Rising Abruptly Wins Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival Award

Gisèle Villeneuve’s new short story collection continues to win major awards. Most recently, Rising Abruptly was announced as the winner of the Mountain Fiction & Poetry category at the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival.

The book also won the Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction [Writers’ Guild of Alberta], the Trade Fiction Book of the Year [Book Publishers Association of Alberta], and was on the Alberta Readers’ Choice Award long-list.

Here is Gisèle Villeneuve’s acceptance speech, given at the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival, on November 2, 2017:

I am so pleased that Rising Abruptly is now linked in this manner with our Rockies. It’s no great revelation to say that writers are the ultimate soloists. Even if we are only climbing along the horizontal line of the page, it has its challenges and hazards. But after months, if not years, of working the problem alone, it’s a great comfort, and relief, to find a support team when we reach our summit. Meaning of course when the manuscript is accepted for publication. And so, I owe a debt of gratitude to my publisher, The University of Alberta Press, who took a chance on me, and to my editor, Maya Fowler. It can be tricky to be assigned an editor you never met before. Fortunately, in the case of Rising Abruptly, working with Maya was pure joy. Think of it like a team of two on a rope. When it works well, the moves are fluid, no movements wasted. No swearing at each other. Maya and I share the same views about writing, language, taking risks on the page. And no matter how careful you think you had been reviewing your manuscript, after all those months, or years, you get a little snow-blind staring at your words. And so, the sharp-eyed editor keeps you from hitting the stylistic deck. Afterward, if our books are nominated for awards, and actually win, we think about the jurors. In this case, Mayan, Ian, and David. I wish to acknowledge their contribution. The job often requires that the individuals serving on a jury put aside their own work to read and assess and debate and decide. Then, there are the sponsors. We know that makers of gear for the great outdoors regularly sponsor expeditions into the wild. Tonight, I’d like to pay tribute to Deuter for its support of literature, another kind of expedition into the wild of our minds. And now, I offer a heart-felt thank-you to all of you organizing and coordinating the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival. And last, but not forgotten in this adventure, there is the mysterious, elusive person of the reader, without whom no book can have true meaning. Merci beaucoup.

Congratulations, Gisèle!

The Writing Stick: Sharing Indigenous Stories – Recap

The organizers of The Writing Stick: Sharing Indigenous Stories welcomed over 200 people to participate in a conference dedicated to conversations about respectful ways to publish Indigenous stories. The conference took place at the University of Alberta from June 8 to 10, 2017.

Organizer Linda Cameron noted, “With cultural appropriation in the news once again, it is clear that we need to continue to talk about these difficult issues, including stereotyping, racism, and recognition. People involved in publishing are always looking to continue to improve how they work with authors and stories, and clearly this conference is filling a need.”

Program Chair Kieran Leblanc added, “After working on this project over the past two years and talking to dozens of people about the conference, I know how important it is to gather and have these conversations in a safe and respectful environment. We are bringing together a remarkable group of resources—Elders, keynote speakers and panelists—and Indigenous and non-Indigenous people have responded by registering in large numbers: writers, editors, publishers, educators, librarians, filmmakers, and artists.”

Cathie Crooks concluded, “Over and over again, we heard about the importance of developing ongoing, respectful relationships with Indigenous people and communities. Our hope of creating conversations became a reality, with people involved in powerful exchanges in every corner. As first steps toward continuing the conversations we started, we will maintain the conference website, develop greater linkages amongst conference attendees, and continue to build our relationships with one another.”

The conference was a great success, exceeding the expectation of organizers, presenters, and attendees alike. The most common question at the end of the three days? “When is the next Writing Stick?”

Any volunteers?

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Our Scholar is in Residence…

…blogging about our new PhD Internship in Publishing and Editing.

As Scholar-in-Residence at the University of Alberta Press (UAP), one of my goals has been to develop a deeper and more substantive academic relationship between the Press and students. That goal has come to fruition: the University of Alberta Press(UAP) has partnered with the Department of English and Film Studies (EFS) to host a doctoral internship as an integral component of a PhD Concentration in Editing and Publishing beginning in Fall 2018. Read more…

Featured Reviews of “Trudeau’s Tango”

“…Darryl Raymaker, has recently written an excellent book about Alberta and the Trudeaus, called Trudeau’s Tango. In his compendious book, Raymaker reminds everyone that the Trudeau name has always been controversial in Alberta—but respected, too. The Trudeau name gave ‘Alberta Liberals hope,’ Raymaker writes. The father, then—like the son, now—’was a man for his time—new, youthful, superbly confident, tough and equally articulate in both official languages.’ What made Pierre Trudeau appealing in Alberta in his era makes the son just as appealing in his.” Warren Kinsella, HuffPost

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“After he sold his Calgary practice, Darryl Raymaker—lawyer, corporate director, political junkie, folk music aficionado and raconteur—embarked on a lifetime labour of love: a book about the wayward course of the Liberal Party in Alberta and its love-hate relationship with Pierre Elliott Trudeau during the prime minister’s first mandate (1968 to 1972) Trudeau’s Tango is the ably written result. [H]is book recalls a tumultuous political era with wry humour and a touch of anger.” Frank Dabbs, Alberta Views

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A wonderful read that highlighted a little known side of Alberta’s political history. It is written like you are in conversation with the author, and the photos included were delightful. Highly recommend! K N Morrison, Top Customer Review on Amazon

Books. Inordinately valuable.

The staff of the University of Alberta Press had a treat on Monday: a visit to the Bruce Peel Special Collections!

Linda Quirk, Assistant Special Collections Librarian, and Kevin Zak, Exhibitions & Collections Assistant, spent an hour showing us a range of treasures and telling us about the general operations of the Bruce Peel Special Collections that houses and archives rare books on campus. No food and drink are allowed inside the locked doors, but we didn’t need white gloves either—just a thorough hand-washing was enough to allow us to touch some books Linda pulled out of the massive collection.

Among the treasures we saw were:

• a 4000-year old clay cuneiform tablet
• a book written in Tamil, inscribed on palm leaves—apparently rare copies of these can still be found in little markets in the Caribbean if you are lucky
• a triple-decker first edition of Pride and Prejudice by “the author of Sense and Sensibility”
• one of the 15 copies of Margaret Atwood and Charles Pachter’s Speeches for Doctor Frankenstein
• an atlas from 1587 that had the first-ever map of North America, in full colour

But the most well-known book we viewed—and a lot more valuable than the above mentioned items—was a book by Johannes Tinctor, known as Invectives Against the Sect of Waldensians, from 1465. This “foul treatise” is the first known book that deals with how to identify and persecute witches. Its three sister manuscripts are held in Paris, Brussels, and Oxford. No wonder that it has garnered much media attention.

There are countless treasures and fascinating stories to go with them at the Bruce Peel Special Collections. Check out their website for more information and to browse their digital exhibitions. Be sure to mark your calendar for future exhibits, which continue to become ever more extensive and interactive. We promise you will be fascinated!