Hear Calgary's Next Generation of Writers! April 6 & 7, Pages Books on Kensington

Calgary's Next Generation of Writers
April 6 and 7
Pages Books on Kensington

The next generation of Alberta's best new fiction writers and poets can
be heard at Pages on Kensington Books, 1135 Kensington Road NW, Calgary,
on the evenings of April 6 and 7. Both free public readings begin at 7 p.m.

• Reading on Tuesday, April 6 will be the members of the University of
Calgary's second-level workshop course in fiction, Fiction Writing II.
Performing will be Dallas Babb, Holden Baker, Shannon Borneman, Tracy de
Boer, Han Ding, Paul DiStefano, Angi Fletcher, Carly Francescut, Anne
Jayne, Tiffany Orgill, Anthony Patten, and Elizabeth Smith.

• To help mark National Poetry Month, reading on Wednesday, April 7 will
be participants in the University of Calgary's second-level workshop in
poetry, Poetry Writing II. Performing will be Joanna Allard, Cindy
Derwores, Angi Fletcher, Laura Jarvey, Kristy Kalin, James Seaman,
Wednesday Shomody, Jess Swain and Eric Zboya.

"In our year-long writing workshops, at this level fresh and new
individual writers' voices start to take shape," said course instructor
Associate Prof. Tom Wayman. "To watch and hear these impressive talents
emerge is always exciting."

Both courses include full-time University of Calgary students as well as
community members, Wayman said. The university's English Department
offers three levels of writing courses, plus a senior book-length
manuscript workshop. Admission to the introductory level course is open
to all, whereas students at the other levels submit portfolios to gain
admittance.

Reminder: April Flywheel at The New Gallery in Art Central Thursday April 4 2010

April Flywheel: POETRY MONTH AT THE NEW GALLERY - ART CENTRAL

THE NEW GALLERY *now at Art Central*
212 - 100 7th Avenue SW
Thursday, April 1st
7:30pm SHARP

Join host Stephanie Davis for our special April edition of Flywheel with special guests from Single Onion, Passion Pitch Poetry, & Red Mile Revenge! This month we're teaming up with Cultural District First Thursdays, hosted by The New Gallery at Art Central. Come crush a cup of wine and listen your face off, then check out other rockin' First Thursday events in the downtown core. See http://calgaryculture.com/firstthursdays for more details!

AND CJSW's Writer's Block has moved to Tuesday evenings at 8pm! Don't miss our Flywheel teaser March 30th at 8pm on Writer's Block, CJSW's weekly foray into literature. Join radio hosts Paul Kennett and Stephanie Weidmann for a special preview of some of our April Flywheel readers. Be sure to tune in to Writer's Block, 8-9pm Tuesday evenings - you won't be disappointed! CJSW: Calgary's independent radio - 90.9 fm or http://www.cjsw.com/index.html.

filling Station
Colin Martin
ryan fitzpatrick
Helen Hajnoczky
James Dangerous

Single Onion
Joshua Bartolome
Juliet Burgess
Pat Horner

Passion Pitch Poetry
Bob Stallworthy
Bob proctor
Andrea Hunter
Kirk Ramdath

Red Mile Revenge
LisaRose Berreth-Feragen
A Sacrificial Virgin
Selina Clary

THE NEW GALLERY *did I say now at Art Central?*
212 - 100 7th Avenue SW
Thursday, April 1st
7:30pm SHARP

Flywheel is a monthly reading series, which runs every first Thursday, always at 7:30pm sharp. The series is curated by volunteers from the collective that brings you filling Station, your locally created, nationally distributed literary arts magazine. Visit www.fillingstation.ca to find out more. All readings except April, August, and December 2010 are at Pages Books on Kensington.

Alexandra Writers Centre Student Reading this Friday March 26 7:30

Friday, March 26, 2010
7:30pm
Rose Room, Main Level Alexandra Centre
922, 9th Ave SE, Calgary

As the winter semester draws to a close, it is now time to celebrate the
accomplishments of our many students. Share in the laughter, and maybe
even some tears. Offer support and encouragment to our budding writers.

Admission:
AWCS Members/Students/Instructors: Free
Non-Members: $2


Alexandra Writers Centre Society | 922, 9th Ave SE, Calgary, AB T2G 0S4

Talonbooks Spring 2010 Poetry Tour touches down in Calgary April 27th 2010

Talonbooks Spring 2010 Poetry Tour

Talonbooks publisher Karl Siegler has put together a wonderful list for us this spring that features eight titles of a poetic nature, a unique accomplishment for the press. We are celebrating by hosting Talon Poetry Nights across the country: a fiesta of neoformalism, as five of the eight titles could be described as such.

Note: If you are interested in having a Talon Poetry Night in your city and are not on the list, or if you would like to have an event, interview, or classroom visit with one of the poets when he is in town for Talon Poetry Night, please contact info@talonbooks.com.

