the League of Canadian Poets

OWN A COLLECTIBLE BOOK BY A FAMOUS CANADIAN POET
AND HELP THE LEAGUE RAISE MONEY!
We are offering books by Irving Layton, Milton Acorn, Dorothy Livesay and others. The books have been professionally appraised and the prices are discounted 35% off the appraised value. The books were donated from the estate of Eldon Grier, long-time member of the League. Click here to read a detailed description.

One of Vancouver's best known philanthropists looks forward to the day when Vancouver's poet laureate can read poetry from the rooftop garden of the Vancouver Public Library. Dr. Yosef Wosk announced Friday in Mayor Sam Sullivan's office he will donate $100,000 to create a permanent poet laureate position for the city. His donation comes more than a year after he agreed to donate $25,000 a year over 10 years to the Vancouver Public Library Foundation to develop the rooftop of the library. A jury will choose the poet laureate in the spring. Wosk said the poet laureate will be a living manifestation of the city's beauty, rhythm, struggles and sound. The poet is more than a rhyming couplet, he added.
For full Vancouver Courier article: http://www.vancourier.com/issues06/104106/news/104106nn4.html

ABOUT RONNA BLOOM:
RONNA BLOOM has published three books of poetry. Public Works, published by Pedlar Press, was shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Award in 2005. Personal Effects (Pedlar Press, 2000) was acquired and translated by the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. Ronna is a psychotherapist in both private practice and at the University of Toronto. As part of her work, she leads writing workshops in schools, universities and hospitals. Her poems have been used in anthologies and textbooks and broadcast on CBC radio. For more info: ronna.bloom@utoronto.ca

POETIC DUB PERFORMER/SONGWRITER MICHAEL ST. GEORGE NOMINATED FOR 2006 TORONTO INDEPENDENT MUSIC AWARD

A favorite with audiences in Canada, Jamaica and the UK, Michael St. George has been nominated for Best World Music recording by the judges of the 2006 Toronto Independent Music Awards (TIMA). The dub poet hails from Jamaica but has made Canada his home, establishing himself as a creative force to be reckoned with. Set to release a new album called The Ital Suite, St. George was pleased that the TIMA judges chose Caged In, one of his favourite tracks from his third album, Dubbin De Vibes (Passin' Thru Records/Jetstar). This year Eye Weekly presents the second annual Toronto Independent Music Awards on October 5, 2006 at The Phoenix Concert Theatre, 410 Sherbourne St., Toronto. Doors Open @ 7:00pm. For more information about Michael St. George, please visit his web site at www.theitalsuite.com.

Heart of a Poet, a documentary ‘television series in 13 verses’, hosted by Andrea Thompson is now airing on ACCESS and BOOK TV. Each week, the series throws a spotlight on a Canadian poets, from established award-winners including George Elliot Clarke, Daphne Marlatt and Lillian Allen to rising stars like Shane Koyczan, Motion and Ray Hsu . Heart of a Poet introduces the featured artists and their writing through interviews, spontaneous recitations, and at festivals and events in and around Toronto, Stratford, Calgary and Vancouver. For stations, airdates and info on the featured poets click here.

The Canada Council for the Arts announced today the names of the finalists for the 2006 Governor General’s Literary Awards, in English and in French, in the categories of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, children’s literature (text and illustration) and translation. A total of 68 books have been nominated for this year’s awards; 36 of the shortlisted writers, translators and illustrators are finalists for the first time. There was one multiple finalist: Dominique Fortier received two nominations for English-to-French translation. And one French-language children’s book, Je suis fou de Vava, was nominated in both the text and illustration categories.

A NEW INVESTMENT IN CANADIAN WRITERS: NEREUS FINANCIAL INC. TO SPONSOR WRITERS’ TRUST LITERARY AWARD

Don Oravec, executive director of the Writers’ Trust of Canada, announced today that Nereus Financial Inc. will become the new sponsor of the Writers’ Trust annual literary award for non-fiction. Under the new agreement, the prize will be known as the Nereus Writers’ Trust Non-Fiction Prize. The prize will continue to award $15,000 to the winner, and $2,000 to each of the four finalists. For full press release see: http://www.writerstrust.com/pdf/Nereus%20Press%20Release.pdf

The Petra Kenney Poetry Awards Day was held on May 12th, at Canada House in London England. Awards for this year’s winners were presented by Founder, Morgan Kenney, Poet, U A Fanthorpe and The Deputy High Commissioner, Guy Saint-Jacques. The Petra Kenney Poetry Awards are now accepting entries for the 2006 competition, deadline for North America is December 31st, deadline for the UK and rest of the world is December 1st. For full list of winners and 2006 click here and for the application please click here.

