the 2014 Conference Program (PDF format)

Transcription

CNFCProgram.qxp_Layout 1 2014-04-24 2:40 PM Page 1
Dear Members,
Welcome to the 10th
Anniversary Conference of
the Creative Nonfiction
Collective Society. In preparation for this weekend I
asked Founder and Past
President, Myna Kostash,
to tell me how it all began.
In 2002, Myrna was on the
jury for the Governor
General’s Literary Award for
Nonfiction with Andreas
Schroeder and Jack Cook.
They gave the prize to
Andrew Nikiforuk for his
book Saboteurs: Wiebo Ludwig’s War Against Big Oil. The discussion around the table was that Andrew’s book was extremely
well written, a readable narrative, and an important story that
should ignite public discussion and interest. When Saboteur’s publisher, Macfarlane, Walter & Ross, went out of business it became
apparent that there was a lack of structural support in the industry
and the media for nonfiction. Seeing this crisis in nonfiction in
Canada Myrna Kostash contacted Betsy Warland and the two
sent out a call to professional nonfiction writers to gather together
in Banff to discuss the state of nonfiction particularly in comparison to the overwhelming support for fiction.
About fifteen writers came to the pay-your-own-way gathering.
Most came from Alberta and B.C. as Banff was relatively close by
and at that time the Banff Centre offered the writers artists’ rates.
At that first meeting, Myrna had an idea that all the writers should
read excerpts from their work. What happened that night generated a spark that resulted in the creation of the Creative Nonfic-
tion Collective. Every writer present was bowled over by the readings: the personal stories, excerpts from family memoirs, travel
experiences, subjective reportage, and stories that employed a
new journalism form. Myrna recalls that everyone was thrilled at
the breadth and depth of what nonfiction could be.
The weekend also included a lot of griping about how fiction
had all the prizes, all the media attention, and all the readers. A
powerful and determined informal manifesto was written by this
early group of writers on what an organization of nonfiction writers could do to get Canadians to pay attention to nonfiction.
But first things first, the group needed a name. Two choices
were voted on: The Nonfiction Collective of Canada and the
Creative Nonfiction Collective. We know which one garnered
the most votes.
Over the next ten years, creative nonfiction as a genre grew. New
literary practices developed. CNF courses were added to writing
programs. Literary journals called for nonfiction essays. Prizes
and contests for essays and nonfiction were added and celebrated as part of the literary season. Suddenly, it seemed like
creative nonfiction writers had arrived! The ecology of the genre
had changed, cnf was relevant, and our membership tripled.
Ten years ago, the sense of urgency that made a group of writers
come together to create this organization was not just about the
underdog nature of the genre – these writers collectively articulated the social and political importance of creative nonfiction.
This weekend as we gather together in Calgary as memoirists,
travel writers, essayists, and journalists, let’s thank our founders
and early members who had the vision and enthusiasm for
Canada’s best literary organization: the Creative Nonfiction
Collective Society.
I hope you enjoy this very special weekend in Calgary!
Sincerely,
Cathy Ostlere
President
Friday, 1:30 – 4:00 pm
LORRI NEILSEN GLENN
“Text, Time, and Memory: The Art and Craft of Bricolage”
will explore the innovative ways creative nonfiction (CNF) can
fashion text to create insight and spark connection.
(*Friday afternoon for pre-registered participants only)
Lorri Neilsen Glenn’s prose, poetry and edited collections include
Untying the Apron: Daughters Remember Mothers of the 1950s
(Guernica Editions, 2013, in its 3rd printing); Threading Light:
Explorations in Loss and Poetry (Hagios Press, 2011), and Lost
Gospels (Brick Books, 2010). Lorri has taught writing across
Canada, as well as in Ireland, Chile, Australia, New Zealand,
and Greece. Lorri was Halifax Poet Laureate from 2005 to 2009,
and a recipient of a 2009 Halifax Women of Excellence award.