Confirmed Dates for the Talonbooks Canadian Spring Poetry Tour

Edmonton International Writers Festival: Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Featuring: George Bowering, Weyman Chan, Ken Norris, Garry Thomas Morse, Stephen
Collis, and Frank Davey reading from their new books of poetry

Ottawa International Writers Festival: Saturday, April 24, 2010
Featuring: George Bowering, Weyman Chan, derek beaulieu, and Frank Davey reading from
their new books of poetry

Calgary: Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Featuring: George Bowering, Frank Davey, Ken Norris, Garry Thomas Morse,
Weyman Chan, Stephen Collis, and derek beaulieu reading from their new books
of poetry


Vancouver: Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Featuring: George Bowering, Frank Davey, Ken Belford, Ken Norris, Garry Thomas Morse,
Weyman Chan, Stephen Collis, and derek beaulieu reading from their new books of poetry


RSVP to the poetry tour and enter the Talonbooks contest from the Facebook event page.

Reminder: SLAM! & Open Mic Thurs March 25, 2010 8:00 pm The Auburn

(This reminder just in from SLAM central!)

Hello SLAM enthusiasts!

Just a quick reminder about the
SLAM! & Open Mic this THURSDAY!
March 25, 2010
8:00pm @ The Auburn

We got the wonderful Sheri-D Wilson and Kirk Ramdath as the MCs
Special guest readings by Regan Clark, Anne Sorbie and Eugene Stickland
As well as sacrificial poet Sarah Murphy!

Join us for a night of supersonic phonetics & poetic verve that will surely
get your mind and eyes movin’ and the body thumpin’!

Hope to see you there!

April Flywheel: Poetry Month at The New Gallery, Art Central! Thursday April 1 2010

April Flywheel: POETRY MONTH AT THE NEW GALLERY

Join host Stephanie Davis for our special April edition of Flywheel with special guests from Single Onion, Passion Pitch Poetry, & Red Mile Revenge! This month we're teaming up with Cultural District First Thursdays, hosted by The New Gallery at Art Central. Come crush a cup of wine and listen your face off, then check out other rockin' First Thursday events in the downtown core. See http://calgaryculture.com/firstthursdays for more details!

AND CJSW's Writer's Block has moved to Tuesday evenings at 8pm! Don't miss our Flywheel teaser March 30th at 8pm on Writer's Block, CJSW's weekly foray into literature. Join radio hosts Paul Kennett and Stephanie Weidmann for a special preview of some of our April Flywheel readers. Be sure to tune in to Writer's Block, 8-9pm Tuesday evenings - you won't be disappointed! CJSW: Calgary's independent radio - 90.9 fm or http://www.cjsw.com/index.html.

filling Station
Colin Martin
ryan fitzpatrick
Helen Hajnoczky
James Dangerous

Single Onion
Joshua Bartolome
Juliet Burgess
Pat Horner

Passion Pitch Poetry
Bob Stallworthy
Bob proctor
Andrea Hunter
Kirk Ramdath

Red Mile Revenge
LisaRose Berreth-Feragen
A Sacrificial Virgin
Selina Clary

THE NEW GALLERY
212 - 100 7th Avenue SW
Thursday, April 1st
7:30pm SHARP

Flywheel is a monthly reading series, which runs every first Thursday, always at 7:30pm sharp. The series is curated by volunteers from the collective that brings you filling Station, your locally created, nationally distributed literary arts magazine. Visit www.fillingstation.ca to find out more. All readings except April, August, and December 2010 are at Pages Books on Kensington.

Alexandra Writing Centre Society - Upcoming Events

UPCOMING EVENTS AT AWCS

**Winter Semester Student Reading**
----------
**Date:** March 26, 2010
**Time:** 7:30pm
**Venue:** Rose Room (main level Alexandra Centre)
922, 9th Ave SE, Calgary

As the winter semester winds to a close, it's time celebrate the
accomplishments of our students. Come and share some laughs and maybe
even some tears. Show our emerging writers some support and
encouragement.

**Admission:**
AWCS Members and Students: FREE
Non-Members/Guests: $2

**Spring Semester Instructor Reading and Registration Night**
----------

**Date:** April 9, 2010
**Time:** 7:30pm
**Venue:** Rose Room (main level Alexandra Centre)
922, 9th Ave SE, Calgary

Haven't made a decision about which class you would like to take? The
spring semester instructors will be giving a reading to introduce
themselves and their classes. Take the opportunity to get a feel for them
ahead of time and feel free to ask questions afterward to help make your
decision.

