Notes from #CNFC2013 Part 3

Carrying on in the series of Notes from #CNFC2013 Part 1 and Part 2, here is Part 3, the final piece from the session, “Ownership: Stories and Lies,” with Kate Braid and Tyler Trafford, moderated by Myrna Kostash at the 2013 Creative NonFiction Collective’s annual conference in Banff.

the regina mom struggles with how to describe Tyler Trafford.  He is not your average writer.  And his story is not your average story. He explained that at a young age he became enthralled with the classic hero’s journey, thanks to his mom’s reading of great literature such as The Old Man and the Sea.  It became his way of understanding the world.

And then he went on to talk about lies.  He said, “Lies help you feel the truth, help you express the truth for other people.”  And he took it further, to show how Kate Braid had used a lie in her book, Journeywoman.  She uses an extended moment, a psychological reality, to detail a fall, taking time to notice all around her as it happened.  He named that as a lie because, in fact, the fall would take only 1/8th of a second — and he provided the math for it, too!  It’s a necessary lie, one that is fundamental to the truth of the story.

In his book, Almost A Great Escape, Trafford tells his mother’s story, a story he had to unravel after her death.

 

He  uncovered her lie  –  what she had kept hidden  –  all her life.  It’s an amazing story and another book on trm‘s To Read list.  And it’s an interesting concept, this lying bit.  Poets and fiction writers are expected to tell lies in their work.  But to suggest that creative nonfiction writers also do so seems to go against the grain of what nonfiction is about.  But his examples — in Braid’s work and in his own — harken back to what Kostash spoke of in her opening remarks to this session, that bit about the anxiety in society about nonfiction.

What lies will the regina mom tell in order to make her nonfiction stories true?  She knows how to do it in poetry and fiction, but to transfer that to nonfiction is an interesting concept, to say the least!  Perhaps they’re already there, lying in wait (pun not intended), for her to discover.  Oh, her editing process is going to be a lot more fun now, that’s for sure!

 

Leave a Comment
by thereginamom on May 3, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Canada, literature, The Arts, Writing
Tagged , ,

Posted by thereginamom on May 3, 2013

http://thereginamom.com/2013/05/03/notes-from-cnfc2013-part-3/

Notes from #CNFC2013 Part 2

Further to the regina mom‘s Notes from #CNFC2013 Part 1 here is part 2, detailing the session, “Ownership: Stories and Lies,” with Kate Braid and Tyler Trafford, moderated by Myrna Kostash at the 2013 Creative NonFiction Collective’s annual conference in Banff.

 

trm knew of Kate Braid’s work as a poet, having been introduced to her Georgia O’Keefe poems at the Sage Hill Writing Experience more than a decade ago.  She did not know that Kate Braid was also a nonfiction writer and so listened intently during the presentation about her latest nonfiction work, Journeywoman: Swinging a Hammer in a Man’s World.  trm knows women who work in trades and technologies.  In fact, when she first became active in the women’s movement, she met many women involved in Saskatchewan Women In Trades and Technologies (SaskWITT), women who, like her, were part of the women’s coalition that came about during the end of the Devine years.

 

But back to Braid, who said that memoir writing is not the same as autobiography.  Rather, it tells part of a life.  She said she struggled with finding the stories that mattered and added to it as she went along.  Wisely, she had kept a detailed journal and was able to reference her notes.  Her first draft took more than 25 years to write and was over 1,200 pages!  Eventually, it was carved to a book, thanks to her editor who was able to see the narrative.

 

She said her intent was to be emotionally honest about her experience in the construction trade, about that time in her life, and found that the tense she chose to use, present tense, afforded her the best means of doing so.  The past tense tended to pull her away from the story.  She also said that a memoir’s success depends on the author showing what s/he has learned and referenced Myrna’s opening remarks about memory being like a computer.  “Memory is a backseat driver who wants control,” she said.  Truthtellers, of both emotional and literal truth, she added, are essential to credibility.

