{"id":501,"date":"2017-04-02T14:14:15","date_gmt":"2017-04-02T18:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/merilynsimonds.com\/books-unpacked-blog\/?p=501"},"modified":"2017-04-02T14:14:15","modified_gmt":"2017-04-02T18:14:15","slug":"spring-litbits-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/merilynsimonds.com\/books-unpacked-blog\/spring-litbits-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring LitBits 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] <\/b>It’s spring and new books are popping up like tulips. In this issue of LitBits I share news of my new release\u2014Gutenberg’s Fingerprint\u2014along with how art loves\u00a0politics, Mexican writers who write their tierra, my Choice Indie Bookstore, links I love, and a contest winner!\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

News from the World
\n\"\"<\/a><\/b><\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

Art \u2764\ufe0f\ufe0f Politics<\/b><\/h3>\n

Like smoke from the field of battle, political upheaval gives rise to great literature.<\/p>\n

Stalinist Russia gave us Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn\u2019s The Gulag Archipelago<\/em>. Argentina\u2019s Peronistas gave us Manuel Puig\u2019s Kiss of the Spider Woman<\/em>. The 1928 Prague Spring gave us Milan Kundera\u2019s The Unbearable Lightness of Bein<\/em>g. The onset of the Cold War gave us George Orwell\u2019s 1984<\/em>. The examples are endless.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>
\n\"\"<\/a><\/span>This winter I read Mexican writers, and I was struck by how these women and men, past and present, turn for material not into themselves or their families, but to the political struggles of their \u201ctierra\u201d\u2014 particularly of Rosario Castellanos\u2019 The Book of Lamentations<\/em>, Nellie Campobello\u2019s Cartucho<\/em>, all of the writings of Carlos Fuentes and Elena Poniatowska.<\/p>\n

Rosario Castellanos was Mexio\u2019s ambassador to Israel in the 1950s. Carlos Fuentes was Mexico\u2019s ambassador to the United States in the 1970s. Winston Churchill was a novelist (Savrola<\/em>) before he became Prime Minister of Britain; absurdist playwright V\u00e1clav Havel became president of Hungary.<\/p>\n

Imagine what novels, plays, and poems will rise from our current political foment!<\/p>\n

And imagine who might step onto our political stages. Ali Smith as the UK Minister of Culture. Teju Cole for President of the USA. Yann Martel as Canada’s Ambassador to Portugal.<\/p>\n

Or maybe they\u2019ll just keep writing their sharp, alert books.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll good art is political,\u201d Toni Morrison said. \u201cThere is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Empty Bookshelf<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Women make up more than half the population, they publish at least half the titles released in North America, and according to Canadian Women in Literary Arts (CWILA<\/a>), two years ago women in my country finally achieved gender parity in the review of their books. <\/span><\/p>\n

But the children\u2019s shelves of libraries and bookstores are slow to catch up.\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

In an astonishing video<\/a> that made the rounds during International Women\u2019s Day, a young girl and her mother remove all the books without female characters; with only silent female characters; without female protagonists; without strong female protagonists who are after their own goals, not the goals of their male counterparts. <\/span><\/p>\n

By then end, the shelf was almost empty. From hundreds of books, only a handful offered positive female role models to girls. The mother and daughter were Caucasian: if cultural diversity were considered, my guess is that the shelf would have been cleaned right off.<\/span><\/p>\n

During a book tour in Germany some years ago, university students could hardly believe there were so many Canadian women writers. Why? they asked.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe because the settlers writing home were so often mothers and daughters. From them, the torch passed to Susannah Moodie, Martha Ostenso, Ethel Wilson, Sheila Watson, Edna Staebler, Alice Munro, Margaret Laurence, Marian Engel, Margaret Atwood, Antonine Maillet, Jane Urquhart, Olive Senior, Dionne Brand, Lee Maracle, and a whole new generation today. <\/span><\/p>\n

When you can see yourself in the past and in the present, it is easier to imagine a future for yourself. <\/span><\/p>\n

