Archive for November, 2008

Congratulations to Marlene Kadar, the editor of Wilfrid Laurier University Press’s Life Writing Series on being recognized by the Women’s Executive Network as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women. Marlene was honoured in the category of Trailblazers and Trendsetters in such company as Honourable Justice Louise Arbour and the Right Honourable Kim Campbell.

At Laurier Press we have long known Marlene to be a trailblazer and trendsetter. As the editor of the Life Writing Series she is responsible for the acquisition of many fine books that may otherwise never have reached the public eye. Stories like And Peace Never Came by Elisabeth M. Raab, 163256: A Memoir of Resistance by Michael Englishman, and Becoming My Mother’s Daughter by Erika Gottlieb are just a few of the wonderful books she has been instrumental in publishing.

Her critical book Tracing the Autobiographical, co-edited with Linda Warley, Jeanne Perrault and Susanna Egan has been called an “intellectual feast” and a”fascinating collection, full of innovative reading practices and ‘egodocuments.’”

Marlene Kadar is the Interim Director, Graduate Programme in Interdisciplinary Studies at York University in Toronto. She is often invited to speak on the subject of life writing, especially in the context of traumatic events such as the Holocaust.

We congratulate Marlene on this award and are grateful that we have the opportunity to work with her on a regular basis.

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We’re pleased to announce the latest release in the Laurier Poetry series, Blues and Bliss: The Poetry of George Elliott Clarke, selected with an introduction by Jon Paul Fiorentino.

If you haven’t discovered this series yet you should definitely check it out. It features wonderful volumes of poems from some of Canada’s best-known poets. The books include critical introductions, which make them perfect for courses, and an afterword written in most cases by the poet her/himself.

In Blues and Bliss, Jon Paul Fiorentino’s introduction focuses on Clarke’s many voices, his influences—Derek Walcott, Amiri Baraka, and the canon of literary English from Shakespeare to Yeats—and his “voice throwing,” and shows how the intersections here produce a “troubling” of language. He sketches Clarke’s primary interest in the negotiation of cultural space through adherence to and revision of tradition and on the finding of a vernacular that begins in exile, especially exile in relation to African-Canadian communities.

In the afterword, Clarke, in an interesting re-spin of Fiorentino’s introduction, writes with patented gusto about how his experiences have contributed to multiple sounds and forms in his work. Disclaiming any grandiose notions of theory, he presents himself as primarily a songwriter.

This book is a treat, and a bargain at 14.95. Available at many fine bookstores, including Words Worth Books, Type, Book City, Duthie Books, Bryan Prince, A Different Drummer, and McNally Robinson. If you don’t see your bookstore here, please ask them to order it in for you.

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Please join us to celebrate the launch of Flora Tells a Story: The Apocalypse of Paul and Its Contexts by Michael Kaler.

The launch will take place on Tuesday, November 18th at the Tiki Room, The Tranzac, 292 Brunswick Avenue (midway between Spadina and Bathurst, just south of Bloor) at 7:00 pm. For a special treat, the Ugly Bug Band will play a set afterwards in the Southern Cross Lounge at 10:00 pm. A little gnostic music perhaps? There will be snacks of some kind, and drinks can be purchased from the bar. Hope to see you there.

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On Monday, November 10th, Laurier Reads presented Joseph Boyden to a crowd of appreciative fans. It was a fantastic evening. Drummers from Aboriginal faculty, staff, and students welcomed us with a couple of songs and then, not to be outdone, Boyden taught us to call moose. Hilarity ensued, as you can imagine. The picture here shows him demonstrating the call of a hot young female moose in estrus.

His reading was both funny and poignant and he told us that although he feels he must capture the darker side of life, it is important to him to also capture the beauty and the joy. Asked how his books should be taught in a university course he answered, “in all courses, every year.”

We were thrilled on hearing the news that he took home the $50,000 Scotiabank Giller prize in Toronto the following evening and it doesn’t at all surprise me that he intends to use the prize money to help young Aboriginal writers attend university. Well done and thank you for including us in your tour.

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Don’t miss Joseph Boyden at Laurier this Monday, November 10th at 7 pm in the Paul Martin Centre. Boyden will be reading from Through Black Spruce, his Giller-nominated follow-up to Three Day Road.

This event is part of the 2008 Laurier Reads campaign, sponsored by Laurier Press, the bookstore, library and office of research. Special guests on Monday will be Aboriginal faculty, staff, and students who will perform a hand drum song.

Admission is free.

Photo credit Miriam Berkley

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