Congrats KV Johansen

New Brunswick author K.V. Johansen's novel Nightwalker, the first book in her Warlocks of Talverdin series, received the 2008 Ann Connor Brimer Award this week at the Atlantic Book Awards. There's more about Nightwalker and its sequel at http://www.pippin.ca/kvj/Nightwalker.htm and the awards website is at http://www.writers.ns.ca/bookfest08/win.html

Multi-cultural Forum of Unity of Mankind, Miramichi

Multi-cultural Forum on the Unity of Mankind
co-ordinated by the Miramichi Baha'i Community

Where: Beaverbrook Kin Centre (former Town Hall on the Square)
When: June 18, 2008 (11am to 9pm)

The purpose of the Forum is to bring together individuals and groups drawn to the idea of "the unity of mankind" and who wish to express their perspectives on this theme as it applies to the Miramichi Community and the world today.

Pictures, posters, arts & crafts representing this theme will be displayed in the Hall during the day.

Videos, skits, drama, interactive computer sessions, music and dance relevant to the theme of "the unity of Mankind" are welcome and need to be scheduled into the evening's performances.

The perspectives of our Miramichi youth and the perspectives of our seniors is especially valued and encouraged for the Forum.

The Forum will be informal and open to the public FREE of charge. We hope people will come in, browse, share ideas with each other and help develop a spirit of unity within our community and, indeed, within the whole world.

There is no cost to any individual or group who wishes to take part in the Forum, other than their own time and labour involved in participating.

This is to be an "Idea Forum" and selling, raffling or requesting donations for any purpose is not to be conducted during the Forum.

Any individual or group wishing to participate in the Forum should contact Dan LaBerge by e-mail laberge.dan@gmail.com or June Scott at 627-1893 no later then May 16th.

Frye Festival Breaks Records

It was another banner for the Frye Festival, with Moncton’s annual celebration of words setting a new attendance high of over 16,000. “That’s an increase of nearly 25% from last year and far exceeds our goal for 2009,” chair Dawn Arnold said.

Credit goes in large part to its stellar line-up of authors, with such literary luminaries as Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Ford, Russell Banks, Heather O’Neill, Ami McKay and Nancy Huston on the festival marquee.

“These absolutely remarkable authors fed our imaginations in so many ways and inspired kids in record number,” Arnold said at yesterday’s closing. This year, more than 10,000 students in New Brunswick welcomed the internationally acclaimed authors into their classrooms, with school visits totalling 180, another new record for the festival.

The five-day festival’s wide-ranging program of workshops, dialogues, readings, debates, lectures drew standing-room only crowds to venues throughout the city and several events were sell-outs, such as the The Antonine Maillet-Northrop Frye Lecture by Alberto Manguel on “Why Homer Must Be Blind”.

Saturday’s KidsFest, an action-packed, fun-filled event that promotes the joy and discovery of reading and writing to youth, drew 1,200 people to the Moncton Public Library.

Thanks to the passion of its 150 volunteers, the generosity of its patrons and the support of government leaders, with private and public partnerships now totalling 60, the festival donated more than $6,000 worth of new books to schools and gave out $4,000 in prize money to winners of its Great-West Life — London Life Writing Contest.

The success of the 2008 festival raises the bar high for the 10th edition of Canada’s only bilingual literary festival in 2009. This not-for-profit, volunteer-driven event was established in 1999 to honour the literary contributions of its namesake and world-renowned educator and author Northrop Frye, who spent his formative years in Moncton. Its 10th anniversary will be celebrated with a 10-day festival, April 17-26, 2009.

The 2008 event ended with a farewell reception, hosted by the Greater Moncton International Airport, and featuring the grand finale reading by the festival’s very own poet laureate, Poet flyé and Moncton writer Paul Bossé, accompanied by popular local band Les Païens.His epic poem, entitled #9, will be permanently displayed in the airport art gallery, next to his work from last year.

At yesterday’s closing, a plaque was unveiled to commemorate the 9th annual Frye Festival. It will be permanently displayed at the French Consulate building and features a quote from one of the 2008 festival’s world-renowned authors, Nancy Huston, which reads: “Imagination is an essential part of human reality”.

