This Wednesday, November 23rd at 7 PM is the  Freshwater Pearls encore reading, featuring  Lee Kvern, Susan Carpenter, Frances Hern, Kari Strutt, Julie Lockhart, Robin van Eck, Richard Gorecki and me. Excellent Christmas shopping op, folks! That’s at Owl’s Nest Books, in the Brittania Shopping Centre at 815A – 49 Ave. SW. What better way to Occupy Calgary than by supporting your local indie bookstore (and indie writers and publisher)? Plus awesome readings and amusing banter! 


But before that,  tomorrow afternoon I‘m braving Calgary’s first real blast of winter for Coming to Canada, readings and panel discussion about immigration with Frances Hern and Brian Brennan. That’s at Shelf Life Books, 1302 – 4 St. SW at 1:00. I understand there will be coffee and cookies. Sounds good!

Open mic night at Owl’s Nest was a blast — wide variety of work and readers. Thanks to Rea of the Alexandra Writers for organizing. Next open mic night is November 30th, so bring out your three double-spaced pages of work and put your name in the hat. Well, Ziploc bag.

Speaking of Owl’s Nest Books, looking forward to the Freshwater Pearls encore reading there at 7 PM on November 23rd. That’s Lee Kvern, Susan Carpenter, Frances Hern, Kari Strutt, Julie Lockhart and me. Owl’s Nest is in the Brittania Shopping Centre at 815A – 49 Ave. SW. Come on out and support your local indie bookstore (and indie writers and publisher)!

I’m happy to announce a couple of forthcoming publications, in different genres, yet! It seems I will have a poem (!) in Rubbing Stone: A Nose Hill Anthology, which will be published in 2012 and is being edited by Vivian Hansen. I had a couple of poems published in a tiny long-dead journal many years ago and kind of thought that was it for me and poetry. But it’s something I’ve been revisiting lately. Very nice.

Also, FreeFall Magazine is running a creative nonfiction piece I submitted to them for the Winter 2012 issue. Very pleased to once again be appearing in their pages!

All the news for now. This fall has been going by even faster than usual because of the classes I’m teaching at Mount Royal (and enjoying very much!). Looking forward to a Xmas trip this year — first time in my life I’ve ever travelled at Xmas. And we’re going to Hollywood! Oh, my. Pretty exciting for an old movie freak like yours truly! Yay!