Turner I, Turner II

For those of you keeping very close tabs on life in the Bibliomanse, you'll know that we for the past two days have been devoting ourselves almost exclusively to—wait for it—database design. Yes. Yes indeed. The technology is coming. Find, sort, report! Field matching! Import export ascend descend omit! It therefore was most welcome to hear that Marsha Pomerantz, Boston poetess and editor at Harvard Art Museums, has had two poems released on Berfrois. The mag's tag? International Jousting in the Republic of Letters. An excellent site, now with excellent poems, and for all the ekphrasis junkies out there Friday officially became a good day. Happy weekend!

VISIT BERFROIS

Poems: ‘Turner I’ and ‘Turner II’ by Marsha Pomerantz

Presenting The Pope's Bookbinder

The following ran in yesterday's issue of The Draught. 

We thought it was fun. 

(Maybe not so much fun as blackmail. We'll have to ask David.)

SPECIAL TO THE DRAUGHT

"Blackmail is Great Fun": An Interview with David Mason

Q. You’ve been a bookseller now for over four decades, and you’ve published short pieces about the trade in journals and magazines, but this is your first full-length book. Tell us about making the switch: how did bookselling prepare you for authorship? And is authorship what you expected it would be?

A. Nothing prepared me for writing a book. All antiquarian booksellers are aware that there are already way too many books in the world. Many booksellers would consider it a sin to add more. Writing a book was both exhilarating and humiliating, but in the end I loved doing it.

Unfortunately it also seems to be addictive, so I may commit some more sins.

Q. What’s your favourite story that didn’t make it into The Pope’s Bookbinder?

A. We ran out of space for all the stories about thieves. And also for all the tales of eccentric dealers and scouts I’ve known. There’s also a fair number of stories that can only be told if I outlive certain people.

Q. In your book you have advice about scouts, auctions, sleepers, employees, book fairs, and even on blackmail. What advice would you give to the reader who’s holding your book now?

A. I would advise any reader to take note of all the pleasure one can derive from collecting books, or just owning a library. But I would also advise them not ever consider becoming a dealer. My jokes about the small income a bookseller can look forward to are not really jokes. Many of our clients envy us all the pleasure we get from being booksellers but if they knew what we earned they wouldn’t envy that. I must also add that blackmail is great fun.

Q. The title of your memoir refers to a white morocco volume that you helped to gild before it was presented to Pope John XXIII. Did you ever see that book again? Would you buy it if you could?

A. I sewed it and covered it too. I presume that book now resides in the Vatican Library. If the current Pope ever finds himself a bit short of cash I’d love to buy it back.

Q. What was the most difficult part of this memoir to write?

A. I sometimes felt – and so did my editor – that I should be nicer, more gentle, with a few of my colleagues, but since I probably won’t be writing another I felt I needed to tell the truth as I saw it, for the record.

Q. Your publisher says you’ve requested a few unbound text blocks of your memoir. Is it possible The Pope’s Bookbinder is going to strike again? Will there be one more David Mason binding in the world?

A. The Pope’s Bookbinder is retired, I’m afraid. I will commission one or two binders to create bindings for my book since I have a modest collection of design bindings. I never thought of returning to binding myself. I’d actually love to bind a copy myself but binding is a skill that needs incessant practice and I would certainly ruin it if I tried now.

Q. If you could hand-deliver The Pope’s Bookbinder to one person anywhere in the world, who would it be and why?

A. The person I’d love to deliver a copy of my book to is unfortunately no longer in this world. And that would be my father, the banker, who was certain I would never amount to anything and would end up in the poorhouse. Which I may very well do. But I’d love to be able to hand him a copy so I could say, “See. If I’d listened to you I’d still be selling insurance.”

Q. What book are you sitting on right now that you’d most like to sell?

A. A bookseller never cares about selling his good books. What I’d really like to sell is about 25,000 of my general books. All I ever wanted to do was buy good books, which I’ve done for forty-five years. Now I have way too many and not enough space to put them in.

I am, in fact, trying right now to sell a few collections I’ve formed over the last thirty or thirty-five years, in particular my huge collection of publisher’s bindings which, I believe, to be the best in the world. But, I collected so passionately that sometimes I fear I’ve priced myself right out of the market.

Q. What do you consider your worst mistake of your career? What do you most regret?

A. Not buying a building. I always bought books instead of a building and now after forty-five years I’m still at the mercy of landlords and the marketplace. And I’ve got too many books.

Q. What’s next for David Mason?

A. Myself and my publisher are to begin editing a book of essays on bookselling and collecting. Aside from that I’m just going to continue to buy books. And continue to read books.

To subscribe to The Draught, Biblioasis's free newsletter, please email tmurphy@biblioasis.com.

A Nice Thing in the Montreal Gazette

Dear Folks,

Just thought I'd share a delicious little news bite from last Friday. We've been deeply appreciative of all the congratulations that poured in after AK won the First Novel Award, but this one perhaps took the cake: Mr. McGillis, we staunchly agree. And thank you.

