Top five gallery experiences

On Wednesday, I visited the Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG) with my friend Leah. She’d never been there before, and we both wanted to spend an afternoon doing something cultural.

Visiting the museum was fantastic – just as it normally is – and as I walked through the marble hallways I began to reflect on past experiences…

I have always loved art. Paintings especially have always held my interest, and it was the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist movement specifically that first drew me into the art world. The soft colours of Monet’s Water Lillies, the vivid swirls of Van Gogh’s Starry Night, and even the vibrant details of Toulouse-Lautrec’s Can Can Dancers have always fascinated and comforted me.

Looking back, I can’t remember the first time I visited an art gallery. However, I can rate my top five art gallery experiences of all time without hesitation…

Five: Andy Warhol at the WAG

It was January of 2007 when my boyfriend Jeff and I visited the WAG for the first time. We wanted to see the Andy Warhol Exhibit, which was fantastic. What made the date even better was the fact that we accidentally stumbled across Frank Warren’s Post Secret Exhibit on our way out. We both love his books, and didn’t know the collection was being shown at the gallery.

A favourite Warhol painting...

Four: The Art Institute of Chicago’s hidden treasures

I visited Chicago twice during CreComm, and both times I spent a few hours at the Art Institute. It houses a huge collection of art, including a few surprisingly important pieces. It was here that I saw

Three: The Art Gallery of Ontario and Jackson Pollock

This past August, Jeff and I again stumbled across an exhibit by an artist we love. The travelling New York Exhibit features work from a variety of artists, including Jackson Pollock and his wife, Lee Krasner. We had literally just watched a documentary about Pollock before getting on the plane to Toronto. What are the odds of that?

Two: Musee d’Orsay and a floor of Impressionist art

When travelling to Paris everyone visits Musee de Louvre to see the Mona Lisa, but for me it was Musee d’Orsay that held the appeal. Built inside an old train station, the museum doesn’t just hold paintings, but antique furniture, clothing and models of Paris.

Standing in front of Van Gogh's Starry Night over the Rhone -

my second favourite Van Gogh painting!

I spent a number of hours surrounded by famous paintings (including Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec and Rembrandt), but the museum as a whole is worth spending a day wandering through.

One: The National Gallery in London and Van Gogh’s Sunflowers

It’s funny, but even after spending half a day in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, I still remember the National Gallery as my favourite Van Gogh moment. My brother and I had just arrived in Europe, and we stumbled across the gallery on a day when admission was free. We both desperately wanted to hide from the rainy and gloomy day, so we went inside.

It was inside this ancient museum that I saw Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. It was the first Van Gogh painting I had ever seen in person, and I didn’t want to leave the museum. Photography of any kind was prohibited in the National Gallery, but my brother could see how much the painting meant to me. While I distracted the nearby security guard, he snapped a few poorly angled shots of the masterpiece so we would always remember the moment.

Forays into beat poetry

This post is in honour of my first experience reciting rhythm poetry. It was something I never thought I could do, and I was incredibly nervous as I took the stage at THIN AIR 2011’s After Words Jazz Club on September 24th.

As your reading the lines below, picture a stand up bass and a Les Paul electric guitar filling in the melody and rounding out the sound…

Stepping up to the microphone,

my knees begin to shake and

my heart starts to ache.

How do I know if my words

are a mistake -

Is my rhythm fake?

Is the crowd awake?

The music starts to play

as I find my voice.

The crowd is waiting, watching,

I know my only choice

is to speak, to move,

to try to feel the beat -

To smile, to do something,

to start to tap my feet.

The jazz music flows

as I find my rhythm.

I feel the crowd watching, moving,

experiencing the rhythm,

the energy,

the beat, I finally found the beat.

I’m a poet, I’m free,

all eyes are on me.

Even yours, I see,

are watching me.

You move with the beat,

your foot taps the floor,

My knees start to shake and

I feel my heart ache.

Toronto – just far enough away to count

Travel has always been an important aspect of my life, and I am usually in the process of preparing for a trip, returning from a trip or planning a trip.

