In 2002 he brought us to Ghana, Togo, Benin, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and Mauritania with Harmattan: Wind Across West Africa. In 2006 Poets & Pahlevans took us on ‘a journey into the heart of Iran' in an exploration of the relationship between heroic poetry and the various styles of traditional Persian wrestling. This year Marcello Di Cintio is taking his audience into Walls. Many walls. From India to Montreal, Morocco to Arizona, Cyprus to Belfast. I have no idea how he managed to fit this much travel, tension, and experience into 288 pages, but this week we get to find out...

OFFICIAL WALLS BOOK LAUNCH

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 20

CROWN SURPLUS (INGLEWOOD)

1005 - 11th Street SE

7pm - 8pm

According to the event's Facebook page, this is outdoor, so do bring a jacket.

To place your hold on Walls, click here.

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More on the book...

In this ambitious blend of travel and reportage, Marcello Di Cintio travels to the world’s most disputed edges to meet the people who live alongside the razor wire and answer the question: What does it mean to live against the walls?

Di Cintio shares tea with Saharan refugees on the wrong side of Morocco’s desert wall. He meets with illegal Punjabi migrants who have circumvented the fencing around the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. He visits fenced-in villages in northeast India, walks Arizona’s migrant trails, and travels to Palestinian villages to witness the protests against Israel’s security barrier.

From Native American reservations on the US-Mexico border and the “Great Wall of Montreal” to Cyprus’s divided capital and the Peace Lines of Belfast, Di Cintio seeks to understand what these structures say about those who build them and how they influence the cultures that they surround. Some walls define “us” from “them” with medieval clarity. Some walls encourage fear or feed hate. Others kill. And every wall inspires its own subversion, whether by the infiltrators who dare to go over, under or around them, or by the artists who transform them.

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Why is this event outdoor in Calgary in September?

According to Marcello's blog, "Elsewhere":

"I decided to hold the event in the back lot of Calgary’s Crown Surplus. Considering the topic of the book, I figured I’d surround my audience with fences, barbed wire, army tents and other shards of military urbanism."

Makes sense.

If you are interested in having your mind blown, consider any of the following projects being constructed for Calgary's first year taking part in Nuit Blanche - an international, multi-city, late night arts festival...

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An audience-activated handcrafted rideable carousel.

A living cloud created from 5,000 light bulbs.

Live, interdisciplinary performance.

A rowdy, portable Belfast pub.

Text message town criers.

Maybe wear a helmet?

Saturday, September 15.

Olympic Plaza Park.

7pm - 3am.

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For all the amazing pictures and details go to NUIT BLANCHE.

SINGLE ONION is looking to create a response poem consisting of one-line reactions to the event, which sounds like a really good idea. The incredibly simple instructions on how to contribute your reaction are at Single Onion's blogspot.

Read recent articles on this event from FFWD magazine, or the HERALD.

If you want to get some serious value out of your library card, there is a three month window, which has already opened, for Calgary Public Library members to take part in our Writer in Residence services. With financial assistance from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, we are quite lucky to be able to offer an opportunity for Calgary writers to pursue an appraisal of their work from a professional author.

This year Memorial Park library has welcomed Brian Brennan and this Saturday, September 8, we want to make it official...

Writer in Residence Welcome and Program Launch

Memorial Park Library
1221 2^nd St SW
No registration required

Saturday, September 8

2:00–3:30 p.m.

A reception will follow.

Here is a small sample of Mr. Brennan’s work:

How the West was Written: the life and times of James H. Gray	Boondoggles, Bonanzas, and Other Alberta Stories	Leaving Dublin: Writing my Way from Ireland to Canada	Romancing the Rockies

For information on submitting a manuscript and setting up an individual consultation, click here, or call the Memorial Park library at 403-221-2006

You may have met Naomi K. Lewis last fall through the library’s Writer-in-Residence service as she gracefully critiqued our manuscripts, imparted her experienced wisdom, and shared her work. Good things seemed to have happened for Naomi since the end of her residency, as she was awarded the Colophon Prize for Fiction in January and now, eight months later, I Know Who You Remind Me Of is ready to be launched:

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 15

SHELF LIFE BOOKS

(Corner of 4th Street & 13th Avenue SW)
2:00pm - 4:00pm

Original and effortlessly clever, the stories in I Know Who You Remind Me Of capture the sensibility of a generation with no cultural inhibitions to overcome. Naomi K. Lewis’s characters bear the battlescars of adolescence and early adulthood ­– scars left when one classmate impersonates another in Internet pornography; a lover donates his eyeball in the heat of passion; sibling rivalry escalates into a low orbit. For these characters, everything is straight-on, never coy, and often deliciously funny. Stories from this collection have appeared in the Journey Prize anthology, the Fiddlehead, The New Quarterly, and other journals.