Friday, 7:30 pm Turner Valley Room
RONALD WRIGHT
“A SHORT HISTORY OF A WRITER’S LIFE”
Historian, novelist, and essayist Ronald Wright is the award-winning author of nine books of nonfiction and fiction published in
16 languages and more than 40 countries. Much of his work
explores the relationships between past and present, peoples
and power, other cultures and our own.
A Short History of Progress, in which he examines humankind’s
increasingly precarious “experiment” with civilization, was the
best-selling book in the 50-year history of the prestigious CBC
Massey Lecture Series, winning the Libris Award for nonfiction
book of the year (2005) and serving as the basis for Martin
Scorsese’s documentary film Surviving Progress (2011). Wright’s
What Is America? was also a bestseller and finalist for the B.C.
Book Prize in 2009.
Born in England to Canadian and British parents, Wright read
archaeology and anthropology at Cambridge University and
spent many years travelling for his books, taking part in anthropological research, and recording indigenous music. He lives on
Canada’s west coast.
sponsored by Friends of CNFC
Denise Chong is an internationally published, award-winning
writer and a two-time finalist for the Governor General’s Literary
Awards. Her memoir, The Concubine’s Children, has become a
modern classic. In addition to an anthology of short stories,
Denise followed her memoir with three more books: The Girl in
the Picture, about the famous napalm victim of the Vietnam War;
Egg on Mao, and most recently, Lives of the Family, a book of
linked stories exploring the emotional experience of the immigrant
in small-town Canada.
Early in her career, Denise worked as an economist and as a
senior advisor to then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. In 2013, she
was named as an Officer of the Order of Canada for her contributions “as a writer, and for her civic engagement in social
causes, notably in support of human rights and the arts.” Born in
Vancouver and raised in Prince George, she now lives in Ottawa.
sponsored by Little Mountain Holdings Co. Limited
Saturday, 9:00 am Marquis Room
DENISE CHONG
Criss-crossing oceans, Denise Chong’s nonfiction narratives often
play out in Canada and abroad. She will discuss the ability and
privilege of the writer and of the reader to transcend boundaries
—cultural, geographical, class, gender or religious, generational,
even culinary.
Denise will discuss the interplay between imagination and firsthand research. She will speak to the practicalities of using translators and interpreters, and of pursuing stories that may pose risks
to writers or their sources.
In the decisions writers make about how to tell their stories,
Denise will ask, “Do you choose to put yourself in the narrative or
leave yourself out?” She will discuss the value of narratives that
are as much personal as social history, share her approach to
bringing a sense of place into the reader’s imagination, and
welcome questions regarding special considerations, such as the
use of foreign words, glossaries, maps, indexes, introductions,
and authors’ notes.
ence genre. Her memoir excerpts, lyric essays, travel writing,
poems, and translations have appeared in journals and her first
book manuscript is a collection of essays drawing on her experience as a Greek-Cypriot-American.
Saturday, 10:30 am Turner Valley Room
JOANNA ELEFTHERIOU & LAUREN FATH
The hardest part of writing a poem is starting one—especially
when you’re a prose writer! The lyric essay—a hybrid of the
poem and the essay—is a perfect starting point for writers looking
to move from sentences to stanzas. Using lyric essays by wellknown writers as examples, this workshop’s leaders will introduce
the genre’s formal properties and examine how those properties
align with, and differ from, those of lyric poetry. Both Joanna and
Lauren are nonfiction writers with experience using the lyric essay
to bridge the gap between prose and poetry, and will share practical advice for working “forward” from poem to lyric essay and
“backward” from lyric essay to poem. Finally, they will discuss the
logistics of publishing hybrid forms, helping participants to identify journals that are receptive to such work. The close study of
form and handy tips for publication will benefit all, from the experienced poet to the aspiring one.
Joanna Eleftheriou grew up in New York and Cyprus, and is completing doctoral work on the essay at the University of Missouri.
