28 December 2010

New book! Prison Songs and Storefront Poetry

Just in before the year end is my newest book, Prison Songs and Storefront Poetry with Ekstasis Editions in Victoria, BC. I received my first copies last week while on the Eastern Shore in Nova Scotia.

ISBN 978-1-897430-60-6

All of the poems in this book, except for three, were composed on the portable, manual typewriter in my cover photo. Writing, creating poems on a manual typewriter in this age of wireless laptop computers is a curiouly slower and more physical means of writing, and different again from writing longhand as I do in my journals. One “prison song” was was first written longhand and two “prison songs”, including the first one written, were written on the computer.

The idea for Prison Songs came to me from Marko Kristić, in Belgrade, Serbia. He told me while we were travelling in April 2006 on buses to and from a promotional reading in Kruševac for my book Pesme iz kazamata (Belgrade: i.p. Rad, 2005), that the book’s title translated from Serbian back into English not only as the original Casemate Poems book title but also as “prison songs”—a theme he explored in his review of the book. At the time he was a PhD candidate at the University of Belgrade. I felt I should try to write some prison songs.

Many of the Prison Songs I wrote in July 2006 during a one-week Fredericton Arts Alliance artist residency. The residencies happen in an open to the public space shared with another artist. During my week I shared with a potter, Ursula Sommerer, and we collaborated on a ceramic platter that she formed. When it was leather hard and the slip she applied had dried, I sat down for several hours and letter by letter stamped “prison song 05” into the clay. Ursula fired it in a kiln with iron powder in the letter forms to give them contrast. We exhibited the platter then sold it to the City of Fredericton for their art collection. Using the Fred-eZone free wireless network, I also blog posted each poem written as soon as I had retyped it into my laptop.

The poems “prison song 19” through “prison song 29” were written in a 24-hour period and they are both shaped and influenced by the posters gathered the morning of 21 July 2007 as the page layout of the 24-hour created issue of my New Muse of Contempt zine printed in a hand-sewn edition of 48 copies.

I believe that for some “prison songs” I put myself in the mindset of various people imprisoned or other wise trapped in a situation along with a few in which the writer in the one feeling trapped or locked up.

Storefront Poetry is the title given by The Rabbit Hole store staff to my one-week writing residency in September 2008. Much as in the early 1980s I had lived and worked several years in Banff and seem to make it back there every few years, this was my first time in Grande Prairie, northern Alberta, and nothern British Columbia. Because the storefront window would be too hot to sit in for hours at a time, I was set up with a small desk beside the store entrance with my manual typewriter, journal, and laptop computer. Security was surprised at the airport when they scanned my suitcase and found the typewriter. As with the FAA casemate residencies, I interacted with people who came by—sometimes having lively, extended conversations while I was writing.

If you would like an autographed copy of this book, send me $25 ($30 for copies to be shipped outside Canada):
Maritimes Arts Projects Productions
BOX 596 STN A
FREDERICTON NB E3B 5A6
CANADA
or get a copy in person by helping me tour the book by hosting a reading:
• Next Canada Poetry Tours Reading Program application deadline ($50 admin fee) at the League of Canadian Poets is only a month away: 31 January 2011.
• Next Literary Readings program at Canada Council for the Arts deadline is 1 March 2011.
• The Writers’ Union of Canada’s National Public Readings Program ($75 admin fee) doesn’t have a deadline (but the fund does dry up before year end). Applications for readings after 1 April 2011 are being accepted.

I expect to be launching this book in Victoria in early June, and mid-June in Ontario.

New „Putevi“ includes Džo Blejds fiction

The newest issue of „Putevi“ literary journal, number 10–11, in Banja Luka, RS (BiH), includes two pieces of Џо Блејдс/Džo Blejds/Joe Blades fiction, from a manuscript titled “Burying Ground”, in translation by Татјана Бијелић/Tatjana Bijelic. Below is the first page …

27 December 2010

early media coverage

After about a 10-minute (don’t believe the bogus precise “nine minutes and 41 seconds” (as if I was stopwatch timed when I wasn’t) four-leaf clover picking frenzy at my grandparents’ (Dad’s parents) family home–farm in (I believe) 1973. Photo article was in the Dartmouth Free Press weekly in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, where I was living and going to Bell Ayr School (Elementary or Jr. High … or in between … I’m unsure … depends on when exactly that year).

unexpected coffee collection

My/Broken Jaw Press’ house coffee has been organic “Breaking the Silence” Guatemalan coffee (prepared by Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op in Wolfville, Nova Scotia), a fundraiser for Breaking the Silence (BTS) a voluntary network of people in the Maritimes who began to organize in 1988 to support the efforts of Guatemalans struggling for political, social, and economic justice: see the blog at breakingthesilencenet.blogspot.com.

