November 23, 2013
querencia (n)
Everyday with Spanish word of the day a word lands. I read them in clumps rather than daily. Many days ago this one made me smile:
querencia [n]: a large cave or a large chamber in a cave.
In the event I find myself or you find yourself in a large cave or a large chamber in a cave (a government building of a cave? ) in Spain we are now equipped to welcome visitors. Ole!
November 23, 2013
Nippy nip nip
Our weather has gone nippy, nip, nip or as one Dublin 9 friend would call it “blue-tit weather”.
We are in the minus overnight and wake up to lift your head off cold but the most beautiful sunlight. Is this what it is to live in Winnipeg? Edmonton? Do you wake to bright sun and -35? I was ever so surprised by the wind in Edmonton and St Albert — a North Westerly wind. I had never factored it would be windy there. It’s a very particular wind. I’ve never encountered that wind before and I have to say the plants outside at the greenhouse, where i had lunch also seemed like they could happily refuse it.
November 23, 2013
Literary Unsinkables piece in The Guardian
Over at The Guardian I have piece up on literary unsinkables in which I posit young folk or for that matter all folk, myself included, should learn Worstward Ho by heart. Some years ago I made a New Year’s resolution to learn to sing the Ave Maria, which I never quite accomplished. This year my New Year’s Res will be to put away the laundry that I have folded. I love to fold laundry. I rarely succeed in stowing it as carefully as I fold it. 2015 may be the year of Worstward Ho by heart.
Click here to read my collection of suggested titles Since I find it virtually impossible to find anything on The Guardian book blog, I’m glad to see they’ve collected my pieces now under my name.
Anyone looking for a copy of Helen Potrebenko’s Taxi can order one from Lazara Press here as it is out of print and only sold by Lazara now.
It was gratifying to see people engaging with the list on social medja, with a number of comments to the positive on the inclusion of Anne Truitt. That was delightful as I read Truitt’s book about 15+ years ago and it was a case of lifting it from somewhere in a bookshop, where another shopper had misplaced it. A completely chance encounter, which then led me to the artist’s work. I love tripping over books this way.
November 17, 2013
“Meaning is often tantalizingly reticent…” Camden Review on Malarky
Before I spring to the matter of last night’s windstorm here is Kate Webb’s insightful piece of criticism on Malarky. I discovered Webb’s criticism in the TLS and beyond and her critical blog earlier this year and feel fortunate my novel was contemplated and reviewed by her, since I admire her critical work very much. So thank you to both Kate Webb and The Camden Review.
“READING Anakana Schofield’s anarchic debut novel, Malarky, I was reminded of the underrated mid-century writer, Jane Bowles. Her comedies are full of people whose ideas of propriety are at odds with one another, having flummoxing, cross-purpose conversations.
Much of her unsettling humour is born of female paradox: women may be the conservative bearers of culture, passing on standards between generations, but they are also “natural outlaws”, disrupting patriarchal rule with their nonsense and malarky.
In the hands of skilled writers, like Bowles and Schofield, the tension between these two positions can lead to great hilarity, with characters who appear to conform to acceptable norms also pursuing undercover lives of heroic eccentricity and dubious, self-invented meaning…”
To read the entire piece please click here
I must, in turn, read Jane Bowles.
I am still reading Inglorious and really appreciating the language, humour and ideas.
November 13, 2013
Pale
Today our weather is what I would describe as a pale blue day. The pale blue canopy of the sky allows the rust orange leaves to stand out. As I type this the pale blue may be in slippage towards a mild grey.
I’ve been contemplating the terrible state of affairs in the Philippines (and have yet to hear much about Vietnam) with Typhoon Yolanda. The sea surge appears to have caused much of the damage. The people who are cut off are utterly bereft of the basic ingredients of daily survival. Each time a catastrophic weather event hits we pause and attempt to rescue people, but move along to the next one without much contemplation of why or how things may be better managed or averted, if indeed such weather events can be averted at all.
It’s not that many weeks since the typhoon hit India and there’s narry a word about that one. I suppose like most things when it’s on your doorstep .. but upon whose doorstep does it need to be for action or longer term contemplation to take place ? Are humans to die or rebound in the event of weather catastrophes? And which humans will qualify for evacuation and a stab at survival? Unfortunately in our momentary “floodlit” online world, dramatic footage will make the rounds until it’s replaced by some scandal by a lousy politician or a footballer or a tidbit. And like of much of the muchness of human suffering the footage disappears, the world rolls over until the next cycle hits.
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It’s staggering to hear that doctors (Providence Health Care) and patients in Vancouver are having to take a court case against the federal government to continue to be able to access prescription heroin. I was listening to a doctor today on the radio pleading for the fact that his patients will die without access to this treatment. It begs the question whether the Harper government is engaged in an active cull of people with addiction, an acknowledged disease that needs treatment. And what’s driving such a cull: ideology, tinker toy morality. Meanwhile the Mayor of Toronto does not appear to be doing anything useful in talking about addiction issues. Here is a ripe opportunity for him to actually take a leadership role and acknowledge that people with such struggles like himself need support, treatment programs and God damn it access to the medication they need to support their recovery from this disease. It’s like denying a chronic smoker treatment for lung cancer because you disapprove of the fact they smoked. Who does this? The Harper government does this.