I couldn’t imagine a life without travel. Experiencing new places and new people makes me a better person, and each trip teaches me something new about myself that was previously undiscovered.

This past August, my boyfriend Jeff and I decided to travel to Toronto for a week of sightseeing. We also wanted to assist our two friends, who would be moving to the “Big Smoke” the day after we arrived for our vacation. We booked a hotel on Carlton Street, which is located directly off Yonge – the longest street in the world – and were pleased to find we were located in the heart of downtown.

Exterior view of the AGO.

Something interesting – that I just recently learned about myself as a result of this trip – is that I am not good at flying. If I were to critically analyze the number of times I have been on a plane, I would return with a figure close to 100. One would assume this means that any fear of turbulence has disappeared, but unfortunately, that is not the case.

The flight from Winnipeg to Toronto is known to be bumpy in general – especially when flying over the Great Lakes – and I spent the better part of three hours digging my nails into Jeff’s arm. It was the same scenario during the return flight, and I sincerely hope he will get on a plane with me again…

Upon arrival, Jeff and I were first interested in the “touristy” aspects of Toronto. We walked on the glass floor at the CN Tower, and rode the elevator to the Skypod that swayed gently from side to side. We visited the Hockey Hall of Fame, and touched the real Stanley Cup.

(Note: It’s a replica Stanley Cup that the winning team drinks beer out of and travels with each year. The real one is locked safely away in an elaborate room with stained glass windows and security guards who have zero sense of humour).

Inside the AGO with a $50 million Pollock painting. See below for a description of this event...

An interesting surprise was the visit to Casa Loma. Located deep in Toronto’s interior, this 19th century castle boasts secret passageways, lavishly decorated bedrooms, an 800-foot tunnel, stables, towers, and five acres of beautiful estate gardens. Plans for the castle were drawn up in 1911, and it took three years and $3.5 million to build it.

In addition to being historically significant, Casa Loma has been the movie set for a number of well-known feature films. It was “Xavier’s House for Gifted Youngsters” in the first X-Men film, and was the resort in Tom Cruise’s Cocktail. In the basement – across the hall from an overpriced café – one can find posters of each film that used the castle in whole, or in part, as a filming location.

One of my favourite stops during this week long adventure was the trip to the Art Gallery of Ontario. I have been to a number of galleries in my life, and this one is by far one of the most beautiful I’ve seen. It consists of high, glass ceilings and wide, wooden staircases and archways that rival the revamped train station that houses Musee d’Orsay in Paris.

The highlight of visiting the AGO was experiencing the New York Exhibit - a travelling group of paintings from the 40s and 50s. The featured artist in this collection was Jackson Pollock, the ill-fated, alcoholic genius who reached his peak as an artist shortly before dying in a car accident. Lee Krasner – his wife, who was also a gifted painter in her own right – accompanied his work with a few pieces of her own.

A shot of downtown Toronto at night - one of my favourites...

A trip or vacation doesn’t have to be something extravagant. It can be as simple as a weekend in Grand Forks or a jaunt to Alberta to visit friends. My week in Toronto was entertaining and enlightening, and I’m currently planning my next round of travels, which will be a snowboarding trip to Banff!

A publicist reflects…

When I accepted the position of publicist with THIN AIR, the Winnipeg International Writers Festival, I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting myself into. I had already accepted another summer job – one that was full-time and quite demanding – and I had no idea how I would manage to juggle both.

But within days of accepting the position with the festival, my doubts were completely eradicated. I fell in love with the job, the staff, the writers and the volunteers, and suddenly I wanted to do nothing else…

A shot of my coworkers and me in the hospitality suite on opening night.

I'm the one on the left...

My favourite aspect of working for a small and local non-profit organization is the freedom that comes with it. I am literally the entire communications department, and I make decisions about what works, what doesn’t, and what I want to do next. If I have an idea to start a blog, I can, or if I want to create a contest on Twitter, I can. The sky is the limit when it comes to the initiatives I can implement as part of a non-profit organization, and my only restriction is budget.

