, "Vancouver Special takes Douglas Coupland's City of Glass about ten steps further." Demers discussed some of the ideas behind his Vancouver Special. He wanted to address the neighbourhoods, people, and culture that have created the city of Vancouver. He recommended Past Tense Vancouver, and went on to read an excerpt from the "Crime" section of Vancouver Special. Dirty money has a habit of popping-up in unexpected places. As Demers puts it, "[Vancouver is] Calgary in a world where oil is illegal." Incidentally, if you're thinking of borrowing this book from the Vancouver Public Library you might have a long wait ahead of you. I looked into it myself and found that the library currently has 27 copies of this book and ALL of them are out at the moment! I made a request, just to see what would happen, and I can expect to borrow a copy at some point in August of 2011. Anyway, the book sounds great. All that I can say is, if you get your hands on a copy, for chrissake, hold on to it!
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