I won't be have internet access for at least a week. Hopefully, I'll be creative in that time. In the meantime, here's a site to enjoy: 3-D tours of world heritage sites. I start you off with Chartres.
Friday, July 10, 2009
I won't be have internet access for at least a week. Hopefully, I'll be creative in that time. In the meantime, here's a site to enjoy: 3-D tours of world heritage sites. I start you off with Chartres.
Monday, July 06, 2009
Robert Creeley
ECHOES
Step through the mirror,
faint with the old desire.
Want it again,
never mind who's the friend.
Say yes to the wasted
empty places. The guesses
were as good as any.
No mistakes.
-- From Selected Poems (originally from Mirrors)
Supporting material for a review forthcoming in The Rover.
Step through the mirror,
faint with the old desire.
Want it again,
never mind who's the friend.
Say yes to the wasted
empty places. The guesses
were as good as any.
No mistakes.
-- From Selected Poems (originally from Mirrors)
Supporting material for a review forthcoming in The Rover.
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Robert Creeley
SAD WALK
I’ve come to the old echoes again,
know it’s where I’ve been before,
see the same old sun.
But backwards, from all the yesterdays,
it’s still the same way,
who gets and who pays.
I was younger then,
walking along still open,
young and having fun.
But now it’s just a sad walk
to an empty park,
to sit down and wait, wait to get out.
-- from On Earth: Last Poems and an Essay (2006)
supporting material for a review forthcoming in The Rover
I’ve come to the old echoes again,
know it’s where I’ve been before,
see the same old sun.
But backwards, from all the yesterdays,
it’s still the same way,
who gets and who pays.
I was younger then,
walking along still open,
young and having fun.
But now it’s just a sad walk
to an empty park,
to sit down and wait, wait to get out.
-- from On Earth: Last Poems and an Essay (2006)
supporting material for a review forthcoming in The Rover
Sunday, June 28, 2009
back
The trip to Van was wonderful -- we were blessed with fine weather every day -- LCP Conf/Fest was highly enjoyable too, and made a number of interesting poetic contacts and discoveries. Nevertheless, the meeting with my uncle was the highlight. Still spry and lucid at nearly a hundred -- he'll be reaching his centenary in a couple of months -- he's a walking oral history. Filled me in on all kinds of details of our family past, plus vivid recollections of what it was like to be a Nova Scotia coal miner back in the '20s, and even the Halifax Explosion, as experienced 60 km away on a farm near East Mines, NS.
On my last day, though, I felt a sore throat coming on, and on the plane back the congestion started -- which lead, it seems, to a classic case of barotrauma -- otherwise known as airplane ear -- when the plane made an unusually fast descent. A week later, my ears are still blocked. The cold became a nasty one; I'm still not over it. Still, with end of school stuff and other matters, I was surprised to find today that I had scarcely looked at this blog in over two weeks. Ah well, things happen. Will post eventually.
On my last day, though, I felt a sore throat coming on, and on the plane back the congestion started -- which lead, it seems, to a classic case of barotrauma -- otherwise known as airplane ear -- when the plane made an unusually fast descent. A week later, my ears are still blocked. The cold became a nasty one; I'm still not over it. Still, with end of school stuff and other matters, I was surprised to find today that I had scarcely looked at this blog in over two weeks. Ah well, things happen. Will post eventually.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
off to van...
I'm flying to Vancouver tomorrow for the League of Canadian Poets' Annual Conference/Fest. There I'll take part in AGM-type meetings, seminars, readings and book launches -- including another launch of Passenger Flight. Will spend a few days afterwards visiting the town. May I have at least one afternoon on one of it's many beaches -- although the forecast looks a little cool yet. I'll be visiting a few relatives there -- including an uncle (who I haven't seen since I was about 15) who celebrated his hundredth birthday this year!
LCP News From Quebec
Here's my account of Quebec League members' activities, probably my last for good or at least for a good long while, since I'm stepping down (again) as Quebec Rep on the League of Canadian Poets' National Council.
NEWS FROM QUEBEC
According to the latest stats, about 8% of Quebecers—a total of around 605,000 -- are Anglophones, and most of these – about 480,000 -- live in Greater Montreal. That makes a town little bigger than, say, Kitchener-Waterloo. Considering these figures, one can hardly deny that Quebec is a sizzling hotbed of English Language poetic talent and activity. This year as always a significant volume of production took place, contributing to the province’s particularly lively literary scene.
LAUNCHES/PRIZES/HONOURS etc.
Oana Avisilichioaei launched feria: a poem park (Wolsak and Wynn) in September.
Carolyn Marie Souaid launched her fifth collection, Paper Oranges (Signature Editions) in October.