Cheers to all—
The Bibliomanse.


From The Montreal Gazette, May 3, 2013:

"Glasses were raised among fiction lovers nationwide last week when Anakana Schofield’s sui generis debut Malarky was named winner of the Amazon.ca First Novel Award. All temptation to say “I told you so” based on a rave review last summer and a year-end 10-best selection in a certain Montreal newspaper will be firmly resisted. The choice represents a triumph for both adventurous writing —Malarky’s Our Woman is about as unlike a standard Canadian fiction heroine as you could get—and for small literary publishers: Biblioasis has established itself with remarkable speed as a house of unerringly high standards. Congratulations all around."

Groundwork in PN Review

For those of you who've been charting the ins and outs of Amanda Jernigan's Groundwork, and for those of you who subscribe to the UK-based journal PN Review, keep your eyes peeled for Evan Jones's review in their latest issue. A few others Groundwork pieces that have turned up or are worth revisiting: one on The Winnipeg Review, and another, not online, from the summer 2012 issue of Fiddlehead. Three cheers to poesy—and good luck to Amanda as she launches All the Daylight Hours over the next month.

"We Are Made of Memories": Mia Couto speaks to Scott Esposito in The Paris Review Daily

This just in from The Paris Review's daily blog. Thanks to Scott Esposito for his thoughtful questions.

We Are Made of Memories: A Conversation with Mia Couto

May 2, 2013 | by Scott Esposito

Born in 1955 in Mozambique to Portuguese immigrants, Mia Couto is widely considered one of the foremost wielders of the Portuguese language. He has written over twenty books that have been translated into at least that many languages, and those translated into English since 1990 have garnered him a dedicated Anglophone following. Although Couto’s fiction varies widely, he frequently deals with Mozambique’s civil war, which erupted in 1977, two years after he turned twenty and his nation gained its independence from Portugal. His recurrent use of surreal effects in his work has led many critics to liken his fiction to Latin America’s magical realism, a label at which he bristles.

The Tuner of Silences, brought into English by Couto’s longtime translator David Brookshaw and published this year by Biblioasis, tells the story of Vítalico, a father who has dragged his children to an abandoned Mozambican nature preserve after the horrifying death of his wife. As Couto explores the nature of Vítalico’s regime and its eventual collapse, he delves into frequent obsessions: the construction of identity, and the role that memory and language play in that process.

 Recently, over email, I discussed Tuner, influences, labels, and the curious provenance of Couto’s first name in email correspondence with him.

To read the full interview, go here. Mia Couto will be appearing in New York as part of PEN World Voices' Literary Safari on May 3rd, and in conversation with Anderson Tepper at powerHouse Arena on May 4th. 

CNQ shortlisted for National Magazine Awards

Congratulations are in order to Lynn Coady and Caroline Adderson, whose short stories published in Canadian Notes & Queries Magazine have been shortlisted for the National Magazine Awards.

Lynn Coady's "Dogs in Clothes," which appeared in CNQ 85 and Caroline Adderson's "Ellen-Celine, Celine-Ellen," which appeared in CNQ 86, both made the cut along with six other works of fiction published in Canadian magazines this year.

Further congratulations go to the numerous other Biblioasis authors who were shortlisted for various National Magazine awards, including Patricia Young in both the "One of a Kind" and Poetry categories, Lorna Jackson in the Fiction category, Russell Smith in the Personal Journalism category, and Robyn Sarah in the Poetry category.

The winners will be announced at the National Magazine Awards Gala June 7th at the Carlu in Toronto. For more information, head over to magazine-awards.com.

Good luck to all our finalists!

15 Reasons to Live Hits Theatres this Weekend

It was hard to envision, when it was first proposed to us so long ago, but it's finally here: the film adaptation of Ray Robertson's Why Not? Fifteen Reasons to Live.

Fifteen Reasons to Live, directed by Toronto filmmaker Alan Zweig, debuts tomorrow at the city's Hot Docs documentary film festival.

Here's what The Globe and Mail has to say about the film:

"If this sounds inspiring, it is, and I say that as someone who is constitutionally suspicious of any triumphing of the human spirit on film. But 15 Reasons is a documentary, with that form’s inherent immediacy and humility. It homes in on small, human profundities."

Quill & Quire also ran an interview with Zweig yesterday, where he talks (amongst other things) about what it was like adapting essays into film. Last but not least, if you're in the T-dot, be sure to look for 15 Reasons to Live at these three venues:

Sat, Apr 27 6:30 PM
TIFF Bell Lightbox 1
Mon, Apr 29 1:30 PM
Isabel Bader Theatre
Sun, May 5 1:30 PM
TIFF Bell Lightbox 3

Tickets are available online here.