There have been many new initiatives that I’ve introduced this year. Some have worked well, others not as much. As I tried new things – and monitored the results – I gradually figured out who my existing target audiences were. I also realized who wasn’t paying attention to my efforts, and started thinking about how to reach them in new and creative ways.

As of today, @WPGTHINAIR has 485 followers on Twitter. My goal was 500, but this is close enough that I’ll call it a success (especially since we had only 75 followers when I joined the staff in June). A big part of our growing number of followers are the contests that I offered in the weeks leading up to, and during, the festival. I gave away books, tickets and THIN AIR merchandise. People love free stuff, and I used that to my advantage.

I also created a new blog, which is aptly named THIN AIR: the blog. It was initially a forum for me to write about the books I was reading by writers who would participate in the festival in September. Currently, it has 2500 page views. I employed a team of bloggers during festival week, and they were responsible for attending events and writing about their experiences. This was a huge success, and I am very grateful to have a fantastic group of friends who agreed to help me when I needed them.

Our programs as they stood on the cobblestone at Oodena Celebration Circle...

Currently, I am in the process of revamping my communications plan for next year’s festival. I have every intention of returning and reclaiming my job. Having the freedom to make it my own has been an amazing experience, and I couldn’t imagine not being a part of the THIN AIR team.

*Photos copyright Leif Norman

Morning tea with Jennifer Still

As the publicist for THIN AIR, one of the perks of the job is the ability to spend time with each writer participating in the festival. When I finished Girlwood – the second book of poetry published by Winnipeg writer Jennifer Still – I immediately wanted to meet her and ask her about her beautiful writing. I emailed her, we started to correspond, and a few weeks later we were sitting inside The Frenchway Café on Corydon Avenue enjoying tea and each other’s company.

The first question I needed to have answered was when and how Still became a writer. It’s a question I ask every writer I meet, and not an easy one to answer.

“When I really think about when I started writing, I realize I’ve written all my life,” Still explained. “I’ve always had the impulse to document my experiences, my feelings, and my perceptions.”

But even though Still has written her entire life, she didn’t truly feel she was a writer until she took a risk and began sharing her material with other people.

A lovely shot of Jennifer Still...

“I gave my poems to someone else to read, and that’s a totally different experience,” she said. “So I feel that I became a writer in the serious sense when I started to risk.”

Poetry is a truly beautiful form of literary expression, one that affects every person in a unique way. It is always interesting to ask a writer how he or she began writing poetry, and I wanted to know what made Still choose this particular medium.

“It’s not a conscious choice – to be a poet – but I’ve always been drawn to the musicality of language,” Still explained. “As a young girl, I wasn’t raised in a religious family. We were meant to find what we believed in and poetry has a spiritual quality to me – that deep sense of meaning.”

Still loves reading short stories – and has written in prose throughout her career – but she finds that poetry is the medium to which she always returns.

“I find everything opens up for me when I go back to verse,” she explained. “I feel there is so much potential, and it’s so wild!”

Girlwood, which was published by Brick Books in 2011, is Still’s newest collection, yet she began working on it ten years ago.

“I started – in some ways – writing this book before my first book was published,” she said. “I think this is the book I was wanting to write when my first book came out, but I didn’t have the skills yet to know how to say it this way.”

Still explained that she is constantly writing, and she carries a pocket book and pen in her purse at all times.

“There are poems everywhere, and the key is finding them and getting them down on paper,” she explained. “It’s important always to be listening and taking in the world. It’s a beautiful thing to always be curious about the world, and I love that the most about writing.”

When asked what advice she would give to someone trying to become a poet, Still’s advice was simple.

“Read a lot of poetry that you love,” she said. “Everyone always says ‘read further afield.’ I think you should start reading with what you connect with and what you would like to write. Read anything that fires you up and makes you want to write.”

Last night, I watched Still perform from Girlwood on the THIN AIR 2011 Mainstage at Manitoba Theatre for Young People. She wore a beautiful gold dress, and captivated the audience with her carefully crafted words. I felt a personal attachment to the performance, because I had already read her collection and had an opportunity to discuss it with her before the presentation.

