lowry's Podcast

Myriam Chancy was reading at 7 pm on Thursday, Sept. 21 at the Emily Carr Institute for Art + Design + Media in Vancouver Myriam Chancy is a novelist and a researcher. Her first novel, Spirit of Haiti (Mango Publications 2003) was shortlisted in the Best First Book Category, Canada/Caribbean Region, of the Commonwealth Prize 2004, and her second novel The Scorpion’s Claw, was published by Peepul Tree Press, in 2004. Her critical works include: Searching for Safe Spaces: Afro-Caribbean Women Writers in Exile (Temple UP, 1997), which was awarded an Outstanding Academic Book Award from the American Library Association); and Framing Silence: Revolutionary Novels by Haitian Women (Rutgers UP, 1997). Myriam was born in Haiti, raised in Quebec and Winnipeg, She is currently Visiting Associate Researcher, Center for Black Studies & Visiting Associate Professor, Dept. of Black Studies, UC, Santa Barbara, 2006-2007. Her webside is www.myriamchancy.com The On Edge series gratefully acknowledges the support of the Emily Carr Institute and the Canada Council.

eMigrations Podcast 13 features a  reading by Paulo da Costa recorded on October 5, 2006. Paulo was reading his work at Emily Carr Institute for Art + Design + Media, in Vancouver (ECI).

This reading is the 3rd in the Fall 2006 On Edge Reading series, sponsored by ECI and the Canada Council for the Arts, with funding for Literary Readings.

More information about Paulo da Costa can be found at www.paulodacosta.com.

Thanks for Jean Rhoutier for recording the event and to Paulo da Costa for permission to broadcast this podcast.

On Tuesday, I had the privilege of hearing Henry Tsang speak about his work to Sadira Rodrigues and Jeremy Todd's Interdisciplinary Forums course at Emily Carr. Henry spoke about four pieces/projects: two installations of Chinook Jargon and translations, including recent banners created for the World Peace Forum in Vancouver in June; "Orange County," a four channel video installation featuring footage shot in Orange County, California, and "Orange County" China, a two-phase suburban development/gated community on the outskirts of Beijing; and his most recent work, "Olympus, 2006."

In an emailed invitation to the talk, Olypus 2005 is described as "an interactive new media video project that selects video clips based on information gathered over the internet and premiered in Torino, Italy during the 2006 Olympics" and which "depicts one man's journey in two cities hosting the recent and upcoming Winter Olympic Games: Torino and Vancouver." The interactive element of "Olympus 2006" comes from the fact that it responds to "changes in popularity of the Torino2006 and Vancouver2010 websites" by changing the order of clips (see Ciao da Vancouver - Henry Tsang www.onedge.tv).

What impressed me about Henry's talk, in addition to the obvious, depth, wit and scope of his work, was his decision to frame it within particular theories of social space and spectacle (DeBord, Lefebvre, Soja) and what I see as a somewhat uncanny return to question of industrialization, labour, trade and racialization that underpin the work, particularly this latest piece.

Thinking about the question of direct action raised by Ashok Mathur, about the way Henry might position himself and his work in relation to histories of direct action, the FLQ and Paris '68 being examples, I was struck by certain trajectories in the work viz. French thought, as well as a comment Henry made during his talk on the association between Torino and Fiat (Fabbica Italiana Automobili Torino), on the fact that alpine area around Torino was developed by the Agnelli family (of Fiat fame) as winter play ground for their friends.

This association reminded that me of one of the few moments in Henri Lefebvre's conceptions of Social Space/Everyday Life that has to do with his question of race, specifically his thinking about migrant labourers a Renault factory outside Paris. Lefebvre's notion that social space is a priori contradictory and contradicted and that each epoque produces and reproduces various spatial realities seems to me to be crucial to understanding the re-invigoration of nationalist discourses around the intersections of race, citizenship, and labour, especially in relation to the eruption of protests and violence in France in October and Nov 2005.

In the context of Vancouver and the run up to the 2010 Olympics, one is left to wonder about the links between the heavily industrialized sites of Europe (Italy and France) and the not-yet, never-quite industrialized spaces of BC. Moving from these colonial centres to a central colony, or at least its Western periphery, one is left to think about the Asian labourer both evoked and transformed (to athlete, consumer, location scout) in Henry's solo journey back into the terrain of BC's mountains.

Just a few thoughts to follow up on later, perhaps.

