Archives for posts with tag: September 25th

The Doctor of Blues… Is In.

August 24, 2011 //
0

Doctor of the BluesFeeling ill? A sure remedy to wash away those aches, pains and worries come Sepetmber is to Check In with Doctor of the Blues, Marshall Lawrence.

Maple Blues Award Nominee and Canadian Independent Music Award Nominee, Marshall Lawrence “Doctor of the Blues” is a true “Prairie Bluesman”. Marshall has been inducted into the Blues of Hall of Fame® as a Great Blues Artist from Canada. Marshall performs acoustic slide & finger-style blues and roots with a true and genuine blues feel. He performs as a solo act, just Marshall and his National guitars creating an intimate acoustic experience. His music is described as Neo-Delta Acid Blues & Roots – delta-style blues and roots with a raw edge & an acid twist.

Get a sneak peak here of Marshall’s unique brand of blues, and come out September 25th to see the man live in action

Tags , , , , , , , , ,
Categories Canada, Lethbridge, Library, Live Music

Write Here at the Library… Neil McKinnon is back for The Word On The Street

August 16, 2011 //
0

Neil McKinnon brings prairie humour to The Word On The Street Festival

Neil McKinnon has been a businessman, archaeologist, university lecturer, and freelance writer. He has worked in China, Japan, Mexico, Canada and the U.S. and holds a BSc in Math and BA and MA in archaeology. His articles and stories have appeared in Canadian, Japanese, Mexican and U.S. publications. Tuckahoe Slidebottle is his first book. It was a finalist for the Stephen Leacock award and for the Alberta award for short fiction. He has just completed his second book, The World’s Greatest Lover. His wife, Judy, is quick to point out that it is a work of fiction. They have been married for 46 years. Parts of both books were written in the Lethbridge Public Library.

Neil was born at a young age in an old house that is now a funeral parlour. It was June, 1941. War was raging in Europe and Joe Dimaggio was in the middle of a fifty-six-game hitting streak. He grew up in Togo, Saskatchewan—to the height of 5 feet 10 inches where he stayed until he was fifty-nine, at which point he started to shrink.

 The allies chose Neil’s third birthday to invade France. In 1955 he and a friend left Togo and hitchhiked to Vancouver to seek friendlier pastures. Vancouver was not a friendly pasture for two farm boys with only $20 so they went camping in an abandoned car on Vancouver Island.

After a career selling encyclopaedias door-to-door Neil landed a job at the PNE where he sold fix-o-gases, unsinkable boats, spray shoeshine, aqua-filter cigarettes, and one-man pool tables. He has never been a lumberjack, steer-wrestler, miner or prizefighter.

He wrote his first story at ten and it remains unpublished. Quick to speak, he runs down slowly and people often leave the room while he is still talking. He is very competitive and once won two cans of fried chicken in a fishing derby.

Check out his novel Tuckahoe Slidebottle- Written, in part, at the Lethbridge Library

Tags , , , , , , ,
Categories Authors, Canada, Fiction, Lethbridge, Library, Uncategorized

Looking Forward, Looking Back

August 4, 2011 //
1

Making history both relevant and interesting to read is a very challenging genre to work in for a writer, but Jane Harris Zsovan makes it look easy.  She writes on subjects that are fascinating for her and I was completely hooked as she shared details of both the Eugenics book and the history of the Galt family during our recent interview on CKXU.

Author Jane Harris Zsovan brings history to life

Her publisher provides a bit more detail here:

“Jane Harris Zsovan’s writing combines a fierce commitment to accuracy, thorough research, and a lively style to reveal the personalities and issues behind contemporary and historical Canada.  Her newest book, Eugenics and the Firewall (J. Gordon Shillingford Publishing, November 2010, Dist. University of Toronto Press) investigates the role of populism and religion in Alberta’s political culture. It  looks at how that culture contributed to the largest eugenic scandal in the British Empire.  She also authored Stars Appearing: The Galts’ Vision of Canada (Volumes,2006), which explores the unique place of Lethbidge Alberta, the  only city in Canada co-founded by a Father of Confederation, through the lives of John Galt, founder of Guelph Ontario; and his son and grandson, Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt and Elliot Torrance Galt.  Jane’s anthology contributions include “Jessie’s Generation: Canada’s Firebrands of Mercy and Justice” in Hot Apple Cider: Stories to Warm the Heart and Stir the Soul and “Wen-dizing the West” in Taking Care of Business( HB Fenn 1997). 

