UNB MA Creative Writing Alumnus Craig Davidson shortlisted for 2013 Giller Prize

Photo credit Kevin Kelly

The Fiddlehead would like to congratulate Craig Davidson on his being named to the 2013 Giller Prize shortlist. While a student in the Creative Writing MA at UNB, Craig was an editorial assistant for The Fiddlehead. Later, he won our annual contest with a story called "28 Bones" which went on to become the title story of his short story collection Rust and Bone. That book later came to the attention of French director Jacques Audiard, who used two of the stories for the critically-acclaimed movie De rouille et d'os (Rust and Bone). Craig's most recent story appeared in The Fiddlehead's summer fiction issue, which was also featured at The Literarian, an online magazine of The New York Center for Fiction.

Here's a selection of Canadian media stories about the shortlist, announced yesterday:

CBC

Globe and Mail

The National Post

The Toronto Star

Congratulations Craig, and good luck!

UNB Reading Series Presents Thomas King

The University of New Brunswick would like to invite you to hear a reading by the critically acclaimed writer, Thomas King, author of The Inconvenient Indian published in 2012 by Random House of Canada. Rich with dark and light, pain and magic, this book weaves the curiously circular tale of the relationship between non-Natives and Natives in the centuries since the two first encountered each other. In the process, King refashions old stories about historical events and figures, takes a sideways look at film and pop culture, relates his own complex experiences with activism, and articulates a deep and revolutionary understanding of the cumulative effects of ever-shifting laws and treaties on Native peoples and lands.

Thomas King is also the author of One Good Story, That One, Truth and Bright Water, and A Short History of Indians in Canada, which won the 2006 McNally Robinson Aboriginal Book of the Year Award. King’s A Coyote Columbus Story was nominated for the Governor General’s Award in 1992, and his Green Grass, Running Water was nominated the following year, and later chosen for inclusion in Canada Reads 2004. King is also known for his work writing and performing on the CBC radio show “Dead Dog Café.” In 2004 he was made a Member of the Order of Canada.

His reading will be held on Tuesday, October 8 at 8:00 pm in Memorial Hall on the UNB Fredericton Campus. This event is free and open to the public. We suggest coming early, as seats may fill up fast.

Upcoming in the UNB Reading Series: Wayne Johnston & Poetry Weekend

The University of New Brunswick would like to invite you to hear a reading by the critically acclaimed writer, Wayne Johnston. His latest novel, The Son of a Certain Woman, was published just last month and has already been long listed for the Giller Prize. It is the story of Percy Joyce, born in St. John’s, Newfoundland, in the fifties, who is an outsider from childhood, set apart by a congenital disfigurement. Soon on the cusp of teenagehood, Percy is filled with longing for what he can’t have, his disturbingly alluring mother, Penelope, whose sex appeal nearly leaps off the page. Everyone in St. John’s lusts after her—including her sister-in-law, Medina; their paying boarder, the local chemistry teacher, Pops MacDougal; and . . . Percy. The Son of a Certain Woman brilliantly mixes sorrow and laughter as it builds toward an unforgettable ending.

Wayne Johnston has an MA in English and Creative Writing from UNB and holds a UNB honorary doctorate. He is also the author of The Story of Bobby O'Malley, which won the WH Smith/Books in Canada First Novel award. Subsequent books consistently received critical praise, including The Divine Ryans, which was adapted to the silver screen, and Baltimore's Mansion, which won the most prestigious prize for creative non-fiction awarded in Canada - the Charles Taylor Prize. Both The Colony of Unrequited Dreams and The Navigator of New York spent extended periods of time on bestseller lists in Canada and Colony was identified by The Globe & Mail as one of the 100 most important Canadian books ever produced (including both fiction and non-fiction).

His reading will be held on Thursday, October 3 at 8:00 pm in Memorial Hall on the UNB Fredericton Campus. Admission is free and all are welcome to attend.