I’ve also kept Grand coffee from Novi Beograd on hand since my travels in Serbia. It’s for those days I want something different—a little stovetop “domestic” coffee.

Earlier this year I was given some Kurukahveci, a real Turkish coffee, by a fellow grad student in an MEd course :-D



This morning, I had Wake Up Joe coffee gifted for my birthday. It’s an Arabica from Paramount Coffee in Lansing, Michigan bought because of its name.

This week, at Christmas, I was given three more whole bean coffees:

Sumatra Harimau Tiger from the tiny and new Puddle Jump Coffee Roasters on Causeway Road, Seaforth, Nova Scotia;

Another organic Arabica bean coffee, Harar Ethiopian, from Just Us!—a great small bean coffee that I’ve been given before;

and, most unexpectedly, a Jumping Bean Newfoundland Screech Rum Flavoured Coffee from St John’s on the Rock.

Must have a year’s supply of coffee in maison Broken Jaw!

19 December 2010

@ the UGSW Collective Agreement signing

Tuesday, 7 Dec 2010 in the Wu Centre, UNB Fredericton. Photo take, with my camera, by PSAC/AFPC Regional VP Jeannie Baldwin.

Seated (L–R): Peter McDougall (Associate Vice-President (Human
Resources),UNB), Tiffany Thornhill (Bargaining Team, UGSW President).
Standing (L–R): Donald Desserud (Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, UNB–SJ), Heather Sears (Human Resources, UNB), Pride Abownga (Bargaining Team, UGSW), Gail Lem (Chief Negotiator, PSAC), Greg Ericson (Bargaining Team, UGSW Treasurer), and Joe Blades (UGSW member).

I was there to photograph the signing for the union, the UGSW, because I figured (rightly so, it turned out) UNB would not have a photographer there to document the historic occasion: the signing of the first Collective Agreement between the Union of Graduate Student Workers at the University of New Brunswick (UGSW)–Public Service Alliance of Canada/Alliance de la Fonction publique du Canada Local 60550 and the employer.

UGSW on Facebook
www.ugsw-psac60550.ca
ugsw.unb@gmail.com
PSAC–AFPC

13 December 2010

Movies watched in recent weeks

Landed, a Stairwell Dwellers Production, 2010

Whale Music, 2003

Pink Floyd—The Wall, 1999

Werner Herzog's Stroszek, 2004

Nicolas Roeg's The Man Who Fell to Earth, 1976

Kinji Fukasaku's Batoru rowaiaru (Battle Royale), 2004

11 December 2010

Off the Hook

Off the Hook (detail)
by Joe Blades, 2010
mixed media installation piece
145 Marshall d'Avray Hall
University of New Brunswick
10 Mackay Dr
Fredericton, NB

qualitative methodologies
including arts-based research
grad students' office located
in a former custodians' room
three fire extinguishers behind the door
key cabinet on the wall

keys welcome!

08 December 2010

18 Dec. Fredericton Crafters Sale

18 Dec, Saturday, 9am to 4pm. Fredericton Crafters "Last Minute Christmas Shopping" show & sale @ St Andrews Church Hall, 512 Charlotte St, Fredericton, NB. Free admission!

Joe Blades/Maritimes Arts Projects Productions and Broken Jaw Press will be there with books, chapbooks, notecards, and handmade books.

16 November 2010

Found photo du jour

Found at 10:57 AM, Monday, 15 November 2010 in the ground floor hallway, Marshall d'Avray Hall, 10 Mackay Drive, UNB-Fredericton, near the Graduate Education Students' lounge ... possibly a theatre production photograph.

28 October 2010

Found photos du jour

Found on the floor of the Visual Culture room, Marshall d'Avray Hall, 10 Mackay Dr, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB at 2:30 pm, 28 October 2010.

25 October 2010

ellipse 83 launched

Yesterday, during the Brunch Chez Rose activity in Side by Side Festival Côte à Côte 2010, in Moncton, NB, issue 83 of ellipse was launched.

Jean BabineauJean Babineau, contributor, at the launch.


