Just a reminder to all literary types that this Tuesday will be our first Shebeen Club meeting in Ye New Shebeen, directly across the street from Ye Olde Shebeen. The theme for this meeting is new horizons, and I will be presenting a selection of readings and discussion topics for your delectation. If you have a reading, quotation, or exercise on the topic to contribute, please contact me by email before Tuesday, so I can work you into the schedule.

Join us and check out the Irish Heather and the Shebeen in their brand-new home. As always, $15 includes a fabulous dinner and a refreshing beverage, and the full menu is available to order from additionally.

Meet and Greet: 7-7:30
Listen and Learn: 7:30-8:00
Gossip and Algonquian One-Liners: 8:00-9:00

FYI:

Here it is: our very first podcast! Recorded live at our November 20th meeting and edited to death since, this is the book launch party we threw for Colleen O’Connor’s new book Cry of the Phoenix, brought out by her brand-new publishing company, Cat’s Eye!

powered by ODEO

Recording and editing by Dale McGladdery

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
5/31/2007
CALL FOR SPOKEN WORD
POETRY SUBMISSIONS

The Word On the Street Festival invites poets to read their work at The
Poet’s Corner, Library Square, on Sunday, September 30, 2007. Poets will be
given a 7minute spot to perform in, between the hours of 12:00pm and
5:00pm. Submissions should include a SASE if you wish your material to be
returned and artists are also strongly encouraged to send an audio tape or CD of
their performance.
Sorry, no email submissions!

Please send submissions to

Poet’s Corner
c/o
442 Cardiff Way
Port Moody V3H 3T1

Deadline for entry is July 15, 2007*

* See us at the Wax Poetic/Coop Radio table at Summer Dreams (We’ll take submissions there too!)

Help us promote literacy and celebrate Canadian literary arts at Library
Square, downtown Vancouver.

The Word On The Street is an annual one-day festival celebrating literacy
and the written arts. Held in five cities across Canada simultaneously -
Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Halifax - The Word On The Street
celebrates reading and writing with free exhibits, performances, readings
and hands-on activities every September.

Last year, Vancouver’s The Word On The Street attracted over 40,000
visitors, and hundreds of participating exhibitors, authors, and performers
to Library Square for literary readings, cookbook demonstrations, music,
contests, panel discussions and much more.

We invite you to join us and become part of Vancouver’s favorite annual
celebration of words and reading.
For more information, call us at (604) 788-8340 or email srduncan  at shaw dot ca
http://www.thewordonthestreet.ca/vancouver.php

Just got confirmation that Robert Chaplin, publisher of the world’s smallest book, Teeny Ted from Turnip Town, will be our presenter for tomorrow night. Once again, here are the details AND the world’s smallest press release!

What: The Shebeen Club : Teeny Tome, Living Large!
When: 7-9pm, Tuesday, April 17 (3rd Tuesday of each month)
Where: The Shebeen, behind the Irish Heather, 217 Carrall Street in Gastown
Why: Celebrate Shebeen Alumnus Robert Chaplin’s publication of the World’s Smallest Book: Teeny Ted from Turnip Town!
Who: Contact lorraine.murphy at gmail.com for more information
How(much)? $15 includes dinner and a drink
 

This Month: Teeny tomes loom large lately. This week, the literary world welcomed its smallest member, as nanoscientists Li Yang and Karen Kavanagh from Simon Fraser University, together with independent Vancouver publisher Robert Chaplin and author Malcolm Douglas Chaplin, presented their minimasterpiece: Teeny Ted from Turnip Town. At 0.07 by 0.10 millimetres, it’s so small you’d need an electron microscope to read it; at thirty pages, it’s still pretty substantial for a dream book about a turnip tale. Small but perfectly formed, this book has made headlines around the world.

The Shebeen Club will celebrate this ironically monumental moment with readings, door prizes and a writing challenge, all specially miniturized for the occasion. Dinner, however, will be oversized as usual at the Shebeen.

Dress code: miniskirts or skinny ties, but please, no thongs.

