Yan Li Public Talk and Reading on March 8th: From Daughters of the Red Land to Lily in the Snow

Having spent most of her life immersed in the cultures of Beijing, and later Canada in pursuit of graduate studies, Professor Yan Li has acquired multiple layers of perspective in her work. Li’s writing has appeared in both Chinese and English, and her latest novel, Lily in the Snow, is an insightful exploration of intergenerational conflict. The protagonist, Lily, is a single Chinese immigrant mother living in Mapleton, Ontario, who faces unique challenges when her mother comes to visit.

Carolyn Pogue leads student writing workshops at The Bennett Centre, Edmonton, this week

The Bennett Centre – Young Writers’ Camp 2013

The Bennett Centre, part of the Edmonton Public School Board, will hold two student writers’ workshops this week, and Gwen author Carolyn Pogue will be teaching. On February 28 and March 1, Carolyn will conduct the workshop for students in grades four to six. She will be joined by authors Joseph Simons and Mark Haroun as well as illustrator Stephanie Chan.

Find out more, including how to register, at the Bennett Centre Website.

Carolyn Pogue reads from Gwen

In this charming video, Carolyn reads from her W.O. Mitchell Award-nominated novel Gwen, about a British home child who travels to Brantford, Ontario, to work as a housemaid. Carolyn also provides some fascinating historical background on British home children and Gwen’s hero, the Six Nations Mohawk poet and performer, E. Pauline Johnson.
Click here to find out more about the Gwen series on threeoclockpress.com

The 2013 Amelia Bloomer List honours Angela James: The First Superstar of Women’s Hockey

Every year, the Amelia Bloomer Project seeks out the best feminist books for young readers up to the age of 18. This year, they’ve selected Angela James: The First Superstar of Women’s Hockey, by authors Tom Bartsiokas and Corey Long.

The Amelia Bloomer Project is part of the Feminist Task Force of the Social Responsibilities Roundtable of the American Library Association. The annual list compiled by their committee features books about girls and women that dismantle traditional female stereotypes, at the same time helping young adults and librarians discover rich, stimulating texts from all the books released in the past 18  months.

Angela James: The First Superstar of Women’s Hockey, follows the life of the trailblazing women’s hockey legend, Angela James, as she persevered through societal and racial barriers prevalent in women’s sports to become the top female player in Canada, and an inspiring coach and public figure for young players eager to leave their own mark on the game. Authors Tom and Corey are delighted to be recognized by a project named after Amelia Bloomer herself, a pioneering 19th century editor, feminist thinker, public speaker, and suffragist:

“We are honoured to have our book about Angela James included on the reading list for the Amelia Bloomer Project. In telling this story, our goal was to inspire young boys and girls to always follow their dreams and face life’s obstacles with the same courage and grace Angela has shown throughout her extraordinary life.” — Tom Bartsiokas and Corey Long.

You can find out more about the Amelia Bloomer Project and view the complete list of recommended titles here. Angela James: The First Superstar of Women’s Hockey is now available on our website, and in case you missed it, check out this  recent interview with Angela James and co-author Corey Long by the Vancouver based feminist collective, The F Word.

The F Word Interviews Angela James and Author Corey Long

The F Word, a feminist media collective based out of Vancouver, B.C., recently interviewed Angela James and co-author Corey Long about the new biography Angela James: The First Superstar of Women’s Hockey.

Host Ellie Gordon-Moershel talks to Angela about how co-authors Corey Long and Tom Bartsiokas approached her with the idea of chronicling her life story. From fighting for the right to play on boys teams in her youth, to the first ever IHF sanctioned women’s hockey tournament in 1990, the biography chronicles ground-breaking moments in Angela’s career and women’s professional sports.

Angela and Corey also dissect some standout quotes from the book and talk about the current state of media coverage for women’s sports today. Women’s hockey still isn’t cataloged the same way the NHL is, or during world championships in general. These “spurts of coverage” miss a lot of key moments in women’s sports and skip over players that deserve media exposure. Angela James: The First Superstar of Women’s Hockey, proves just how rich and exciting all levels of women’s competition can be.

You can stream or download the interview here, and you can now find Angela James: The First Superstar of Women’s Hockey on our website.

Studio D’s legacy and an important film on Attawapiskat by Alanis Obomsawin

The National Film Board of Canada ran a transformative wing of its productions in Studio D. From the 1970s to 1990s, film documentaries released by Studio D followed the landmarks of feminist activity, as well as the many tensions which arose from it. Gail Vanstone, author of D is for Daring: The Women Behind the Films of Studio D, states that, “Studio D existed as a particular example of second-wave feminism that organized both its institutional structure and its documentary film production around the process of consciousness-raising that was linked to the concept, ‘the personal is political.’”

Though Studio D was cut from the NFB’s regular operations in 1996, and then further cuts to the NFB this past year hampered many of the organization’s projects, feminist filmmaking has persisted and continues to inform some of the finest works in Canadian documentary. One of the former advisors to Studio D was Alanis Obomsawin. Her directorial work includes the essential document on understanding the siege at Oka in 1990, Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance. Her most recent work is every bit as powerful, and (lucky for us) is also streaming until January 18 on the NFB website. Here is the synopsis:

Alanis Obomsawin’s documentary The People of the Kattawapiskak River exposes the housing crisis faced by 1,700 Cree in Northern Ontario, a situation that led Attawapiskat’s band chief, Theresa Spence, to ask the Canadian Red Cross for help. With the Idle No More movement making front page headlines, this film provides background and context for one aspect of the growing crisis. This film will stream free of charge until Friday, January 18, 2013. (link to video)

While many media outlets actively encourage a divisive ignorance to Aboriginal issues, watch this to see an alternative: the power of one director from this wave of women working at the NFB who continues to use documentary to bring a sense of realism to our many disparate realities, and help all viewers reflect, understand and then speak truth to power.

Carolyn Pogue at the Achieving the Promise Forum, 2012

Public Interest Alberta held a forum on ‘Achieving the Promise’ to eliminate child poverty in Alberta in Edmonton last month. Among the speakers was author Carolyn Pogue, who spoke of the systemic issues facing children in the province as well as her own experience supporting people living in poverty at her community church in Calgary. You can watch the video below:

For more about Carolyn Pogue, you can review the posts from this blog. For more on her Gwen series please see our website for info on Gwen in West Wind Calling and Gwen.