She has worked as a teacher of ESL, literature, and creative writing, and her interests include bicultural identities, nationalism,
places of conflict and trauma, and how traumatic histories influ-
Lauren Fath is a Ph.D. candidate in English at the University of
Missouri, where she holds the Creative Writing Program Fellowship, following a bachelor's degree in journalism and an M.F.A.
in creative nonfiction. Her essay “By Being Written, They Would
Disappear” was nominated for the 2011 Pushcart Prize. Her first
collection of essays focuses on fine art and discusses fine art and
how handmade objects allow us access to the past. As a scholar
of nonfiction, she is most interested in the intersection of genres,
particularly hybrid forms such as the lyric essay and autobiographical fiction. Lauren’s next book project combines several of
her favorite pastimes: writing nonfiction, knitting lace shawls, and
studying Russian
Saturday, 1:30 pm Turner Valley Room
Saturday, 10:30 am Marquis Room
BEV SELLARS
In the first full-length memoir published out of St. Joseph’s Mission
at Williams Lake, Bev Sellars tells of three generations of women
who attended the school, interweaving the personal histories of
her grandmother and her mother with her own. She writes of
hunger, forced labour, and physical abuse, and also of the
demand for conformity in a culturally alien institution where
children were confined and denigrated for failure to be White
and Roman Catholic.
In this workshop, Sellars will read from her poignant memoir,
They Called Me Number One: Secrets and Survival at an Indian
Residential School, and speak about breaking her silence and
forging her own path to healing.
Xat’sull Chief Bev Sellars spent her childhood in a church-run
residential school whose aim it was to “civilize” Native children
through Christian teachings, forced separation from family and
culture, and discipline. They Called Me Number One published
by Talonbooks is shortlisted for a B.C. Book Prize — the Hubert
Evans Non-Fiction Prize — and has won the 2014 George Ryga
Award for Social Awareness in Literature.
MARJORIE DOYLE
This workshop will be general and specific, philosophical and
technical. (Yes, all in 75 minutes!) I will invite discussion on
humour in CNF. Is Canadian humour an oxymoron? We will
look at writing where humour works well to discover technique
referencing tone, voice, and comic devices. Can writing humour
be learned? Before technique there is sensibility – on the part of
the writer, and the reader. Are readers of CNF receptive to
humour or is writing funny a weak cousin shrinking before meatier
relatives tackling serious matter. We will look at the subgenres
that lend themselves to humour including travel writing, personal
essay, reviewing and memoir. I will share some personal experience as a writer who’s been told, “You write best when you’re
funny, Marj” and, on the same day, “Like any comic, you’re at
your best when you’re writing serious.”
Marjorie Doyle’s newest of four books of nonfiction is A Doyle
Reader: Writings from Home and Away. A four-time winner of
Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) Arts and Letters Awards, she
won a Silver in the National Magazine Awards, and in 2009
was the Haig-Brown House’s Writer-In-Residence on Vancouver
Island. Doyle has been a columnist with The Globe and Mail and
a broadcaster with the CBC, winning two CBC Radio Awards for
Programming Excellence. The film she co-wrote/produced with
John W. Doyle, Regarding Our Father, was nominated for a
Golden Sheaf Award. Doyle holds an MA from Memorial University in St. John’s, where she has taught creative nonfiction. She’s
lived in Wisconsin, Illinois, Toronto, Calgary, Switzerland and
Spain. She makes her home now in her native St. John’s.
Saturday, 1:30 pm Marquis Room
DILMUROD SAIDOV
Journalist • Uzbekistan
MADELINE SONIK
Often, it seems, works of creative nonfiction, particularly memoirs,
have been denounced on the basis of their authors having indulged in too much fictionalizing. (Augusten Burroughs was sued
by the family he depicted in his memoir, Running with Scissors.
Though the settlement was never made public, Burroughs maintains it was “a victory for all memoirists.”)
In this workshop we will begin with a brief theoretical discussion
of the conventional demarcations between fiction and nonfiction,
considering nonfiction works that have incited controversy for fictionalizing, as well as fictional works that are primarily autobiographical. Then, using a number of recent nonfiction examples,
we’ll isolate techniques found predominantly in fiction. These practical examples will act as a basis for a number of useful exercises
that will allow participants to explore the liminal spaces in between genres, and the ways that fictional writing techniques are
used to great advantage in creative nonfiction writing of all kinds.