The Procedure: Sink into a warm velvet banquette and enjoy our programme: your basic meet-and-mingle from 7-7:30, followed by a riveting, yet brief presentation, followed by Q&A and then breaking up into casual groups for wandering, boozy reminiscences of the time you snubbed Jay McInerney in the airport. A fine dinner of bangers and mash or vegetarian pasta from the kitchen of the Irish Heather, plus one glass of wine, beer or pop are included in the $15.

For more information, contact: Lorraine Murphy, raincoaster media ltd www.shebeenclub.com or  lorraine.murphy at gmail.com

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

WEST VANCOUVER COMMUNITY ARTS COUNCIL

AT THE SILK PURSE

1570 ARGYLE AVENUE, WEST VANCOUVER

(AMBLESIDE-JOHN LAWSON PARK)

presents

”The Lawyer Who Died Trying”
June 12, 2007~ 7:00pm
authors Susan Smily and Honora Finkelstein

Recent winners of the prestigious People’s Choice Lovey Award for Best First Novel in 2006 and one this year’s nominees for the

Agatha Christie Award for Best First Mystery.

Join us for the launch of their second book!

. EVERYONE WELCOME ~ ADMISSION BY DONATION
The Silk Purse Gallery
1570 Argyle Avenue, West Vancouver
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday - 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Information call: (604) 925-7292

Contact: Cheryl Karchut, Executive Director

Email: westvanartscouncil at shaw.ca

Website: www.silkpurse.ca

the wired monk in crescent beach tonight had its 2nd
anniversary open mic.  there was cake and lots of
poets and musicians.  i read kramer vs kramer;

Prelude

What makes us different in Canada from the US?
Do we even have a Canadian identity?

There is this lady in New York Harbor welcoming the
world to America, “Give me your tired, your weary
huddled masses, yearning to breathe free…” The words
from Emma Lazarus’ poem

Michael Richards (Kramer) of Seinfeld fame pulled a
Mel Gibson recently, finding out that racism is indeed
not funny.

I heard it from a friend of a friend of mine, this is
the truth behind the story in a poem:

Kramer vs Kramer – The Untold Story

I was born with good judgment
No, I wasn’t,
Then I read that Book of Judges and became judgmental
Feeling like I was being judged by everyone,
I would judge everyone!
and become prejudice,
What is the difference between
Chinese racism, Jewish racism, Polish racism, Negro
racism, Hispanic racism, Aryan racism, French racism,
Irish racism, English racism, Russian racism, Japanese
racism, Arab racism, Trailer Trash racism, Redneck
racism, Indian racism, Aboriginal racism, Reverse
racism…
Did I forget anyone?
It’s a tribal thing, going back to pre-racist times
I have become white with fear
that races through us saying, “Can I trust you
not to kill?”
Racism means they can run faster than you,
Is that why gentlemen prefer blondes?
Hate and anger toward myself, when I should revel in
human wealth
as diverse as antiquity,

Welcome to Canada
Join the human race!
Where everybody has a face
We all came here from somewhere
Integration vs segregation
This brings up feelings about everything,
It’s called life

cheers,
luc the poet

Food, Death, and Desire

Three local writer/performers present original work exploring themes for All Soul’s Day: women who aren’t afraid to take a bite out of life’s chewiest topics.

Lori Weidenhammer, Terrie Hamazaki, and Kim Shaughnessy take us on a poetic journey through death, desire, and dessert!

November 1, 7:00 p.m. (Seating and tea service at 7, reading to follow)

Shaktea: A cozy neighborhood tea shop with a wide selection of fine teas, tea-infused truffles, as well as delectable cookies and desserts. 3702 Main Street (604) 873-5151 Tickets are $10, which includes a tea and dessert from a special menu created for this event. Get your tickets in person at Shaktea now as seats are limited!

Terrie Hamazaki’s plays have been produced at the Fringe and Women in View Performing Arts Festivals; and her fiction and poetry have appeared in several anthologies. She recently completed the SFU Writers Studio Program and works full-time at a battered women’s shelter.