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The University of New Brunswick would like to invite you to the tenth Poetry Weekend.  This festival is legendary for its warmth and friendliness, and a few crazy parties. This is your chance to meet and talk with the best Canadian poets: Governor-General's Award and Griffin Prize winners. Join them for lunch and talk to them after readings. These are the kinds of events you talk about with your grandchildren.

The event will be Saturday and Sunday, October 5 and 6. Readings will be at 11am, 2pm, and 8pm both days and held in Memorial Hall on the UNB Fredericton Campus. Saturday’s 2pm reading will take place in Gallery 78. Readings will be given by Shane Neilson, Steven Price, Julie Bruck, Susan Glickman, David Seymour, Adam Dickinson, Carmelita McGrath, Lynn Davies, Jan Conn, Peter Richardson, Maurice Mierau, Sue Sinclair, and many more.

All readings are free of admission and all are welcome to attend.

Elizabeth Brewster 1922-2012

Photo of Elizabeth Brewster courtesy
of Archives Canada. Used with permission.

There will be a special memorial for Elizabeth Brewster next week to acknowledge her special connection to the University of New Brunswick and her literary legacy. It will take place at 4pm on Wednesday, April 24 in the Alumni Memorial Building, 13 Bailey Drive on the UNB campus in Fredericton.

In The Fiddlehead's spring issue, due back from the printers very soon, we commemorate Brewster's career by reprinting several of Brewster's early poems that appeared in The Fiddlehead. Also appearing in no. 255 is a thoughtful essay about Brewster written by current UNB graduate student Chasity St. Louis. We're pleased to reproduce Chasity's piece, "Where We Come From: Elizabeth Brewster's Literary Legacy" here on our blog.

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Elizabeth (Betty) Winifred Brewster passed away December 26, 2012 at the age of ninety. An early member of the Bliss Carman Society, she contributed greatly to the founding of The Fiddlehead. Her death marks nine decades of literary involvement and excellence.

Brewster was born August 26, 1922 in the small logging town of Chipman, New Brunswick. Delivered by one of her grandmothers and given the name of the other who was on her deathbed at the time of her birth, she had a less than prosperous early childhood. Both of her parents were unemployed at the time of her birth, and the family lived a fairly nomadic lifestyle, migrating from one relative’s home to another until her parents found better paying positions at an army canteen during the war.

Brewster was kept out of school for a few years because she was physically frail and considered to be intellectually behind. However, this did not get in the way of her own personal education. An avid reader from a young age, she read anything, from literary classics to the pages of the Eaton’s catalogue, even epitaphs on grave markers when other material was unavailable. Brewster began writing poetry around the age of nine or ten. Her burgeoning talent did not go unnoticed — when she was only twelve, one of the poems her father submitted to Saint John’s Telegraph-Journal was published.

Farewell Reading for UNB Writer-in-Residence Joan Clark

The University of New Brunswick would like to invite you to Joan Clark's farewell reading as writer-in-residence. The reading will take place on Wednesday, April 10 at 8pm in the Alumni Memorial Lounge, University of New Brunswick.

Ross Leckie, editor of The Fiddlehead, will also be reading.

Joan Clark is a Member of the Order of Canada and the author of two short story collections, four novels, six novels for younger readers, and three picture books. She lives in St. John’s, Newfoundland.

Admission is free and all are welcome to attend.

Elizabeth Brewster Memorial to be Held Wednesday, April 24

Please join the UNB community as we remember Elizabeth Brewster. A special memorial will be held at 4pm on Wednesday, April 24 in the Alumni Memorial Building, 13 Bailey Drive on the UNB campus in Fredericton. The memorial will be followed by a reception and, for those who wish, a visit to Elizabeth Brewster's gravesite at the Fredericton Forest Hill Cemetery.