Madeline Sonik is an eclectic, award-winning writer, anthologist,
and teacher. Her published book-length works include a novel,
Arms, a collection of short fiction, Drying the Bones, a children’s
novel, Belinda and the Dustbunnys, two poetry collections, Stone
Sightings and The Book of Changes, and a volume of personal
essays, Afflictions & Departures, which was nominated for the
BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction, a finalist for the
Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction, and winner of the
2012 City of Victoria Butler Book Prize. She holds an MA in
Journalism, an M.F.A in Creative Writing, and a PhD in
Education and teaches in the Writing Department at the
University of Victoria in British Columbia. She is currently at
work on a second essay collection, a novel in stories, and a book
on writing techniques.
FRIDAY, MAY 2, 2014
1:30-4 PM.........Master Class with Lorri Neilsen Glenn
Text, Time, Memory –
The Art and Craft of Bricolage Marquis Room
4:30-6 PM.........Hotel & Conference Registration check-in
3:00-4:30 PM.......Plenary Session: Communicating with the Dead,
in conversation with Mark Abley, Sharon Butala
and Peter Midgley Marquis Room
Sponsor: Douglas & McIntyre
6-7:30..............Grab a bite at a local eatery or bar
7:30-9 PM.........Keynote Address by Ronald Wright:
A Short History of A Writer’s Life
9 PM...............Keynote Reception. Cash bar.
SATURDAY, MAY 3, 2014
9-10:15 AM..........Writing the World
with Denise Chong Marquis Room
7:00-11:00 PM......Buffet Dinner
Award: carte blanche/CNFC Contest
Remarks by Don Sedgwick
Presentation by Maria Schamis Turner
and Darlene Chrapko
CNFC Literary Cabaret hosted by
Alisa Gordaneer
Sponsor: Little Mountain Holdings Co. Ltd
10:30-11:45AM.....CNF and The Poet
with Joanna Eleftheriou and Lauren Fath
Turner Valley Room OR
Breaking the Silence with Chief Bev Sellars
Marquis Room
12-1:15 PM..........Lunch and Readers’ Choice Awards
Sponsor: Writers’ Guild of Alberta
1:30-2:45 PM.......Comic Relief with Marjorie Doyle
Turner Valley Room OR
Crossing Genres with Madeline Sonik
Marquis Room
SUNDAY, MAY 4, 2014
8:30-9:30 AM......Breakfast with the Founders
9:30-11:00 AM.....Annual General Meeting
12:00-1:30 PM......Literary Walk with George Melnyk and guest
readers Shaun Hunter, Myrna Kostash,
Fred Stenson and Aritha van Herk
MEET IN THE HOTEL LOBBY
Sponsor: Stones Carbert Waite LLP
books and three collections of poetry, with a book of new and
selected poems forthcoming from Coteau Books in 2015. A
language columnist for the Montreal Gazette, he won a National
Newspaper Award for critical writing and has been shortlisted in
the category of international reporting. Born in England, raised
mostly in Alberta and Saskatchewan, he now makes his home in
a suburb of Montreal.
Saturday, 3:00 – 4:30 pm, Marquis Room
MARK ABLEY, SHARON BUTALA
& PETER MIDGLEY
“COMMUNICATING WITH THE DEAD”
Sharon Butala, Mark Abley and Peter Midgley share their
experiences of writing about the dead. What debt, they ask, do
we owe to those writers and individuals who came before us?
As writers, how do we confront the difficulties of making a dead
person come alive on the page while staying true to historical
fact? How do we acknowledge, in appropriate ways, the
cultural heritage of the dead who surround us? As we insert
ourselves into the lives of the dead, we increasingly begin to realize that they, too, are inserting themselves into our lives. Communication with the dead is a road that leads in two directions: as
we begin to understand the lives of the dead, we also gain
insight into our contemporary world. This session explores the
fruitful ways in which wandering among the dead informs our
lives and our writing.