 

Her advice, which comes from Beat poet, Allen Ginsberg, is what the regina mom tries to do, that is to “write as though no one is ever going to read this.”  Easier said than done, but doable.  Still, Braid knew people would read her book and so she changed some people’s names to protect them.  She asked herself if names were essential to the story and, in instances where they were, she sent out chapters to those named and sought their feedback.  trm is thinking she may well have to do that with her Sask women’s movement essay, presuming it ever gets written, that is.

 

Braid spoke about her fear and how it stopped her from writing over and over again.  At one point she was paralyzed for years and it got even worse after she submitted the manuscript to her publisher!  But once she was able to figure out who she was writing the book for, the tradeswomen who went through what she went through, it was easier.  She decided she was providing a baseline of what it was like to be a woman working in the trades.  She knew the book wanted to be written, knew it had to be written.  She wrote various versions of it — scholarly, lighthearted, for example — and finally got it written.

 

trm can’t help but wonder about the women who, when she worked at the YWCA, were apprenticing in the trades and remodeling various locations in the building.  How many of them faced ridicule and insult once they completed their training?  How many even completed the training?  Certainly, working as part of an all-women crew would be very different from working as the only woman on a construction crew!  And trm bets they’d love to hear Braid read from her book, so she’s going to do what she can to get Kate Braid to Saskatchewan for a reading in the near future.

 

3 Comments
by thereginamom on May 2, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in activism, Canada, feminism, Kate Braid, Labour, poets, sexism, women, Writing
Tagged , , , ,

Posted by thereginamom on May 2, 2013

http://thereginamom.com/2013/05/02/notes-from-cnfc2013-part-2/

Notes from #CNFC2013 Part 1

Further to a previous post about the Creative NonFiction Collective’s annual conference in Banff, the regina mom offers the following notes from Myrna Kostash’s opening words to the session, “Ownership: Stories and Lies,” with Kate Braid and Tyler Trafford.

Myrna began the session talking about nonfiction and memory.  “What is a memory?” she asked.  There’s been a lot of work done around memory and she suggested that each time you think about a memory, the memory changes.  “How many iterations of it are there?” she asked.  She compared memory to a computer file that is opened, changed and saved back onto the computer hard-drive, making a case for false memories.

This fits entirely with what trm has been thinking as she works on her Wolverine Creek essay.  Each of her visits to St. Peter’s Abbey, where she fell in love with the creek and began the essay, have morphed into one big long hodgepodge of memory.  She has become entirely reliant on other sources, including the memories of others which, she now understands, can be as unreliable as her own!  So, she’s looking forward to The Art of Memory with Seán Virgo taking place at St. Peter’s College this summer.

Kostash went on to speak about the “anxiety” that society has about nonfiction.  That’s a whole new think for trm! This essay helped her get her head around it and was a useful read when trying to understand something else Kostash said, almost in passing.   “Every journalist knows that what he [sic] does is morally indefensible.”  It’s a disputed quote, but it got trm thinking about another essay she’s trying to write, one about the Saskatchewan women’s movement 1985 to the present.  She has much to say, much to work though, but it feels too much like venting, too much of what a good essay should not be.  But now that she thinks about it it might be the route through to completing that first draft!

So that was the first ten minutes of the session. More to come!

2 Comments
by thereginamom on May 2, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Canada, Creative NonFiction, Myrna Kostash, writers, Writing
Tagged

Posted by thereginamom on May 2, 2013

http://thereginamom.com/2013/05/02/notes-from-cnfc2013-part-1/

A brief overview of CNFC 2013

the regina mom lives in interesting times.  Sometimes she feels very blessed by that.  At other times, not so much! This is her feel-good post.  She’s finished an amazing residency at the Last Mountain Lake Cultural Centre, is working in her new role as Co-chair to bring forth the 2013 version of the Cathedral Village Arts Festival  and is busy with more than a couple writing projects.

And, trm had the great pleasure of attending the Creative NonFiction Collective’s Annual Conference at the amazing Banff Centre this past weekend. *  Not knowing many people in the organization, she’s been a bit nervous about going.  But the confidence the residency delivered and knowing  that writer-friends, Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail and Myrna Kostash, would be there helped her decide to go.  What a great decision!

