Boo! Hoo!

...is what CBC SoundXChange is calling today's show and I'm delighted that my Songs from the Stelcoat Barn is part of it. This will be the second airing of the poems. CBC Saskatchewan has been an important publisher of new writing for more than twenty years and has played an important role in my development as a writer, not only bringing my work to a wider audience, but bringing work of other writers and performers to my ears. As a writer who truly works alone on a boreal stage on the northern fringe of a big, sparsely populated province, I am grateful for the opportunity to be heard and to connect with the wider community within the province and beyond. As well, CBC Saskatchewan, with its forward-thinking mentoring relationship with young artists through the Youth Write program, open to secondary level students in Saskatchewan, has opened the doors to many young writers over the years. Fostering creativity like this benefits us all. Needless to say, I was choked when I learned of the extensive cuts to CBC Saskatchewan's literary programming budget. From what I understand, these cuts mean that new work will no longer be acquired. That means fewer ears will hear the emerging stories of our region. Now that's scary.

When you sour

the throat


you colour


the song


that follows

I marvel at a book that can pull me in

...within its first few lines and hold me till the end. So it was with Shane Neilson's Meniscus. I don't know Neilson, but I'm familiar with some of his work at Frog Hollow Press. I ordered Meniscus after reading his guest post on Thirsty, where he talks about "the cringe factor in the confessional." I was curious. When it came in the mail the other day I gave it a customary quick look as I had things on the go that I wanted to get back to. So I admired the cover and the paper on which the poems are printed. Then I made the mistake of reading "Recovery," the first poem. I was hooked. There went the afternoon. The book not only held me, but it summoned rare tears ("Bedside Delirium: Family Visit") and smiles ("Love Life") and feelings for which I have no words ("Paranoia", "Light"). While the speaker is fully fleshed, full of heart and warm blooded, there is no cringe factor, just as there is no cringe factor when one reads a good novel. Meniscus drew me into its world and in the end, like good books do, no matter the genre, left me feeling oddly hopeful and more alive.

No Schmidt was injured

...in the making of this video.



At least as far as I know. We'll see tomorrow.

One of my poems has been showcased

...on Jamblichus's Weblog, a wide-ranging, politically active blog out of the UK. The thumbs up makes my day.

Subtract the cost of attending a writers conference

...from the cost of not attending. This is the kind of literary math I do. On Thursday morning, hours before it was light, we packed up the car for the all day drive to Regina for the Saskatchewan Writers Guild Conference and AGM, which started on Friday. It was a well organized, well thought out conference as usual and well worth all the time and every penny we spent to attend.

We got into the city that night just in time to attend the launch of Spring, the SWG magazine that showcases the work of emerging writers. Thirteen of the contributors read. Some of them I knew, some I didn't. Strong, confident readings by all. Spring is close to my heart as it was one of my first publication credits and at its launch years ago I gave my first public reading. At the time I wasn't sure if I could stand there and read my work to a room full of real writers. That was many many readings ago, but I remember it so clearly. I remember clearly the established writers who came up to chat with me after. That meant so much. It's all up to you now, one said. That stuck with me.

The conference itself started at 1 pm on Friday. It was tough to choose between concurrent sessions, as they all looked tempting. Some highlights from the conference (aka the sessions I attended), listed chronologically:

• Harold Johnson's remarkable talk comparing and contrasting the oral and written traditions.
• The talk about the impact of location on writing given by Gail Bowen, Gerry Hill and Barbara Klar.
• The talk on regional and non-regional writing given by Robert Calder and Trevor Herriot.
• The talk on poetry, the long and short forms, given by Robert Kroetsch and Hilary Clark.
• The reading by Robert Kroetsch of poems from his forthcoming collection. So smart and sobering and so funny.
• The fun open mic with a side effects theme hosted by Gerry Hill.

After the Caroline Heath Memorial Lecture, delivered by Drew Hayden Taylor, H and I had wonderful chats with many people, including Jerry Haigh, the president of the Saskatchewan Writers Guild. We first met Jerry years ago at a conference, well before he became president. We talked about many things, including current approaches to technology and the use of Youtube. Here's a wonderful interview of Jerry Haigh, which shows exactly why I find him so interesting.



Some of the most valuable things I took away from this conference are not bloggable. Things that came out of the conversations at meals, the exchanges at receptions, the connections and reconnections between sessions. I learned so much. Thanks to all.

What this photo doesn't show

...are the sirens. All the sirens. The wet blinks. The thick swallows. The quickened pulse. The shaking hands,


however, are apparent enough.

Being parroted

...literally.

Raindrops keep falling on my

...Aquilegia canadensis


but that doesn't mean


my eyes


will.