Contents

L’Est rencontre l’Ouest / East Meets West

Editor’s Note: Jo-Anne Elder
tr. (français) Stéphanie Roesler (Ontario)

Winners of the Literary Translation Contest, Jo-Anne Elder

Joe Blades (E/E), “sometimes”
tr. (français) Jean Babineau (E/E*)
tr. (français) J.R. Léveillé (O/W)
tr. (Catalan) Michael Bantjes (O/W)
intra (English) Kathy Mac (E/E)
tr. (Dutch) Will van den Hoonard (E/E)
tr. (Dutch) Dymphny Dronyk (O/W)
tr. (Turkish) Yalçin Ener (Turkey)
and Mehmet Yaşin (Cyprus)

Joe Blades (E/E), “permutations of water”

Joe Blades (E/E), from from the book that doesn’t close (E/E)
tr. (Serbian) Tatjana Bijelić (BiH)

Kathy Mac (E/E) “Elements of a Good Workshop”
tr. (français) Charles Leblanc (O/W)
intra (English) Joe Blades (E/E)

Art. Acadie. Sarah Petite (E/E)
Art. because Giants (after Sarah Petite). Joe Blades (E/E)
Art. Edgecomb Block door (tagged by EASTMEETSWEST artist Cyrus Smith). Joe Blades (E/E)

J.R. Léveillé (O/W), sans titre (« il répondit… »)
(English) J.R. Léveillé (O/W)
tr. (Catalan) Elisabet Ràfols (O/W)
tr. (English) Ashley Bursey (E/E)
intra (français) Joe Blades (E/E)
adaptation (English) Kathy Mac (E/E)

Herménégilde Chiasson (E/E), « Instructions pour 10 performances intimes »
tr. (English) Nicole Vienneau (E/E)
tr. (English) Ida Orenbach (E/E)
tr. (German) Inge Noeninger (E/E)

Don Domanski (E/E), “A Hummingbird’s Heart Beats 1260 Times a Minute”
tr. (français) Martine Cantin (E/E)

Jean Babineau (E/E), « La Descente »
(English annotated version) Jo-Anne Elder and Jean Babineau
tr. (English) Jo-Anne Elder (E/E)

Dyane Léger (E/E) et Paul Savoie (O/W), extrait de L’Incendiaire
tr. (English) Jo-Anne Elder (E/E)

[*E : artiste de l’Est du Canada, O : artiste de l’Ouest du Canada /
E: from Eastern Canada, W: from Western Canada]


Want a copy? Here's a subscription &/or order form:

21 October 2010

Found photo du jour

Found @ 5:50 pm, 21 octobre 2010, opposite Gallery 78, 796 Queen St, Fredericton, NB, curled up beside the shut drinking water fountain, just before the Cérémonie d'acceuil autochtone/Aboriginal Welcome Ceremony par/by Carlos Gomes, The Green, beside Beaverbrook Art Gallery, et ouverture officielle/Official Opening de + Trajectoires et dérives de la littérature-monde (APLAQA) + Simposio 2010 de la Asociación de Hispanistas de las Provincias Atlánticas/Symposium of the AHPA/Symposium de l'AHPA y Side By Side Festival/Festival Côte à Côte/Lado a lado et reading/lecture par/by Régine Robin et Phyllis Aronoff.

09 October 2010

Festival Côte à Côte 2010 Side by Side Festival

7th Edition / 7e édition
WORDS AFLOAT, WORDS ADRIFT: Translating Literature /
TRAJECTOIRES ET DÉRIVES de la traduction littéraire

21–26 OCT 2010
Fredericton & Moncton, NB

21 oct
• 18h30–19. Cérémonie d'acceuil autochtone / Aboriginal Welcome Ceremony. Carlos Gomes. The Green, beside Beaverbrook Art Gallery, rue Queen St., Fredericton.

• 19–19h30. Ouverture officielle / Official Opening.
+ Trajectoires et dérives de la littérature-monde (APLAQA)
+ Simposio 2010 de la Asociación de Hispanistas de las Provincias Atlánticas / Symposium of the AHPA/ Symposium de l'AHPA
+ Side By Side Festival/Festival Côte à Côte.

• 20–21h. Reading / Lecture. Régine Robin, Phyllis Aronoff.

22 oct
• 14–16h30. Faculté des arts salle 207, Université de Moncton. Rencontre littéraire et atelier de traduction / Discussion and Translation Workshop. Dyane Léger et Rose Després.

• 19–21h30. Centre communautaire Ste.-Anne, 715, rue Priestman St., Fredericton. Soirée littéraire / Reading (in French) en collaboration avec Association des professeurs de litérature acadienne et québécoise de l'Atlantique (APLAQA)

• 9:30pm– . James Joyce Pub, 659, rue Queen Street. (Les) Rendez-vous: Multilingual Reading and Open Mic / Lecture multilingue et micro ouvert, Recital poético y lectura abierta. Phyllis Aronoff, Jean Babineau, Joe Blades, Herménégilde Chiasson, Rose Després, Brigitte Harrison, Hugh Hazelton, Raymond Guy LeBlanc, Dyane Léger, Biff Mitchell, Nela Rio, Howard Scott and others / et d'autres!