At the Meet’n'Greet, she met the aforementioned friends as well as another, Lorri Neilsen Glenn, whom she’d befriended at the Sage Hill Writing Experience more than a decade ago, and laid the foundation to build others over the weekend.  She was very moved by the Member Readings that evening and wished she hadn’t been so tired from her early morning travels to enjoy them more, as well as to participate, herself.

Then, on Saturday morning, the regina mom felt her cylinders beginning to charge first, when Myrna spoke about memory.  “How many iterations of it are there?” she asked and then compared it to a computer file that is opened, altered and closed again, creating a possible false memories.  And then, while Kate Braid spoke about her book,  Journeywoman: Swinging A Hammer In A Man’s World, the energies really hit hard!

It was only the beginning because still to come was Tyler Trafford talking about lies in nonfiction and how they serve to deliver Truth, the plenary on the current status of digital publishing with former Saskatchewanian, Steven Ross Smith, literary agent, Don Sedgwick, and web editor, Allison McNeely, and the Master Class on organizing research, with Lynne Bowen followed by Karen Connelly‘s inspiring keynote address.  the regina mom had not anticipated that address as being one that would get her political attention but when the word “totalitarianism” was followed by an explanation of the Harper government’s attack on Library and Archives Canada, she pulled out her notebook and started paying close attention.

Saturday night’s celebration of the Reader’s Choice Award featured readings from nominated works by the nominators and not the nominees, so that was particularly interesting.  And Sunday morning saw CNFC members gather for their Annual General Meeting to talk about the business of the organization, including a probable website re-do and next year’s 10th Anniversary conference, to be held in Calgary.  the regina mom will see you there!

_____

* more to come

3 Comments
by thereginamom on April 30, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in activism, Canada, Stephen Harper, writers
Tagged ,

Posted by thereginamom on April 30, 2013

http://thereginamom.com/2013/04/30/a-brief-overview-of-cnfc-2013/

That’s done!

A month can zip right by when one is engaged in community and writing!  As of Saturday, the regina mom completed the in-person requirements as writer-in-residence at the Last Mountain Lake Cultural Centre.  A great Regina Beach and area crowd turned out to the launch of TALES FROM THE LAKE so if you’re interested watch for more about that over at This hot place.

Over the month, a couple of young friends I worked with on the Ryan Meili campaign have given birth and, thanks to a Facebook conversation about diapers, the regina mom remembered this poem, posted here in honour of the new babies, Thomas and Sasha.

Clothesline chat

    for June

She is not ashamed to hang
her toddler's diapers on the line, even
though neighbouring lines boast
like‑aged children are potty‑trained.

She smiles to the other mothers
shakes and clips moist white flags
to the wire despite decades old decrees 
children be free from diapers at precisely age two.

She visits another mother, helps 
move a table to the basement where 
on a wooden clothes rack 
diapers drip dry.

c. Bernadette Wagner

(And posted with gratitude that the times have changed.)

2 Comments
by thereginamom on April 17, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in ecofeminism, feminism, poem, women
Tagged ,

Posted by thereginamom on April 17, 2013

http://thereginamom.com/2013/04/17/838/

the regina mom has writing news!!!

the regina mom is very happy to report that she’s been selected to serve a one month term as a writer-in-residence!  Check it out!

2 Comments
by thereginamom on March 23, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in writers
Tagged

Posted by thereginamom on March 23, 2013

http://thereginamom.com/2013/03/23/the-regina-mom-has-writing-news/

An Open Letter to Premier Brad Wall Regarding Connaught School

As you are aware, dear Reader, the regina mom is not impressed with the Regina Public Schools Board of Education and their decision to tear down a 100 year-old school without benefit of a second opinion.  So, the regina mom, being who she is, sent a letter to the Premier and copied it far and wide.*

.

Here’s the letter:

An Open Letter to Premier Brad Wall Regarding Connaught School March 16, 2013

Dear Premier Wall:

I understand that your government has received a request from the Regina Board of Education (RBE) to replace Connaught School. For a variety of reasons, I request that you deny it.