Kim Shaughnessy is a supercute, angsty little queer who has been performing spoken word poetry for over three years at venues and events across Canada, including the Toronto International Poetry Slam, Under The Volcano, and various LGBTQ Pride events. Kim competed in the 2006 CBC Radio Poetry Face-Off, and was a member of the Vancouver Poetry Slam Team Deux, who took home the Flaming Mic Award at the 2005 Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. Kim organizes Outspoken, a monthly queer open mic night in Vancouver, and is the author of two chapbooks, “Creativity is Trashy” and “Dear LiveJournal.

Lori Weidenhammer is a performance-based artist originally from Cactus Lake Saskatchewan. In her latest project, she conjures the persona of Madame Dolittle, an apitherapist who communicates with honeybees. In the Weidenhammer Wunderkammer, Lori toured disappearing prairie towns in the Artist Run Limousine. She has also performed with Foursight Theatre, and toured England in Six Dead Queens and an Inflatable Henry. She is currently working on The Lobster Monologues.

Is that a word, “SIWC-ers?” You’re the pros; you tell me!

In any case, welcome to the Shebeen Club blog. We’re an association of writers, editors, publishers, bloggers, book artists, and everyone and anyone else whose world centres around the written word on the page or on the pixel. See the Hinterland’s Who’s Who page on the right-hand side for more information about who we are and what we want from you and the rest of the world. The Nobel Prize for Literature would be nice…

If you’d like to get the advance announcements for our monthly meetings, please leave me a comment saying so and fill out the email box: your email remains hidden, but I will be able to retrieve and add your email address to our database. No, of course we don’t sell, rent, or loan out our lists, so your privacy is safe with us.

By the way, local authors who will be having books come out in 2007, or publishers and editors launching a new magazine, are particularly invited to leave that info in the comments: we’re happy to host you for a reading to help with the launch. We are ALL ABOUT supporting local talent.

Announcement from Brick Books:

Brick Books was founded in London, Ontario in 1975 by Stan Dragland and Don McKay who were teaching English and creative writing at the University of Western Ontario.  We publish only poetry books.

Catherine Greenwood and Steve Noyes read from their books Ghost Country and The Pearl King and Other Poems in British Columbia.

White Rock, B.C.

- Saturday, October 21 at 2 p.m. Readings by Catherine Greenwood and Steve Noyes at the White Rock Public Library, 15342 Buena Vista. For more information, contact Carol Allen at the library at 604-541-2201.

Maple Ridge, B.C.

- Monday, October 23 at 8 p.m. Reading by Steve Noyes with Wayde Compton. Poetry at the ACT, presented by the Maple Ridge Arts Centre Theatre, Maple Ridge Art Gallery at The ACT, 11944 Haney Place. For more information, contact Elizabeth Bachinsky, Ridge Meadows Writer-in-residence at ebachinskyatshawdotca.

CATHERINE GREENWOOD

draws on the stories and legends which surround the development of cultured pearls by Mikimoto, the fabulous Pearl King, to engage a rich array of themes, including the clash between an aesthetics of refinement and nuance, and mass manufacture. Catherine Greenwood lives on Vancouver Island. The Pearl King and Other Poems is her first book of poetry. This books was designated a Notable Book (2005) - The Kiriyama Prize in recognition of outstanding books that promote greater understanding of and among the nations of the Pacific Rim and of South Asia. Catherine won the 2003 Banff Centre Bliss Carman Poetry Award for “Astrolabe,” published in Prairie Fire.
STEVE NOYES

- Ghost Country enters the difficult electric air between cultures and lovers. Set in contemporary China, these poems spring from the intense anguished observations of the lover of a culture who is also, inescapably, the outsider. Steve has published two previous books of poetry, Backing into Heaven (1986), and Hurriya (1996), as well as Cities of India, a collection of short fiction. He taught English in China in 1997-1998. He grew up in Winnipeg and lives in Victoria, BC.