23 oct
• 9–3:00pm. UNB-Fredericton location tbd / à déterminer. Simposio 2010 de la AHPA/ Symposium of the AHPA/ Symposium de l'AHPA. Hugh Hazelton, Nela Rio

24 oct
• 11–3:00, 178 croissant Liberty Cres, Moncton. Brunch Chez Rose. Discussion. Phyllis Aronoff, Joe Blades, Herménégilde Chiasson, Rose Després, Jo-Anne Elder, Brigitte Harrison, Hugh Hazelton, Raymond Guy LeBlanc, Dyane Léger, Elisabet Rafols, Nela Rio, and others / et d'autres!

25 oct
• 9–3:00. UNB-Fredericton activities tbd / à déterminer

26 oct
• 10–11:30. Holy Cross House conference room, St. Thomas University, Fredericton. Translation Live! Workshop / Atelier Traduction en direct w/ Phyllis Aronoff, Joe Blades, Rose Després, Hugh Hazelton, Dyane Léger, & Howard Scott.

• 1–2:30. Edmund Casey Hall 124, St. Thomas University, Fredericton. Atelier de création / Writers' Workshop (in French), entrée gratuite, inscription recommandé, avec Rose Després et Dyane Léger.

• 7–9:00. Margaret McCain Hall 307, St. Thomas University, Fredericton. Panel: Acadian Literature Table ronde: La littérature acadienne (en anglais / English), avec Rose Després et Dyane Léger.

05 October 2010

Fredericton Small Press & Community Fair: November 2010

Fredericton Small Press & Community Fair, including “Nuestro Espacio” display for Spanish language books & journals,
NEW DATE
13 November 2010
Doors open at 11 for setup!

Sponsors include Broken Jaw Press, Capítulo de Fredericton de la Academia Iberoamericana de Poesía, and revue ellipse mag . . .

Tentative Vendors • Exhibitors • Readings • Workshop(s)
BlackTop MotorCycle Gang
bookshandmade.com (Ottawa)
Breaking the Silence--Fredericton Chapter
Broken Jaw Press
Gallery ConneXion
Goose Lane Editions
Qwerty magazine
Random Paper & Fabric
revue ellipse mag
workshops

LA IMAGEN ES UN SENDERO / THE IMAGE IS A PATH / L’IMAGE EST UN CHEMIN International Multicultural–Multilingual Poetry Reading & Poster Poem Exhibition, in conjunction with the United Nation’s World Day for Audiovisual Heritage. Nela Rio, exhibit founder and organizer.

Indie, small and micro-press publishers: books and chapbooks of poetry, fiction, artist multiples, artist books, broadsheets, postcards, zines, lit mags, literacy info crafters & much more ...

Location: Gallery ConneXion, in the Chestnut Complex, 440 York St, Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Exhibitor fees: $15 payable to: BS Poetry Society, Box 596 Stn A, Fredericton NB E3B 5A6. Doors open @ 11 AM for exhibitor setup. Contact (506) 454-5127, joeblades@nb.aibn.com to reserve a space and readings. Best if you can bring a table, too!

Free things (info, publications, calls for submissions, etc.) can be mailed to us for the distribution table. The fair itself will not sell for folks who can’t make it, but if you can arrange for someone local (say, a UNB student) to represent you @ the fair that would be great!

01 October 2010

RANDOM ACTS OF POETRY EMPOWER YOUTH







Poets across Canada will visit schools, alternative schools, and youth centres from Oct. 4 to 9, 2010, during the seventh annual Random Acts of Poetry event, sponsored by The Canada Council for the Arts.

In Fredericton, New Brunswick, Joe Blades will participate for the fourth year. Blades has authored seven poetry books, and is the current President of the League of Canadian Poets. “Sharing poetry creates a space for growth and understanding in people’s lives. This is especially important for youth,” says Blades.

For the first time, the event is focused on bringing poetry to young people. “We want to draw attention to youth literacy, which is a crucial issue for Canada’s future,” says Claire Rettie, Executive Director of the READ Society, a non-profit literacy organization in Victoria. READ has provided tuition assistance for children and youth from low income households in Victoria so they can improve their reading, writing, mathematics and study skills.

READ coordinates this national event in conjunction with Sooke poet Wendy Morton, the event founder. During the week, 30 poets across Canada, from Victoria, British Columbia to Pasadena, Newfoundland Labrador, will commit Random Acts of Poetry in their cities. Poets will read to youth and give them copies of their poetry books.