Library copies of I Know Who You Remind Me Of are on the way. Until they come, click here to place a hold on Naomi K. Lewis' debut novel - Cricket in a Fist.

Read the Nook's interview with Naomi from November 2011.

From the whimsical to the deepest critical analysis, for the highly advanced to the bright-eyed beginner, the library is constantly bringing in the newest titles aimed at guiding and helping writers. Up on the 4th floor of Central we set them aside into what must be the largest collection of writers' resources anywhere in town. Come visit the Writer's Nook in person or check out some of these new books by clicking the title or book cover...

	Several Short Sentences About Writing by Verlyn Klinkenborg "Your job as a writer is making sentences. Most of your time will be spent making sentences in your head. Did no one ever tell you this? That is the writer's life. Never imagine you've left the level of the sentence behind. Most of the sentences you make will need to be killed. The rest will need to be fixed. This will be true for a long time. The hard part now is deciding which to kill and which to fix and how to fix them. This will get much, much easier, but the decision making will never end." A widely admired writer and teacher of writing for more than 25 years, Klinkenborg gives a distillation of that experience in an indispensable and distinctive book that will help anyone who wants to write, write better, or have a clearer understanding of what it means to be writing.
	45 Master Characters: mythic models for creating original characters by Victoria Schmidt Want to make your characters and their stories more compelling, complex, and original than ever before? 45 Master Characters is here to help you explore the most common male and female archetypes--the mythic, cross-cultural models from which all characters originate. Explore a wide variety of character profiles including heroes, villains, and supporting characters. Learn how to use archetypes as foundations for your own unique characters Examine the mythic journeys of heroes and heroines--the progression of events upon which each archetype's character arc develops--and learn how to use them to enhance your story. Complete with examples culled from literature, television, and film, 45 Master Characters illustrates just how memorable and effective these archetypes can be--from "Gladiators" and "Kings" like Rocky Balboa and Captain Ahab to "Amazons" and "Maidens" like Wonder Woman and Guinevere. Great heroes and villains are necessary to bring any story to life; let this guide help you create characters that stand the test of time.
	Anatomy of a Short Story: Nabokov's puzzles, codes, "Signs and Symbols" by Yuri Leving Since its first publication in 1948, one of Vladimir Nabokov's shortest short stories, "Signs and Symbols," has generated perhaps more interpretations and critical appraisal than any other that he wrote. It has been called "one of the greatest short stories ever written" and "a triumph of economy and force, minute realism and shimmering mystery" (Brian Boyd, Vladimir Nabokov: The American Years). Anatomy of a Short Story contains: - the full text of "Signs and Symbols," line numbered and referenced throughout the book - correspondence about the story, most of it never before published, between Nabokov and the editor of The New Yorker, where the story was first published - 33 essays of literary criticism on the story, bringing together classic essays and new interpretations - a round-table discussion in which a screenwriter, a theater scholar, a mathematician, a psychiatrist, and a literary scholar bring their perspectives to bear on "Signs and Symbols". Anatomy of a Short Story illuminates the ways in which we interpret fiction, and the short story in particular.
	Just Write: here's how! by Walter Dean Myers What makes a writer? The desire to tell a story, a love of language, an eye for detail, practice, practice, practice. How well should you know your characters? Do you need to outline before you write? How important is length? Now Walter Dean Myers, the new National Ambassador for Young People's Literature and New York Times bestselling and award-winning author, walks you through the writing process.
	Short Films: writing the screenplay by Patrick Nash A complete guide to short film screenplays, from finding and developing that exciting idea to information on the technical revolution in digital filmmaking and distribution. Every award-winning short film begins life with a clever idea, a good story, and a screenplay. Here Patrick Nash analyzes the process of writing short film screenplays and gives advice on story and structure, plot and pace, generating ideas, screenplay format, dialogue and format, and character design. He helps readers ensure that their writing will be fresh by discussing common clichés and stereotypes; conflict, obstacles, and stakes; eliciting emotion; and how to hook the viewer. The specifics of loglines, outlines, and synopses are also covered, as well as rewriting, length, practicalities, and budgets. The book also includes a number of award-winning scripts and interviews, advice and contributions from their award-winning screenwriters and a discussion of the benefits to writers of writing short screenplays.