Before you is the opportunity to make a reckless decision or to invest in an integral piece of our history as a city and a province, as housed in that building. As a 25-year resident of the area I draw on my fundamental human right, as guaranteed by the United Nations, to insist you preserve the building. The real value of Connaught has not been properly assessed. The non-market aesthetic, cultural and other values of a refurbished school have not been properly accounted for. Furthermore, the environmental, social, and economic cost-benefit analysis of alternatives requested in public consultation meetings have not been addressed – in essence, the impacts of redevelopment on our community, our property values, our local businesses, our environment and other amenities such as the Connaught library have not been properly assessed nor communicated to local residents.

As well, the RBE’s renovation options as presented to the Ministry of Education appear to be over-costed and under-researched. Some RBE documents contain basic arithmetic errors in the thousands of dollars! A recommended investigation of the building’s structure was, to my knowledge, not completed, except for a basic visual assessment. In discussions with the Heritage community, I learned that the RBE made absolutely no effort to obtain the advice of experts in the assessment and repair of older buildings. Nor has an embodied energy study been conducted. Neither has the RBE requested comparable estimates, despite the Chair’s recent statement that the consultant’s report is a second opinion to her staff’s. In effect, the RBE has one estimate, provided by a company that specializes in new construction. Hard facts, then, do not underly the cost estimates.

RBE has done a less than impressive job of assessing redevelopment. The community consultation process was seriously flawed, conducted by a private firm that will likely bid on the new build. The recommendations in no way serve the school community, my Cathedral community, the residents of Regina or the people of Saskatchewan. The community input we gave through the consultation process has been disregarded and disparaged. This is in direct contravention of our community’s right to appropriate development strategies and equitable participation in decisions affecting heritage, as guaranteed under the ICOMOS Stockholm Charter, signed by Canada.

To demolish Connaught is to miss an exceptional opportunity to preserve our history. It is a cornerstone of the Cathedral Village and holds significant cultural and aesthetic value, a source of pride to past and current students, to residents and to all who pass by or enter its halls. That it be sent to the landfill is a disgrace and should be the absolute last resort of any administration!

I therefore support the demands, as articulated by the Save Our Connaught Committee which came into being on the March 3, 2013, that your government agree to the following:

  • An independent second opinion by experts in the field on the renovation versus new build option for Connaught School, based on thorough research, recommended studies and detailed unit costs. ‘Best guesses’ are a slap to the face of our joint cultural heritage.
  • A full and independent consideration of the environmental, social and economic costs and benefits of redevelopment options which includes proper consideration of the relative value of a new building versus a refurbished historic school must inform the decision.
  • The Ministry of Education and the Province of Saskatchewan must apply a more fiscally responsible, community-sensitive approach to school renovation in our community.
  • The Province must understand, acknowledge and take seriously its role as Steward of a nationally recognized historic school, on behalf of citizens of Saskatchewan and Canada.

I trust you will do the right thing. Thank you for your time and immediate attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Bernadette L. Wagner

Regina SK

cc: Ms. Katherine Gagne, Chair, Regina Public Schools Board of Education

Honourable Kevin Doherty, Minister Responsible for Parks, Culture & Sport

Honourable Russ Marchuk, Minister Responsible for Education

Mr. Cam Broten, Leader of the Opposition

Mr. David Forbes, NDP critic for Education

Ms. Danielle Chartiere, NDP critic for Culture

Hon. John Nilson, MLA for Regina Lakeview

Save Our Connaught

Real Renewal

Regina Leader-Post

Prairie Dog Magazine

Metro News

CKTV

Global News

CBC-TV

CBC Radio

Radio Canada

Rawlco Radio

MBN Radio

Accidental Deliberations

Saskboy’s Abandoned Stuff

.