Anakana Schofield Wins Amazon.ca First Novel Award

Our heartfelt congratulations to ANAKANA SCHOFIELD, 

author of

malarky

and

Winner of the 2012 Amazon.ca First Novel Award

                                                                                                               

On Wednesday, May 24th, Biblioasis author Anakana Schofield was the proud recipient of the

Amazon.ca First Novel Award for Malarky. “Malarky is a bold first novel from an author whose prose hums with electric wit and linguistic daring,” said Stuart Woods, head judge and editor of Quill & Quire magazine. “The novel traverses darkly comic territory with intelligence and poise, relating the story of an unnamed narrator whose resilience in the face of life’s disappointments will stay with readers long after the verbal pyrotechnics have dissipated. Anakana Schofield is a true original, and her novel is a delight.”

              As the award-winner Ms. Schofield will receive a $7,500.00 prize. She also appeared on CTV’s Canada AM, the most widely watched national morning show in the country.

              Biblioasis would also like to extend warm congratulations to all finalists for the award: Marjorie Celona (Y), Scott Fotheringham (The Rest is Silence), Pasha Malla (People Park), and Kim Thúy (Ru).

              The First Novel Award has been launching the careers of some of Canada's most beloved novelists since 1976. Previous winners include Michael Ondaatje, Joan Barfoot, Joy Kogawa, W.P. Kinsella, Nino Ricci, Rohinton Mistry, Anne Michaels, André Alexis, Michael Redhill, Mary Lawson, Colin McAdam, Joseph Boyden, Joan Thomas, and David Bezmozgis.

              For more about Anakana Schofield and the First Novel Award please read on.

Amazon.ca

CBC News

The Globe and Mail

The Toronto Star

Digital Journal

With Canadian Press material syndicated in:

The Victoria Times-Colonist

680 News Radio

The Winnipeg Free Press

Or watch Anakana live on CTV News:

Canada AM  

ABOUT ANAKANA SCHOFIELD

Anakana Schofield is an Irish-Canadian writer of fiction, essays, and literary criticism. She has contributed to the London Review of Books, The Recorder: The Journal of the American Irish Historical Society, The Globe and Mail, and The Vancouver Sun. She has lived in London and Dublin, and now resides in Vancouver. Her first novel, Malarky, was published by Biblioasis in 2012, and is scheduled for UK release by OneWorld in 2013.

Jessica Hiemstra at Poetry London

Jessica Hiemstra will be in London, Ontario to help Poetry London  cap off their 2012/13 season with a special poetry party at Organic Works Bakery.

She'll be joined by readers Sue Goyette, John Terpstra and Debra Franke, and there will be free snacks, a cash bar and possibly even a door prize or two!


Make plans to be there Saturday, May 4th (doors at 6:30pm and readings at 7:30pm).

Reviewers Flock to Canary

Hey, folks, and happy Monday. Just a quick mention of the two smashing reviews that have come in

for Nancy Jo Cullen's Canary (which, as you probably all know, is launching TOMORROW at Another Story Bookshop). The first from The Globe & Mail, the second from The Winnipeg Review. Enjoy, and see you tomorrow!

THE-UP-FOR-GRABS WORLD OF NANCY JO CULLEN'S CANARY

"The tawdry lower middle-class milieu of these stories, heavy with drinking and marital strife, calls to mind Raymond Carver, but Cullen’s stories have an open-ended resiliency very different than the sombre American master ... A taken-for-granted sexual transiency is the most strikingly contemporary feature of these stories; if it were written a decade ago the fact that many of the characters are gay, lesbian or bisexual would be seen as a political statement. But in Canary the sexuality of the characters doesn’t define their identity, and is in fact often as transitory and up-for-grabs as every other aspect of their unsettled lives. The quietly radical assumption implicit in the book is that sex isn’t a matter of fixed identity but of opportunistic action ... in story after story Cullen won me over. Their people and situations rang close to life ... Cullen deserves all the acclaim she’s going to receive."

CANARY, BY NANCY JO CULLEN

"Consider your most embarrassing moment, suffered because of your family or not. Go on, dredge up that ineradicable instant of humiliation when you were a child, adolescent or young adult, it doesn’t matter what happened, when or where. Nancy Jo Cullen has you beat. The denizens of Canary, her first book of fiction, have soared, crashed, relocated, compromised, given up and started over more often than most of us. This collection is very good … there is plenty here to satisfy, the narrative arc running high and long ... robust, with a wide, compassionate embrace."

Book Spotting is back! More impressive design at the Biblioasis bookshop!

The sun was pouring into the bookshop yesterday and beckoning me out of the back office into the front of the shop to enjoy a little bit of vitamin D. That also meant I had some time to look around for content for the next installment of our Book Spotting series, where I provide commentary and praise for the best book designs currently in store.

Andy Warhol Screen Tests by Callie Angell (Harry N. Abrams 2006)

Today, I'll start with a book that I've been meaning to talk about for months now. Ever since it first came in (it is a used copy), it struck me as a powerful cover. I put it on display almost immediately. Obviously, the photograph itself is quite engaging, with the direct eye contact and stark black and white. For this reason, the simplicity of the rest of the cover really works. The red provides a strong contrast and the clean block text is clear and bold but doesn't compete with the photograph for the viewer's attention. Plus, there's tonnes of the red equivalent of white space, and we all know how much I like white space. 