Reading Town<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Canadian National Reading Campaign offers reviews<\/a> of children\u2019s books, the latest science on the benefits of reading<\/a>, and advocacy initiatives to improve the reading experience for aboriginal Canadians.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>first week of May every year, the National Reading Campaign partners with a city to show what a \u201creading Canada\u201d can look like. Moose Jaw, Sudbury, Charlottetown, and this year Gatineau embed reading in every aspect of their citizens\u2019 lives over one entire week.<\/span><\/p>\n

Imagine a whole country of Reading Towns\u2014all year round!<\/span><\/p>\n

2017 Holes in the Heart<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Two important Canadian literary voices and one of the world\u2019s great poets went silent this winter.<\/p>\n

\u2014Richard Wagamese<\/strong>, winner of the Matt Cohen Award, author of Indian Horse<\/em>, which introduced so many to the trauma of second-generation survivors of Indian schools:<\/p>\n

All that we are is story. From the moment we are born to the time we continue on our spirit journey, we are involved in the creation of the story of our time here. It is what we arrive with. It is all we leave behind.<\/p>\n

\u2015 Bonnie Burnard<\/strong>, novelist and short story writer who won the Giller for A Good House:<\/em><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t like to say the words \u201cwomen\u2019s literature.\u201d There is only human literature, some of it written by men, some by women. The best of them are writing about the human condition, about change and courage and doubt and risk, about the errors made by the human heart and the corrections.<\/p>\n


\n\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014 Derek Walcott,<\/strong> Nobel Laureate in\u00a0Literature, St. Lucia\u00a0writer dedicated to exploring the West Indies as colonized space.<\/p>\n

The future happens. No matter how much we scream.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

News from my Casita<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a>Congratulations to two of the writers I work with who are launching debut books this spring: Leanne Dunic, author of the lyrical poem\/novel To Love the Coming End of the World<\/a><\/em> and Shelley O\u2019Callaghan, with her moving family memoir How Deep is the Lake: A Century at Chilliwack<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

I join them with the launch of my own Gutenberg\u2019s Fingerprint!<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

You can read excerpts in Queen\u2019s Quarterly, Profile Kingston, <\/i>and Geist <\/i>magazine, and pieces about the writing of the book in Quill & Quire<\/i><\/a> and on The Writing Platform<\/a>,\u00a0<\/i>a\u00a0joint project of\u00a0Bath University in the UK and Brisbane University in Australia.<\/p>\n

Book clubbers!\u00a0ECW has produced a Reader\u2019s Guide<\/a>\u00a0and a short video. I love talking with book clubs\u2014in person locally, and through the magic of Skype, anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m thrilled to be participating in festivals in Quebec City<\/a>, Hamilton<\/a>, Picton<\/a>, Moncton<\/a>, and Charlottetown<\/a>. And I\u2019m so looking forward to these launches of Gutenberg\u2019s Fingerprint<\/i>!<\/p>\n

Kingston<\/strong> at The Grand Theatre, Davies Lounge, April 11, 7-9 pm<\/span><\/p>\n

Wayzgoose BookArts Fair <\/strong>in Grimsby, Ontario, April 29, 10-3 pm<\/span><\/p>\n

Toronto<\/strong> at Ben McNally\u2019s Books, 366 Bay\u00a0Street May 10 6-8 pm<\/span><\/p>\n

For details, see my website<\/a> or visit me on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And if you are a Twitter-bird, I’m tweeting<\/a> a line a day from Gutenberg’s Fingerprint<\/em>\u00a0through the month of April, at #gutenbytes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

From the Department of How-Time-Flies\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Along with the birds and the butterflies, I\u2019ve flown back to Canada for the warm months. When the weather turns cold, I\u2019ll be following my winged friends back to the mountains of Mexico.<\/p>\n

Please join me! Applications are now open for winter 2018 one-week writing retreats<\/a> at my casita in San Miguel de Allende. Here is what one 2017 retreater had to say:<\/p>\n

