Once again it’s time for the CKCU funding drive! Only one week left to support a radio station has been providing the best in music, spoken word and multicultural programming since 1975.

SOME CKCU COSTS:
Telephones $4000
SOCAN royalties – $12,000
Rent for CKCU space to Carleton University $50,000
Insurance for equipment and liability $18,000
Tower Rental for our antenna and transmitter $15,000
Web site space, bandwidth etc $4000
Headphones – $200 (we have 10 of these)
Turntables – $600
Turntable Cartridge $50 ( we go through many over the year)
Microphones $100 (always replace 3 or 4 a year)
Computers $500 (just went through one of these, replace at least one a year)
Computer Monitors $150

They’re aiming to raise $111,000. The station is volunteer and donation driven, please consider making a pledge. Pledges can be made online through the CKCU website or by calling 613.520.3920.

Support CKCU! Support Lit Landscapes!

Horribly sad to  learn about the death of Glenn Goluska, one of Canada’s greatest typographers. I had the good fortune to meet Glenn at a Gaspereau Press wayzgoose. Andrew let me run the Vandercook in his office, printing souvenirs for visitors to the shop and Glenn was there as backup. He gently offered pointers and suggestions throughout the afternoon, graciously stepping in to better articulate printing history when needed. I drove him to the airport the next day and we had a lovely conversation about printing/books/mutual friends. He was strikingly kind and generous. He told me he was hoping to make it down to Ottawa to visit with jwcurry and the letterpress/book arts folk but that never happened.  Requieum, lovely Glenn, so glad to have met you and so sorry not to have had more time. More information and obits for Glenn:

A spread from Robert Kroetsch’s Liebhaber’s Wood Type (1987), GP blog entry, below

Andrew Steeves’ visit with Glenn earlier this year:
http://gaspereaupress.blogspot.com/2011/04/trip-to-goluskaville.html

Andrew Steeves at Gaspereau Press: http://gaspereaupress.blogspot.com/2011/08/glenn-goluska.html

Alcuin Society Blog:
http://blog.alcuinsociety.com/2011/08/glenn-goluska-19472011.html

Coach House:
http://www.chbooks.com/news/canadian-master-designer-glenn-goluska-dies-cancer-age-64

Go forth and answer, you poetry reader denizen.

http://lpg.ca/public/news/lpgturnerriggs_launch_survey_poetry_market

Salt, of Ocean Sea, of Tears

the forfeiture
of ending
to begin begin
& arch & heel

(excerpt from Field Notes.)

“…I was a flower of the mountain yes when I put the rose in my hair like the Andalusian girls used‏ or shall I wear a red yes and how he kissed me under the Moorish wall and I thought well as well him as another and then I asked him with my eyes to ask again yes and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will yes.”

Painting by Adrien Henri Tanoux (1865-1923), “A Young Beauty with a Red Flower in her Hair”. More information on Bloomsday here.

I’m not neutral by any stretch of the most nubile imagination (rob mclennan is my partner). But Zachary Houle’s recent ‘Letter to the Editor’ riled me and I’m quite difficult to unrile.

The letter itself is absurd. While I’m very sorry to hear that Mr. Houle had such difficulty getting his ex-partner to attend his readings, it hardly seems fair to blame rob. We are adults and if we wish to be supportive of our (writerly) partners: we go to an event. Period. Perhaps she simply did not enjoy readings. There is nothing that would prevent me from supporting someone that I care about. Ain’t no mountain high enough (etcetera).

To be fair, I wasn’t at that event and can’t comment on the mclennan of decades past. I can only comment on the three years that I’ve known him, during which I’ve seen him be nothing but supportive of visiting and local authors in Ottawa. Just within that period he hosted readings for:

