Category Archives: Events and scenes

Hot August Nights at Russell Books

Russell’s Reading Series presents Hot August Nights
with Amanda Leduc, Yausko Thanh and Lee Henderson
August 20

On the hot evening of August 20th join Russell Books, Victoria BC, in a cool vintage area for an evening reading with visiting author Amanda Leduc, and local authors Yasuko Thanh and Lee Henderson.

In The Miracles of Ordinary Men Amanda Leduc weaves the stories of Sam who wakes up one day to find himself growing wings, and Lilah, who has lost her brother to the streets of Vancouver, and who seeks penance under the harsh hand of her boss.

Journey Prize-winner Yasuko Thanh’s collection of short stories Floating Like the Dead, a sharply observed and erotically charged debut collection, immerses us in the lives of people on the knife edge of desire and regret, hungry for change yet still yearning for a place to call home, if only for a little while.

The Man Game, Lee Henderson’s epic tale of love requited and not, begins on a recent Vancouver Sunday afternoon, when a young man stumbles upon a secret sport invented more than a century before, at the birth of his city.

RSVP to the event at: www.facebook.com/russellbooks/event

Open Space hosts Exhibition and Workshops

Remembering Amelia: Exhibition and Workshops
with New Dance Horizons, Robin Poitras, Yvonne Chartrand, and Ashley Johnson
August 6-10
Open Space, Victoria
Registration $5

Remembering Amelia celebrats the conrtributions of dance maverick Amelia Itchush, one of the country’s finest somatic movement analysts. This event includes a series of special performances, workshops and conversations, and an exhibition/display featuring an array of medias documenting Amelia’s practice. Partnership with Dance Victoria.

Innovative documentary screening this week

Girl Rising
Thursday, June 20, 7 pm
The Caprice Theatre, Victoria
Sponsored by Dwight School Canada
Admission by donation

The movie tells the stories of nine girls from different parts of the world who face arranged marriages, child slavery, and other heartbreaking injustices. Despite these obstacles, the brave girls offer hope and inspiration. By getting an education, they’re able to break barriers and create change. Each girl’s story was written by a renowned writer from her native country.

From Academy Award-nominated director Richard E. Robbins and the award-winning Documentary Group, in association with Paul Allen’s Vulcan Productions comes Girl Rising–an innovative new feature film about the power of education to change a girl–and the world. Girl Rising is powered by strategic partner, Intel Corporation, and distribution partner CNN Films. Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Liam Neeson, Cate Blanchette, Selena Gomez and other A-list actors contribute voice performances to the film,which features original music from Academy Award winner Rachel Portman, in collaboration with Hans Zimmer.

The film spotlights unforgettable girls like Sokha, an orphan who rises from the dumps of Cambodia to become a star student and an accomplished dancer; Suma, who composes music to help her endure forced servitude in Nepal and today crusades to free others; and Ruksana, an Indian “pavement-dweller” whose father sacrifices his own basic needs for his daughter’s dreams. Each girl is paired with a renowned writer from her native country. Edwidge Danticat, Sooni Taraporevala Aminatta Forna and others tell the girls’ stories, each in it’s style, and all with profound resonance. These girls are each unique, but the obstacles they faced are ubiquitous. Like the 66 million girls around the world who dream of going to school, what Sokha, Suma, Ruksana and the rest want most is to be students: to learn. And now, And now, by sharing their personal journeys, they have become teachers. Watch Girl Rising, and you will see: One girl with courage is a revolution.

The Stanza Project

The Stanza Project Book Launch & Reading
Wednesday, June 19, 8 pm
Brickhouse Bar, 730 Main Street, Vancouver
Accessible, free, everyone welcome.

Thursdays Writing Collective launches The Stanza Project, its 6th book of creative writing by Downtown Eastside writers. The 108 page, perfect-bound anthology is a collaboration with Dutch architect MLP Proosten and uses architectural and literary space to think about ideas of home.