John Saturnall's Feast by Lawrence Norfolk (Bloomsbury UK 2012)

 

Sorry for the slightly blurry photo on this one. Clearly I was just too excited about the cover and couldn't keep my hands still. This cover at first glance seems to be the opposite of what I usually praise: minimal, clean, stark. The winding branches of the tree, the detail in the grasses, and even the throw-back style of the lettering, which has a slightly eroded look, should contribute to this cover feeling overwhelming and over the top, but it doesn't. The black and white saves it. High contrast silhouettes on a plain white background take this cover from distracting and confusing to crisp, clean and eye-catching.

First Novel by Nicholas Royle (Jonathan Cape 2013)

This book just arrived and it grabbed my attention as soon as I walked out into the shop yesterday. I'm a fan of books that find unusual ways to incorporate the title on the cover but I find that they can often get confusing or difficult to decipher. This cover escapes that trap by ensuring that the only major text on the cover is the title and the author's name. In fact, we get the title and author's name six times over. However, at first glance, my reaction was to wonder where the title was. That half-second hesitation drew me into the cover, into its clever and meta use of book spines. The car and plane infiltrating the line of spines gives the cover personality despite the plain serif type on the spines that lend it clarity.

incitements by Sean Howard (Gaspereau 2011)

More beautiful books, as expected, from Gaspereau. This one actually reminds me of a chapbook I designed for a creative writing class while at university. What happens to letter forms when you overlap them? They become less about letters and more about the letter forms. Sure, if you look closely, you can read the title, incitements, in the graphic on the cover. However, it seems less important that you can read the title and more important that the use of lettering is visually interesting. Yes, the title is the most important thing on a book cover (most of the time?) and I am all for legibility, but if you are going to have a difficult to decipher title, this is the way to do it: making the letters themselves the art. Plus, you've got a title page for anyone who gets too confused, right?

That's all for today's adventures in Book Spotting. More to come soon! 

Alex Boyd's The Lonely Offices features poetry by Jessica Hiemstra

Alex Boyd, author of The Least Important Man, also runs the blog The Lonely Offices: Poetry and Stuff About Poetry. Much to our delight, he recently featured a poem from Jessica Hiemstra's recent Biblioasis collection Self-Portrait Without a Bicycle. Jessica read "The Most Beautiful Things I've Seen in October" at the Windsor launch of the book this month at the Biblioasis shop. In case you missed it, here's the link to Alex's blog.

Sonia Tilson shortlisted for CAA National Capital Region Award

Congratulations to Sonia Tilson, who will soon be releasing her novel The Monkey Puzzle Tree with Biblioasis, as she has been named a finalist for the Canadian Authors Association Natioanl Capital Region Writing Award.

The winners will be announced Tuesday, May 14th at 7pm at the Ottawa Public Library, Auditorium, 120 Metcalfe St. at Laurier.

Congrats and all our best to Sonia!

Amanda Jernigan: "intensity personified"

NOW has reported the results of their Poetry NOW Harbourfront contest, calling Amanda Jernigan "intensity personified."

While Peter Norman emerged from the fray with top honours, Jernigan's performance was enough to make her a strong contender. The energy of Poetry Month continues!

Read the full blurb here.

New Reviews for Nadine McInnis and Robert Melançon

It always feels good to brag about the positive reviews Biblioasis authors are getting, and this afternoon we have lots to boast about.

Both Nadine McInnis and Robert Melançon have been in the news lately, picking up reviews from The Literary Review of Canada and The Montreal Review of Books respectively.

Here's a sample of what these publications are saying about these recent books:

"[With] lean and lyrical language...and arresting images…Blood Secrets is a deceptively gentle book, a desperately tender succession of tales that bruise the heart with their sadness, while at the same time offering the salve of kindness". — Literary Review of Canada

"One hundred forty-four poems of acute observation: Melançon's invention is impressive. Judith Cowan's rendering of the poet's work into English is adroit and fully idiomatic."— The Montreal Review of Books

 What a great way to start the weekend!

4 Biblioasis Titles on Frank O'Connor Longlist

Congratulations to C.P. Boyko, Nancy Jo Cullen, Colette Maitland, and Nadine McInnis, whose short fiction collections were just longlisted for the Frank O'Connor Award!

About the Frank O'Connor Award

The 2011 Frank O’Connor International Short Story Prize is worth €25,000 to the winning author of a collection of short stories published for the first time, in English anywhere in the world, between July 2011 and June 2012 (selecteds, collecteds or books containing stories published in a previous volume of stories by the author will not be eligible). Translations are eligible.

This prestigious international short story award in the memory of Frank O’Connor is the single biggest prize in the world for a collection of short stories.

In honouring Cork’s literary genius and its most famous short story writer, it is hoped this award will achieve international recognition for the short story and highlight Cork’s important contribution to this literary art form.