“We will choose poems that speak to young people and hope to encourage them to find poems in their own lives,” says Morton, who will read at LAU,WELNEW Tribal School in Saanich, BC. She believes that poetry is a way into language for those who have barriers to it.

Across Canada poets will commit Random Acts of Poetry in: Calgary, Edmonton, Elmvale, Fredericton, Gibsons, Kincardine, Laval, Montague, Montreal, Moose Jaw, Nanaimo, Ottawa, Pasadena, Quebec City, Sooke, Stratford, Thamesford, Toronto, Vancouver, Verdun, Victoria, Windsor, Winnipeg, and Wolfville.

For more information please contact:
Wendy Morton, 250-642-3542 wendymorton @ shaw.ca
Claire Rettie, READ Society, 250-388-7225 crettie @ readsociety.bc.ca
Joe Blades, Fredericton, NB 506 454-5127 joeblades @ nb.aibn.com

24 September 2010

La imagen es un sendero / The image is a path / L’image est un chemin

IN CONJUNCTION WITH / UNIDO A

United Nations, October 21st “World Day for Audiovisual Heritage” /
Naciones Unidas, 21 de octubre, “Día Internacional de la Herencia Audiovisual”


Audiovisual documents, such as films, radio and television programmes, audio and video recordings have transformed society by becoming a permanent complement to the traditional written record / Documentos audiovisuales, tales como películas, programas de radio y de televisión han transformado la sociedad al constituirse en permanente complemento de la documentación de la palabra escrita.

Convocatoria Internacional de Poesía /
International Call For Poetry:
LA IMAGEN ES UN SENDERO /
THE IMAGE IS A PATH /
L’IMAGE EST UN CHEMIN
The reading will take place on October 17th, 2010
in “Nuestro Espacio”, in the context of the
Fredericton Small Press Fair

-o-o-o-o-o-

La lectura tendrá lugar el 17 de octubre, 2010
en “Nuestro Espacio”, en el contexto de la
Feria de Editoriales Pequeñas de Fredericton

Gallery ConneXion
440 York St, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
www.galleryconnexion.ca


Cómo participar / How to participate

Enviar un poema, no más de 30 líneas, usando Times New Roman. Incluir nombre y apellido; dirección postal y electrónica a Nela Rio: nelario@rogers.com antes del viernes 8 de octubre 2010. Este evento está abierto para el público en general y no hay costo de admisión. / Send a poem, no more than 30 lines, using Times New Roman. Include your name, postal address, email address, to nelario@rogers.com before Friday, 8 October 2010. This event is open to the general public and admission is free. This community event will not be paying artist or performance fees.



Nela Rio, fundadora de La imagen es un sendero / The image is a path / L’image est un chemin cuenta con el patrocinio de: Revista ellipse, editoral Broken Jaw Press, Galería de Arte ConneXion, Registro Creativo de la Asociación Canadiense de Hispanistas, Asociación Latino de New Brunswick y su programa “Presencia”, y Capítulo de Fredericton de la Academia Iberoamericana de Poesía. / Nela Rio founder of La imagen es un sendero / The image is a path / L’image est un chemin, with the support of ellipse, Broken Jaw Press publisher, Gallery ConneXion, Registro Creativo de la Asociación Canadiense de Hispanistas, Latino Association of New Brunswick, and its program, “Presencia”, and Fredericton Chapter of Iberoamerican Academy of Poetry.

poem written before

walking towards an assassination
attempt but i keep walking slowly
quietly looking at the grey clouds
and many shades of green in trees
and plants and the burn from too
little water or too much gravel
where there should be soil
see a pink rose petal
far from any rose bush
and marvel at the power
of wind and what we have
built that obstructs
if without that purpose
but sometimes yes
for that purpose
even harnessing kinetic
energy of the winds
is an exploitation
without permission
not quite as invasive
or destructive as mining
or the damming of rivers
or the deliberate splitting
of atoms and where
will it stop when
to cry out enough
maybe we don’t need
this power this access
to abuse this control
of air for any reason
anyone/anything’s cake
and we dematerialize
become naked apes
to live or not
             without
until we forget
we are living without
             anything
but are living simply
            living

walking not into a trap
or ambush but into misunderstanding
that i feel i know a little
enough to trouble myself
and to be perceived as others’ problem
but having been chosen to represent
not in image but in body and mind
now i have been othered
by those same
or on the continuum
in the stream i am in
and have been in a while
swimming afloat treading water
but not clinging or damming
have come to see the particles
i am one of at this juncture
perhaps to recognize
as a participant
or participant–observer
ego upfront enabler
but what does it matter
when eventually i will
not be and my particles
will no longer sustain this life
as i’ve experienced it
no more making waves
or being carried by waves
death comes to us all
without exception
parts of me have been
blown into thinner space
relative to earth
in the expanding universe
for some time now
other parts i’ve shed
and they fall to the floor
and ground dead
and i consume to rebuild
until my body tires or fails
in that effort or choice
is taken from me

