VMI Spring 2022 Newsletter
Here’s our latest newsletter, full of accomplishments, new books, awards, exciting events and collaborations! Please share and support our VMI community in whatever ways suit you—reposting on social media, buying books, sending the authors a note, or attending an event. We are the community we create.
Program News
VMI hosted award-winning writer and translator Jennifer Croft for a deeply engaging and inspiring conversation and craft talk on April 12. These guest author talks are open only to our VMI community. Next up in our guest author series is Farzana Doctor on Tuesday May 17, 7pm PST— 8:15pm PST. To register and find out more, please visit the site here.
Mentor News
Betsy Warland has a new book out that is a second edition of her 2000 memoir, Bloodroot — Tracing the Untelling of Motherloss. It has a new, long essay reflecting on the Bloodroot narrative, and a Foreword written by Susan Olding.
https://www.betsywarland.com/my-books/
https://www.inanna.ca/product/bloodroot-tracing-the-untelling-of-motherloss/
The June 11th, 2022 premier of Camouflage Complex — The Art of Concealment, based on Warland’s 2016 memoir Oscar of Between — A Memoir of Identity and Ideas, will be performed at the downtown branch of the Vancouver Public Library. Video and details at: https://t.co/YPZjlbwsib the Vancouver Public Library.
Elee Kraljii Gardiner’s poem “School Figures” from her book serpentine loop will be performed as choreography at the Ice Theatre of New York’s gala on May 9. https://www.icetheatre.org/2022-benefit-gala-and-performance.html
Gary Barwin has two new poetry books this season, Bird Arsonist (with Tom Prime) from New Star Books https://www.newstarbooks.com/book.php?book_id=1554201853
and The Fabulous Op (with Gregory Betts) from Beir Bua Press (Ireland.)
https://beirbuapress.com/2022/04/18/the-fabulous-op-by-gary-barwin-gregory-betts/
There was a launch for The Fabulous Op as part of Poetry Day Ireland 28th April at 8pm GMT on Zoom, which is viewable here on YouTube.
He was also featured on the TV show, Tales of Paradise Marsh about writing in relationship to a local marsh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdcjhJLp7eY
And for the Festival of Literary Diversity on Thurs May 5, Gary interviews three writers, Anosh Irani, Dorothy Palmer and Sonya Singh about their new books at the event titled, “WRITING HUMOUR IN UNFUNNY TIMES—a discussion on the power & questions inherent in writing funny narratives in troubled times.”
http://thefoldCanada.org/register
Gurjinder Basran has a new book coming out, titled Help! I’m Alive. It may be pre-ordered and purchased through ECW Press at https://ecwpress.com/products/help-im-alive
Gurjinder will be discussing Help! I’m Alive with Robert Wiersema in June as part of The Victoria Festival of Authors Spring book Club. https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/gurjinder-basranhelp-im-alive-tickets-265487659737
Jónína Kirton has a new book out, Standing in a River of Time. It may be purchased through the publisher Talonbooks https://talonbooks.com/books/standing-in-a-river-of-time.
Rachel Rose was interviewed by Shelagh Rogers on The Next Chapter, discussing her fiction debut, The Octopus Has Three Hearts. Find it online, as of April 16th at: cbc.ca/thenextchapter The next Giller Book Club pick is The Octopus Has Three Hearts by Rachel Rose which was longlisted for the 2021 Scotiabank Giller Prize. We hope you will join us in reading The Octopus Has Three Hearts and participate in the live Q&A on Monday, May 2, 2022, at 7 p.m. ET. Rachel will be interviewed by 2017 shortlisted author Michelle Winters.
Please visit www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca/giller-book-club to learn more.
Sarah Yi Mei Tsiang has a new book out, Grappling Hook. Grappling Hook can be purchased through Palimpsest or at your local bookseller.
Current Cohort News
Japhy Ryder has published a new collection of short stories entitled The German Financier’s Daughter. Available at Kobo, https://books2read.com/german-finaniciers-daughter
Jennifer Bowering Delisle won Arc Magazine’s March Award for Awesomeness for her poem “On the First Day of Spring” https://arcpoetry.ca/news/. She is also appearing in the Edmonton Poetry Festival on April 30 https://edmontonpoetryfestival.com/, and had a poem from her work-in-progress published in Long Con Magazine https://longconmag.com/issue-10/.
VMI Fellow Olajide Salawu has a poem in the May issue of The Literary Review of Canada, “My Country Describes Itself to Me”
https://reviewcanada.ca/magazine/contributors/olajide-salawu/
Wiley Wei-Chiun Ho has a short story “Call Waiting” in Ricepaper magazine. The story is part of a book she is currently working on. Read it online at: https://ricepapermagazine.ca/2022/02/call-waiting-by-wiley-wei-chiun-ho/
Alumni News
Barbara Black’s debut book, Music from a Strange Planet: Stories (Caitlin Press), was chosen as one of 49th Shelf’s 2021: Books of the Year, and longlisted for
The Miramichi Reader’s The Very Best Book Awards 2021 in the short fiction category. Black recently won First Prize and was triple short-listed for the 2021 Federation of BC Writers Literary Contest in the flash fiction category.
Bernadette Wagner (VMI, 2017) designed and delivered a series of four workshops, Listen to the Voices: Writing for a Just and Sustainable World, as lead artist for a Sask Council for International Co-operation outreach program exploring the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals as inspiration for craft sessions. https://www.saskcic.org/listen_to_the_voices
Erin Bedford launched Pinhole Poetry, a digital poetry magazine, in April 2022. Send us your poems! https://pinholepoetry.ca
Jodi Lundgren is a contributor to the poetry anthology Dear Vaccine: Global Voices Speak to the Pandemic, edited by Naomi Shihab Nye. The book launched in April 2022 and was featured on the PBS News Hour. It is available from Kent State University Press.
Kate Bird’s creative nonfiction was published in the February and April 2022 issues of The Sun Magazine and the Spring 2022 issue of Tangled Locks Journal. Kate’s work was shortlisted for The Phare’s WriteWords 2022 contest and published in their Spring 2022 issue, and she was featured in a recent program for Writers Radio.
Katherine J. Munro (kjmunro) will be reading & presenting a writing workshop online for Wordstorm Society of the Arts, Nanaimo, BC on Friday 27 May & Saturday 28 May 2022.
VMI 2021 Fellow Pervin Saket has joined The Bombay Literary Magazine as their Poetry Editor. They are open to international submissions in fiction and poetry. Check out the new issue here, and please consider submitting.
Robert Chursinoff’s debut novel, The Descendants, will be out in October from Nightwood Editions.Purchase here.
Sasha Torchinsky’s manuscript “Inner Witness” was runner-up for the 2021 Red Hen Press Benjamin Saltman Poetry Award judged by Major Jackson.
https://redhen.org/awards/benjamin-saltman-poetry-award/
Yaana Dancer has work in the show ‘Subtext: the message in art” at Metchosin Artpod until May 29, 2022. Her piece, Maman, is comprised of five black + white photos of her mother’s gestures (grabbed from video) accompanied by hand-written textual fragments (taken from video voice-over.)