I can’t wait to read Still’s next collection – which she has already begun working on – and I hope that we have a chance to sit down for tea again soon.

Jennifer Still is the author of two books of poetry, Saltations (Thistledown, 2005), and Girlwood (Brick, 2011). After an interlude in Saskatoon, she has returned to Winnipeg, where she grew up on Girdwood Crescent.

Saturday at THIN AIR…

Today is the last day of THIN AIR 2011 – where has the time gone?!

If you’re a writer who wants to know how to improve your work, make sure you take our Writing Craft seminar from 10:00 a.m. – noon at Millennium Library. Writer and poet Steven Ross Smith will guide us through the various ways writers can enrich their work, from taking seminars, to participating in workshops and visiting retreats and conferences.

If you want to get a little scared in the afternoon, visit Park Theatre for A Pint of Bitter Murder with Alison Preston and David Annandale (3:00 – 4:30 p.m.).

Our final Mainstage presentation at Manitoba Theatre for Young People will feature the first-ever Manitoba Reads debate. Four ardent readers will defend the title they have chosen, and at the end, one book will emerge as the winner.

To make things even more exciting, two of the authors featured at THIN AIR 2011 – Wayne Tefs and David Alexander Robertson – have made the final four!

Celebrate our wildly wordy week – and our fifteenth year of great words – at the After Words Jazz Club at Aqua Books. Master jazzers, Steve Kirby & Kristopher Ulrich, join forces with this community’s poets to create an absolutely unique Birthday Party. Bring a poem!

For all the details, visit thinairwinnipeg.ca. And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter at @WPGTHINAIR, because we’ll be live-tweeting from most events!

Friday at THIN AIR…

The last weekday of the festival will feature a line-up of writers you absolutely do not want to miss. Who knows when they’ll be back again, so now is your chance to visit events, listen to readings, and introduce yourself!

Our last Nooner (Millennium Library, 12:15 – 12:45 p.m.) will feature award-winning author Guy Vanderhaeghe, who will share his recently published novel, A Good Man.

Vanderhaeghe’s performance will be followed by the last Afternoon Book Chat (McNally Robinson, 2:30 – 3:30 p.m.) where Miriam Toews and Rosemary Nixon will explore the power that women can produce when faced with dire circumstances.

At our final Big Ideas session (Millennium Library, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.), sports historian Richard Brignall will share some of the fascinating stories he’s gathered in Forgotten Heroes: Winnipeg’s Hockey Heritage. Even if you’re a hickey [WONDERFUL mis-type!] fan (and who isn’t in Winnipeg right now?), our lively history will surprise you.

The Friday night Mainstage showcases some real heavy-hitters: Clark Blaise, Waubgeshig Rice, Rosemary Nixon, David Homel, Miriam Toews and Guy Vanderhaeghe. Brace yourself—it’s going to be an incredible night. We’ll close off the evening with the draw for three THIN AIR raffle prizes, each valued at $300. Your last chance to get your tickets is tonight’s intermission.

After the Mainstage, swing by Aqua Books for the After Words Jazz Club (10:30 – 11:30 p.m.). Steven Ross Smith, a master poet and performer, teams up with bassist Steve Kirby and guitarist Kristopher Ulrich to create a never-to-be-repeated performance experience. Settle back with a glass of wine, and soak up the magic.

For all the details, visit thinairwinnipeg.ca. And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter at @WPGTHINAIR, because we’ll be live-tweeting from most events!

Thursday at THIN AIR…

Tomorrow is all about languages – English, French, Spanish, Low German and Shetlandic…

At The Nooner (Millennium Library, 12:15 – 12:45 p.m.), Scottish author Christine De Luca will read from her debut novel, And then forever. She’s travelled all the way from Scotland to be a part of THIN AIR 2011. Catch her at noon, and again this evening on the Mainstage.

The Afternoon Book Chat (McNally Robinson, 2:30 – 3:30 p.m.) will feature Di Brandt and David Homel, writers who discuss life and how to get the most from it.