Here’s the CBC story on the ban on prescription heroin: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/b-c-health-provider-patients-file-lawsuit-over-heroin-access-1.2425356
November 7, 2013
Beset
We are beset with rain. Two rainfall warnings in latter days. I have been besieged by the flu and strep G. I have no idea what strep G really is, but feel special on account of the fact it is neither A nor B. I contracted the flu in Alberta I think and have in honour of frost temperatures in Edmonton named it the arctic penguin flu. It was worth contracting it because the conversations I had at Wordfest were so enlightening and engaging.
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Reading.
Last night I read Book 23 of the Odyssey (Robert Fagles translation). I like reading the books within this book entirely out of sequence. Beside Book 23 I read Joanna Kavenna’s Inglorious which I highly recommend for it’s humour and language.
Next week I’ve decided to try to make Audrey Thomas reading week. Her work has been recommended to me time and time again and she’s a BC author I must become acquainted with.
Thank you to STARfest in St Albert and to WordFest in Banff/Calgary for the wonderful time I shared at your festival with readers, writers and thinkers. Thank you Xiaolu for the walk up the mountain.
Yes I believe in the flu shot.
October 26, 2013
Fog
continues to be fantastic. I feel like we are living in a lighthouse. I hope it keeps up each year and becomes a tradition. I wonder about the history of fog in the city. Perhaps someone can enlighten me in the comments?
October 24, 2013
Malarky WINS 2013 Debut-Litzer Prize for Fiction: I buy chapstick
I went for a walk up a mountain in Banff with a very invigorating conversationalist Xiaolu Guo, when I came back down the mountain I learned I had WON the 2013 Debut-Litzer Prize for Fiction. At high altitude and after eating 7 pieces of lamb this was rather delicious news to hear on a phone message in my left ear. I went to buy a chapstick to celebrate. Life at high altitude improved on account of both these scores. (I wonder how arctic wanderers deal with their dry lips)
Today the news was made public:
Click here to read the announcement.
I look forward to meeting the other writers during the December podcast event. Thank you America. Thank you Late Night Library. Thank you Leslie Jamison. And now to the weather…
The weather in Banff was terrific. Blazing sun with only the hint of nippy cold at night. I came home to fantastic fog. Trees are no longer on the turn, they are reddened. Fog has its own distinct smell which out at the airport was a tad petrol-y.
Planes were troubled by the fog. Especially hard for them to leave Vancouver Island it appeared.
An Alberta report will be forthcoming. It was a great trip. Edmonton did not disappoint. I had some remarkable conversations with some 40 strength minds. All my prejudices about mathematicians were challenged as I travelled with one on a bus for two hours today who educated me on Representation Theory.
October 13, 2013
Phailin
Terrible weather news from India with the onslaught of Cyclone Phailin. Crawford Kilian (here is his bird flu blog), my favourite person on Twitter, has done an exemplary job blogging the arrival of Phailin and updating the implications of this wicked storm. (click on his Phailin tag for other stories on the storm)
Half a million people are displaced, The Guardian says.
The wind speeds were 235KM p/hr. God help everyone trying to shelter from this storm.
October 11, 2013
Here we go Edmonton! Wordfest! Banff!
Finally I shall be able to unveil my parka! The parka I purchased 2 years ago in anticipation of an invitation to read in Edmonton, which never arrived until now. Thanks to St Albert STARfest and Wordfest I am able to put my two clogs down in Tony Cashman land and convene with the former home of the Toonerville Trolley.
Fear not if the above makes no sense, it was a historical transit tram in the city of Edmonton that I read about in a lovely book I found on the side of the road called Edmonton’s Best Stories. I am planning to record an extract from the story, so will link to it when I find time to make a youtube rendition.
Here are a few media articles anticipating the festival and a DEADLY column written by author & columnist Michael Hingston (who took time out launching his own book to come and chat to me — gracias). This is the column where I propose the relocation of the capital city of Canada. In the same conversation I also proposed a move to subsidized parkas, to go along with my idea of 24 hours swimming pools for the sake of non swimmers and insomniacs.
First The Edmonton Journal Column is here
The St Albert Gazette piece featuring a number of festival writers and a summary of events is here
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Last night I went to Jordan Abel’s launch for his poetry collection The Place of Scraps (Talon Books) at the Western Front. A poet prior to him nearly burst my ear drum but I had read with Jordan on Monday and was dead curious and engaged by his work. If you have the chance to see Jordan read from his work, do! He creates a fascinating soundscape that’s on a loop or is a loop. He loops in and out of his loops. Whatever the specifics may be the overall is most distinctive. He described his practice involving erasure poetry: reduction or removal or rearranging of a found text. I like the notion of rearranging the found or recycling it. Between this and his loops — there’s a strong sense of what was, what is and what can be, which I’m always partial to against say the single present moment that so much of contemporary publishing insists upon.
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The weather report begins with the news they lopped the top of the tree outside my window. It certainly let the light in, but they only recently brutalized the poor tree in August, so I am not sure what this new schedule of barber up a ladder is about. This morning gave us a blast of bright blue. The leaves are now yellow to red to mild brown in some cases. They are on the turn but not completely bald yet. Weather scandal is presently in a lull.