03 September 2010

second issue of 17 seconds: a journal of poetry + poetics


rob mclennan, editor
Roland Prevost, managing editor

Conversations with John Newlove
- by Carla Comellini

Love, Anne Carson: a fictional essay in the wrong order
- by rob mclennan

Joe in the Balkans: an interview with Joe Blades
- by Tatjana Bijelic

An Interview with Dennis Cooley
- by Sean Moreland

'in the estuary' and 'funereal relief re-lives'
- two poems by Pearl Pirie

Horologic
- a poem by Kathleen Fraser

surveillance of LECTURE: excerpt from a work-in-progress
- by Kathleen Fraser

seventeen seconds: a journal of poetry and poetics comes out as the natural extension of the eight issues of Poetics.ca edited by rob mclennan and Stephen Brockwell. Highlighting the diversity of voice, style, practice and politic, seventeen seconds continues the resolve to provide a forum for dialogue on contemporary poetics, with a focus on Canadian writing. Over the past two decades, the amount of critical writing published in print literary journals on Canadian poetry, specifically, seems to have decreased dramatically, but slowly returned through a number of online journals. seventeen seconds simply wishes to help strengthen the dialogue and the ongoing conversation about writing through publishing new writing, and conversation about new writing. How else are we supposed to learn anything, unless we keep talking?

Feedback and submission queries are most welcome.
rob mclennan: az421 (at) freenet (dot) carleton (dot) ca

www.ottawater.com/seventeenseconds

31 August 2010

Ashes, Paper & Beans: 31 Aug 2010

CHSR logoAshes, Paper & Beans: Fredericton’s Writing & Arts Show, CHSR 97.9 FM
Producer–Host: Joe Blades
Sunday rebroadcast, 1–2 PM
www.chsrfm.ca with podcasts
Fredericton, NB, Canada

Christian Bok: "Motorized Razors" & "Ubu Hubbub"

Live interview/discussion by five artist and writer members of BlackTop MotorCycle Gang (biffmitchell.com, Todd R. Snow, & Joe Blades) and the Emerge Artist Collective (Wendy Forest, & Greg Klassen) discussing the re:myth project and exhibition.

Radio Free Vestibule: Kevin and God

Fortner Anderson + tape/head: he sings

29 August 2010

Found foto du jour: 29 Aug 2010

Found between a mound of trashed furniture and the dumpster behind 360 Dundonald Street, Fredericton, NB, about 10:30 am, 29 August 2010.

27 August 2010

CHSR Presents Shake and Bake


ONLY $15.00 !!!
Tickets @ Aitken Centre Box Office (noon 4–pm) & Backstreet Records, Queen St, Fredericton.

Doors Open 6:30 pm, Sunday, 5 Sept:
Frosh Week, Grad Orientation Week ... whatever!!!

This is a WET event. 19+

A night with the coolest bands around.

Fredericton's The Trick will have you moving. Anyone who appreciates LCD Soundsystem and Postal Service take notice.

Scientists of Sound will play some DAFT PUNK anthems and some new stuff that will have you pump'n your fists. An incredible show not to be missed.

Rich Aucoin: If you haven't heard of these guys than you are missing out. They put on one hell of a show.

Slowcoaster will take the stage and bring in their party jams.
Rich Aucoin: youtube.com/watch?v=KryUFtgcZYs&feature=related
Slowcoaster: youtube.com/watch?v=b8B1AINnQBM&feature=related
Scientists of Sound: youtube.com/watch?v=77ho_dViCSU&feature=player_embedded#!
The Trick: Krautrock - youtube.com/watch?v=0lkSrcKrXpc

CHSR logo
www.chsrfm.ca
"Your access to the airwaves!"

26 August 2010

Ashes, Paper & Beans: 24 aôut 2010

CHSR logoAshes, Paper & Beans: Fredericton’s Writing & Arts Show, CHSR 97.9 FM
Producer–Host: Joe Blades
Sunday rebroadcast, 1–2 PM
www.chsrfm.ca with podcasts
Fredericton, NB, Canada

Radio Free Vestibule: Froo Froo The Talking Cat
Wm A Burroughs: Naked Lunch (excerpt)
Maggie Estep: Sex Goddess of the Western Hemisphere
Margaret MacPherson: Raising Cade
Henry Rollins: I Know You

re:myth, the poster cometh!