This major international prize celebrating the city’s intimate relationship with the short story was established as part of the literary programme of Cork’s tenure as European Capital of Culture. Since then it has made possible through the generous support of Cork City Council.

It is hoped the Award, for a complete collection of previously unpublished stories in a book collection, will play a significant role in establishing parity of esteem for the short story collection alongside the novel.

Tomorrow Night in Windsor, Sal Ala, Robert Melançon and Jessica Hiemstra Celebrate Poetry Month!

We've been working hard here at Biblioasis getting everything ready for our Poetry Month Celebration tomorrow night. There'll be food, drink, three fantastic poets and brand new work from all three!

Join Sal Ala, Robert Melançon and Jessica Hiemstra at Biblioasis (1520 Wyandotte St. E., Windsor) at 7pm tomorrow night as we mark National Poetry Month with readings, socialization and general good literary fun.

Acclaimed local poet Sal Ala will have two new limited-edition broadsides available (sneak preview here!). We'll also be holding the Windsor launch of Robert's latest book For As Far As The Eye Can See, and Jessica's Self-Portrait Without a Bicycle, so there will be lots of new poetry to get your hands on.

One of the two new broadsides from Sal Ala available tomorrow night

"My America," the second limited-edition Sal Ala broadside available at Biblioasis

 Hope to see you tomorrow night!

A load of Malarky!

Some good news for Malarky author Anakana Schofield: along with nods from the Amazon.ca First Novel Award and the B.C. Book Prize, Malarky has been nominated for the CBC Bookie Awards.

Anakana is up against Terry Fallis, Lynn Crosby, Linda Svendsen, and Miranda Hill for the Ron MacLean Award for Most Hilarious/Witty Canadian Book. The award is decided by the public so make sure that you show your support! You can vote for Malarky here.

You can also read Brendan Riley's review from The Review of Contemporary Fiction over at his blog where he calls Malarky "a smashing debut." We agree!

Tonight at the Dora Keogh, POETRY!

Toronto Bibliofriends and poetry lovers,
Head down to the Dora Keogh Pub on the Danforth tonight at 7pm for a celebration of National Poetry Month with Robert Melançon and Jessica Hiemstra.

Want to know more about Jessica? Like how she saved a drunk fisherman? Check out her feature on the Dirty Dozen from Open Book Ontario.

See you tonight!

Tonight! Robert Melançon and Jessica Hiemstra at the Word in Montreal

Montrealers! Make sure you make your way to The Word tonight for a fantastic evening of poetry, featuring Robert Melançon and Jessica Hiemstra. Robert will be launching his latest book, For As Far As The Eye Can See, translated for the first time into English by Judith Cowan. Jessica will be reading from her latest collection, Self-Portrait Without a Bicycle.

What better way to kick off Poetry Month than to get a head start with Biblioasis?

Um. Read this.

the indefatigable rob mclennan, who has always been a champ about doing 12 or 20s for us even when we're shamefully late in sending him books, has posted a new thingie with jessica hiemstra. i call it a thingie because 'interview' is maybe a little ... i dunno ... not enough to do with horses. or blood. or ducks? hell, just go read it. happy friday!

Biblioasis and Shō Art, Spirit & Performance Present: A Lecture on Mark Rothko, by Dr. Lauren Friesen

Join Shō Art, Spirit & Performance and Biblioasis for a lecture by Dr. Lauren Friesen, Professor of Theatre at UMichigan-Flint in anticipation of Shō's upcoming production of the play RED.
Tickets for RED are also available at Biblioasis.

ROTHKO: A LECTURE
THURSDAY MARCH 28
7 PM, BIBLIOASIS
1520 WYANDOTTE ST. EAST
admission is free.

RED is a Tony Award-winning two-man play by John Logan about the art of abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko.

Lauren Friesen is Professor of Theatre and Chair of the Theatre and Dance Department at the University of Michigan-Flint. He is a recipient of the Kennedy Center Gold Medallion for "Excellence in Theatre" and the Indiana Theatre Association's award for his "Outstanding Contribution to University Theatre." His recent publications include a translation of Hermann Sudermann's The Storm Komrade Sokrates (University Press of America) and the essay "Ritual, Race and Reconciliation in Anna Deavere Smith's Play Fires in the Mirror," (Munster: LIT Verlag). His monologue "Still Waiting for Rachel" was published in Monologues for Men by Heinneman Press. He just completed the translation of a novel...But Stones Can't Speak by the holocaust survivor Carlo Ross. In April 2007, Vertigo Productions in Flint produced his latest 2-act play Rothko.

April events with K.D. Miller

For our Toronto area Bibliofriends, you have the chance to catch K.D. Miller reading twice in April.

First, head to Saturdays at Portobello Restaurant and Bar (995 Bay St. in Toronto), Saturday, April 6 from 1:30 - 4:30pm, where K.D. will participating as guest author.

Then, on Saturday, April 13th from 10:30am-12:30pm, check out the National Poetry Month Celebration put on by the Vaughan Poets' Circle. This free event will feature K.D. Miller as well as other local poets. For more information, email Debbie Ouellet at vaughanpoetscircle@gmail.com.