During our Big Ideas session (Millennium Library, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.), Myrl Coulter will discuss the heartbreak associated with giving her first child up for adoption. Though not specifically about languages, her memoir – The House with the Broken Two – is beautifully written, thoughtfully crafted, and an eye-opener about the difficulties of adoption.

In around the edges, campus readings by Glen Downie (Red River, 11:00 – noon) and Clark Blaise (UW, 4:00 – 5:15 pm), and in the Foyer des écrivains stream, a discussion about translation with local writer-translator Charles Leblanc and Haitian-Canadian novelist Dany Laferrière.

At the end of a full day of events, our Mainstage presentation will be filled with the rich sounds of all the different languages we’ve gathered together. Christine De Luca reads poems in English and Shetlandic. Di Brandt’s poems ring out in English, French, Low German, and Spanish. Francophone powerhouse Dany Laferrière teams up with his English translator David Homel.

For all the details, visit thinairwinnipeg.ca. And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter at @WPGTHINAIR, because we’ll be live-tweeting from most events!

Wednesday at THIN AIR…

Our day of poetry kicks off today with a line-up of poets you don’t want to miss…

At The Nooner (Millennium Library, 12:15 – 12:45 p.m.), poet Glen Downie shares the sharp wit of his most recent poetry collection, Local News.

At the Afternoon Books Chat (McNally Robinson, 2:30 – 3:30 p.m.), Gabe Foreman and Sandra Ridley team up to discuss the humour, the wisdom and the fun that can be found in poetry.

Finally, our evening Mainstage presentation – aptly-titled Poetry Bash! – will feature poets from both Winnipeg and around the country.

Across the bridge at the CCFM, La plume et le pinceau teams up poets and visual artists – en français – in a rowdy evening of improv art-making.

Winnipeg loves its poets. If you’re part of that club yet, this is definitely the day to try new things!

For additional festival details, visit thinairwinnipeg.ca. And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter at @WPGTHINAIR, because we’ll be live-tweeting from most events!

Tuesday at THIN AIR…

Today is all about languages – English, French, Spanish, Low German and Shetlandic…

At The Nooner (Millennium Library, 12:15 – 12:45 p.m.), Scottish author Christine De Luca will read from her debut novel, And then forever. She’s travelled all the way from Scotland to be a part of THIN AIR 2011. Catch her at noon, and again this evening on the Mainstage.

The Afternoon Book Chat (McNally Robinson, 2:30 – 3:30 p.m.) will feature Di Brandt and David Homel, writers who discuss life and how to get the most from it.

During our Big Ideas session (Millennium Library, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.), Myrl Coulter will discuss the heartbreak associated with giving her first child up for adoption. Though not specifically about languages, her memoir – The House with the Broken Two – is beautifully written, thoughtfully crafted, and an eye-opener about the difficulties of adoption.

In around the edges, campus readings by Glen Downie (Red River, 11:00 – noon) and Clark Blaise (UW, 4:00 – 5:15 pm), and in the Foyer des écrivains stream, a discussion about translation with local writer-translator Charles Leblanc and Haitian-Canadian novelist Dany Laferrière.

At the end of a full day of events, our Mainstage presentation will be filled with the rich sounds of all the different languages we’ve gathered together. Christine De Luca reads poems in English and Shetlandic. Di Brandt’s poems ring out in English, French, Low German, and Spanish. Francophone powerhouse Dany Laferrière teams up with his English translator David Homel.

For all the details, visit thinairwinnipeg.ca. And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter at @WPGTHINAIR, because we’ll be live-tweeting from most events!

Monday at THIN AIR…

It’s our first full-day of the festival and we hope that you’ll join us! Every weekday during festival week is jam-packed with a number of different events to choose from.

The Nooner (Millennium Library, 12:15 – 12:45 p.m.) is a quick and free literary hit that can be enjoyed over the lunch hour.

The Afternoon Books Chats (McNally Robinson, 2:30 – 3:30 p.m.) offer some stimulating company for your mid-afternoon coffee break zone. And yes… also free.

The Big Ideas series (Millennium Library, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.) gives you something to chew on before you head home for dinner. And, you guessed it… free, free, free!