Brian Campbell (yours truly) launched his second collection, Passenger Flight (Signature Editions) in April.
20 Canadian Poets Take on the World, edited by Priscilla Uppal, was launched in Toronto and in April, in Montreal. The book features translations of 20 foreign poets; among the translators was Quebec’s Erin Mouré.
Erin Mouré along with Robert Mazjels was shortlisted for the Griffin Prize for their translation of Nicole Brossard’s Notebook of Roses and Civilization; the same book was also shortlisted for the 2007 Governer General’s Award for Translation.
Winner of the 2008 Quebec Writer’s Federation A.M. Klein Award (Poetry) was Peter Richardson for Sympathy for the Couriers (Vehicule Press). On the short list were
Katia Grubisic’s What if red ran out (Goose Lane Editions) and Joshua Auerbach’s Radius Of Light (DC Books). All three are LCP members.
Former member Nina Bruck’s chapbook, Still Light at Five O’Clock (Sky of Ink Press) was one of three winners of the 2008 Writer’s Circle of Durham Region Chapbook Challenge, a competition that saw submissions from all over North America. The chap, by the way, was edited and produced by myself and Raphael Bendahan.
“Emblem”, a poem of mine previously published in Prairie Fire was chosen by the BC Ministry of Education for use on its Grade 12 exams. Lesley Pasquin, meanwhile, won first prize for Poetry with Room Magazine. Carolyn Marie Souaid took over this year as poetry editor of Signature Editions.
READINGS/EXHIBITS ETC.
The Atwater Poetry Project, besides giving stage to a number of prominent out-of-towners, also saw readings by Maxianne Berger, Kaie Kellough and former member Carmine Starnino.
The Yellow Door,Visual Arts Centre, Poetry Plus, Noches de Poesia, Words and Music, and WIRE (West Island Reader’s Electric) are the ongoing local English language poetry series in and around Montreal – and this year their stages hosted (besides a fair number of out-of-province poets) the likes of Stephen Morrissey, Maxianne Berger, Julie Mahfood, Fortner Anderson, Geoff Cook, Ian Ferrier, Stephanie Bolster, Helen Zisimatos, Johanna Skibsrud, Carolyn Zonailo, Joshua Auerbach, Angela Carr, Erin Mouré, Lesley Pasquin, Oana Avasilichioaei, and myself.
The June 2 2008 QWF Schmoozpalooza featured two panels, with each member championing an outstanding short literary work by a Quebec English-Language author. The poetry panel consisted of Stephanie Bolster (who chose The Slough by Bruce Taylor), Geoffrey Cook (The Confused Heart by Robyn Sarah), and Catherine Kidd (Stanazas 1-13 of the Encantadas by Robert Allen). This event was hosted by CBC host Anne Lagacé Dowson.
23-26 October Bryan Sentes read and presented a paper “ Charm Schools: Modes of Petitio Benevolentiae in Contemporary Canadian Poetry” at the States of Art International Poetry Conference in Saarbrücken, Germany.
In October the Spoiled Artists’ Liberation Army (SALA) did its bit to put on ice Stephen Harper’s election hopes in Quebec, with this YouTube video excoriating proposed culture cuts. Some of you may recognize its incognito participants, who may be found hiding in certain secret caves in the hills of Mont Royal.
Endre Farkas’ play “Haunted House” was presented by Tableau D’Hôte at the Segal Centre for the Performing Arts in late February through to early March. The play is about A.M. Klein, whose 100th birthday was in February 2009. The play was well received, had very good reviews and sold out most nights.
Also in February, Fortner Anderson’s recent drawings and collage work were exhibited at the Luz Gallery in Montreal.
University of Montreal’s Sense and Sustainability conference in March 2009 featured readings by myself, Ian Ferrier, Carolyn Marie Souaid, Charolotte Hussey, and Bryan Sentes. In the same month, the Montreal Zen Poetry Festival featured Erin Mouré and Oana Avasilichioaei.
Carolyn Souaid also read at the Ottawa International Writer’s Festival in April and hosted two panels at the Blue Metropolis Festival. Kaie Kellough, meanwhile, ran a multimedia show at Blue Met which involved a dramatic reading of improvised material generated by an audience of several dozen tapping furiously on laptops.
Maxianne Berger was April’s Poet-in-Residence for the League’s Young Poets’ Forum, and in July will give a tanka workshop at Camp Haïku in Baie-Comeau.
All those who launched books have embarked on national reading tours – Carolyn Marie Souaid to Ottawa, Winnipeg, Vancouver and Victoria, myself to Toronto, Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Vancouver, and Oana Avasilichioaei to schools in Ontario as well as other destinations (well, she didn’t give me details) far and wide.