**Admission:**
AWCS Members/Instructors: FREE
Non-Members/Guests: $2

**Alexandra Writers Shining Stars**
----------
**Date:** April 16, 2010
**Time:** 7:00pm
**Venue:** Alexandra Centre Dance Hall
922, 9th Ave SE, Calgary

Over the years, many writers have walked through the doors of the
Alexandra Writers Centre Society. Together with other writers, they took
classes, and honed their skills. Some left with those skills in their
back pockets and continued to write, while others remained within our
group but still continued to write. Submission after submission,
rejection after rejection, they plodded, until one day a publisher
accepted that short story or that novel, and all that hard work became
worth it.

Now AWCS wants to celebrate some of those successes. Join us for a night
of readings in both poetry and prose, celebrating some of the many
accomplishments our students and members have achieved over the years.

Everyone is invited. Maybe you’ve heard about this little group tucked
into a corner of the Alexandra Centre and wondered, “What can this place
do for me?” Or maybe you’ve never heard of us at all, but somehow you
have stumbled upon our website with the desire to have an evening out.

Whether you write as a hobby, or have dreams of seeing your name on the
front of a book or within the pages of a literary journal, this is a night
to celebrate what has been accomplished and what can be accomplished.
Leave inspired, happy, welcomed into the gentle embrace of a little corner
of Calgary’s writing world. Know that people are here to help you to
improve and hone what you already know you are good at.

So come on down and see what we’re all about.

* Readings
* Book Sales
* Refreshments
* Door Prizes

**Admission**
AWCS Members: Free
Non-Members: $10

RSVP recommended, but not necessary.
Just send up a quick email expressing your intent to attend.


WORKSHOPS FOR WRITERS

**AWCS Spring Semester Courses**
==========
NOW AVAILABLE [online](www.alexandrawriters.org/course.html).

For more information or to register please contact the office at
403.264.4730 or email:



Women's Words 2010
==========

**DATE(S):** June 4-13, 2010
**VENUE:** Enterprise Square, 10230 Jasper Ave, Edmonton, Alberta


_**Workshops at a Glance**_
----------


**Weekend June 4/5/6**
**Mette Bach:** Breaking into Freelance Writing: The Art of Reviews,
Editorials, Columns
**Lynn Coady:** Revision Boot Camp
**Hiromi Goto:** Writing Fantasy for Juvenile and Young Adult Audiences
**Valerie Mason-John:** Unlocking the Muse: Meditation and Creativity

**Mornings June 7-11**
**Kate Braid:** Trans/Forming: Using Traditional Forms to Give New Shape
to Your Poems (and Prose)
**Diana M. Davidson:** Writing Motherhood Across Genres: From Conception
to Birth
**Conni Massing:** Freedom of Speech: Writing Great Dialogue for Page and
Stage
**Shirley Serviss:** Writing the Personal Essay
**Janice Williamson:** Remaking the World Through Creative Nonfiction

**Afternoons June 7-11**
**Reinekke Lengelle and Angela Wiens:** Writing Through Yoga
**Kath MacLean:** Writing Home
**Brenda Malkinson:** Self-Portrait, Collage and Text: Visualizing Your Story
**Sheri-D Wilson:** Poetry That Comes Alive: From Inner Voice to Spoken Word

**Weekend June 11/12/13**
**Marita Dachsel:** From Series into Book: The Writing and Crafting of a
Poetry Chapbook
**Louise Bernice Halfe:** Writing with Soul/Sole

More information:
780.492.3093 or 780.492.2408

[www.extension.ualberta.ca/womenswords](www.extension.ualberta.ca/womenswords)

*Issue 36.1/36.2: dandelion's 35th Un-Birthday Contest: the writing contest
that makes words do more work! (see attached poster & announcement)*

*CONTEST DEADLINE EXTENDED: April 25th, 2010!!*

*First Prize: $350*

*Second Prize: $175*

*Third Prize: $75*

*Honourable Mentions: Swell Dandelion **gifts*

*Send us a story, essay, or poems that *relate—however tangentially—to the
idea of the un-birthday. Consider, as inspiration, the following excerpts
from Alice & Humpty Dumpty’s conversation about un-birthdays in Lewis
Carroll’s *Alice in Wonderland:*



'When *I* use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, 'it
means just what I choose it to mean--neither more nor less.'



'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master—that's all.'…
'They've a temper, some of them-- particularly verbs, they're the
proudest—adjectives you can do anything with, but not verbs however, *I* can
manage the whole lot of them! Impenetrability! That's what *I* say!'



'When I make a word do a lot of work like that,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'I
always pay it extra.'



*Maximum length: 3000 words*, fiction & non-fiction.*3 poems (maximum of 10
pages)*



*Winning entries* will be published in *dandelion.*

*Honourable mentions* will be published at dandelionmag.ca.

*All entries *will be considered for publication.

*Entry Fee:* $20 for the first entry (includes a 1-year subscription or
subscription extension), $5 for each additional entry.