Each weekday also includes both rural and campus tours, and ends with a Mainstage presentation featuring a collection of the day’s presenters.

So who do you want to see today?

Manitoba Reads finalist Wayne Tefs presents his latest novel, Bandit, at The Nooner and teams up with Elizabeth Hay for the Afternoon Book Chat. Wayne and Elizabeth are joined by Lynn Coady, Margaret Macpherson and Robert J Sawyer on the first evening Mainstage show at MTYP.

You might also want to check in with Winnipeg writer, Dave Kattenburg. He’ll kick off the Big Ideas sessions with a discussion about Foxy Lady, the true story of how several free-spirited adventurers – including one Canadian – fell victim to the Khmer Rouge in 1978.

For all the details, visit thinairwinnipeg.ca. And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter at @WPGTHINAIR, because we’ll be live-tweeting from most events!

Sunday at THIN AIR…

After a year of reading, planning and attending to a million tiny details, Winnipeg’s 15th writers festival will finally begin tomorrow evening at 7:00 p.m.

The Opening Night performance will take place at Oodena Celebration Circle at The Forks. Oodena has been a gathering place for centuries, and it is the perfect place for festival-goers to come together and celebrate the power of words to create connections and build community.

A talented line-up of local writers will share new work on this special opening evening. It’s your chance to hear George Amabile, Rhéal Cenerini, Anita Daher, David Alexander Robertson and Sue Sorensen, all bringing to life their sense of this place.

For all the details, visit thinairwinnipeg.ca. And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter at @WPGTHINAIR, because we’ll be live-tweeting from most events!

A date with director Charlene Diehl

When did you start writing?

“I wrote some stories when I was a little kid, and a handful of poems when I was a late teen, but mostly I read and read and read. I actually fell in love with poetry when I was about 13. Even then, I loved the feel of mystery and potency in that kind of language.

Also, the musicality.

I didn't really start writing poems until I was partway through my Master's thesis on E.E. Cummings, when my advisor Dennis Cooley said, "Where are your poems? Nobody cares this much about poetry without having a drawerful at home!" In truth I didn't have a drawerful, but I continue to be grateful for that nudge.”

How did you decide what you wanted to write about?

“Oh man, I never really know what I'm going to write about! A lot of my writing these days is creative non-fiction -- mostly musings about writing, music and mothering. The pathways always surprise me, which is generally how I know if the pieces are working or not. The more planned they are, the deader they tend to be.

With larger projects, like poem suites, I'm often the last to figure out what I'm doing -- I watch them emerge rather than decide what I'm writing about. Usually I'm toying with an image or a writing challenge, but I'm also exploring something elusive -- one of those big meaning-of-life (or nature or love or power or death) questions.

Sometimes life hands you material too. When my baby died, I knew at some level that I would have to write about that experience. At first, that was a reporting-from-hell enterprise: with the lamentations collection, I was recovering my voice and my language, both of which had been shattered by that loss. As I became stronger and healthier again, I began to realize that I could share my story with others as a way of extending some support to other bereaved people and those who care for them.

My memoir, Out of Grief, Singing, was written over a long period, and I realized when I released it last year that I had also been extending a hand back to my own devastated self as well. Grief is one of the most human of experiences, yet in our culture it's also one that frightens people. If we all shy away from it, we don't have an opportunity to discover that grief can also generate great beauty & joy.”

How do you usually write?

“Have you met me?! I'm not sure "usually" applies on any front, least of all writing!

These days, I mostly write to deadline – and there are many of them. I lean toward late-night writing flurries, partly because I love the late hours of the day, partly because my life quiets down enough then to follow those inner voices.

My most treasured writing times are when my poet self gets all revved up by an idea or an image. Then writing just takes over and fills up every available crack of time for several days in a row. Those visitations are absolutely unpredictable and (sadly) infrequent.”

What advice could you provide to someone attempting to publish his or her first piece?

“Read a lot. Write a lot. Seek out every opportunity to get mentored -- take classes and workshops, and meet regularly with other writers who are more accomplished than you are and who will speak truthfully.