Brewster earned a BA in 1946 and was a founding member of The Fiddlehead; she received an honourary doctorate from UNB in 1982. She is the author of over 30 books of poetry, prose, essays, and memoirs. She is a member of the Order of Canada and holder of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal. She is a professor emeritus of the University of Saskatchewan

Click on the Memorial Flier above for more details.

CWILA Critic-in-Residence Sue Sinclair Interviewed

Over at CWILA's website, they've posted an interview with their first critic-in-residence Sue Sinclair. Sinclair was Writer-in-Residence at UNB for 2011-12, and she's a frequent contributor of book reviews to The Fiddlehead.

The wide-ranging interview by Brecken Hancock covers beauty, editing, the political role of poetry, and much more. Here is part of her response to a question about the similarities between her previous roles as writer-in-residence and editor, and her current role with CWILA:

Both editing and criticism depend on being the most attentive reader you can be and on communicating that readerly experience as clearly as possible. In that way they’re twins. But in editing there’s a problem-solving approach that makes it different in spirit from criticism. I confess to feeling more comfortable as editor than critic; this year is partly an exercise in learning to practice criticism in a way that suits me. If a poem seems to be going awry, as editor I can offer that feedback while the author is still in a position to rework it. Pointing out a weakness after its publication seems a little like closing the barn door after the horse has bolted—there’s a way in which it doesn’t do the poem a lot of good (assuming that the poem isn’t reworked post-publication). On the other hand, what’s the point of a “published” work but to participate in “public” life, to invite readers, to ask them to respond somehow?

Click here to read the rest of the interview.

Also, be sure to check out her "On Beauty" series over at Lemon Hound.

A Review and a Reminder

Lori A. May at The Review Review reads The Fiddlehead's West Coast issue (no. 253), and she likes what she reads! She says, "The country may have beautifully distinguishable regions, yet the voices within them branch inward, outward, and transcend borders in original ways. Thus, this issue of The Fiddlehead is perfectly representative of the diversity of styles, voices, and approaches to writing in and about Canada."

You can read the full review on The Review Review's website.

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And for those of you in the Fredericton area, don't forget that Madeleine Thien reads Tuesday night at Alumni Memorial Hall at 8pm.

Madeleine Thien will read from her new novel, Dogs at the Perimeter. Thien is the author of two previous works of fiction, Simple Recipes (2001), a collection of short stories, and Certainty (2006), a novel. She has received the City of Vancouver Book Award, the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, and the Ovid Festival Prize, and her fiction and essays have been featured in Granta, The Walrus, and Brick. Thien lives in Montreal.

Admission is free and all are welcome to attend.

UNB Reading Series presents Madeleine Thien + Fiddlehead News

The University of New Brunswick would like to invite you to a special reading by Madeleine Thien. The reading will take place on Tuesday, February 5 at 8pm in the Alumni Memorial Lounge, University of New Brunswick.

Madeleine Thien will read from her new novel, Dogs at the Perimeter. Thien is the author of two previous works of fiction, Simple Recipes (2001), a collection of short stories, and Certainty (2006), a novel. She has received the City of Vancouver Book Award, the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, and the Ovid Festival Prize, and her fiction and essays have been featured in Granta, The Walrus, and Brick. Thien lives in Montreal.

Admission is free and all are welcome to attend.

Johanna Skibsrud, winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize, says this about Dogs at the Perimeter: "If you read one Canadian book this year, let it be this one."

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Contributor to The Fiddlehead no. 254 Tamas Dobozy was recently interviewed by Shelagh Rogers on her CBC program The Next Chapter. You can listen to the podcast here.

The UNB Reading Series Presents Stephanie Bolster and Susan Gillis

The University of New Brunswick would like to invite you to a special poetry reading by Stephanie Bolster and Susan Gillis. The reading will take place on Tuesday, November 20 at 8pm in Alumni Memorial Lounge, UNB.