Her  articles and columns on contemporary Canadian culture, history, social issues, faith, and business have been published in more than a dozen  magazines including  National Post, Alberta Views, Alberta Venture, Lethbridge Living, Western Standard, Award Magazine, Alberta Home, The Anglican Planet, and Faith Today and Christian Herald.  She`s also written commissioned histories for the Sir Alexander Galt Museum (The Public Spirited Life of Arthur George Baalim 1992) and the Lethbridge Community College Faculty Association (A Place Built By Special People 1995).”

Tags , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories Authors, Books, Can-Lit, Canada, CKXU Radio, Lethbridge, Library

Elliot On The Way To Alberta!

July 15, 2011 //
0
Enter the Alberta Kids Contest

Learn to draw Elliot and enter Andrea's Alberta Kid Contest

Elliot Moose and Pierre Le Poof are on their way to Alberta to attend Lethbridge’s first The Word On The Street Festival. Their keeper, Children’s Author and Illustrator Andrea Beck, is rumoured to be travelling along to keep them in check!

In celebration of their Alberta trip, Andrea has launched the Alberta Kids Contest! Entrants are required to draw a picture of Elliot or Pierre in Alberta for a chance to win some exciting prize packs!

 Check out contest details online and come out to the festival in September for a chance to meet Pierre, Elliot and Andrea too!

Tags , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories Authors, Books, Canada, Children, Contest, Lethbridge, Library

Something for Everyone… Spoken Word Artist Ali Riley Confirmed!

June 30, 2011 //
0

Ali Riley to perform at The Word On The Street

Ali Riley’s first book, Wayward, was shortlisted for the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award. She has since released another book of poetry Tear Down.

She was born in Calgary, and was the singer/songwriter of the seminal psycho-country band Sacred Heart of Elvis. In Toronto, she acted in several theatre productions, including The Lorca Play, for which the company won a Dora Mavor Moore award for best performance by a female. Her produced plays include dog dream, Philosophy in the Bedroom and Hole in my Heart the Size of My Heart. Her poetry has appeared in Geist, The nth Position Anthology, Matrix, This Magazine, Event and the Moosehead Review, and she has performed at festivals, schools, and hootennannies across the country. She currently lives on a farm between Nanton and Vulcan, Alberta.

A big shout out to Blaine Greenwood and Most Vocal Poets for bringing in some stellar performers for The Word On The Street Festival!

http://frontenachouse.com/authors/single/ali_riley/

Tags , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories Canada, Lethbridge, Library, Poetry, Spoken Word

More Movin’ and a Groovin’ … Flash Mob 2!

June 28, 2011 //
0

St. Patrick’s Fine Arts Elementary School students are getting excited about The Word On The Street Festival in September. Although it’s still months away they couldn’t sit still! They were a singin’, dancin’ and groovin’ to the smash “This Book’s Gonna Be A Good Book” adapted from the current Black Eyed Peas hit song “I Gotta Feeling”. 

A big THANKS to all the students of St. Pat’s who took part, the musicians who played along, Val Lazzaretto and Shelley Baier for taking it on, and photographer Dave Rossiter from the Lethbridge Herald and Terry Vogt from CTV for helping spreading the word!

Tags , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories Canada, Lethbridge, Library, Uncategorized

Have You Missed an Episode?

June 27, 2011 //
0

The Lethbridge Public Library, in conjunction with CKXU Radio Network, has launched a summer-long live radio show to promote the inaugural The Word On The Street Festival and celebrate literacy and literary art in our city. Each segment features one or more local personalities in discussion with the radio host along with music and spoken word! Keep your dials tuned each Sunday from 5 to 6 p.m to CKXU 88.3 for updates on the festival, sneak peaks of the artists and authors involved and hints at where our next live FLASH MOB will be!

Out of range? You can tune in online at CKXU.com

Missed an episode? Thats A-OK, you can catch up here or on our Facebook page anytime!

 

Tags , , , , , ,
Categories Authors, Books, Canada, CKXU Radio, Lethbridge, Library

Taking It To The Streets!

June 17, 2011 //
0

 What a blast we had putting together the first (of many…:-) promotional events to get Lethbridge talking about The Word On The Street Festival coming up in September.

Tags , , , , ,
Categories Authors, Books, Canada, Lethbridge, Library
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 456 other followers