Gaspereau Press is pleased to announce that Carmine Starnino’s With English Subtitles (2004) has been named this year’s winner of the Italian Cultural Centre’s biennial F.G. Bressani Literary Prize for poetry. The winning titles in the other three categories are Mena Martini’s Cristallo for best novel, Dave Bidini’s Baseballissimo for creative non-fiction and Fabrizio Napoleone’s Leftovers for short fiction. The award is named after the Jesuit father Francesco Giuseppe Bressani (1612–1672), and was established in 1986 to encourage and honour literary works by Italian Canadian authors, as well as those from other backgrounds. Past winners include Nino Ricci, John Terpstra and Michael Ondaatje. This year’s awards will be presented in a ceremony to be held on Friday, October 27, at the Italian Cultural Centre in Vancouver, BC. For more info: Beth Crosby, Gaspereau Press, 47 Church Avenue, Kentville, NS, B4N 2M7, (902) 678-6002 | booksales@gaspereau.com or www.gaspereau.com.

The Writers' Union of Canada has called upon the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, to launch a thorough investigation into the murder of renowned Russian writer and journalist Anna Politkovskaya. "The death of this courageous writer who has often criticized the actions of her government and its military has all the earmarks of a political assassination,” said Ron Brown, Chair of the Writers’ Union of Canada. "We are asking therefore that President Putin launch a thorough and impartial investigation into her death. We are also asking that he state publicly his country's support for freedom of expression, even when such freedom results in criticisms of his own government's actions,” Brown added. For full press release see: http://www.writersunion.ca/press/1206.htm

The Writers' Union of Canada has responded to the ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada on the class action suit brought by freelance author Heather Robertson for copyright infringement on behalf of contributors to The Globe And Mail, saying they are only partially pleased with the ruling. "We are pleased that the Supreme Court has ruled that freelance writers can control the re-publication of their works after they have first been published in the newspapers,” said Ron Brown, chair of the Writers' Union of Canada. "We are however disappointed the court is also sending the case back to trial, once more, to determine whether the freelancers consented to uses of their works in online databases. We are concerned that the court decided that the consent required from freelancers for this further publication of their works does not have to be in writing even where new forms of technology are involved,” he added. For full press release see: http://www.writersunion.ca/press/1306.htm

Reading Proposals Now Being Accepted for NPM 2007: This April, Canada will be celebrating its 9th annual National Poetry Month. To help poets and poetry organizers in their production of NPM events, the League is offering funding for readings and performances which explore this year’s theme: Poetry: Future (In) tense.

What will poetry sound like in the future? What is a techno-poem? How will poetry fuse with other art forms like theatre or music? Instead of science-fiction, what would science-poetry sound like? The League asks poets to explore these ideas by infusing their NPM events with ‘futuristic themes’ for April 2007.

Building on the success of past years’ NPM events, the League is also encouraging events which take place in non-traditional venues. Some successful venues from 2006 include readings in parks, movie theatres, art galleries and a local zoo. For complete guidelines and application click here.

These days in awesome Ontario, the summer festival season is just a memory and the heating season is in full swing. But don’t stay cooped up in the house whatever you do. Interesting stuff is still happening. In Ottawa on November 25th, a boatload of East Coast writers will be at the National Arts Centre, including Michael Crummey, Stan Dragland, Lisa Moore, and Michael Winter. A few days later, November 28th, Steven Heighton will appear at the Tree Reading Series. More details are at www.bywords.ca . For full report by Eric Folsom click here.

THE POETIC LICENCE CONTEST FOR CANADIAN YOUTH 2007 IS NOW OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS! PASS IT ON!

The League of Canadian Poets invites Canadian youth to participate in its Poetic Licence Contest. There are two age categories, junior (grades 7-9) and senior (grades 10-12). First place poems in each category will receive a cash prize of $200, second place winners will receive $150 and third place winners will receive $100. All winning poems will be published in the League of Canadian Poets e-zine, Re:verse at www.youngpoets.ca. All winners will receive Poetic Licence certificates and student membership in the League of Canadian Poets for one year. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ CONTEST GUIDELINES, as only complete submissions will be forwarded to judges. Deadline: January 15, 2007.

If you have not already contributed a poem to Poems from the Feminist Caucus, II, on the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the Feminist Caucus of the League of Canadian Poets, there is still time to do so. Contact Editor Katerina Fretwell with your submission. Copies of volume I (2005) can be purchased from the League office. Thank you to the donors who help underwrite the costs of production for this project. You can become a matron, patron, or androgyne, receive recognition in print, as well as a tax receipt. Susan Andrews Grace, a Past Feminist Caucus Chair and author of Ferry Woman’s History of the World (Coteau Books, 1998) has a new title Flesh, A Naked Dress (Hagios Press, 2006). For full report by Anne Burke, Chair, please click here.

St@nz@
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We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program, the Ontario Arts Council, the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Recreation, the Toronto Arts Council and all our friends of poetry.