Stephanie Bolster will read from her latest work, A Page from the Wonders of Life on Earth, whose poems, according to one reviewer, “read like small essays, and the finest end so wonderfully, just before they end, leaving so much more said by remaining unsaid.” She is the winner of such prestigious prizes as the Governor General’s Literary Award, the Archibald Lampman Award, and the Gerald Lampert Award.

Susan Gillis will read from The Rapids, a collection of poems that like the river its title invokes, is full of sudden shifts – a polyphony of surges and eddies and remarkable connections. She takes us from a balcony high over the St. Lawrence River in downtown Montreal, upstream to the Lachine Rapids, and beyond, to landscapes as far apart as Greece and the B.C. coast. Susan is the recipient of the Quebec Writers' Federation's A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry.

Admission is free and all are welcome to attend.

The UNB Reading Series Presents Margot Livesay

The University of New Brunswick would like to invite you to a special reading by Margot Livesey. The reading will take place on Thursday, November 8 at 8pm in Alumni Memorial Lounge, UNB.

Margot Livesey will read from her seventh and latest novel, The Flight of Gemma Hardy. Margot has been the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Massachusetts Artists' Foundation and the Canada Council for the Arts. Margot is currently a distinguished writer-in-residence at Emerson College.

Alice Sebold says, "Every novel of Margot Livesey's is, for her readers, a joyous discovery. Her work radiates with compassion and intelligence and always, deliciously, mystery."

Admission is free and all are welcome to attend.

Fiddlehead Radio: A Discussion with Joan Clark



UNB graduate student Kyle Connelly with Joan Clark,
UNB Writer-in-Residence for 2012-13

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with acclaimed Canadian author and current University of New Brunswick writer-in-residence Joan Clark. Our discussion moved from her early career in Alberta up to her novel-in-progress (which is set in Sussex, NB) and the state of Canadian publishing.

Joan Clark is a Member of the Order of Canada and the author of two short story collections, four novels, six novels for younger readers, and three picture books. She lives in St. John’s, Newfoundland.

- Kyle Connelly
Editorial Assistant

Listen to the interview in your web browser.

(Right Click or Control Click on the above link to download mp3 interview.)

The Fiddlehead's West Coast Issue is Here!



Fiddlehead Editor Ross Leckie & Malahat editor John Barton
hold copies of both issues in front of The Fiddlehead office

 And we launch it tonight along with The Malahat Review's East Coast issue!

This special event takes place at 8pm in the Bailey Auditorium, Tilley Hall, UNB Fredericton. Refreshments will be served; doors open at 7:30.

Hosted by the editors of both magazines, Ross Leckie of The Fiddlehead and John Barton of The Malahat, there will be many contributors to the east coast issue to read from both magazines, including Kerry-Lee Powell, M. Travis Lane, Claire Kelly, Gerard Beirne, Lynn Davies, Anne Compton, Michael Pacey, and Ian LeTourneau.

Copies of both issues will be available for sale (cash or cheque). This event is free and everyone is welcome.

The Fiddlehead and The Malahat launch new issues October 25!

On October 25, join The Fiddlehead and The Malahat Review, two of Canada’s most respected literary journals, as they present their West Coast and East Coast editions. We've also collaborated on a blog, which features expanded and original content! Visit it here!

The Fiddlehead surveys West Coast writing and The Malahat Review shines a lighthouse beam on East Coast writing. A number of authors will be present to read from these two journals, and the event will be hosted by Ross Leckie, editor of The Fiddlehead, and by John Barton, editor of The Malahat.

The event takes place at 8pm in the Bailey Auditorium, Tilley Hall, UNB. Refreshments will be provided. Admission is free and all are welcome to attend.

Copies of both magazines will be available for purchase by cash or cheque.

Thanks to our sponsor

The UNB Reading Series Presents John Barton

The 2012-13 UNB Reading Series is proud to present John Barton, who returns to Fredericton to read from his newly released collection, For the Boy with the Eyes of the Virgin: Selected Poems.