18 August 2010

Ashes, Paper & Beans: 17 Aug 2010

CHSR logoAshes, Paper & Beans: Fredericton’s Writing & Arts Show, CHSR 97.9 FM
Producer–Host: Joe Blades
Sunday rebroadcast, 1–2 PM
www.chsrfm.ca with podcasts
Fredericton, NB, Canada

Henry Rollins:
"No one is fax exempt"

Bruce McRae:
"Between us"
"Correct me if I'm wrong"
"The county fair"
"Without a night"
"Writing in flames"

Heather Haley:
"Uranium town"
"Sum of the Parts"

from the Carvivocal CD:
Verbmotorhead: "Fat Summer"
First Draft: "Restlessness", & "'A' Yantra"
bill bissett: "Opening Chant"
Nobuo Kubota and W. Mark Sutherland: "Lullaby For Kurt Schwitters"

Artists and Writers Make New Myths Together

What happens when a group of artists joins forces with a group of writers to figure out what myths define life in the 21st Century? The answer is coming this September, when re:myth will be on display for three weeks at Gallery ConneXion.

It started with an idea from Amanda Saulnier, artist and spokesperson for Fredericton’s Emerge Artists Collective. “The idea came to me in an Emerge brainstorming session,” said Ms. Saulnier. “We’ve never collaborated outside of our group and I thought we needed to branch out. Fredericton has a thriving artistic community, but rarely do we work together to create something like this multidisciplinary exhibition.”

Amanda, contacted Fredericton’s notorious writers’ collective, the BlackTop MotorCycle Gang (BTMG), and the fun began. Seventeen members of the BTMG wrote pieces on what they felt were the new mythologies of the 21st Century, from consumer branding gods to re-enlightened Buddhas. The writers ranged from aspiring amateurs to locally and internationally acclaimed writers like Beth Powning. The pieces ranged from traditional poetry to experimental fiction and even a story told in Twitter tweets.

“I was amazed and instantly enthused when I first heard the idea in January of this year,” said Joe Blades. “I immediately wrote to my fellow poetic hog riders and tarmac bums in the BTMG to get their responses.

“We were told to write whatever we wanted, in whatever style we wanted,” said BTMG member Biff Mitchell. “Some members wrote more than one piece … and still wanted to write more.”

A similar thing happened with the Emerge artists. “The response was overwhelming,” said Amanda. “Some of the artists were asking for more pieces from the writers.”

Emerge artist, Joss Richer said, “I was rather excited when I heard that my group of artists, Emerge, would be collaborating with members of the Black Top Motorcycle Gang—a group of writers I am quite fond of. I was assigned two writings to respond to. To this day, I do not know the author of each submission. I could have found out already, but decided that I would wait as long as possible before satisfying my curiosity. Above all, I wanted my response to be based on the writings alone, and not on my knowledge of the personality of the authors.”

During a BTMG reading last winter at Gallery ConneXion, one of the writers announced the project and mentioned they were looking for a gallery to exhibit the show. Meredith Snider, curator of the gallery immediately called out, “Have your show here!”

“This collaboration between the BlackTop MotorCycle Gang and Emerge is a wonderful example of exchange and dialogue between artists,” said Ms. Snider. “I’m really looking forward to seeing this exhibition and encourage others to come out to the opening reception to see the work and speak with the artists.”

BTMG member Andrea Kikuchi, after struggling for months with writer’s block, was inspired by the project. “I was immediately excited and felt the inspiration I haven't felt in months flow back. I decided to finish the story and submit it, anxious to see how the artists will interpret it,” said Ms Kikuchi. “I am so grateful to be a part of this original concept. It promotes a new wave of creativity that bridges all forms of art and continues to inspire us all.”

“I look forward to seeing all the work and the artists in the same space,” said Ms. Saulnier. “It will be interesting to see how the writers respond to the visual work. This truly is the beginning of a dialogue that I hope will continue in the future.

The re:myth exhibition will open on September 2 at 7:00 PM in Gallery ConneXion’s 1922 Gallery, 440 York Street (in the Chestnut Complex), Fredericton, NB. There will be opening remarks and readings from members of the BlackTop MotorCycle Gang.