Merilyn showed me how to take a good piece of writing, morph it into something better, then take it to a level I never thought possible. My writing is forever changed, as am I.<\/em><\/p>\n

I take one writer per month December through March. You must have a completed manuscript. Our goal will be to make it submission-ready.<\/p>\n

Links I love<\/b><\/h3>\n

At a time when the Internet has turned from a flood to a tsunami, I fall on my knees in gratitude to sites that cull the endless flow for literary tidbits.<\/p>\n

LitHub<\/a> sees the world through a bookish lens, reminding me of the great writers who entered and left the world on each day, and a grab-bag of links to literary news from around the world.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>BrainPickings:<\/a>\u00a0an inventory of the meaningful life has been around for eleven years, but it never fails to surprise, delight and provoke. I happily follow Maria Popova\u2014reader, writer, interestingness hunter-gatherer, and curious mind at large\u2014down her ecclectic\u00a0rabbit holes: how poetry works its magic, Herman Messe on little joys, the art of \u201cunseeing,\u201d Simone de Beauvoir on Freedom and Optimism, Carl Sagan on moving beyond Us and Them, how Rachel Carson spoke inconvenient truth to power.<\/p>\n

I happily support these labours of love that enrich my world.<\/p>\n

Choice Indie Bookseller<\/b><\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a>Novel Idea Bookstore is the centre of literary life in Kingston, Ontario, Canada\u2014which has a lot of literary life! Oscar Malan has anchored the corner of Princess and Bagot for decades, outlasting the big-box bookstore that installed itself across the street, and now flourishes in full glory, with excellent, hand-picked stock and a full roster of launches, readings, and events (with catering by the ingenious and skilled Joanna) that bring books to the greater Kingston community.<\/p>\n

Contest!<\/b><\/h3>\n

\"Merilyn<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

April is release month for Gutenberg\u2019s Fingerprint: Paper, Pixels & the Lasting Impression of Books.<\/em> To celebrate, I\u2019m sending a free book to one lucky LitBit subscriber.<\/p>\n

Congratulations, Bette!<\/p>\n

LitBits is exclusive to book lovers who sign up on my website<\/a>.\u00a0It arrives randomly, every few months<\/a>, more often when there\u2019s lots of news. Every issue includes a draw among subscribers for a new book: one of mine or a book that I love and want to tell the world about. Please share this with friends you think might like to sign on<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For the continuing story of books past, present, & future, see my blog, Books UnPacked<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Happy reading in the Spring sunshine!<\/p>\n

~Merilyn Simonds~<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] It’s spring and new books are popping up like tulips. In this issue of LitBits I share news of my new release\u2014Gutenberg’s Fingerprint\u2014along with how art loves\u00a0politics, Mexican writers who write their tierra, my Choice Indie Bookstore, links I love, and a contest winner!\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":514,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-litbits","invicta_simple_style_entry"],"yoast_head":"\nSpring LitBits 2017 - Books UnPacked Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/merilynsimonds.com\/books-unpacked-blog\/spring-litbits-2017\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Spring LitBits 2017 - Books UnPacked Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] It’s spring and new books are popping up like tulips. 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Woman, Watching: Louise de Kiriliine Lawrence and the Songbirds of Pimisi Bay will be published by ECW Press in April 2022.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.merilynsimonds.com"],"url":"https:\/\/merilynsimonds.com\/books-unpacked-blog\/author\/merilyn-bl\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/merilynsimonds.com\/books-unpacked-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/merilynsimonds.com\/books-unpacked-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/merilynsimonds.com\/books-unpacked-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/merilynsimonds.com\/books-unpacked-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/merilynsimonds.com\/books-unpacked-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=501"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"https:\/\/merilynsimonds.com\/books-unpacked-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":546,"href":"https:\/\/merilynsimonds.com\/books-unpacked-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501\/revisions\/546"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/merilynsimonds.com\/books-unpacked-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/merilynsimonds.com\/books-unpacked-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/merilynsimonds.com\/books-unpacked-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/merilynsimonds.com\/books-unpacked-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}