Drawn from nine collections published over the last 30 years, the 38 poems in this retrospective reveal the poetic accomplishments of John Barton. This selection embraces his passion for art, literature, the city and nature, and it explores the role of love in contemporary society.

John Barton is the editor of The Malahat Review. He spent the 2010-11 academic year as UNB's Writer-in-residence. At that time, The Fiddlehead's editorial assistant Peter Forestell sat down with him for an interview.

You can listen to that Radio Fiddlehead podcast here.

The reading takes place on October 24 at 8pm in Tilley Hall's Bailey Auditorium. Books will be available for purchase.

The reading is free and open to the public. 

Scenes from 2012 UNB Poetry Weekend



Photo courtesy of Brian Bartlett

 Visit our Facebook page to view photos snapped during this year's UNB Poetry Weekend, which took place September 29-30, 2012.

UNB Poetry Weekend!

The University of New Brunswick would like to invite you to Poetry Weekend, a two day celebration of poetry that includes readings by Governor’s General and Griffin award-winning poets. Readings will take place on Saturday and Sunday, September 29-30, at 11am, 2pm, and 8pm in Memorial Hall, UNB. A tentative list of readers and schedule appears below.

A major highlight in this, the 9th annual gathering of poets, is the Saturday evening launch of Icehouse Poetry, an new imprint of Goose Lane Editions.
   
Poetry Weekend is presented by The UNB Department of English, The Bookstore, The Fiddlehead, The Canada Council for the Arts, Goose Lane Editions, and The League of Canadian Poets.

Admission is free and all are welcome to attend.

Saturday, Sept 29

11am
Jan Zwicky
Emily Skov-Nielsen
Richard Kemick             
Martin Ainsley                  
Sue Sinclair                   
Chasity St. Louis             
Patrick Leath               
Gerry Beirne                   

2pm
Ryan Marshall                  
Amanda Jernigan                  
Sharon McCartney              
Michael Pacey                  
Brian Bartlett                   
Jeffery Donaldson              
Kathy Mac                  

*****Ice House Poetry Launch 7pm @Ice House
Stewart Cole & Patrick Warner

8pm 
Steve Noyes                   
Shane Neilson                   
Nick Thran                   
Travis Lane                   
Katia Grubisic                   
Stewart Cole                   
Patrick Warner                   


Sunday, Sept 30

11am
Ross Leckie
Stewart Cole
Ian LeTourneau
Matthew Gwathmey
Peter Frieswick
Sarah Bernstein
Triny Finlay
Michael Jessome

2pm
Chantelle Rideout
Patrick Warner
Daryll Whetter
Steve Noyes
Phillip Crymble
Karen Schindler
Claire Kelly

8pm
Alex Boyd
Vanessa Moeller
Darren Bifford
Matt Tierney
Jim Johnstone
Mat Henderson
Jan Zwicky

The UNB Reading Series Presents Acclaimed Writers Joan Clark, Ruth Roach Pierson, and Maureen Hynes

The University of New Brunswick would like to invite you to a literary reading by acclaimed writers Joan Clark, Ruth Roach Pierson, Maureen Hynes. The reading will be held on Friday, Sept 21, 2012 at 8pm in the Alumni Memorial Lounge on the UNB Fredericton Campus.

Joan Clark is writer-in-residence at UNB from September 2012 to April 2013. She is available to the public and to make an appointment contact her at joan.clark@unb.ca or at 506-452-6356. Joan is the multiple-award-winning author of several novels, short story collections for adults and novels for young readers. Her last adult novel, Latitudes of Melt, was nominated for the 2002 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, the 2001 Commonwealth Writer’s Prize, Canada-Caribbean, and was a New York Times Notable Book.

Ruth Roach Pierson is a retired academic and award-winning poet. Her poems have appeared in ARC, CV2, Event, The Fiddlehead, The Literary Review of Canada, The Malahat Review, MIX Magazine, Pagitica, Pottersfield Portfolio, Prism International, Queen’s Feminist Review, Quills, and Room of One’s Own as well as a number of anthologies. Her book of poems, Aide-Mémoire (2007), was named a finalist for the 2008 Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry.