Attend readings. Learn everything you can from the word zone around you. Really understand that you will always be a beginner because the art form will always be unfolding ahead of you far faster than you can master it. (Thank heavens!)

Write until you no longer care a whole lot about getting published -- the experience of writing has to be far more crucial to you than the experience of being published. (It's kind of like looking for a date: if you stop pushing for that desired outcome and really put your energy into becoming strong and happy and self-sustaining, you're going to be a lot more appealing...)

Practically speaking, be reasonable about your expectations. Submit your work to places which publish similar material. Prepare your submission carefully, mail it off, take a couple of days to feel jittery and excited, then get back to your desk and start making something else.”

If you could meet one writer, who would it be and why?

“Only one?! Yikes! I'm going to say William Blake. My first experience of being profoundly rewritten by someone's work happened when I was plowing through one of Blake's epic long poems. I think of that experience as the advent of adulthood for me --he literally changed the way I think.

Every now and then I revisit a shorter long poem, The Marriage of Heaven & Hell, to be inspired by his creative fire, but also to be reminded that powerful writing engages our personal, social, political, and spiritual selves. Blake was wildly eccentric -- he indulged in many curious behaviors, including regular conversations with angels. If he were alive now, I suspect he'd be highly medicated, but that intensity and drama animate his writing, allow us to feel the pulse across a couple of centuries. I admire the courage it requires to be so fully alive, than capture it in poems and images.”

Charlene Diehl is the associate editor of dig! magazine and the director of THIN AIR, Winnipeg’s annual literary festival. Her last book is a memoir, Out of Grief, Singing.

David Homel’s ‘Mid-Way’

Have you ever felt a desire to walk away from your life? To simply step away from job, family and responsibilities?

David Homel’s new novel – Midway – tells the story of Ben Allan, a middle-aged college instructor who has recently won an award for an essay he wrote about an obscure medical syndrome. Dromomania primarily affected men in nineteenth-century Europe. The dromomaniac would leave his home without warning, wander across the continent in an almost zombie-like state, and wake up weeks later with no idea where he was and how he got there.

In the novel, the essay and its content forces Allan into a midlife crisis. He entertains the possibility of an affair with a young communications officer named Carla as his relationship with his wife deteriorates. He wants desperately to reach out to his television-addicted teenage son Tony, but doesn’t know how. And he is constantly trying to maintain a connection with his rapidly aging father, Morris.

With nothing in his life working out quite like it should, it makes sense that Allan feels compelled to walk away from it all…

Throughout the novel, Allan is literally stuck “mid-way” between the world he wants to live in and the one he feels he’s required to be a part of. It is very much a coming-of-age story spanning three generations and countless lives. Anyone who reads Midway will be able to easily relate to the characters in one way or another, and the novel is written in such a way that it will grab your attention and hold it until the final page.

A pic of Homel...

Homel was born in Chicago in 1952. He lived in both Europe and Toronto before making Montreal his home around 1980. Midway is his sixth novel. He has also written two children’s books, one of which was co-authored with his wife. Homel has translated several French works that resulted in two Governor General’s Literary Awards for translation. He isn’t only a writer, but a journalist, filmmaker and translator, and he is one of nearly 40 writers that will be featured at THIN AIR 2011.

Uncovering the secrets of ‘Foxy Lady’

A random Google search first introduced Winnipeg author Dave Kattenburg to Stuart Glass, a young B.C. adventurer killed by the Khmer Rouge on board his little yacht -- Foxy Lady -- in 1978.

“I thought – a Canadian had died… a Canadian yachtsman? That’s amazing,” said Kattenburg. “And all the stories were the same. There was just one tale about him. No information about who he was, or where he was from. Nothing…”

Kattenburg began researching Glass in an effort to uncover more information about the details surrounding the capture of Foxy Lady. Once he started, he couldn’t stop.

“I was intrigued,” he said. “It’s as simple as that. I wondered how it was possible that there was nothing known about him, and I saw it as a challenge.”