News from Marsha Pomerantz

Tara and Chris had the pleasure of seeing Marsha Pomerantz read at AWP Boston and, if you are in the Massachusetts area, so too can you at a couple upcoming events.

She will be reading at Newtonville Books in Newton, MA on April 2nd, as part of a reading celebrating the winners of the 2012 Massachusetts Cultural Council Grants. The reading takes place at 7pm, and more info is available at www.newtonvillebooks.com.

Alternately, you can catch her at the Massachusetts Poetry Festival taking place in Salem, MA, May 4th. Details of her reading are still TBD, but if you keep an eye or two on their website, you will be sure to get all the latest updates as they are available. She'll be reading as part of a celebration of the 20th anniversary of Salamander magazine, published by Suffolk University.

You will also be able to find Marsha in a forthcoming issue of Raritan (Rutgers University in NJ), which will feature seven of her poems. Keep a look out on http://raritanquarterly.rutgers.edu.

Biblioasis's Spring Poetry Tour

(le texte français suivra)

You are cordially invited to join Biblioasis as we celebrate 

For As Far As the Eye Can See 

(orig. Le Paradis des apparences), 

now translated for the first time by Judith Cowan, 

as well as Jessica Hiemstra's

Self-Portrait Without a Bicycle

(published by Biblioasis in 2012).

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27

7:30 P.M.

THE WORD BOOKSTORE, MONTREAL

469 MILTON

Hosted by Eric Ormsby

TUESDAY, APRIL 2

7:00 P.M.

DORA KEOGH IRISH PUB (WITH BEN MCNALLY BOOKS), TORONTO

141 DANFORTH AVE. E.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3

7:00 P.M.

AN EVENING OF FOOD, WINE, AND POETRY

PRESENTED BY DANI'S BISTRO AND THE NIAGARA LITERARY ARTS COUNCIL

176 ST. PAUL STREET, ST. CATHARINES

THURSDAY, APRIL 4

7:00 P.M.

BIBLIOASIS

1520 WYANDOTTE ST. E., WINDSOR

In the 144 poems of For As Far As the Eye Can See, Melançon re-imagines the sonnet as a "rectangle of twelve lines," and poetry as "a monument as fragile as the grass." Impressionistic, seasonal, allusive, in language sharp and clean, this form-driven collection is both a book of hours and a measured meditation on art, nature, and the vagaries of perception.

The evening will also feature the poet and visual artist Jessica Hiemstra, whose Self-Portrait Without a Bicycle was published by Biblioasis in 2012.

ABOUT ROBERT MELANÇON:
Robert Melançon is one of Québec’s most revered contemporary poets and a two-time winner of the Governor General’s Award. A longtime translator of Canadian poet A.M. Klein, Melançon has been the poetry columnist for Le Devoir and the Radio-Canada program En Toutes Lettres; he is also a critic and a professor at the University of Montreal. In addition to the Governor General's Award he is a past recipient of the Prix Victor-Barbeau and the Prix Alain-Grandbois.

ABOUT JESSICA HIEMSTRA:
Jessica Hiemstra is a visual artist and writer who divides her time between Ontario and Sierra Leone. She is also the winner of two Malahat Review Open Season Awards (2011) and the Room Magazine Annual Poetry Contest (2009). Self-Portrait Without a Bicycle is her third volume of poetry.

Chers amis,

Biblioasis vous invitent au lancement du Paradis des apparences de Robert Melançon, qui vient d’être traduit en anglais par Judith Cowan.

Dans les 144 poèmes de As Far As the Eye Can See, Melançon redéfinit le sonnet comme « un rectangle de douze vers », et la poésie comme « un monument aussi fragile que l’herbe ». Impressionniste, saisonnière, allusive, écrite dans une langue précise et nette, cette suite de poèmes est un livre d’heures aussi bien qu’une méditation sereine sur l’art, la nature, et l’incertitude de nos perceptions.

La soirée mettra égalment en vedette la poète et artiste visuelle Jessica Hiemstra, dont Self-Portrait Wthout a Bicycle a paru chez Biblioasis en 2012.

AU SUJET DE ROBERT MELANÇON
Robert Melançon, deux fois lauréat du prix du Gouverneur-Général, est un des poètes québécois contemporains les plus respectés. Traducteur de longue date du poète canadien A.M. Klein, Melançon a été critique de poésie au Devoir et à l’émission « En toutes lettres » à Radio-Canada; il a également été critique et professeur à l’Université de Montréal. En plus du prix du Gouverneur-Général, il a aussi reçu le prix Victor-Barbeau et le prix Alain-Grandbois.

AU SUJET DE JESSICA HIEMSTRA
Jessica Hiemstra est une artiste visuelle et un écrivain qui vit au Sierra Leone. Elle a remporté le prix « Open Season» » de la Malahat Review en 2011 et l’« Annual Poetry Contest » de Room Magazine en 2009. Self-Portrait Without a Bicycle est son troisième recueil de poèmes.