Soiree Frye -- Words & Music

Something magical happens when creative minds gather in groups. I don't just mean authors and poets, though Frye Festival is a literary one so I'm certainly including them. But I mean any creative mind whether it be the business entrepreneur, a young student, an artist or a musician. The Capitol Theatre swelled with creative energy at Thursday's Soiree Frye both onstage and off; the ideas and philosophies being discussed in the foyer reception by the enthusiastic audience both before and after the program were often as profound as those presented onstage.

One of the things I love about the Frye Festival is its multi-cultural aspect. The festival is bilingual with many English, French, simultaneously translated and fully bilingual events. So this uni-lingual English girl often finds herself sitting and listening to a song being sung, a poem being read or a story being told in French without any translation being offered. And you might feel bad for me and think that must be a terrible waste of my time, surely I get bored as I sit there completely clueless about what is going on. But this couldn't be further from the truth.

When you're listening to words being spoken or performed in a foreign language, it seems to be even more powerful somehow than in your native tongue. When you're not tuned in to the meaning of the words, trying to follow the story, you are free to just let the language wash over you with its unique rhythm and tones. Language becomes like jazz music and it touches you at your core being. I sometimes think I hear better in ignorance than I do in understanding. It's a very intense experience.

You certainly don't need to be a lover of books and words to enjoy events like the Soiree Frye. While four authors did give brief readings of their work, the audience was also enraptured with the musical delights of The Olympic Symphonium from Fredericton. This is another reason why I love Frye Festival, because you are exposed to artists and entertainers that you might not have otherwise experienced. These guys are delightful! I had heard of them. I had seen billings they were included on, but I wasn't inspired to buy tickets or show up to their performance because I'd never heard them perform before, had no idea of the type of work they were doing. This is an interesting collaboration. I very much enjoyed their performance and will make an effort to see them again. I searched for a CD of their work afterward, wanting to take it home and share it with my music-loving siblings and friends, but couldn't find one. I would very much like to own one though.

The other musicial guest was Pascale Lejeune, who needed no introduction to the Moncton-Dieppe community, but who I had also never been exposed to or heard before. If The Olympic Symphonium were the English musical performers then Pascale Lejeune was of course the French musical performer (though they also performed together). Pascale sang in French, and I understood a word here and there, but I wasn't listening for words, I was listening for emotion and feeling. Pascale's performance made me feel peaceful and reflective without melancholy; it propelled me to an easy state of relaxing zen, where only the slow tapping of my foot and rhythmic nodding of my head mattered. I really enjoyed his performance.

The highlight of the Soiree Frye was of course the readings given by Jean-Philippe Raiche, Heather O'Neill, Rachel Leclerc, and Russell Banks. Two reading in French, two reading in English. I love the way audiences at Frye Festival really listen and pay attention to the readers, performers or speakers. There is never any of this whispering that often causes distraction at other literary events I've attended. The readings were, of course, brilliant, but I came away from there and into the lobby after the event with only one thought in my head and that was -- "I must buy Heather O'Neill's book, and I MUST BUY IT NOW!" Lullabies for Little Criminals is currently long-listed for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and won the 2007 edition of Canada Reads. I don't care about the awards. Hearing Heather read her work convinced me that I must hear the whole story. This is one of the magical things about Frye Festival; you discover work that you might never have picked up otherwise, despite critical acclaim or awards.

Soiree Frye -- Writing Contest

It's a gorgeous sunny morning here in downtown Moncton where I am perched high above the city in my hotel room. If you have never stayed at the Delta Beausejour you owe it to yourself to treat yourself to a weekend once in your life. The service and staff are wonderful. The rooms are elegant, modernly renovated with a touch of classic charm that remind you this hotel is not new and has been around awhile. This is where the Rolling Stones stayed and many world leaders during the Francophone Summit. I'm sleeping and eating well, being well looked after.

Yesterday turned into a much busier day than I anticipated so I did not get to post as I had hoped. Today I will attempt to catch up. There is still plenty of Frye Festival left to take in, so if you can get here, it's definitely worth the trip. The events on tap for this evening are going to be fantastic, though it will be very hard to top what I've attended so far.