Maureen Hynes is the poetry editor for Our Times magazine and the author of two books of poems. Her work has been shortlisted for the CBC Literary Awards and appears in Best Canadian Poetry 2010. She is a past winner of the Petra Kenney Poetry Award (London, England), and her book, Rough Skin (1995), won the League of Canadian Poets’ Gerald Lampert Award for best first book of poetry.

The reading is presented by the UNB English Department, UNB Faculty of Arts, the Canada Council for the Arts, Arts NB, the UNB Fredericton Bookstore, & The Fiddlehead.
Admission is free and all are welcome to attend.

2012-2013 Reading Series!

Below is a list of writers scheduled to read at the University of New Brunswick in the upcoming academic year, sponsored by the UNB English Department, the UNB Bookstore, the Canada Council for the Arts, The Writers Trust of Canada, and The Fiddlehead. All readings are free and open to the public! If you are here in the Fredericton area (or visiting), then take advantage to hear these great Canadian authors reading from their latest works!

Most readings are in the evenings either at Memorial Hall or Alumni Memorial Hall on the University of New Brunswick campus. Please click here for a map of UNB. Look for additional details in this space leading up to each reading.

Fall 2012
Joan Clark, Ruth Roach Pierson & Maureen Hynes	21 Sept	Alumni Memorial
Poetry Weekend	29-30 Sept	Memorial Hall
Margot Livesey	8 Nov	Alumni Memorial
Stephanie Bolster & Susan Gillis	20 Nov	Alumni Memorial
Winter 2013
Ami McKay	22 Jan	Alumni Memorial
Madeline Thien	5 Feb	Alumni Memorial
Clark Blaise	12 Mar	Alumni Memorial

The UNB Reading Series Presents: Linden MacIntyre

Scotiabank Giller Prize winner Linden MacIntyre, author of The Bishop’s Man, will be reading from his latest novel Why Men Lie at Memorial Hall, Thursday, April 12th at 8 pm.

Award-winning author, journalist, and broadcaster Linden MacIntyre returns with the third volume in his Cape Breton trilogy, Why Men Lie (Random House, 2012). The novel begins two years after the events of The Bishop’s Man (Random House 2009) and centres on Effie MacAskill, a tenured professor of Celtic Studies and sister of the troubled priest Duncan, a character from MacIntyre’s previous novel. A fortuitous meeting with J. C. Campbell, a childhood friend that Effie hasn’t seen in more than twenty years, leads her into the possibility of a new romantic relationship. The infidelities of Effie’s first husband, Sextus, prompted her to seek a fresh start in life and her romance with J. C. begins hopefully. However, cracks emerge and J. C.’s behavior proves unpredictable. When Effie spots him in a seedy area of the city late at night and confronts him, he denies having left house. His increasingly erratic behavior and obsession with a death row convict leads to a rupture in their relationship. Effie’s family obligations require her attention in Cape Breton, but her past and present soon merge in unexpected and potentially dangerous ways.

Linden MacIntyre’s The Bishop’s Man was awarded the 2009 Scotiabank Giller Prize and the 2010 Libris Fiction Book of the Year Award. He is the author of the novel The Long Stretch (HarperCollins 1999) and two works of Non-fiction: Causeway: A Passage from Innocence (HarperCollins 2006) and Who Killed Ty Conn (Viking 2000), written with Theresa Burke. MacIntrye is also a broadcaster and journalist with the CBC, known for his investigative reports produced for The Fifth Estate, and has received numerous awards for excellence in broadcasting.

The reading is presented by the UNB English Department, the Canada Council for the Arts, the UNB Fredericton Bookstore, and The Fiddlehead.

Admission is free and all are welcome to attend