A photo of Foxy Lady, taken before disaster struck.

The easiest part of Kattenburg’s research was locating Glass’ family in Canada. He obtained a great deal of information from them, but realized much more would be needed to write a book.

Stuart Glass had met Englishwoman Susan Jessie Everard in 1972, the Glass family told Kattenburg, and she had been his best friend, partner and companion until 1977. It would be impossible to fill in the details of Glass’ life during that time without talking to Susan, and Kattenburg began a detailed quest to find the woman who would hold many of the answers.

He first found Susan’s sister, Margaret, an Anglican minister who agreed to put Kattenburg in contact with her younger sister. And then, finally, Susan called.

“I was so blown away when I found her,” Kattenburg said. “It was at that moment – when I heard her voice on the phone – that I realized this could actually become a book.”

Talking to family and friends was only one part of Kattenburg’s research. In addition to flipping through phone directories and poking through archives, he visited Cambodia – the home of Pol Pot and the feared Khmer Rouge regime – twice.

In Cambodia, over the course of nearly four years, between 1.7 and 2.2 million Cambodians were killed by the Khmer Rouge. Tuol Sleng – a prison, torture house and death camp – was responsible for at least 12,000 of those deaths.

Included in these were New Zealander Kerry Hamill and Englishman John Dewhirst, Stuart Glass’ two mates on board Foxy Lady when she was captured in 1978. While Glass was killed aboard the yacht – in a hail of Khmer Rouge gunfire – Hamill and Dewhirst would suffer a worse fate. They were dragged off to Tuol Sleng prison (nicknamed S-21) in Phnom Penh, charged with being CIA spies, tortured for a few months and then killed.

Foxy Lady: Truth, Memory and the Death of Western Yachtsmen in Democratic Kampuchea tells the story of yachtsmen killed by the Khmer Rouge (there were nine in total), and chronicles the rise and fall of the brutal Democratic Kampuchean regime. The story also focuses on the Khmer Rouge’s chief executioner, S-21 chief Kaing Guek Eav, aka “Duch.”

For a complete synopsis of Foxy Lady, click here.

When asked what advice he would give to anyone attempting to write a non-fiction novel, Kattenburg replied that it is important to be persistent, especially when writing a book that involves digging up undisclosed information.

A photo of journalist and author, Dave Kattenburg.

“If you’re patient and tenacious enough, eventually things reveal themselves,” Kattenburg explained. “And, I think you have to be a little crazy too…”

Did you know?

Recently, a film titled Brother Number One has been released in Australia and New Zealand. It examines the Foxy Lady story from a completely different perspective. It chronicles the journey of Rob Hamill – brother of murdered Foxy Lady skipper Kerry Hamill – as he travels to Cambodia to retrace the steps taken by his brother during his last months alive.

If you would like to watch the trailer, or learn more about the film, click here.

About the author…

Dave Kattenburg was born on Long Island in 1953. He holds bachelor and Ph.D. degrees in biology and health sciences, teaches university science courses and produces radio stories on global environment, development and social justice issues. Documentaries arising from his travels have appeared on CBC Radio, Radio Netherlands, Free Speech Radio and his own site www.greenplanetmonitor.net. David currently resides at the epicenter of North America, Winnipeg.

Our book sale at The Forks

Our book sale was a huge success, and we want to thank each and every person who visited us at The Forks and purchased a book (or two, or three, or TEN) over the Labour Day weekend. It is because of people like you that we can do what we do every year, and we truly appreciate the support!

Our festival is only two weeks away, and now we're gearing up to finalize those last minute details. We'll see you soon at a THIN AIR 2011 venue near you, for what we know will be a fantastic 15th festival.

The Giller Long List...

The Winnipeg International Writers Festival is proud to announce that four presenting authors at THIN AIR 2011 have made the Giller Long List. They include Lynn Coady (The Antagonist), Clark Blaise (The Meagre Tarmac), Guy Vanderhaeghe (A Good Man), and Dany Laferriere (The Return).

The winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize will recieve $50,000 in addition to the title, and we hope that it's one of our featured writers!