Contributors include: Antonette Rea, Anupam Singhal, Cathy Truong, Elee Kraljii Gardiner, Erol Almelek, Ghia Aweida, Henry Doyle, Irit Shimrat, James McLean, Joan Morelli, Leroy Jongeling, Mark Proosten, Matt Malyon, Mohamed Helaly, Patrick Foley, Phoenix Winter, Robyn Livingstone, Roger Stewart, Ruth Dato.

Come celebrate with us and hear selected readers. Also, Mark Proosten will be in attendance!

Sales of the book ($15) support Thursdays Writing Collective.

Join the event on Facebook.

Stigma Stomp Day

Stigma Stomp Day
Friday, June 14, 12-3 pm
Centennial Square, Victoria

Stigma exists in the world because of a lack of understanding and knowledge.

Come celebrate a day free of stigma at the 2nd Annual Stigma Stomp Day! Join in the fun with an afternoon of live music, inspiring speakers, and awesome T-shirts–First 200 T-shirts are FREE!

For more info, email stigmastompday@shaw.ca.

Queer Across Canada

The Rogue Folk Club presents
Kate Reid
Queer Across Canada CD Release
Saturday, June 8, Doors at 7 pm
St. James Hall, 3213 West 10th Ave, Vancouver
Tickets $20 | Members $16
Accessible, All ages & Licensed Event

Sure same-sex marriage is legal these days, and gay people don’t get fired from their jobs like they used to, but the growing number of queer parents and openly queer youth means that young people are facing homophobia like never before.

Moved by stories of queer teens and kids with queer parents feeling isolated and ostracized, singer-songwriter and musical comedienne Kate Reid embarked on her most audacious recording project yet. She conducted 74 interviews with queer parents, queer kids, and straight kids of queer parents and used them to create Queer Across Canada, a pioneering collection of songs for queer families that bursts with a spirit of radical celebration of the rainbow spectrum.

For more on Kate Reid, visit her website, or check out The Coastal Spectator interview we did with Reid in October.

Po’ Girl Awna Teixeira tours with solo album

Awna Teixeira and Jennifer Louise Taylor
Sunday, June 2, 2-4 pm
Spiral Cafe, 418 Craigflower RD, Victoria
$10 at the door

Awna Teixeira has toured the world from Africa to Spain and back again with internationally renowned roots band Po’ Girl. She is currently doing a tour in support of her first solo album, Where the Darkness Goes. With a uniquely sultry voice and incredible songwriting, Teixeira brings beautifully styled music to the world.

She joins popular local folk musician, Jennifer Louise Taylor, for an afternoon show this Sunday, at Spiral Cafe.

Fiction, knitting, and purls of wisdom

FictionKNITstas Reading Series
Dede Crane, Gillian Campbell, Nicole Dixon and Stella Harvey
Monday, May 27, 7 pm
Beehive Wool Shop, 1700 Douglas St, Victoria

The FictionKNITstas tour is coming to Victoria for a night of fiction, knitwork, and fun! Expect gripping yarns and purls of wisdom that just may leave you in stitches.

FictionKNITstas is a unique Canada-wide reading series for female writers of literary fiction and their writers, and it’s starting the cross-country tour in Victoria on May 27!

Four fantastic authors— Dede Crane, Gillian Campbell, Nicole Dixon, and Stella Harvey—will read from their new books. And they’ll do so in style: fabulous knitters have custom-created pieces inspired by the books, and these knitwork pieces will be on display. Acclaimed Victoria author Dede Crane will host the evening.

About Dede Crane:

A two-time finalist for Victoria’s Butler Book Prize, Dede Crane is the author of the acclaimed short story collection The Cult of Quick Repair and two YA novels, and was the editor of the collection Great Expectations: Twenty Four True Stories about Childbirth. Her first published story was shortlisted for the CBC Literary Award, and her stories have been published in numerous literary journals. A former professional ballet dancer and choreographer, Dede has studied Buddhist psychology and psychokinetics at Naropa Institute in Colorado and the Body-Mind Institute in Amherst, Massachusetts. She currently calls Victoria, B.C. home. Every Happy Family is Dede’s second publication with Coteau Books.