Mark Abley is the author of four books of creative nonfiction,
notably Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Languages
(2003) and Conversations with a Dead Man: The Legacy of
Duncan Campbell Scott (2013). He has been shortlisted for the
Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction and the Grand Prix du Livre de
Montréal. Mark has led workshops in nonfiction at the Banff
Centre for the Arts, the Maritime Writers’ Workshop, and the
Quebec Writers’ Federation. He has also written two children's
photo credits L to R: John Mahoney, Duane Prentice, Charles Earle
After her cowboy/rancher husband's death, Sharon Butala moved
to Calgary to be near her grandchildren, but she has spent most
of her 73 years in Saskatchewan where she was born. Over her
thirty-plus year career she has published sixteen books (9 fiction
and 7 nonfiction), had 5 plays produced, written a lot of essays
and articles for magazines and newspapers, and given a ton of
lectures, talks, and panel presentations. Her last book was The
Girl in Saskatoon: A Meditation on Friendship, Memory and
Murder, (2008) but she is still best-known for her 1994 memoir,
The Perfection of the Morning: An Apprenticeship in Nature that
stayed on the Canadian bestseller list for a year. She has won a
number of prizes and awards, the most recent being the 2012
Kloppenburg Award for Literary Excellence. She is an Officer of
the Order of Canada, has been inducted into the Saskatchewan
Order of Merit, and has three honorary doctorates
Peter Midgley is a writer and storyteller from Edmonton. Counting
Teeth: A Namibian Story, an account of a two-month journey he
and his daughter made to the country of his birth, will be released
in September 2014. Peter has performed his stories and poetry in
Africa, Europe and North America and has published three children’s books. One of these, Thuli’s Mattress, has been translated
into 27 languages and won the International Board on Books for
Young People (IBBY)/Asahi Reading Promotion Award. Midgley is
also the author of two plays and a collection of poetry. Among
other things, he is a citizen of three countries (Canada, South
Africa, and Namibia), and he is the president of the Writers’
Guild of Alberta. A second collection of poetry, Unquiet Bones,
will be published by Wolsak & Wynn in 2015.
sponsored by Douglas & McIntyre
INAUGURAL CARTE BLANCHE/
CNFC CREATIVE NONFICTION PRIZE
F I N A L I S T S
A Routine Test by Jennifer Bowering Delisle
Jennifer Bowering Delisle is the author of The Newfoundland
Diaspora: Mapping the Literature of Out-Migration. She is also a
member of Room Magazine’s editorial collective. She has recently
completed a family memoir called The Bosun Chair.
Angelfish by Kerri Power
Kerri Power is a writer from St. John’s, currently living in Ottawa.
Her writing has appeared in the Newfoundland Quarterly, the
Bywords Quarterly Journal and The New Quarterly.
On Good Days by B.A. Markus
B.A. Markus is a writer, teacher, performer who grew up in
Toronto, lives in Montreal and left part of her heart on a small island off the coast of British Columbia. Her stories have appeared
in various literary journals and anthologies, and she has written
and performed her one-act plays across Canada.
What Happened That Day by Shelley Wood
Shelley Wood is a Vancouver-born writer and medical journalist
whose prolific nonfiction work mostly examines how not to die of
heart disease. Her writing has appeared in the Globe & Mail,
National Post, Georgia Straight, and Okanagan Life. She lives in
Kelowna, BC.
WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED
AT THE SATURDAY NIGHT CABARET
Myrna Kostash of Edmonton is the originating force (of nature)
behind the CNFC along with Betsy Warland. She was President
of the Collective for eight of its first ten years. Her recent books
include The Frog Lake Reader (2009), Prodigal Daughter: A Journey to Byzantium (2010), The
Seven Oaks Reader (2016). She has been awarded The Writers' Trust Matt Cohen Award for
a Life of Writing and short-listed for the Runciman Award (UK). She is currently the Chair of
the nominating committee of The Writers Union of Canada. While Dorothy Parker said, "I
don't write non-anything." Myrna says, “Let's take pride and pleasure in not even using the
hyphen: we write a genre in its own right, and it's called nonfiction.”
