Posts Tagged ‘Books’
Life in a Chinese Village Comes to the Medicine Hat Public Library
Presentation About Life in Rural China – Sunday, November 9, 2:00 p.m.
Chinese-Canadian author Chunqing Wang will be coming to the Medicine Hat Public Library on November 9, 2014, at 2:00 p.m., for a free presentation about life in a Chinese village. She will be showing photographs of her village, past and present, and will be discussing lifestyles of rural Chinese villagers today and through the past hundred years. From persistent poverty at the end of the last emperor’s reign, through the Japanese invasion, the Communist takeover, and several decades of Communist schemes like the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, Ms. Wang will discuss the effects of war, politics and market reforms on her family and her fellow villagers.
The presentation will be reveal parts of the real China that very few visitors have a chance to see. “Most tourists travel to the big cities or go on pre-packaged tours, but it’s difficult for an outsider to get a sense of rural China,” Ms. Wang says. “Because hundreds of millions of people live in villages–more than the total population of Canada and the United States combined–it’s worth knowing about if you’re interested in China at all.” As China becomes more and more urbanized, the experiences of Chinese peasant farmers are being forgotten: but her new memoir assists by committing to print her experiences and the experiences of villagers from Shanxi Province.
Ms. Wang will be reading portions of her book: You May as Well Sing, Brother: Seventy Years of Strange but True Stories of Adventure, Determination, Cruelty, Bravery, Survival and Especially Love from Inside a Chinese Village. In this memoir, compelling stories told in the first person show every human foible, folly, virtue and vice, as the villagers describe themselves, their neighbors, and those they have encountered along the way. (The memoir will be available for optional purchase for $15.00.)
Ms. Wang will be accompanied by her husband, Chris Denholm, who will provide his perspective as one of the few westerners to stay in a Chinese village for an extended visit.
Refreshments will be served.
Note: Because some of the topics, including war, persecution and suffering would be sensitive to young audiences, the presentation is intended for adults only.
It’s only fitting that during this continued cold snap and on a day with temperatures nearing -40 including the windchill, 40 Below is announcing a Alberta-wide follow-up to its successful first publication.
The first 40 Below anthology, released November 1, 2013, is a collection of poetry, non-fiction stories and essays, and short fiction focusing on winter in Edmonton. A total of 300 submissions were entered, and eventually 70 submissions from 55 writers/artists were chosen. The book sold out its first run and is now into its second printing.
Now, editor Jason Lee Norman is putting out a call for submissions for winter poetry and stories from writers and artists from all across the province, including Calgary, Red Deer, Edmonton, Fort McMurray, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Grande Prairie, Jasper, Banff and everywhere in between.
Submissions will be open until July 31, 2014 and can be submitted online here:
https://40below.submittable.com/submit
40 Below will publish the second book, to be titled ’40 Below: Alberta’s Winter Anthology’ in November of 2015.
Which book should Medicine Hat residents read in October 2013? During the month of January, the One Book One Community committee is asking for suggestions of books for the eighth annual book discussion weekend which will take place in October 2013.
Every year Hatters come together to discuss a book and to enjoy activities based around the title. Like a citywide book club, One Book One Community offers readers opportunities to discuss the book, listen to guest speakers, and participate in activities that complement the book. Past books have included Obasan by Joy Kogawa, A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews, An Audience of Chairs by Joan Clark, The Englishman’s Boy by Guy Vanderhaeghe, Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay, Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden and in October 2012, the chosen book was The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway.
Hatters are asked to make suggestions up to February 1, 2013. To be eligible, the book should be by a Canadian author, available in paperback and substantial enough to generate discussion. It can be fiction, non-fiction, biography, poetry or short stories. Suggestion forms will be available at Medicine Hat Public Library, the Vera Bracken Library at Medicine Hat College and at Coles Bookstore in the Medicine Hat Mall. Suggestions may also be submitted online at www.obocmh.ca The suggested titles are read and evaluated by volunteer readers and the committee. Once the book has been chosen, the title will be announced in the spring.
One Book One Community is cosponsored by the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, City of Medicine Hat, Medicine Hat Public Library, Medicine Hat College and Coles Bookstore.
Image Credit: RandomHouse.ca
Steven Galloway, author of the acclaimed novel, The Cellist of Sarajevo, will be the speaker at the eighth annual One Book One Community event. This free event takes place on Friday, October 12 at 7.00 pm in the Esplanade Studio Theatre.
The evening will be introduced by Mayor Norm Boucher who carried out two United Nations Missions in Croatia in 1995 and Kosovo in 2001. He is conversant in Croat and makes regular visits to Croatia.
The Community Orchestra, conducted by Christine Bootland of the Conservatory of Music and Dance, will play Albinoni’s Adagio. Coles the Book People will have books available for sale and signing. Refreshments will be serving following the reading.
Book discussions and activities will take place on Saturday, October 13 in the Crowfoot Room at Medicine Hat College from 9.30 am to 3.00 pm. All events are free. Participants may bring their own lunch or purchase lunch at the College Cafeteria.
For more information, please go to www.obocmh.ca, or contact obocmh@gmail.com. This event is sponsored by Medicine Hat College, The City of Medicine Hat, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Medicine Hat Public Library, L.E.A.R.N., and The Esplanade.