On May 3, Quebec members had their (W)rites of Spring reading and fundraiser at the Arts Café. Featured readers included Kaie Kellough, Maxianne Berger, Angela Carr, Charlotte Hussey, Michaela Sefler, Johanna Skibsrud, Lesley Pasquin, Carolyn Zonailo, Stephen Morrissey, myself and Ontario member Sonja Greckol. The event was well-attended, featured raffles for books and feedback from Steven Michael Berzensky (Mick Burrs) and Maurice Mierau, and raised a total of $145 for the League.
The reason I’m writing the report this year is that Angela Leuck, who took over from me as Quebec/Nunavut rep last June, had to step down for personal reasons. I agreed to take the reins again as of last February. As always, it has been a great pleasure to serve as Quebec/Nunavut’s rep. Ian Ferrier will be taking over from me this June, assuming his acclamation at this year’s LCP Fest and Conference. Former QWF President and prominent facilitator and participant in Quebec’s Spoken Word scene, Ian has many talents and abilities to bring to that role. He intends in particular to use his connections with younger poets to increase awareness of the League and bring more members into its fold.
NEWS FROM QUEBEC
According to the latest stats, about 8% of Quebecers—a total of around 605,000 -- are Anglophones, and most of these – about 480,000 -- live in Greater Montreal. That makes a town little bigger than, say, Kitchener-Waterloo. Considering these figures, one can hardly deny that Quebec is a sizzling hotbed of English Language poetic talent and activity. This year as always a significant volume of production took place, contributing to the province’s particularly lively literary scene.
LAUNCHES/PRIZES/HONOURS etc.
Oana Avisilichioaei launched feria: a poem park (Wolsak and Wynn) in September.
Carolyn Marie Souaid launched her fifth collection, Paper Oranges (Signature Editions) in October.
Brian Campbell (yours truly) launched his second collection, Passenger Flight (Signature Editions) in April.
20 Canadian Poets Take on the World, edited by Priscilla Uppal, was launched in Toronto and in April, in Montreal. The book features translations of 20 foreign poets; among the translators was Quebec’s Erin Mouré.
Erin Mouré along with Robert Mazjels was shortlisted for the Griffin Prize for their translation of Nicole Brossard’s Notebook of Roses and Civilization; the same book was also shortlisted for the 2007 Governer General’s Award for Translation.
Winner of the 2008 Quebec Writer’s Federation A.M. Klein Award (Poetry) was Peter Richardson for Sympathy for the Couriers (Vehicule Press). On the short list were
Katia Grubisic’s What if red ran out (Goose Lane Editions) and Joshua Auerbach’s Radius Of Light (DC Books). All three are LCP members.
Former member Nina Bruck’s chapbook, Still Light at Five O’Clock (Sky of Ink Press) was one of three winners of the 2008 Writer’s Circle of Durham Region Chapbook Challenge, a competition that saw submissions from all over North America. The chap, by the way, was edited and produced by myself and Raphael Bendahan.
“Emblem”, a poem of mine previously published in Prairie Fire was chosen by the BC Ministry of Education for use on its Grade 12 exams. Lesley Pasquin, meanwhile, won first prize for Poetry with Room Magazine. Carolyn Marie Souaid took over this year as poetry editor of Signature Editions.
READINGS/EXHIBITS ETC.
The Atwater Poetry Project, besides giving stage to a number of prominent out-of-towners, also saw readings by Maxianne Berger, Kaie Kellough and former member Carmine Starnino.
The Yellow Door,Visual Arts Centre, Poetry Plus, Noches de Poesia, Words and Music, and WIRE (West Island Reader’s Electric) are the ongoing local English language poetry series in and around Montreal – and this year their stages hosted (besides a fair number of out-of-province poets) the likes of Stephen Morrissey, Maxianne Berger, Julie Mahfood, Fortner Anderson, Geoff Cook, Ian Ferrier, Stephanie Bolster, Helen Zisimatos, Johanna Skibsrud, Carolyn Zonailo, Joshua Auerbach, Angela Carr, Erin Mouré, Lesley Pasquin, Oana Avasilichioaei, and myself.
The June 2 2008 QWF Schmoozpalooza featured two panels, with each member championing an outstanding short literary work by a Quebec English-Language author. The poetry panel consisted of Stephanie Bolster (who chose The Slough by Bruce Taylor), Geoffrey Cook (The Confused Heart by Robyn Sarah), and Catherine Kidd (Stanazas 1-13 of the Encantadas by Robert Allen). This event was hosted by CBC host Anne Lagacé Dowson.