Way back in April we alerted you to a local poetry contest worth getting excited about – the “Single Onion 100 Calgary Poetry Contest”. Single Onion is Calgary's longest-running spoken word series. In their twelfth year of lining Calgary up with a variety of renowned Canadian poets, as well as up-and-coming local artists, SO will celebrate their 100^th event and for the occasion they want to know how local poets see Calgary.

The deadline for submissions was August 15, 2012, but IT GOT EXTENDED!

The new deadline is September 15^th, 2012.

Ten finalists will be chosen to perform at the SO100 Celebration Event on Saturday, November 17, 2012.

Prize money remains the same:

3^rd place – $150, 2^nd place – $300, 1^st place - $1000

For full contest details visit the Single Onion blog. This is also the place where you can find the reading series' upcoming schedule of events, which usually take place the third Thursday of every month.

SATURDAY AUGUST 26

1.00pm - 2.30pm

OLYMPIC PLAZA

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Kris Demeanor

Shannon Lee Bennett

Marcello Di Cintio

Jon R. Flieger

Barb Howard

Naomi K. Lewis

Fred Stenson

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The Alberta Magazine Publishers Association has rounded up 7 of Calgary's most exciting writers for an unmissable afternoon of literary performance action under a prairie sky.

Get full details at the AMPA website.

Get the authors' work at your local library. Click book covers to place your hold.

Kris Demeanor	Marcello Di Cintio	Barb Howard

Naomi K. Lewis	Fred Stenson

Yay. Yes. It's happening again. Calgary's favorite new festival. The PPF, returning to the streets of Kensington (and beyond) for its second run. Here's what's going to go down, in their words:

"Showcasing local poets and poetry organizations, as well as amateur and aspiring poets and spoken word artists, the PPF seeks to tear apart the notion that poetry is reserved for academic elites and enlightened beatniks.

Our free, three-day festival uses public and private space in the Kensington area to create an interactive and collaborative event that shares a love of poetry with everyone, young or old, tall or small. In bringing poetry directly to the people in a public format, we hope to build connections both between poets, artists and fans, but also within Calgary’s multifaceted communities."

-from peoplespoetryfestival.com

The weekend will feature:Jen Kunlire

DO-IT-YOURSELF POETRY STATIONS

OPEN MICS

AN ART INSTALLATION OF POETIC GRAFFITI

WRITING WORKSHOPS

...and a whole lot more. Things will kick off Friday, August 17, 6:30pm, at Pages Books on Kensington with a performance from this year's Poet of Honour - JEN KUNLIRE.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 10

NOON - 1pm

CENTRAL LIBRARY, MAIN FLOOR

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Kevin J. Anderson

Kelley Armstrong

Anthony Bidulka

Rebecca Moesta

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WHEN WORDS COLLIDE is a 3-day festival (Aug. 8 - 10) for readers and writers that unites lovers of many genres for one glorious summer weekend in the city of Calgary. If you can't make it to the Best Western Village Park Inn for the slew of events, including: speaker panels, Kaffe klatches (meet a Guest of Honour or other author in a small group setting), Pitch sessions, Blue-pencil cafe, Parties, Merchant's Corner - don't worry, the festival's guests of honour are making an appearance at the Central Library on Friday, August 10. No registration is required.

A small sample of the authors' amazing work:

CALGARY SLAM SUMMER EDITION FEATURING SOLES OF AUSTRALIA AND VICTORIA'S MISSIE PETERS

Thursday July 26

8:00pm - 11:00pm

Auburn Saloon (115 9 Ave SE)

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If your brain is starting to melt down through the lull of summer Calgary's Ink Spot Collective may have the solution you need to snap from those dog day syndromes: poetic visitors from the southern hemisphere, Ink Spot Collective(where it's winter!). The Soles of Australia Tour features two Melbourne-based poets, Joel McKerrow and Michelle Dabrowski, who are hitting the road to show the world the powerful force of their spoken word scene.

Victoria BC's award-winning spoken word performer Missie Peters will also grace the Auburn stage this Thursday. She is a two-time Victoria Slam Champion, the former slam master, one half of the improvised spoken word duo SpeakEasy and the director of Not Your Grandma's Poetry.

Also on stage - YOU. It's a slam. Show up at 7:30 to sign up.

Need to brush up on your slam skills? - Place a hold on Sheri-D WIlson's 'Spoken Word Workbook'...