—30—

Contacts:

Amanda Saulnier
Email: chocolattelos @ gmail.com

Joe Blades
Phone: 506.454.5127
Email: joeblades @ nb.aibn.com

Biff Mitchell
Phone: 506.455.2433
Email: biff @ biffmitchell.com

BACKGROUND

Emerge Artists Collective
Our aim is to increase the exposure of emerging artists and craftspeople. Through shared knowledge and experience, we develop an awareness of the exhibition process and its intricacies. We strive to ease the transition between the creation of the work of art and its exhibition to the art community and the public. Our collective counts a dozen members. Our work is eclectic, sometimes edgy; our focus is on non-traditional approaches to art. Our work includes drawing, painting, sculpture, metal and clay work, collage and assemblage, fabric, photography, video and music, and more. Since its inception in 2004, Emerge has held thirteen exhibitions in various locales around New Brunswick.

BlackTop MotorCycle Gang
BlackTop MotorCycle Gang is a collective of eclectic writers who stage spontaneous “reading raids” in various locations and are frequently invited to appear at special events of a literary nature. There are currently 39 members spread from coast to coast. Membership is open only those considered weird enough by any two current members.

Gallery ConneXion
Gallery ConneXion is Fredericton’s only artist-run center, located in the capital city of New Brunswick, Canada. From its inception in 1984, Gallery ConneXion has supported politically and socially engaged art through a range of programming initiatives such as exhibitions, performances, special projects, and workshops. Gallery ConneXion promotes contemporary Canadian and international artists, emerging and established, from diverse cultural backgrounds. The gallery programs exhibitions, artist residencies, fundraising events, music shows, video screenings, performances, readings, membership exhibitions and activities. Gallery ConneXion is a not-for-profit organization with charitable status. It receives operating funds from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Province of New Brunswick. Gallery ConneXxion currently has over 50 members from Fredericton and the surrounding region, most of whom are practicing artists.

In a statement from Meredith Snider: “The board, staff and membership of Gallery ConneXion are grateful to the following companies and people for donating their labour and time to renovate the second gallery space this July 2010; Fabinex (carpentry work), Hector Tovar (crack filling), members of the Fredericton Pride Committee (painting). Your contribution to Fredericton's artist-run center is sincerely appreciated.”Gallery Coordinator, Meredith Snider: 506 454-1433, connex @ nbnet.nb.ca www.galleryconnexion.ca

03 August 2010

Ashes, Paper & Beans: 3 Aug 2010

CHSR logoAshes, Paper & Beans: Fredericton’s Writing & Arts Show, CHSR 97.9 FM
Producer–Host: Joe Blades
Sunday rebroadcast, 1–2 PM
www.chsrfm.ca with podcasts
Fredericton, NB, Canada

From POESIA LIBRE @ Radio centreville, 102,3 FM, Montréal: Élizabeth Robert interview with Climbing PoeTree (2 Sept 2009).

paulo da costa, two stories: "Roses, Lilacs and Chrysanthemums", "Midwife of Torment"

Nik Beat, two poems: "Looking through Dracula's Glasses", "Sir Real/Unkill"

bpNichol: "pome poem"

Steven Ross Smith: "Two Kinds"

Ashes, Paper & Beans: 27 July 2010

CHSR logoAshes, Paper & Beans: Fredericton’s Writing & Arts Show
Producer–Host: Joe Blades
Sunday rebroadcast, 1–2 PM
CHSR 97.9 FM, www.chsrfm.ca
Fredericton, NB, Canada

Scottish Poetry Feature:
Hamish Macdonald: "An Ode"
Liz Niven: "Wick" & other poems
Tom Pow: "The Football" & other poems
Hugh McMillan: "Surprise Attacks" & other poems

Fabrice Koffy: from [poésic]

Bruce McRae: Correct me if I'm wrong"

20 July 2010

Ashes, Paper & Beans: 20 July 2010

CHSR logoAshes, Paper & Beans: Fredericton’s Writing & Arts Show
Producer–Host: Joe Blades
Sunday rebroadcast, 1–2 PM
CHSR 97.9 FM, www.chsrfm.ca
Fredericton, NB, Canada

Sheri-D Wilson: "Spinsters Hanging in Trees"

Live interview with NB poet Ian LeTourneau about his book Terminal Moraine (Thistledown Press, 2008).

AWOL Love Vibe: "Exstatic Cunt Day", "Cool, Wall of"

13 July 2010

Ashes, Paper & Beans: 13 July 2010

CHSR logoAshes, Paper & Beans: Fredericton’s Writing & Arts Show
Producer–Host: Joe Blades
Sunday rebroadcast, 1–2 PM
CHSR 97.9 FM, www.chsrfm.ca
Fredericton, NB, Canada

AWOL Love Vibe: "Fat Summer"

Hugh Hazelton: "The Imperial Birhday Party"

Lone Cloud: Rita Joe's "I Lost My Talk"; Theresa Marshall's "Is That Too Much?"

John Steffler et al: from The Grey Islands (Rattling Books)