23-26 October Bryan Sentes read and presented a paper “ Charm Schools: Modes of Petitio Benevolentiae in Contemporary Canadian Poetry” at the States of Art International Poetry Conference in Saarbrücken, Germany.
In October the Spoiled Artists’ Liberation Army (SALA) did its bit to put on ice Stephen Harper’s election hopes in Quebec, with this YouTube video excoriating proposed culture cuts. Some of you may recognize its incognito participants, who may be found hiding in certain secret caves in the hills of Mont Royal.
Endre Farkas’ play “Haunted House” was presented by Tableau D’Hôte at the Segal Centre for the Performing Arts in late February through to early March. The play is about A.M. Klein, whose 100th birthday was in February 2009. The play was well received, had very good reviews and sold out most nights.
Also in February, Fortner Anderson’s recent drawings and collage work were exhibited at the Luz Gallery in Montreal.
University of Montreal’s Sense and Sustainability conference in March 2009 featured readings by myself, Ian Ferrier, Carolyn Marie Souaid, Charolotte Hussey, and Bryan Sentes. In the same month, the Montreal Zen Poetry Festival featured Erin Mouré and Oana Avasilichioaei.
Carolyn Souaid also read at the Ottawa International Writer’s Festival in April and hosted two panels at the Blue Metropolis Festival. Kaie Kellough, meanwhile, ran a multimedia show at Blue Met which involved a dramatic reading of improvised material generated by an audience of several dozen tapping furiously on laptops.
Maxianne Berger was April’s Poet-in-Residence for the League’s Young Poets’ Forum, and in July will give a tanka workshop at Camp Haïku in Baie-Comeau.
All those who launched books have embarked on national reading tours – Carolyn Marie Souaid to Ottawa, Winnipeg, Vancouver and Victoria, myself to Toronto, Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Vancouver, and Oana Avasilichioaei to schools in Ontario as well as other destinations (well, she didn’t give me details) far and wide.
On May 3, Quebec members had their (W)rites of Spring reading and fundraiser at the Arts Café. Featured readers included Kaie Kellough, Maxianne Berger, Angela Carr, Charlotte Hussey, Michaela Sefler, Johanna Skibsrud, Lesley Pasquin, Carolyn Zonailo, Stephen Morrissey, myself and Ontario member Sonja Greckol. The event was well-attended, featured raffles for books and feedback from Steven Michael Berzensky (Mick Burrs) and Maurice Mierau, and raised a total of $145 for the League.
The reason I’m writing the report this year is that Angela Leuck, who took over from me as Quebec/Nunavut rep last June, had to step down for personal reasons. I agreed to take the reins again as of last February. As always, it has been a great pleasure to serve as Quebec/Nunavut’s rep. Ian Ferrier will be taking over from me this June, assuming his acclamation at this year’s LCP Fest and Conference. Former QWF President and prominent facilitator and participant in Quebec’s Spoken Word scene, Ian has many talents and abilities to bring to that role. He intends in particular to use his connections with younger poets to increase awareness of the League and bring more members into its fold.
Monday, June 08, 2009
Busy this week...
...organizing a training session in school on technology in the classroom, doing in a QWF workshop leader application (which meant a time-consuming update of my literary CV -- the latest having been lost in the crash), and writing a review of Christiane Frenette's After the Red Night for the Montreal Review of Books -- my first paid reviewing gig. That's due at the end of the week, but since I'm flying to Vancouver Thursday for the League of Poets' Fest & Conference (aka AGM), it's got to be in sooner.
Also...recovering & re-updating files after the crash.
For security, my wonderful computer guy suggested an external hard drive, which goes for an extra $120 or so. This may be a good option, especially for saving programs and settings. (It also assures a little extra money for his pocket.) Burning disks is also a solution, although recordable disks can become unreadable in a scratch. But a 4 gig UHB stick, which goes for like $12, is adequate in most cases including mine for My Documents and photos... but, so easily lost!
Here, though, may be the securest and cheapest solution: on-line storage. You can even store 2 gigs for free. Here's a couple of sites a friend suggested:
idrive.com
mozy.com
If your house burns down, your stuff is "out there". If there's a nuclear holocaust, well, maybe they're stored underground. (I'm sure I'll want to get at my stuff, after I'm vapourized.)
Clearly, with about one in ten hard drives failing every year, this security issue is worth obsessing over until it's dealt with once and for all. Anyone "out there" -- are there known (i.e. hacker) issues with these sites?