Betsy Warland of Vancouver is the originating vice-president of the CNFC who began the
tradition of meeting in Banff every spring. She is arguably best known to our members for
starting the tradition of ‘barking’ to alert readers who reach their reading time limit during the
Cabaret. Her most recent book is Breathing the Page - Reading the Act of Writing (2010). In
2012, she began publishing on her website, Oscar’s Salon – a dynamic mix of excerpts from
her manuscript Oscar of Between; samples of a Guest Writer or Artist’s work; profile of a
Feature Reader; and provocative comments posted by salon followers. She is the Director of
the Vancouver Manuscript Intensive.
James Romanow, a CNFC Board Member, is primarily known for his witty and colorful
weekly wine columns in the daily newspapers and weeklies. Although primarily Saskatchewan
based, you can find his work occasionally in daily papers from Montreal to Vancouver. He
also appears regularly on TV and radio. His work has been published around the world in
periodicals as disparate as Airport Finance, Euromoney, The National Post, Oman Economic,
Story, and Freefall.
George Melnyk, a member of the 2014 CNFC Conference Committee, is the author or editor
of over 25 titles in a writing career of almost 40 years. In 2013 he was awarded the Writers'
Guild of Alberta Golden Pen Award for Lifetime Achievement. His most recent title is Film and
the City: The Urban Imaginary in Canadian Cinema. He was encouraged to attend the first
CNCF conference by Myrna Kostash and has never looked back. Congratulations CNCF on
ten wonderful years!
Ellen Bielawski of Edmonton is the author of In Search of Ancient Alaska and Rogue Diamonds: The Rush for Northern Riches on Dene Land. She grew up in Alaska and holds a Ph.D
in archaeology from the University of Calgary. She is a former Dean of the School of Native
Studies at the University of Alberta and is currently teaches in the Resource Economics and
Environmental Sociology department at U of A.
Ted Bishop of Edmonton is the author of Riding with Rilke: Reflections on Motorcycles and
Books, which garnered a GG nomination and eleven words of praise in Playboy magazine.
He teaches in the U of A Department of English and Film Studies and writes with a fountain
pen. He is looking forward to the publication of his commodity biography / travel book, The
Social Life of Ink, in the fall of 2014.
Lynne Bowen of Nanaimo, a former CNFC Treasurer, retired as Rogers Co-Chair of CNF
Writing at UBC in 2006. She is the author of Whoever Gives Us Bread, The Story of Italians
in British Columbia which won the F.G. Bressani Literary Prize in Creative Nonfiction and was
shortlisted for the City of Vancouver Book Prize. Her latest book, Those Island People, came
out last month. Lynne assures new nonfiction writers that there is story and metaphor lurking in
any body of research.
Brian Brennan of Calgary is an award winning and best-selling author of ten critically
acclaimed narrative non-fiction books about the colourful personalities of Western Canada’s
past. Brian has also written for the New York Times, Globe and Mail and Toronto Star. Brian’s
latest book, Leaving Dublin: Writing My Way from Ireland to Canada, traces his story from
suburban Ireland to a life in Canada as a writer, broadcaster and musician.
Anne Campbell’s book, Regina’s Secret Spaces: love and lore of local geography, 2007,
received the City of Regina Heritage Award, the City of Regina, Mayor’s Arts Award, and
was shortlisted for the Sask. Book Awards. Anne’s 2009 poetry collection, Soul to Touch, was
shortlisted for the Sask. Book Awards. Regina Public Library:100 years as the heart of
community, will be released by U of R Press in 2015. Anne thinks poetry is nonfiction; and for
new writers, remember Paul Tillich’s: “Keep open, always keep open.”
Caterina Edward’s book, Finding Rosa: A Mother With Alzheimer's/A Daughter's Search for
the Past, won the Wilfred Eggleston Award in 2009 and the biannual Bressani Award in
2010. Her next book is a novel, The Sicilian Wife, to be published in spring of 2015.
Belonging to the CNFC early on helped Caterina to see how much she loved the genre. It
encouraged her to take risks with the content and style of Finding Rosa.