Amanda Earl, Angela Szczepaniak, Aurian Haller, Ben LaDouceur, Brenda Leifso, Bruce Taylor, Cameron Anstee, Chris Turnbull, Christine Leclerc, Christine Stewart, Clint Burnham, David McGimpsey, Diane Tucker, Elizabeth Bachinsky, Emily Falvey, Eva Moran, Faizal Deen, Gary Barwin, Garry Thomas Morse, Gillian Sze, Gwendolyn Guth, Helen Hajnoczky, Janice Tokar, Jason Camlot, Jay MillAr, Jeanette Lynes, Jen Currin, Jon Paul Fiorentino, Ken Belford, Kim Minkus, Laurie Fuhr, Lea Graham, Lisa Pasold, Marcus McCann, Mark Goldstein, Marilyn Irwin, Matt Rader, Michael Dennis, Michelle Desbarats, Mike Spry, Monty Reid, Natasha Nuhanovic, Nicholas Lea, Nick McArthur, Paul Tyler, Pearl Pirie, Peter Gibbon, Peter Midgley, Peter Jaeger, Phil Hall, Roland Prevost, Sachiko Murakami, Sandra Ridley, Shane Rhodes, Spencer Gordon, Stan Rogal, Stephen Brockwell, Steve Zytveld, Stuart Ross, Suzanne Bowness, Teresa Yang, Wanda O’Connor, and Wes Smiderle.

Which to my mind represents a diverse range of writerly voices belonging to different aesthetics, personalites, styles, and regions. He’s published chapbooks by many of these same writers and more through above/ground press. Recently, the Dusty Owl reading series needed some help and mclennan was the one to find them a new venue, book new writers or hosts, and increase their promotion tenfold. I’ve seen him support young writers, give out publications to those he think might like them, and review books that might not be reviewed  elsewhere. He runs a twice-annual small press book fair where small presses, zines, local artists, papermakers, and printers can sell their work. He isn’t paid to do any of this. It’s a gift of time and energy.

A poisonous atmosphere in Ottawa? Writers from all schools mingle here in a whole slew of venues that cater to every aesthetic. mclennan is a vital part of the Ottawa community but he is just one of many writers and reading organizers in this town. If you want to write and participate in Ottawa literary culture, you can do so. Hell, you can do so without even exchanging a single syllable with mclennan if that’s your fancy. (And for the record, I’ve never once heard him say snarky comments from the audience excepting mutual teasing with good friends.)

rob has his critics, as do most figures of any public presence but it is ridiculous to see such a personal screed by someone who hasn’t participated in the Ottawa literary community for years. He seems to have no sense of this city’s character. I agree with only one point in the entire letter. Please do come to a poetry reading in Ottawa. Come to several. Come to VerseFest, the new annual poetry festival in March. 

And I’ll include Houle in this one. If you want to be supportive of indie/small press culture in Ottawa or elsewhere: participate. Don’t throw a hissy fit over one paragraph in a fifty-item list because you have a personal problem with an old acquaintance. Write your own work, make your own books, show up, for Christ’s sake. Else-wise, the only asinine, vitriolic, and spiteful comments that I see in the vicinity of mclennan are yours. 

best,

Christine McNair

Because breath is life. Because love, peace, happiness, forgiveness, and all variants thereof are a conscious choice (sometimes mostly perhaps). Happiness is a warm bell. A mindfulness clock to remind you to breathe. I love setting it to random so I can centre myself: http://www.mindfulnessdc.org/bell/index.html

“Your father said, ‘In little business lies much rest’. This world is but a thoroughfare and full of woe; and when we depart thereform, right naught we bear with us but our good deeds and ill.” (My fifteenth great-grandmother Agnes to her son John Paston in Fleet Prison, 1465.)

I See a Darkness – Bonnie Prince Billy

well you’re my friend
(it’s what you told me)
and can you see
(what’s inside of me)
many times
we’ve been out drinking
and many times
we’ve shared our thoughts
but did you ever, ever notice
the kind of thoughts I got
well you know I have a love
a love for everyone I know
and you know I have a drive
to live I won’t let go
but can you see its opposition
comes a-rising up sometimes
that it’s dreadful and position
comes blacking in my mind

and that I see a darkness
and that I see a darkness
and that I see a darkness
and that I see a darkness
and did you know how much I love you
is a hope that somehow you you
can save me from this darkness

well I hope that someday, buddy
we have peace in our lives
together or apart
alone or with our wives
that we can stop our whoring
and pull the smiles inside
and light it up forever
and never go to sleep
my best unbeaten brother
this isn’t all I see

event report by rob mclennan: http://robmclennan.blogspot.com/2011/05/messagio-galore-take-viii-event-report.html

Amanda Earl’s comments on WritersFestival highlights: http://amandaearl.blogspot.com/2011/05/wore-down-trust-fest-highlights.html

John W. MacDonald’s photo of jwcurry: http://weblog.johnwmacdonald.com/2011/05/jwcurry-messagio-galore-viii.html