Medicine Hat author Don Lemna launches his new book, Out In Left Field, at Medicine Hat Public Library on Sunday, April 1st. The reading takes place at 2:00 pm in the Library Theatre.
A sequel to When the Sergeant Came Marching Home published in 2008, Out in Left Field continues the adventures of Donald, an eleven year old boy growing up in post-World War 2 Montana. When an error in baseball costs his team the game, he knows the whole town is laughing at him. Desperate to redeem himself, Donald attempts to become a superstar (at hockey, archery, skiing) but all efforts end in disaster and comedy.
After a career as an electrical engineer in the Canadian Armed Forces, Don Lemna retired and now spends his time writing books for children and adults, plays and poetry. In Bubsy (1993), he drew on his experiences as a child growing up in Medicine Hat. While Out in Left Field and When the Sergeant Came Marching Home are set on the prairie landscape of Montana, the portrayal is very familiar to Prairie Canadians.
Don Lemna may be contacted at 403-529-6052. For further information, go to:
http://www.accessola.com/forest2010/Silverbirch/fiction/sb8/bio.php
Copies of Out in Left Field will be available after Don Lemna’s reading for sale and signing. A reception will follow.
Don Lemna’s book launch is cosponsored by the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.
For more information, contact Hilary Munro at 403-502-8533 or at hilmun@medicinehat.ca
Which book should Medicine Hat residents read in October 2012? During the month of February, the One Book One Community committee will be asking for suggestions of books for the seventh annual book discussion weekend which will take place in October 2012.
Every year Hatters come together to discuss a book and to enjoy activities based around the title. Like a citywide book club, One Book One Community offers readers opportunities to discuss the book, listen to guest speakers, and participate in activities that complement the book. Past books have included Obasan by Joy Kogawa, A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews, An Audience of Chairs by Joan Clark, The Englishman’s Boy by Guy Vanderhaeghe, Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay, Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden and in October 2011, the chosen book was Come Thou, Tortoise by Newfoundland author, Jessica Grant.
Hatters are asked to make suggestions during the month of February. To be eligible, the book should be by a Canadian author, available in paperback and substantial enough to generate discussion. It can be fiction, non-fiction, biography, poetry or short stories. Suggestion forms will be available at Medicine Hat Public Library, the Vera Bracken Library at Medicine Hat College and at Coles Bookstore in the Medicine Hat Mall. Suggestions may also be submitted online at www.obocmh.ca. The suggested titles are read and evaluated by volunteer readers and the committee. Once the book has been chosen, the title will be announced in the spring.
One Book One Community is cosponsored by the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Medicine Hat Public Library, Medicine Hat College and Coles Bookstore.
The One Book One Community committee of Medicine Hat is busy preparing for its 7th annual event to be held in October 2011 and they need your help! For each event, OBOC chooses a book to be read by all of Medicine Hat from suggestions made by the community.
Throughout February 2011, you can submit your suggestions via an online suggestion form. You can also submit your suggestions in person at Coles The Book People (in the Medicine Hat Mall), the Medicine Hat Public Library, and the Vera Bracken Library (Medicine Hat College).
Your suggestions can be either fiction or nonfiction, but must be:
(a) Canadian,
(b) available in paperback format, and
(c) substantial enough to generate discussion and debate.
For more about information about OBOC, visit their website at http://obocmh.ca. You can keep up-to-date with the latest OBOC news by subscribing to their blog or joining their Facebook page.
Please contact Leigh Cunningham at 403.504.3654 or obocmh@gmail.com for any additional information.
The Secret Loft website screenshot montage
The Secret Loft is a new website and project launched by local, Joleen Gavey and released on Tuesday March 16th. The locally unique website presents original, diverse short fiction stories. The stories are broken up into chapters and released separately so you only read a chapter per each book update – That is of course if you start from the time the first chapter is released. The idea reminds me a bit of episodic content which has been proven to be successful in mediums like video games and television.
The site is designed and developed by husband, Derek Gavey. Upon launch, the first chapter of “In My Solitude” was released.
A little bit more about Joleen:
I only started writing fiction about a year ago. It’s kind of a new thing. I say “kind of”, because I’ve always written things down, scribbled on scraps of paper, in notebooks.
The stories featured in the Secret Loft are about other people. Most of them are people I’ve never met. All of these people have their own secrets, but they also have some stories to share. So, this website is dedicated to presenting them in an accessible, beautiful way. It has already been a very interesting process. I hope that the stories prove a worthwhile diversion from reality; no one should have to spend too much time there.
Shamus Ghillie U.S. Secret Service In Medicine Hat Book Cover
I would like to bring to your attention, a recently released novel by Native American author David Walks-As-Bear relating to Medicine Hat:
Overview: ( Historical Fiction )
Shamus Ghillie is a half-Choctaw-half-Irish elite ex-Confederate soldier who is, also, a man of the wild and untamed West. But, he’s also a man of rare and unusual skills as a hunter of both animals and men. It is Ghillie, with his unique talents, that President Grant wants to secretly enlist to handle the trouble along the boundary of the newly formed nation of Canada, just north of the Montana Territory. But, men like Ghillie don’t come easily, and, if they come at all, they don’t come cheap.