Is it a novel or a kettle bell?

Presenting a novel that could be used to do shoulder presses: The Traymore Rooms by Norm Sibum, coming this July from Biblioasis.

We're binding galleys today and my paper cut count is up to five.

At least I'm getting in a bit of an arm workout in the process.

Who needs weights when you've got a book this massive?

Left, 6 galleys of David Mason's The Pope's Bookbinder (a pretty lengthy book on its own). Right, one gigantic copy of Norm Sibum's The Traymore Rooms. The result? A paper cut ratio fast approaching 1:1.

Biblioasis Receives Two Nominations for the B.C. Book Prize

Enthusiastic congratulations to C.P. Boyko and Anakana Schofield, both of whom have been nominated for the Ethel Wilson B.C. Book Prize for fiction! AK was of course nominated for Malarky, and Craig for Psychology and Other Stories. Other nominees include: Bill Gaston (The World), Ann Fleming (Gay Dwarves of America), and Yasuko Thanh (Floating Like the Dead). For more about the Ethel Wilson Prize you can consult the B.C. Book Prizes website here. (If you'll look closely you'll see that Patricia Young, whose name also graces the Biblio-backlist, is nominated for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize for her collection Night-Eater. Congratulations all round.) 

About "C.P. Boyko" and Psychology and Other Stories

C.P. Boyko ... or so we're told. When
asked if this was a self-portrait he
replied: "No, I can't draw that well."
(By a 6-year-old friend)

Perhaps Biblioasis's most elusive author, Boyko's biography reads as follows:

"Clearly Mr. Boyko has read too much; no doubt he was sickly as a child. His distrust of psychologists is also easily explained: his parents were therapists, and did not give him enough affection; or he took an undergraduate degree in psychology but failed to make any friends in the department; or he had a bad experience with an analyst."

He offers us no pictures. He frequently declines interviews. So rather than attempt to profile the man & his staggering genius, we shall instead turn to the critics, who sank their teeth with great relish into his satirical collection. 

"C. P. Boyko takes as probing a look into the world of psychology as any doctor might into the confused mind of a patient, and comes away with a similar diagnosis: narcissism, delusions of grandeur, flights of fancy, logorrhoea ... The author bucks current trends in fiction like invisible narrators and single-character focus, preferring instead to soar omnisciently above the human fray, until such time as he deems it necessary to dive-bomb, raptor-like, into the backstory and motivations of a particular character. Occasionally he addresses the reader directly to make a point, a satirical take on the industry he excoriates in this book: don’t worry, I’ll tell you what to think. The style, reminiscent of an earlier time in fiction when authors sometimes played God, takes some getting used to in these days of sparseness and minimalism, but once the reader understands where Boyko is coming from, then, unlike the subject of psychology, it all makes sense. And the explorations drill so deeply into this mysterious medical science that they make the effort worth the reader’s adjustment."—The L.A. Review of Books

 "A smart, funny book, and possibly therapeutic as well."—Toronto Star

"These six stories are all written around the single unifying theme of psychology, which—if you take the time to read these satirical and heartbreaking narratives—is itself perhaps just a story we tell ourselves about the way the human mind works ... Fans of satirical fiction will love this book; so will anyone who has reclined on a therapist’s couch, or taken a psychology course from a larger-than-life professor with obvious neuroses, or read a self-help book by an author whose biography reveals them to be a total mess. Yet the mockery here is never mean-spirited; the book is impeccably researched and unflinchingly intelligent."—The National Post

About Anakana Schofield & Malarky 

Readers of Thirsty have long been won over by Vancouver's most vacuum-friendly, weather-loving Irishwoman, but now for the first time it seems the Mrs. is winning the hearts of awards bodies as well. Nominated two weeks ago for the Amazon.ca First Novel Award (and yes, we're still celebrating in the aftermath of the Afterword, because bloody hell is it a good book!), the Ethel Wilson will be the second major prize nod for the tale of Our Woman.  I've included a few recent blurbs from across the pond that you may not have seen yet. From Mr. Mc-What-Now? McCann? Yes indeedy. Yes yes indeed. Congrats to all.

"Anakana Schofield is part of a new wave of wonderful Irish fiction—international in scope and electrically alive."—Colum McCann 

"Malarky is a terrific read, a brilliant collision of heartbreak and hilarity written in a voice that somehow seems both feral and perfectly controlled. Anakana Schofield's Our Woman takes a cool nod at Joyce, then goes her own way in one of the most moving and lyrical debut novels I've read."—Jess Walter, author of Beautiful Ruins

"We become comfortable saying that there's nothing new, and then something like Malarky comes along, which is new and old and different and familiar, but ultimately itself, comfortable in its own skin, wise and smart and crazy-sexy or maybe sexy-crazy—well, you just have to read it to understand. It's a novel that sets its own course, sure and steady, even when it seems like it might be about to go over the edge of the world."—Laura Lippman

Anakana Schofield at Words on the Water Festival

For those of you enjoying life on the west coast, we've got an event recommendation for you. The Words on the Water festival in Campbell River, B.C. takes place March 15 and 16 (yes, this weekend!) at the Maritime Heritage Centre.

