TORONTO, September 29, 2003 -- For those wanting get up close and personal with their favourite home-grown authors, York University is presenting its fifth annual "Canadian Writers in Person" reading series, September - April 2003.
In addition to award-winning Life of Pi author Yann Martel, the series features 11 leading Canadian novelists and poets – André Alexis, Helen Humphreys, Ricardo Sternberg, Richard Teleky, Olive Senior, Karen Solie, Barry Callaghan, Lynn Crosbie, Steven Heighton, Wayson Choy and Anne Michaels. Each will read from their work and will take questions from the audience.
"The series showcases some of Canada's best literary talent, including some from right here at York," said organizer and Atkinson English Professor John Unrau. "This series is free to the public, and is one of the best cultural entertainment values in town."
The series is sponsored by the Master's Office and English Department of the Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies, and the Atkinson students' and alumni associations at York University, with the support of the Canada Council, and a number of other benefactors.
The following upcoming free public readings will be held Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. in Stedman Lecture Hall "D" at York University, 4700 Keele Street:
André Alexis (Childhood) – September 25
André Alexis’ first novel, Childhood (1997), won the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award, shared the Trillium Award, and was shortlisted for the Giller Prize and the Rogers Communications Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. Despair and Other Stories of Ottawa (1994), an internationally acclaimed collection of short stories, was shortlisted for a Regional Commonwealth Prize.
Helen Humphreys (The Lost Garden) – October 9
Helen Humphreys first novel, Leaving Earth, won the Toronto Book Award in 1998 and was chosen as a New York Times notable book. Her second novel, Afterimage (2000) won the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, and her third, The Lost Garden (2002) is a national bestseller. Her collection of poetry, Anthem (1999), won the 2000 Canadian Authors Association for Poetry.
Ricardo Sternberg (The Invention of Honey) – October 23
Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1948, Ricardo Sternberg has taught at the University of Toronto since 1979. His poetry collections are The Invention of Honey (1990) and Map of Dreams (1996). His poems have also been published in a number of anthologies, including The Signal Anthology: Contemporary Canadian Poetry (1993). Bamboo Church (2003) is his latest book of poems.
Richard Teleky (Pack Up The Moon) – November 6
Richard Teleky teaches in the Humanities Division and Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Studies at York University. He edited, with Marie-Claire Blais, The Oxford Book of French-Canadian Short Stories (1983), Hungarian Rhapsodies: Essays on Ethnicity, Identity and Culture (1997) and The Paris Years of Rosie Kamin: a Novel (1998), winner of the Harold Ribalow Prize for the best novel of 1999, and named one of the best books of the year by the Philadelphia Inquirer and The Toronto Star. His latest novel is Pack Up The Moon (2001).
Olive Senior (Gardening in the Tropics: Poems) – November 20
Olive Senior served as editor of the Jamaica Journal after studying journalism in Canada and Britain. Her publications include Summer Lightning and Other Stories (1986) winner of the 1987 Commonwealth Writers Prize, Arrival of the Snake-Woman and Other Stories (1989), Working Miracles: Women's Lives in the English-Speaking Caribbean (1991), Gardening in the Tropics: Poems (1994), and Talking of Trees, and Discerner of Hearts (1995).
Yann Martel (Life of Pi) – December 4
Born in Spain in 1963, Yann Martel won the Booker Prize in 2002 for his novel Life of Pi (2001), His work includes Facts Behind The Helsinki Roccamatios and Other Stories (1993) and Self: A Novel (1996). He has just ended a year as Samuel Fischer-Gastprofessor at the Free University of Berlin, and will take up the post of writer-in-residence at the Saskatoon Public Library beginning this fall.
Karen Solie (Short Haul Engine) – January 15
Karen Solie was born in Moose Jaw and grew up on the family farm in southwest Saskatchewan. Her writing has appeared in numerous North American journals, including The Fiddlehead, and The Mahalat Review. Her first poetry collection, Short Haul Engine (2001), was shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize in 2002.
Barry Callaghan (A Kiss Is Still A Kiss) – January 29
York University English Professor Barry Callaghan served as literary editor of Toronto Telegram; a producer for CBC and a commentator for CTV. He is the founder and editor of Exile: A Literary Quarterly, and Exile Editions. His publications include How the Angel Spreads Her Wings (1989), A Kiss Is Still A Kiss (1995) and Hogg: the Last Seven Words (2001). He’s the winner of the Philips Computer Systems Literary Award (shared with Margaret Atwood, 1986) and the inaugural W.O. Mitchell Literary Prize (1998).
Lynn Crosbie (Missing Children) – February 12
A cultural critic, poet, and novelist Lynn Crosbie has written Paul's Case (1997) and Dorothy L'Amour (1999). She has published four collections of poetry: Miss Pamela's Mercy (1992), VillainElle (1994), Pearl (1996) shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Memorial Award, and Queen Rat: New and Selected Poems (1998). She is also the editor of two volumes of feminist writing, The Girl Wants To and Click: Becoming Feminists (1997). A new book of poems, Missing Children was published in April 2003, and Phoebe 2002: An Essay in Verse, is due out this fall.
Steven Heighton (Address Book) – March 4
Steven Heighton is the author of seven books, including the best selling novel The Shadow Boxer (2000), chosen as a best book of 2000 by The Globe and Mail. His poetry collection, The Ecstasy of Skeptics, was a finalist for the 1995 Governor General's Award for Poetry. A new collection, Address Book, will be published by Anansi in November. He was poetry editor for Quarry Magazine. He has just ended a term as writer-in-residence at Concordia University, and will be taking up a similar position at the University of Toronto this winter.
Wayson Choy (The Jade Peony) – March 18
From 1967 until his retirement in 2002, Wayson Choy was a professor at Humber College, and a faculty member of the Humber School for Writers. His first novel, The Jade Peony (1995) shared the Trillium Book Award for best book of 1996 with Margaret Atwood and won the 1996 City of Vancouver Book Award. Choy's latest book, Paper Shadows: A Chinatown Childhood (1999), has been widely praised by reviewers. His forthcoming novel is All That Matters.
Anne Michaels (The Weight of Oranges/Miner’s Pond) – April 1
Anne Michaels worked as a cultural administrator, composer for theatre, and creative writing teacher. Her publications are The Weight of Oranges (1985), Miner’s Pond (1991), a finalist for the Governor General’s Award for Poetry, shortlisted for the Trillium Book Award and winner of the first prize in poetry of the National Magazine Awards. Fugitive Pieces (1996) was a finalist for the Giller Prize.
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