About Gillian Campbell

Gillian Campbell‘s short fiction has been published in Grain Magazine, Creekstones: Words & Images, The New Quarterly, and The Antigonish Review. She has a BA from the Université de Montréal and a master’s of library science from the University of British Columbia, and for many years she worked as a children’s librarian. Gillian grew up on the West Island of Montreal and now makes her home on the West Coast on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia. The Apple House is her first novel.

About Nicole Dixon

Nicole Dixon has lived in Toronto, Sarnia, Windsor, North Bay and Halifax. Her work has been nominated for the Journey Prize and a CBC Literary Award and appeared in The New Quarterly, GrainThe Fiddlehead, and Canadian Notes and Queries. In 2005 she won the Writers’ Trust of Canada RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for short fiction. Previously a French teacher for young children, Nicole is currently electronic resources librarian at Cape Breton University and divides her time among New Waterford, Cape Breton, and Advocate Harbour, Nova Scotia. High-Water Mark (The Porcupine’s Quill) is her debut book.

About Stella Harvey

Stella Leventoyannis Harvey was born in Cairo, Egypt and moved to Calgary as a child. In 2001, Stella founded the Whistler Writers Group, also known as the Vicious Circle, which each year produces the Whistler Writers Festival under her direction. Stella’s short stories have appeared in The Literary Leanings Anthology, The New Orphic Review, Emerge Magazine and The Dalhousie Review. Her non-fiction has appeared in Pique Newsmagazine, The Question and the Globe and Mail.  She currently lives with her husband in Whistler, but visits her relatives in Greece often, indulging her love of Greek food and culture and honing her fluency in the language. Nicolai’s Daughters is her first published novel.

SALT New Music Festival starts Saturday

SALT New Music Festival and Symposium
May 25-June 2
Open Space, 510 Fort Street, and UVic School of Music

The SALT New Music Festival and Symposium is a one–week event, occurring from May 25 to June 2, taking place at Open Space and the University of Victoria School of Music.

At the University of Victoria School of Music  you can find a week’s worth of free lectures, colloquia, and masterclasses. At Open Space, three stunning concerts–including seven world premieres–will take place. The event’s hosts, The Tsilumos Ensemble, have invited world–class experts in contemporary and electronic music to join them in Victoria present audiences with new sonorous adventures in contemporary music.

The concerts will consist of local musicians such as Max Murray, a tuba soloist originally from Victoria and now based in Berlin alongside many esteemed international performers such as the Quasar Saxophone Quartet (Montreal, QC), the award-winning Ensemble Dal Niente (Chicago, USA), and Experimentalstudio (Freiburg, Germany).

This iteration of the SALT New Music Festival and Symposium will premiere three new compositions by Wolf Edwards (Victoria, BC), Steven Takasugi (Cambridge, USA), and Gianluca Ulivelli (Florence, Italy), made possible by a grant from the Ernst von Siemens Foundation for Music (Germany).

Students of music from around the world have been invited to this program and offered reading sessions, workshops, and lessons in composition and contemporary music interpretation, hopefully to invigorate the study, research, and performance of contemporary and electronic music.  Come and join them in this exploration of the cutting edge of new music.

For more information see www.openspace.ca/SALT2013 Information about free events can be found at www.tsilumos.org

 

Alt-folk triple threat this Saturday

Kasper & Howe with Auto Jansz
Saturday, May 25, 7:30 pm
Gorge-ous Coffee, Gorge and Tillicum, Victoria
All ages. Tickets by donation at the door.

Music veterans James Kasper, Geoff Howe and Auto Jansz perform this Saturday. Some memorable songs are on the menu, along with Kasper’s sultry noir-folk vocals, soulful harmonica and shimmering guitar from Geoff Howe. Auto Jansz serves up an eclectic mix of originals and covers, revealing her surprising musical past, from 90s Winnipeg riot girl (Bittersweet) to country-folk sensation (Barley Wik) and alt folk pop (Born in Cities). This will be the littlest show you definitely don’t want to miss.

James Kasper & Geoff Howe live:

Auto Jansz: