Events & Interviews
***Online Interview***
Nice Makes Write: An Interview with Casey Wolf
photo by Patrik, La Vale de Jakmel, Ayiti, 2006.
by Robert Runté
8 February 2010
(From the introduction:)
Casey Wolf is the author of numerous speculative short stories, several of which were recently collected as Finding Creatures & Other Stories by C. June Wolf.
Wolf’s stories represent a uniquely Canadian approach to fantasy: where others write about the astronaut hero, she writes about the father who is left behind; where others write about planetary conquest, she writes about multiculturalism and the respect for alien life; where others write about revenge, she writes about reconciliation; where others write stories filled with sound and fury signifying nothing, her stories quietly engage the reader in the real lives of ordinary people—who become extraordinary because they have imagination, perspective, courage—and above all—integrity.
Yet, unlike a lot of CanLit, her stories are never depressing or dry. The speculative element makes her stories both more interesting and, in some strange sense, more real than other Canadian literature exploring the same themes. Consequently, I really wanted to ask Casey about her writing, and how her settings, themes, and characters reflected her Canadian upbringing. She graciously agreed to this interview.
***Past Readings***
Casey and Eileen will be reading next week at Vancouver Public Library, Central Branch, along with other authors featured in the Escape Clause Speculative Fiction Anthology. (Monday January 18, 7:30 pm-9:00 pm. Free. Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye Rooms, Lower Level Central Library. 350 West Georgia Street.) Please join us there. Bee will be reading from A Brigit Breviary at the An Táin Theatre, Dundalk, Co. Louth, Ireland at 7:30 pm on Sunday, 31 January, as part of the Brat Bhríde Festival.
***Yet Another Past Reading***
Eileen & Casey at Renaissance Books, New Westminster.
The Burrard Inlet Fan Fellowship (BIFF) presents BC writers Casey Wolf and Eileen Kernaghan reading from their recent speculative fiction and poetry releases at The Eighties Restaurant in North Vancouver on 20 November 2009.
Casey will read from her short fiction collection Finding Creatures & Other Stories, and Eileen from Tales from the Holograph Woods: Speculative Poems.
Date: Friday, 20 November 2009
Time: 6:30pm to 9:30pm; readings begin at 8:00pm.
Q&A to follow featured readers.
Join BIFF for nibblies and drinks and conversation.
Location: The Eighties Restaurant
110 West 14th Street
(facing the Civic Plaza at Lonsdale)
North Vancouver, BC
Contact: Greg Slade <grga@bluebottle.com>
Hosted by BIFF—the “Burrard Inlet Fan Fellowship”—a group of anime, comic, fantasy, gaming, and/or science fiction fans. Inaugurated 8 July 2005, BIFF meets Friday nights at The Eighties Restaurant for videos, games, speakers, and conversation. All are welcome.
***Video Interview***
Addena Sumter-Freitag
interviewed by Steve Duncan of Live on the Drive. (Commercial Drive, that is. In East Vancouver, BC.)
LOTD: Addena Sumter-Freitag
***Online Event***
Interview, Chat and Contest with Author C. June Wolf
on Bitten By Books.
After the interview Casey participated in a day long question and answer session with BBB readers. Visit the site to read what they had to say. The prizes given away included a poem and a story written for the winners and inspired by their ideas.
Please Note: For best results in watching the video. Hit play and let the video load completely. Sometimes it takes a few minutes to load depending on your internet service.
Bitten by Books Interview, 21 Sept. ‘09
C. June Wolf | MySpace Video
***Upcoming Launch***
Eileen Kernaghan’s
Tales from the Holograph Woods
launches on 26 September 2009
at Vancouver’s Speculative Fiction Bookstore
Eileen will read from her 35 year poetry retrospective
in conjunction with fellow poet
Marcie Lynne Tentchoff
author of Aurora short-listed
A Journey to the Borderlands of Faerie
Double-Edged Publishing
Tales from the Holograph Woods by Eileen Kernaghan:
“Blake, Yeats, Thomas, Stevens and Plath – are echoed in her poems, as are the mythologies and philosophies to which she turns in her search for meaning not confined to the corners of present time and space.”
—Alexander M. Forbes, Canadian Literature
“Kernaghan has touched something deep and visceral with these verses. You will read them once, then, in the middle of the night, wake suddenly, shivering, and need to read them again. Eileen Kernaghan neither lights a single candle nor curses the darkness—she swallows it whole and then sets it on fire.”
—Sandra Kasturi, author of The Animal Bridegroom
CHIAROSCURO
the shadow is always there
dark subtext, dissonance: the mocking laughter
in the fairy wood, the scowling presence
at the birthday feast, the faint suggestion
of warts beneath the velvet coat
this is the page in the book you dare not turn to
the face you see in the mirror
when the light falls at the wrong angle
this is the sly poison under the apple’s
smooth red skin, the dark that is not
light’s absence, but its twin.
Eileen Kernaghan’s Wild Talent: A Novel of the Supernatural has been shortlisted for the 2009 Sunburst Award for Canadian Speculative Fiction.
*
Through the Window: A Journey to the Borderlands of Faerie by Marcie Tentchoff, illustrated by Michelle A. McIntyre:
“Tentchoff is known for her speculative poetry and she doesn’t disappoint, following the poetic traditions of Homer and Lewis Carroll, as she writes powerfully of mythical beasts and magical realms.”
—Deborah P Kolodji, President, Science Fiction Poetry Association
“Recommended for those who enjoy older poetry (Rennaisance, Romantic, Victorian Eras) and folklore. A beautifully illustrated fantasy poetry collection.”
—Louise Bohmer, author of The Black Act
GROUNDED
I used to leave my bed and fly
upon a white-winged zebra’s back -
we’d race the breezes in the sky.
I used to leave my bed and fly
but now I lie awake and cry,
and curse the dreams that I now lack -
I used leave my bed and fly
upon a white-winged zebra’s back
Through the Window: A Journey to the Borderlands of Faerie has been shortlisted for the 2009 Aurora Award.
*
Tales from the Holograph Woods: Speculative Poems
by Eileen Kernaghan
$9.95
ISBN 978-0-9810658-2-3
Through the Window: A Journey to the Borderlands of Faerie
By Marcie Lynn Tentchoff
$26.95
ISBN-10: 0979307996
ISBN-13: 978-0979307997
Information: 604-228-8223
3715 W 10th Ave, Vancouver, BC V6R 2G5
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***Renaissance Books Grand Re-Opening***
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Wherein Eileen Kernaghan read from her about to be launched poetry retrospeculative- Tales from the Holograph Woods. 19 September 2009, Renaissance Books, New Westminster.
- Eileen & Patrick Kernaghan
- Eileen Kernaghan & Fans (Casey Wolf and Jacqueline Shepard)
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***Interviews***
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Please follow the links to hear the interviews on the original sites.
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author of Finding Creatures & Other Stories
interviewed by Irma Arkus, HiSciFi.com.
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author of Back in the Days
interviewed by Christine Lyons, Canadian Literature.
Transcript of the full interview also available.
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Eileen Kernaghan
author of Tales from The Holograph Woods
interviewed by James Schellenberg and David M. Switzer,
Challenging Destiny.com
& by Mary Choo in
“The Road to Shambala”, Lonely Cry.ca
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***Past Events***
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Addena Sumter-Freitag
- Photo by Shelley Whitehead
WATTLE AND DAUB BOOKS AND NORTH END GIRL PRODUCTIONS hosted the launch of Addena Sumter-Freitag’s book of poetry and creative nonfiction—Back In The Days, “War, peace and getting by for one Black family in Winnipeg”.
There was a great turnout and good sales of Addena’s book, a lively performance and lots of fun.
317 East Broadway, Vancouver
Thursday, July 23, 6:00pm
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Finding Creatures & Other Stories
by
C. June Wolf
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A very successful Launch was held, in conjunction with Eileen Kernaghan, author of Wild Talent: a novel of the supernatural) on 28 September, 2 pm at White Dwarf Books on West Tenth in Vancouver.
- C. June Wolf, reading; Eileen Kernaghan, seated. photo by Julie H. Ferguson
- C. June Wolf and Eileen Kernaghan at White Dwarf. photo by Julie H. Ferguson.
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A second, joint Launch & Reading were held on 3 & 4 October at VCon 33, Vancouver’s science fiction and fantasy conventionat the Compass Point Inn in Surrey.
C. June Wolf was Interviewed at VCon 33 by Irma Arkus of HiSciFi.com.
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Finally, a lively and satisfying evening of Live Music & Reading was held 11 October at 6:30 pm at Pulp Fiction on Main Street in Vancouver.
www.pulpfictionbooksvancouver.com/
- Alison of the Woodland Drivers C. June Wolf reading “Claude and the Henry Moores” to a rapt audience.
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