Jerry Haigh from Saskatoon via Kenya has written Wrestling With Rhino; The Trouble With
Lions; and Of Moose and Men. He considers the craft of writing CNF to be challenging yet
fun and recommends that newbie writers give it a go. Jerry received the JW George Ivany
Internationalization Award in 2005 and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. He is the current president of The Word On The Street, Saskatoon.
Penney Kome of Calgary is an award-winning journalist, columnist, and author who has published six books – including The Taking of Twenty-Eight, a blow-by-blow account of Canadian
women’s successful constitutional lobby. A founding member of PWAC and a former TWUC
Chair, she is also a Toronto YWCA Woman of Distinction. Writing journalism taught Penney to
seek facts while fiction taught her to seek higher truths. Creative nonfiction has allowed her to
combine both essential quests.
Christopher Moore’s nonfiction for young readers, From Here to Now: A Short History of the
World, 2011 was the first nonfiction book awarded the GG for Children’s Literature. Chris
writes widely about Canadian history, including many books and a long-running column in
Canada’s History (formerly The Beaver). A thought: “A piece of fiction works if it feels true. But
nonfiction can explore what’s true and what isn’t, and that’s mostly where I want to work.” He
lives in Toronto.
Andreas Schroeder of Roberts Creek, B.C. holds the Rogers Communications Chair in Creative
Nonfiction at UBC. His 23 books include: Renovating Heaven (autobiographical novel);
Robbers! (YA nonfiction); and Dust Ship Glory (docu-novel). He was a GG finalist for his
memoir Shaking It Rough, and won the CAJ’s Best Investigative Journalism award in 1990. In
2012 TWUC presented Andreas with the Graeme Gibson Award in recognition of the 33
years he spent leading the crusade for PLR.
Lynne van Luven has been teaching cnf and journalism at the UVIC for the past 18 years. She
is the editor of Nobody’s Mother, Nobody’s Father and Somebody’s Child and the co-editor,
with Kathy Page, of In the Flesh: Twenty Writers Explore the Body. She’s just completed five
years as Associate Dean of Fine Arts at UVIC. She was at the very first CNF Collective
meeting, which featured passionate discussions about how to define our genre.
IN MEMORIAM
Heather Robertson (1942 - 2014) was the CNFC’s 2008 keynote speaker. She started as a
Winnipeg newspaper reporter in the 1960s then published several well-known non-fiction
books such as Reservations Are for Indians and A Terrible Beauty: The Art of Canada at War.
Robertson also championed writers, as a founding member of TWUC and PWAC, and most
famously, as the lead plaintiff in two decade-long class action lawsuits where publishers paid
writers more than $11 million for misappropriating their work.
realities of raising a son with special needs. Neilsen Glenn
portrays emotion through language and unique construction,
offering a layered experience in a visually and poetically commanding essay.
– Lori A. May
CNFC READERS’ CHOICE 2014 SHORTLIST
This year, CNFC members nominated twelve
works of creative nonfiction published in
2012 and 2013 meriting consideration for
the Readers’ Choice award. From this list of
high-quality nonfiction, the award jury
selected six finalists. At the Saturday lunch,
CNFC members will vote for this year’s recipient of the CNFC gold
seal of recognition.
Here are this year’s Readers’ Choice Award finalists along with excerpts of the nominators’ statements.
Genni Gunn for Tracks: Journeys in Time and Place
(Signature Editions, 2013)
[Gunn’s] journeys outward into the unknown, the experience of
“everything new, all that I know falling away second by second…
abandoned to the mystery unfolding,” lead her into inward journeys, into searches for herself… Tracks is travel writing in the best
sense of the word.
– Caterina Edwards
Dee Hobsbawn-Smith for “Learning to Cook” (Gastronomica: The
Journal of Food and Culture, Fall 2013)
This story about roots and legacies is as masterfully rendered as
a Chef’s Table. The reader travels alongside the author to her
grandmother’s Hutterite kitchen, to a cooking school in Paris, to
the author’s own (and inherited) kitchens, while she reviews and
contemplates the phases of her chosen life and education.