For me, the weekend began on Thursday evening with the Soiree Frye at the Capitol Theatre. The event showcased one of the reasons why Frye Festival is so important for New Brunswick literature and literacy, and one of the reasons why I love this festival so much -- our talented next generation of writers.

The program began with a twenty-something young woman reading a piece about being cool, what it used to mean and what it means now. Her performance was perfect pitch and the only sound to be heard in the audience were murmured hums of agreement and bits of laughter at the absurdity of this truth. It wasn't until after the young lady had exited the stage to enthusiastic applause, and the pleasant whisperings began about what a wonderfully written piece we'd just heard, that our hosts took the mic and announced the piece had been written by a student at Bernice MacNaughton High School and was the first place winner in the English category of the Great-West Life London Life Writing Contest. Wow! The audience greeted this revelation with even more enthusiastic applause and everyone looked around at the people sitting next to them nodding as if to say, "Did you hear that?! Amazing!"

The Frye Festival puts a tremendous emphasis on our young people, and the writing contest is only one part of a much larger picture. I continually find myself wondering how my life would have been changed had I been exposed to authors as a child. Even though I grew up surrounded by books and feeding a constant thirst for reading, like many people my age in rural New Brunswick, I believed that writers lived in New York City or Paris, certainly not in Canada, and most certainly not in small town NB. And what else would I have believed? There was no emphasis on Canadian literature in school, and certainly no emphasis on the authors and poets of New Brunswick, and of course I'd never met a real writer before--nobody had.

I've heard that during Frye Festival this week 10,000 students in our province have been able to experience having authors visit with them in their schools. The authors give readings, conduct workshops, and share their creativity and life experience. Student authors have been given the opportunity to demonstrate their skills through contests like the one I've mentioned and also to take part in their own events being able to present their poetry, prose and song lyrics in public performances.

At the end of the Soiree Frye on Thursday evening as Festival Chair, Dawn Arnold, congratulated the winners of the writing contest she said it was her personal hope and dream that these young writers would one day return to the Frye Festival as invited authors asked to read on the stage from their books. And that is the driving force at the centre of this festival and what makes it so special and unique not just for New Brunswick but all of the Maritimes. The Festival recognizes how vital literacy is to our culture and our future, giving our children unprecented access to literature, so children in New Brunswick need no longer wonder about those mythical creatures called "authors and poets" who live in New York City and Paris.

Checking In

I am here in beautiful downtown Moncton on a somewhat grey but not drizzly day to attend the 9th Annual Frye Festival. This is where culture and art are happening this weekend, folks! And there's still lots of time to come on out and immerse yourself in the festivities. We're just getting started.

I'm in a big hurry right now. I'm running over to City Hall for a roundtable discussion on "The 'Aha!' Moment that inspired you to be a writer." Featuring Don Hannah, Heather O'Neill, Hermenegilde Chiasson and Nancy Huston, this one is going to be very interesting I'm sure.

I'll be back later this afternoon to tell you all about last night's Soiree Frye at the Capitol Theatre and everything else happening. So check back later. In the meantime, visit www.frye.ca for the complete schedule of events and more information on this weekend's festival.

Kidsfest Provides Opportunity for Children

Fun for the whole family is in store at Frye Festival's KidsFest, Saturday, April 26at the Moncton Public Library.

The adventure-filled action-packed line-up begins at 9 am with a variety of activities focused on the magic of written and oral words.

The half-day event encourages children, ages 2-12, to write their own poetry, go fishing for words, do crafts, swap books and much more! Last year over 1,200 people attended the free event.

KidsFest also provides an opportunity to meet the Frye Festival authors and hear them read from their works.

For children ages 8-10, Kidsfest is also a great place to learn more about the writing craft in free workshops! Erik Dyke will host a workshop on creative comics (in English) and Diane Carmel Léger will give tips on creative writing (in French). Pre-register at workshops.ateliers@frye.ca to save your spot!

This Frye Festival favourite is made possible by the generosity of its new sponsor - the City of Moncton.

The City of Moncton is proud to be hosting such an important event geared towards kids, says Moncton Mayor Lorne Mitton. Literacy is a cornerstone of success and by getting our children excited about reading and writing we can ignite this life-long passion.