Malarky author Anakana Schofield will be one of the featured authors at the festival, which will also host Charlotte Gill, Madeleine Thien, Fred Wah, JJ Lee, Rawi Hage, Matthew Hooton and Janet Marie Rogers.

Anakana will be participating in the Writers in Conversation panel 7:30pm on March 15th, as well as reading at 1pm on the 16th.

For more details on scheduling, tickets, and location, head to the Words on the Water website.

From the back of the bookshop: Canary, start to finish

In the back of the bookshop at Biblioasis, a lot of what I do is come up with cover concepts and designs for our forthcoming books. Sometimes these come relatively easily: a concept works, I tweak the type treatment or the image a bit, make sure that the files are all of good resolution, and call it a day. Most of the time, however, a book cover takes several drastically different concepts before it reaches the state where it suits the book, has enough appeal to grab the attention of someone browsing a bookshop, and is visually pleasing to everyone involved in the process.

I've been posting a lot about book covers in our Book Spotting series, taking a look around the Biblioasis store and finding covers that really work or do something interesting. In this post, we're going into the publishing offices to look at a lot of book covers that don't work, and one that (finally!) does. 

Nancy Jo Cullen's debut book of short fiction, Canary, will be released by Biblioasis this May. It's a book of stories that roams from the seedy bars of East End Vancouver, to the communal showers of a hot yoga studio, to the movies for a sing-a-long screening of The Sound of Music. They're quirky, often-queer stories of families threatening to fall apart, yet somehow they're also full of humour. 

In coming up with a cover for Canary, my initial instinct was ABSOLUTELY NO BIRDS! Where did I go from there? At first, try the obvious: coal mines.

Yep. Went for the obvious. Didn't work out so well.

 Clearly, this one isn't working. Beyond being eye-rollingly obvious, the image isn't particularly striking. The title is hard to read. The type treatment is uninspired. NEXT.

More coal mines. This one's got a bit of a 1970s feeling.

 Next I went for an image that was a little more dynamic. Still a coal mine, but this time a cross-section of one. Mainly I was drawn to the colours, which felt sort of 1970s kitchen to me. I tried a font that didn't compete with the image, and had an architectural drawing feeling to it. But there was still something not right about it. It didn't stand out enough. The image might have been too busy. So I moved on.

Keeping with the idea of architectural drawings and sketches, I mocked up something with the same type treatment, but with this drawing of a coal mine in 2D. I liked that the lined paper showed through and the muted colours made me think of a school book sketch. But the old type treatment from the previous cover didn't fit. I thought maybe going with the sketch book theme might help. But as you can see, it didn't.

getting sketchier...

 

 

sketchy. Too sketchy.

 At this point I took some time away from the cover. Everything was becoming a bit of a muddle and I wasn't getting anywhere, or achieving what I was hoping to achieve. A few days off and I was ready to re-approach the cover from scratch. I found this cute little canary image, made up of pieces of electronics (it is a bit hard to see, but he has circuit boards running through him!) I echoed this in the background with a subtle circuit motif and went with a couple typefaces that together gave off a vibe of retro but also suggested the harshness of technology. Looking back at this one, it's not great, and it doesn't really fit the book at all, but I can't help but love that little canary.

 Since I had already broken my own NO BIRDS rule, I decided to allow myself to incorporate birds in my future attempts. Still fighting the literalism, I opted for a piece of a bird instead of the whole canary. This one was a cross-stitch, and I decided to just use his tail. I finally got to make use of my favourite cross-stitch typeface as well. Fantastic. However, it came to my attention that with just his tail on the cover, this canary didn't look so much like a bird. It actually looked more like a fish. And since the book isn't called Carp, I moved on.

I moved on to a cover that was my absolute favourite for quite some time. As I am constantly dealing with things like CMYK conversions and Pantone colour swatches, a little bit of design nerd crept into this design. Instead of representing Canary as a bird, I wanted to represent it as a colour. And what better way to do that than to emulate the iconic Pantone colour swatch. The type treatment was obvious as Pantone's swatches all look the same. Clean, crisp Helvetica. There was no bird on the cover. I loved the simplicity of it. However, it gave off textbook vibes to some people, and that was not what I was going for, so unfortunately, the swatch had to go. 

TADA! Finally something works!

However, that swatch led me to this. The final cover for Canary. I ran with the simplicity, the emphasis on the white and yellow palette from the swatch. The bird silhouette is crisp enough in my mind to make up for the sin of putting a bird on the cover, and the fact that it replaces the A, which its shape doesn't really resemble, but is still instantly readable, gives the book the kind of interest that demands a second look.

So from NO BIRDS ABSOLUTELY NO to a bird on the cover, there you have the progression of Canary to its current and final form. Grab your copy this May when it is released by Biblioasis.