UPDATE: Well, I tried downloading mozy free version, but found that I didn't have much flexibility in choosing files to back up: My Documents as a whole is greater than the 2 gig limit, and I couldn't break it down to choose the most useful folders that would fit under that limit. Then I balked about paying say $60 CN a year for the unlimited backup. What am I buying into? What are the security issues about storing files online? Could hackers ever get into my files? (There are issues even with incrypted software). Mozy it turns out is better-rated by a number of review sites than Idrive, but there have been some complaints that, like the old AOL, it's difficult if not impossible to cancel a subscription. Anyway, I need to be convinced, even though it does seem a quick and easy way to obtain off-site data backup.
Also...recovering & re-updating files after the crash.
For security, my wonderful computer guy suggested an external hard drive, which goes for an extra $120 or so. This may be a good option, especially for saving programs and settings. (It also assures a little extra money for his pocket.) Burning disks is also a solution, although recordable disks can become unreadable in a scratch. But a 4 gig UHB stick, which goes for like $12, is adequate in most cases including mine for My Documents and photos... but, so easily lost!
Here, though, may be the securest and cheapest solution: on-line storage. You can even store 2 gigs for free. Here's a couple of sites a friend suggested:
idrive.com
mozy.com
If your house burns down, your stuff is "out there". If there's a nuclear holocaust, well, maybe they're stored underground. (I'm sure I'll want to get at my stuff, after I'm vapourized.)
Clearly, with about one in ten hard drives failing every year, this security issue is worth obsessing over until it's dealt with once and for all. Anyone "out there" -- are there known (i.e. hacker) issues with these sites?
UPDATE: Well, I tried downloading mozy free version, but found that I didn't have much flexibility in choosing files to back up: My Documents as a whole is greater than the 2 gig limit, and I couldn't break it down to choose the most useful folders that would fit under that limit. Then I balked about paying say $60 CN a year for the unlimited backup. What am I buying into? What are the security issues about storing files online? Could hackers ever get into my files? (There are issues even with incrypted software). Mozy it turns out is better-rated by a number of review sites than Idrive, but there have been some complaints that, like the old AOL, it's difficult if not impossible to cancel a subscription. Anyway, I need to be convinced, even though it does seem a quick and easy way to obtain off-site data backup.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Searching "Brian Campbell Passenger Flight" on Google, I round this odd little tidbit:
Apparently my book is available not only at Chapters Indigo and Amazon, but at sites I never heard of: Books XWZ, Keenzo, Hard Cover Deals, AllBookStores.com. Of course, no reviews as yet, but that's hardly to be expected.
... She waded through chest high water, unaware she sustained a gash to her leg, and herded folks forward to get out on the wing.Seems, unbeknownst to me, that I was on US Air Flight 1549 that crashed into the Hudson.
Brian Campbell, a passenger in the rear of the plane, said, "Turn around, you’ve got to get out on the wing."
Upfront were Dent and Dail who got folks out on the wing and into rafts.
Apparently my book is available not only at Chapters Indigo and Amazon, but at sites I never heard of: Books XWZ, Keenzo, Hard Cover Deals, AllBookStores.com. Of course, no reviews as yet, but that's hardly to be expected.
back...
My computer crashed again, this time fatally -- so I got another one, a 2-year-old HP Workstation XW 6200 with a new 250-gig hard drive & CD burner for about $400, taxes included (according to the link above, this thing once retailed for $5,500... hard to believe the depreciation). My repairman gave me a rebate on much of the cost of the previous repair (about $300), which really didn't work out. This one is a solid, highly rated beast that nevertheless runs very quietly, more quietly than my laptop -- and he tells me it should keep me happy (can any machine keep you happy?) for years to come... I'll keep my fingers crossed. I've been saying PC stands for Piece of Crap; if this one doesn't work out any better I'm definitely moving to Mac.I've been busy customizing the system, reconfiguring e-mail, etc. (Second time this week.) I lost Dreamweaver, so it may be a while before I am able to update my website.
There's a poem in this drudgery, I'm sure. May Sisyphus be my muse.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
in flight...
Sasquatch Literary & Arts Performance Series
Featuring yours truly reading from Passenger Flight
(& playing some songs as well)
&Jocelyne Dubois reading from her chapbook, Hot Summer Night
Royal Oak II (map), downstairs, 161 Laurier East,
between Cumberland and King Edward, Sandy Hill
Ottawa, Sunday, May 24 @ 2 pm
Featuring yours truly reading from Passenger Flight
(& playing some songs as well)
&Jocelyne Dubois reading from her chapbook, Hot Summer Night
Royal Oak II (map), downstairs, 161 Laurier East,
between Cumberland and King Edward, Sandy Hill
Ottawa, Sunday, May 24 @ 2 pm
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