YEAR IN LIT: The bad, the good, and the wickedly sweet
The world is supposed to end in 2012 – and for a moment in late September, the world seemed like it was ending for Edmonton’s literary community. After 30 years of selling books and generously supporting local writers, Greenwood’s Books shut down. It was a devastating loss to the local community from an Edmonton institution [...]
COMMENT: Booking fiction star at nonfiction festival is hypocritical opportunism
For the first time since it changed its focus to non-fiction in 2006, Litfest has opened the door to fiction – big-time fiction. The 2012 version of the event – Oct. 17-28 at venues around town – will feature Alexander McCall-Smith, the author of over 50 novels, including the highly successful “No. 1 Ladies Detective [...]
REVIEW: Metallica overcomes its own spectacle
These days it’s hard to be surprised by a rock concert. It’s all spectacle now: explosions, lasers, columns of flames, 25 foot tall statues, all on a stage the size of a Borg ship covered by an infinity of lights. The music, even the band, seems almost secondary. Metallica’s sold out show at the Coliseum [...]
City crime novelist wins $10,000 prize at Alberta Book Awards
Wayne Arthurson’s tale of life and death on the mean streets of Edmonton turns out to be a big hit with Alberta readers. The local author has won the top prize at the Alberta Book Awards – a $10,000 Alberta Reader’s Choice Award honouring his first novel, Fall From Grace, dealing with a gambling-addicted newspaper [...]
WRITER CITY: Editor’s ‘invisible contribution’ honoured
Jalal Barzanji’s The Man With the Blue Pajamas – detailing the Iraqi author’s imprisonment at the hands of Saddam Hussein – might not have been possible without the work of Edmonton editor Peter Midgley, who was shortlisted for the $2,000 Tom Fairley Awardby the Editors’ Association of Canada. This is the only national award that [...]
CONCERT REVIEW: Roger Waters brilliantly reinvents The Wall
It’s quite obvious that Roger Waters was the smart one in Pink Floyd. The others may have been talented folks, but Waters was, and still is, the deep thinker. When the other version of Pink Floyd appeared in Edmonton several years ago, they had the bigger show in the bigger stadium. And it was all [...]
WRITER CITY: Cake Princess bakes up tale of sweet revenge
Mar’ce Merrell, known around town as the “Cake Princess,” is mother of five, a writing instructor and author of two kids’ books. Her new novel for young adults, Wicked Sweet, is in stores May 22. Q: OK, you’re in bakeshop with Steven Spielberg and his cupcakes will be ready in 30 seconds. Explain Wicked Sweet [...]
LIT UP: WordCrawl to be a slam on the bus
Edmonton literary fans will soon have the chance to participate in the city’s first ever WordCrawl. Remember the Stroll of Poets from the ’90s? It’s like that, except on a bus. “It’s the love child of an orgy between a literary reading, a poetry slam, a songwriting showcase, and a pub crawl. On speed!” explains [...]
WRITER CITY: Dellamonica puts the magic in magical realism
A.M. Dellamonica – an Edmonton-bred fantasy writer whose first novel Indigo Springs won the “Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature for the Fantastic” – has a fresh sequel on the shelves called Blue Magic that may be even more fantastic. Now living in Vancouver with more than 30 short stories to her credit, she [...]
BOOK REVIEW: Personal demons make the story in A Killing Winter
One of the reasons “write what you know” is a maxim is that it works for many people. And it works in A Killing Winter – Wayne Arthurson’s second novel about a jaded journalist investigating a murder. He’s written about what he knows. But here’s the surprise: it’s not daily newspapers. And it’s not crime [...]
WRITER CITY: Wayne Arthurson has another mystery on his hands
It has been said that you could gather the entire literary scene of Edmonton into one medium-sized bar – and they’d all know each other. This in fact happens on a regular basis at almost every book launch – maybe not always at a bar – as it will Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the [...]
Depth from the heart of darkness for Tom Olsen and the Civil Suits
There’s a new alt-country star emerging in Edmonton – from a most unlikely place. Leading to a gig with his band The Civil Suits at the Brixx Bar this Friday night, Tom Olsen has been a noted journalist – he was the legislature bureau chief for two major Alberta dailies (Edmonton Journal, Calgary Herald) – [...]
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