– Joan Dixon
Lorri Neilsen Glenn for “Thresholds” from How to Expect What
You’re Not Expecting (Touchwood Editions, 2013)
This piece beautifully weaves expectations and hopes with the
Kari Strutt for “As Regards the Ashes of Peter, Dead These Many
Years” (Prism International, Summer 2013)
I’m a sucker for a personal essay that can be, all at once, tender,
and funny, and provocative. This one is all of those, in spades.
Just seven pages, it tells at least that many stories.
– Elizabeth Templeman
Rosemary Sullivan for “The Man Who Was Buried Standing Up”
(Brick, A Literary Journal, Summer 2012)
Sullivan fuses the scholarly, the reflective and the lyrical in a style
of intense intimacy, quite unexpectedly. The piece begins as a
conventional traveller’s tale of a visit to a cemetery in Havana,
where she sought the grave of Christopher Columbus, but soon
fell under the enchantment of the local tour guide.
– Myrna Kostash
Lynne Van Luven for “Life with My Girls” from In the Flesh (Brindle
& Glass, 2012)
This essay effortlessly weaves anecdote and commentary,
conversation and characterization, analysis and information
into a seamless narrative. The narrator's voice is consistently
compelling; this is someone who knows what she is talking
about, has given it thought, and delivers it with a wry, sly sense
of humour.
– Margaret Thompson
Author Programming
CNFC Conference Committee: Cathy Ostlere,
Darlene Chrapko, Myrl Coulter, Brian Kiers, Shaun Hunter,
George Melnyk, Joan Dixon
Palliser Hotel Liaison
Darlene Chrapko, Cathy Ostlere
Registration & Membership
Myrl Coulter, Jane Silcott
Grants, Fundraising and Advertising
Jane Silcott, Alisa Gordaneer, Shaun Hunter, Cathy Ostlere
Literary Walk
Shaun Hunter, George Melnyk, Soo Kim
The James Joyce Pub
114 - 8th Ave, (403) 262-0708
Media Relations
Shaun Hunter, Joan Dixon, Brian Kiers, Alisa Gordaneer
Original Joe's
109 - 8th Ave, (403) 262-7248
carte blanche/CNFC Literary Contest
Maria Schamis Turner, Darlene Chrapko, Brian Kiers,
Cathy Ostlere, Don Sedgwick
Divino Wine & Cheese Bistro
113 - 8th Ave, (403) 410-5555
Wine-Ohs
811 - 1st St, (403) 263-1650
Mango Shiva
218 - 8 Ave, (403) 532-8980
Milestone's Grill
107 - 8th Ave, (403) 410-9521
Rose Garden Thai
112 - 8th Ave, (403) 264-1988
Libertine Public House
223 - 8th Ave, (403) 265-3665
Local on 8th
310 - 8th Ave, (403) 264-7808
Reader’s Choice Award
Myrl Coulter, Shaun Hunter, George Melnyk
Cabaret
Alisa Gordaneer
Founder’s Breakfast
Cathy Ostlere, Darlene Chrapko
Website
Myrl Coulter, Shaun Hunter, Lynda Baxter
Author Communications
Joan Dixon
Editing and proof reading
Joan Dixon, Darlene Chrapko, James Romanow
Pen Canada Empty Chair
Brian Kiers
Program Design
Peter Moller, Egg Press Co.
Printing
Rand Roeric, Maranda Reprographics & Printing
Book Sales
Shelf Life Books
Photography
Leo Aragon
Conference Program
Cathy Ostlere, Joan Dixon, Shaun Hunter, Darlene Chrapko
Friends of the Creative Nonfiction Collective Society
Bernadette Wagner • Brian Kiers • Cathy Ostlere
Darlene Chrapko • Denise Chong • Don Sedgwick
James Romanow • Jane Silcott • Lynne Bowen
Lynne van Luven • Myrl Coulter
Myrna Kostash • Shaun Hunter • Susie Safford

the 2014 Conference Program (PDF format)

Transcription

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