*Mail your entry, with a cheque payable to: Dandelion Magazine **Un-Birthday
Contest, *Department of English, SS Rm 1148, University of Calgary, 2500
University Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4*. *



***Include a cover letter* with these details:

Your name

Address

Phone number

Email Address

50-75 word biography

(Your personal information is confidential & will only be used by dandelion
to contact you.)



*Entries must be postmarked by April 25th, 2010.*

*Questions? Email dandelion.magazine@gmail.com editor@dandelionmag.ca

2010 Calgary International Spoken Word Festival

For Immediate Release:

2010 Calgary International Spoken Word Festival
April 07 - 16, 2010 Banff, Canmore
April 20 - 30, 2010 Calgary
April 27, 2010 Edmonton

Performances, Panels, Workshops, Electronic Events - Something for Everyone!

The Spoken Word Festival is back with a vengeance this April (National Poetry Month), bigger and better than ever with 27 Events & over 100 Artists, presenting the most eclectic and exotic collection of Spoken Word artists in 4 Cities (Banff, Calgary, Canmore & Edmonton)!

This year's theme is Cabaret! Moulin Rouge gone wild! There is going to be a plethora of amazing artists at the "Pen-Ultimate" Cabarets (April 23-24, 2010). "Straight" out of Ohio, harpist/accordionist/singer-songwriter Baby Dee headlines the event that also features Edmonton's Tippy Agogo, New York's Sini Anderson, Toronto's bill bissett, Washington DC's Regie Cabico, Calgary's T.L. Cowan, London England's Julie McNamara, Toronto's Billeh Nickerson, Montreal's Alexis O'Hara, Kelowna's Michael V. Smith, Toronto's Andrea Thompson + other Cabaret Acts.

Appealing - appalling - fabulous & slightly shocking. It is Cabaret! Expect the unexpected!

We are also expanding the horizons of spoken word with the development of our electronic broadcasts. Banff to the World - Live to the Web (April 14, 2010) is another event that must not be missed, transmitting the faculty members of the The Spoken Word Program (Washington DC's Regie Cabico, New York's Bob Holman, Toronto's evalyn parry, Banff's Steven Ross Smith, & Calgary's Sheri-D Wilson), joined by South Africa's Kobus Moolman, in creating instant art - on the spot! LIVE videopoems to the contours of the World! These broadcasts will air live from ports: The Bowery Project (New York), The Banff Centre, Calgary & Alaska. Tune-in from the comforts of home, or the bus, or the train, over-the-shoulder of a stranger's handheld, wherever!

In 2010, be prepared for the unthinkable, the unimaginable, the unbelievable Spoken Word Poetry - here in Calgary, Alberta! Visit our website for information for all our events and more - www.calgaryspokenwordfestival.com.

CONTACT:
Sheri-D Wilson - 403.686.4292

- 30 -

Freefall Chapbook Contest

FreeFall Chapbook Contest

* Submissions must be received by March 31, 2010

* Submit up to 15 pages of poetry. Only one poem per page, multiple page poems acceptable.
Number submission pages consecutively, include author name at the top of each page.

* Fiction or creative non-fiction up to 5000 words. Manuscript must be double spaced, with author, title, and page number appearing at the top of each page. Page 1 should also have complete contact information for the author and the word count.

* Entry fee $10.00

* Enter on-line or mail entry with cheque or money order.

* Entries must be original and unpublished. No simultaneous submissions.

* Each Chapbook will have a Limited Edition production and be available for purchase from FreeFall

* Contest entry forms and complete rules at www.freefallmagazine.ca

* Winners receive 25 copies of their Chapbook.

Why get SPANCed? (& what does it mean anyway?)

Like other cities' small press action networks before us, SPANC means Small Press Action Network Calgary. Rumour has it that the first Small Press Action Network (SPAN) was started by spoken word poet Sheri-D Wilson in Vancouver. There are now SPANs in Toronto and Ottawa too. Small Press Action Network Calgary (SPANC) was started as a listserv by some collective members at filling Station Magazine, Calgary's non-profit literary & arts magazine, then moved onto Facebook and blogspot realms.

The point of SPANC is to create a central hub where local writers can share literary events with one another and their audiences. It's hard to get media coverage - which doesn't mean we shouldn't keep trying at all times. But we do have to look after our own as best we can in the meantime.

One of the other purposes driving this new blog is as an outlet for events that were pouring in to litcity.ffwd@gmail.com Lit City was a short-lived column at Fast Forward, Calgary's weekly street paper. It was unfortunately cut in favour of coverage of other artforms (which, of course, already get far more coverage than literary events are granted), and/or to gain back some essential adspace for a cigarette company or car manufacturer. Once a week, SPANC will post literary events received via the litcity Gmail.

You can also send literary events to spanclist@gmail.com

Keep writing! And don't forget to come back & get SPANCed.
(Sorry, I couldn't resist saying that).

Laurie