There are two appearances by Roger Burrows who will be discussing his new book Birding in New Brunswick, including a headline spot at the 10th annual Sandpiper Festival in Dorchester, NB.
Vermeer was interested in science. He seems to have been one of the first painters to use a camera obscura, and he seems also to have been fascinated by the geometry of the perspectives he created. In the domain of painting he seems to me to have been interested in those matters about which Elaine Scarry (1999) wrote in the domain of prose fiction: how the artist invites the reader—or in this case the viewer—not just to glimpse objects, but to construct scenes.
My view is that in general writers do well to pay attention to John Keats when, in an early statement of the principle of defamiliarization, he wrote that “poetry should surprise by a fine excess.” This goes for prose, too, I think, and even for movie scripts. Conversation in ordinary life functions to maintain and develop the relationship between the conversants. Dialogue in fiction is quite different.
Principally, what makes this lecture series good, is Spurgin’s strong and thoughtful suggestion that reading fiction is an art in something like the way that writing fiction is an art. He introduces what he calls a set of tools that can be used by the reader to think about a piece of fiction during reading.
Atlantic Author Day is coming! On Saturday, June 26th many of the authors featured in the 2010 Summer Reading Guide will be signing books at participating bookstores all over Atlantic Canada…
The first keynote speaker in Utrecht will be Gerry Cupchik, who has worked for many years in psychological aesthetics, studying visual and literary art. In an interesting recent paper with Michelle Hilsher (Hilsher & Cupchik, 2005) the researchers compared responses to poetry presented in three different ways. They found that people preferred to read poetry themselves rather than to listen to it, to hear it, or to see it performed, because in reading they were better able to explore and interpret literary devices in an independent and creative manner.
I spoke with Sharon McCartney about her recently published collection of poetry For and Against. She read three poems from the book, we discussed the duality of the title and listened to her tea carafe serenade us in the kitchen. Click through to find the podcast.
I started to think of my own writing of fiction in a comparable way. I need a certain amount of quiet, a room of my own, a mental state in which my own concerns are not too pressing, and then in my writing I can enter into the life of a literary character about whom I am writing. In doing this, I think I become better able to understand both others and myself. I can’t always achieve a state of apartness but, when I can, the idea of putting aside my own concerns and entering reflectively into the life of another seems an apt description. I can sometimes lose myself in a novel or short story I am writing. In Eastern meditation, thoughts are allowed to enter and move through the mind without one becoming attached to them. Writing isn’t non-attachment. Instead, thoughts of a certain kind, for instance those of a character in a novel can become central. They are pursued, expanded, and can find their way onto the page.
Runs May 13-15
Includes Readings by: Beth Powning, Tess Gerritsen, Herb Curtis, Clyde Wray, Robert S. Dinning, Kathy-Diane Leveille, Tom Crothers. Plus many different workshops, roundtables, presentations for folks of all ages. Homebase is at the Saint John Public Library.
Goose Lane Editions announces the launch for Roger Burrow’s new book Birding in New Brunswick, which will be followed by a series of public presentations and book signings. Burrows will visit libraries around the province to discuss bird watching or “birding”. These events are free, open to the public, and books will be available for purchase.