Tai Chi Workshop (Miramichi)

Chen Style Tai Chi Workshop
April 21-25, 2008
Presented by Dr. Bob Bacher
Chen Taiji International ♦ www.taichivacations.com
In celebration of “World Tai Chi & Qigong Day - www.worldtaichday.org
“Experience Tai Chi’s wonderful benefits for Health, Longevity, and Inner Peace!”

In this workshop you will learn:
‣Tai Chi Principles and Theory
‣Stillness Standing Meditation
‣Joint Loosening Exercises
‣Silk Reeling Power Training
‣Using Tai Chi to Heal & Prevent Injuries
‣Chen Style Tai Chi Form
‣Push Hands Partner Training
‣Tai Chi Principles in Daily Life
‣Special Relaxation Techniques
‣Tai Chi Spinal Stretch
‣Qigong Training

• Open to everyone regardless of age, physical ability, or previous Tai Chi training.
• Martial Artists, Dancers, Yoga enthusiasts, Healing Professionals, & Movement Therapists Welcome!
• Bring your friends, family, co-workers, and especially children!

When: April 21-25, 2008
Where: Douglastown Recreation Center – Classes: 12-2pm – 2-4pm – 7-9pm
Cost: $25.oo (this gives you the opportunity to attend all classes during the week)
Registration & Information: City Hall- Community Wellness & Recreation Department no later than April 18th.
(141 Henry St. Miramichi, NB. 623-2300 - 8.30am – 12 & 12.30pm – 4.30pm

Dr. Bob Bacher is a practicing Chiropractor with nearly 30 years clinical experience in the US, Europe, Asia, and Central America. He specializes in Chiropractic Spinal Care, Nutritional and Dietary Planning, Stress Management, and Holistic Lifestyle Counseling.

Dr. Bacher is a 20th generation lineage representative for Chen Style Tai Chi, fully trained in China by Grandmaster Wang Xi’an. He has nearly 40 years experience with Tai Chi, Qigong, Yoga, Meditation, and various Martial Arts and healing systems from around the world.

Dr. Bacher is the founder of Chen Taiji International, a worldwide organization dedicated to the preservation, advancement, and teaching of the original Chen Style Tai Chi. He travels internationally teaching Tai Chi to share the many health and healing benefits of this ancient “Internal” Martial Art for the body, mind, and spirit. He is the author of two books: Taiji Basic Training Manual and Tai Chi at Work. Also a Chen Style Tai Chi teaching set on DVD.

Visit Dr. Bacher’s Official Website at: http://taichivacations.com

Frye Festival Shines Spotlight on Teen Talent

Building on last year’s successful debut, Aliant Café Underground returns to the Frye Festival Wednesday, April 23, ready to shine its spotlight on talented teens.

Aliant Café Underground provides a unique forum for high school students throughout the region to present their original works of poetry, prose and song in a bilingual setting. This showcase of rising stars on the local literary front will be held at the Aberdeen Cultural Centre at 7 p.m.

Mentors Troy Little, a graphic novelist from Prince Edward Island and Katia Canciani, a rising talent from Nova Scotia, will be on-site to provide encouragement and tips to the young writers.

“We believe in encouraging our community’s youth to reach their full potential,” said Nicole Gallant, Aliant’s Regional Manager for Southeast New Brunswick. “The Aliant Café Underground is a great opportunity for the region’s emerging literary talent to shine in a professional setting. After hearing about the incredible performances at last year’s Café Underground, I can’t wait to see and hear what our writers have to say on April 23rd.”

Putt fore PH fundraiser in Hampton

Saturday, May 24th (rain date: May 25th), New Brunswick Pulmonary Hypertension Society (NBPHS) and Firefly Forest will host “Putt fore PH” at the Firefly Forest, 64 Robertson Road in Hampton, N.B.

There will be family mini golf from 10 am to 1pm at a cost of $5 per person and tournament play from 1 to 3pm at a cost of $50 per team of four.

All proceeds will be going directly to support the work of NBPHS. Prizes, face painting, BBQ, contests and more. Fun fore the whole family!

Visit www.nbphs.org for further information.