I caught up with Ashok Mathur at the Banff Centre for the Arts earlier this month, June 10 2006, and we sat down and talked about Ashok's work as a new Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Cultural and Artist Inquiry at Thomson Rivers University in Kamloops, BC. Ashok and I spoke about the end of English and possibilites for transforming literary and cultural studies. We also talked about his goals for the new Centre for Innovation in Culture and the Arts in Canada linked to his CRC. The music used in this show is Balancing Forces by Andrea from an album titled Words to Water. It has been downloaded from Pod Safe Audio (http://www.podsafeaudio.com/) and used with permission from the artist. It is licensed under Creative Commons License 2.0--Attribution, Noncommercial.

This is a talk I gave at Emily Institute for Art and Design in Vancouver on April 7, 2006. The focus is on my pedagogy, particularly in relation to teaching writing/composition, and my professional practice as a writer and editor. In addition to providing some sense of where I'm coming from, I hope that it might stand as something of rational for or in so way comment on these podcasts.

This episode features a fascinating discussion by writer Larissa Lai. Lai is speaking to a Film Studies class in the Explorations Program at Simon Fraser University, Surrey Campus, about the influence of Ridley Scott's classic film Blade Runner on her novel Salt Fish Girl. Showing clips and providing readings from the work, Lai looks at questions of "race" and gender, particularly in relation to issues of "cloning" or genetic modification raised in the film and addressed in her novel.

This is a follow up to EP 8. Wayde Compton, Larissa Lai, and Fred Wah are answering questions from students and faculty at the National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan. Guy Beauregard is the facilitator.

Yet another presentation from material recorded in Taiwan during the fall of 2005. In today's presentation, Wayde Compton, Larissa Lai and Fred Wah are speaking to students and faculty at the National Tsing Hua University. The focus of the discussion is on Canadian Multiculturalism, racialized identity and cultural practices from three very different points of view. Wayde Compton discusses and reads from his turntable poem, "Reinventing Wheel"; Larissa Lai talks about and reads her novel Salt Fish Girl; and Fred Wah talks about his "biotext" Diamond Grill and his latest long poem Isadore Blue. The writers are introduced by Guy Beauregard. The event was recorded on Nov. 17, 2005 and it was part of This episode is part of Transcribing Canada: Canadian Writers in Taiwan, which was hosted by the Canadian Trade Office and Sponsored by the Canada Council.

This is the final episode from Fred Wah's keynote at the National Sun Yat-sen University in Taipei. Part #3 represents questions from students and faculty following Fred Wah's presentation. This episode is part of an ongoing series of Transcribing Canada: Canadian Writers in Taiwan.

This is the 4th podcast from the Transcribing Canada: Canadian Writers in Taiwan. It features the second part of Fred Wah's keynote address to students and faculty at the National Sun Yat-sen University in Taipei. Fred is speaking on his writing in relation to issues of hybridity, mixed race identity, and Canadian cultural history.

This is the 3rd podcast from the Transcribing Canada: Canadian Writers in Taiwan. It features the first part of Fred Wah's keynote address to students and faculty at the National Sun Yat-sen University in Taipei. Fred is speaking on his writing in relation to issues of hybridity, mixed race identity, and Canadian cultural history.

This is a follow-up to EP 3 and it features talks and readings by Wayde Compton and Garry Gottfriedson from from a panel on Canadian Multiculturalism delivered at National Cheng Chi University, exmaining the question: How do literary works explore multiculturalism in society? These presentations were recorded on Nov. 18, 2005 and was part of a larger series organized by the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei, Transcribing Canada: Canadian Writers in Taiwan.

This is the first part of a two part series from a panel on Canadian Multiculturalism delivered at National Cheng Chi University, exmaining the question: How do literary works explore multiculturalism in society? Part #1 features talks and readings by Roy Miki and Glen Lowry. Part #2 features talks and poetry readings by Wayde Compton and Garry Gottfriedson. These presentations were recorded on Nov. 18, 2005 and was part of a larger series organized by the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei, Transcribing Canada: Canadian Writers in Taiwan.

Pheobe Gau and Erica Huang discuss Le Mook and University of British Columbia's Literature Etc. club. Le Mook is a bilingua--Chinese and English--magazine published by UBCLE that deals with a wide range of topics and issues. www.ubcle.com Nov. 18, 2005, Coquitlam College, Coquitlam BC

Don Kugler discussing his and Richard Rose's adaptation of Michael Ondaatje's Coming Through Slaughter for a stage performance at Toronto's Silver Dollar Saloon. Oct. 28, 2005, Simon Fraser University, Renaissance Cafe