* Email addresses should you care to follow suit:  citydesk@leaderpost.com, ckck@ctv.ca, globalnews.reg@globaltv.com, Jacob.Zehr@globalnews.ca, Jdedekker@leaderpost.com, direction@accesscomm.ca, mwood@rawlco.com, news@620ckrm.com, news@mbcradio.com, ponops@hotmail.com, regina@metronews.ca, saskboy@gmail.com, sasknews@cbc.ca, sheila.coles@cbc.ca, tjsask@radio-canada.ca, kdoherty@mla.legassembly.sk.ca, rmarchuk@mla.legassembly.sk.ca, cbroten.mla@sasktel.net, dforbesmla@sasktel.net, saskatoonriversdale@ndpcaucus.sk.ca, gagne@accesscomm.ca, saveourconnaught@gmail.com, realrenewal@gmail.com,<j.nilson.mla@sasktel.net>, greg@gregfingas.com, <carlabeck@sasktel.net>

4 Comments
by thereginamom on March 18, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in activism, Brad Wall, Cathedral Village, economics, education, governance, real renewal, regina, regina board of education, Saskatchewan, youth
Tagged ,

Posted by thereginamom on March 18, 2013

http://thereginamom.com/2013/03/18/an-open-letter-to-premier-brad-wall-regarding-connaught-school/

Too much politics all at once

Really, the regina mom thinks she should take up juggling.  She’d be good at it, given her propensity to deal with many things at once.  Oh, sure, the kids have moved out and she’s not juggling their lives in with hers as much as she used to, but it seems that other things have moved into her life and she’s throwing them around, too.

Last week, this ridiculous idea of a Public-Private Partnership (P3) that the HarperCons have set up to help their friends make more money municipalities deal with infrastructure issues, in this case Regina’s wastewater issues came to the fore.  In an email conversation with City Councillor Wade Murray, the regina mom learned that Councillor Murray doesn’t much like public involvement in such issues.  From that conversation:

I am open to dialog and learning of the alternatives, for until the moment the question is called, I reserve my decision. It’s unfortunate that people only get involved just before the decision is to be made. We have been discussing this for 2 years, it was a topic through the election, but no one really seemed to care at that time, all of a sudden it’s time to get involved.

the regina mom really doesn’t remember a single Councillor making an issue of this during the campaign, do you, dear Reader?  And now, at tonight’s Council meeting, they approved going ahead with it. Unanimously.

At close of business on Friday the Regina Board of Education announced via its Agenda for the Tuesday, February 26 meeting that it’s considering the wrecking ball for Ecole Connaught Community School, the oldest school in Regina that’s still used as a school.  the regina mom‘s kids attended there, as did her 86 year-old mother-in-law! The irony is that at tonight’s City Council meeting, the Connaught Centennial Committee and the kids who put on a spectacular array of events to celebrate the school’s 100th anniversary last year, received a Municipal Heritage Award.

Real Renewal, the group that came together a few years ago when school closures were all the rage has come forward to speak out against this ridiculous plan.  The group has raised questions in 13 different areas and, being the helpful political activist she is, the regina mom started a petition on Avaaz which you are welcome to sign.  At last look, there were 661 signatories on the petition requesting

That the Regina Board of Education delay the decision to demolish or retrofit Ecole Connaught Community School until the recommended studies and thorough and proper community consultation can be carried out.

It’s a long shot but here’s hoping that one of the oldest buildings in the city stands for many years to come.

And then there’s the Saskatchewan NDP Leadership contest, heading into the homestretch.  We on the Ryan Meili/Erin Weir team are working hard to GOTV, contacting hundreds of voters who have not yet cast their ballots.  It’s going to be close and thus, interesting, come the March 9 convention in Saskatoon.  We’ll either have the same-old New Democratic Party or we’ll have a New Democratic Party that will change the conversation in Saskatchewan politics.

On top of the political work the regina mom does, there’s her volunteer work with the Sage Hill Writing Experience and the Cathedral Village Arts Festival.  Oh, and her writing career!

2 Comments
by thereginamom on February 26, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in activism, Cathedral Village, Cathedral Village Arts Festival, education, governance, NDP, real renewal, regina, regina board of education, Ryan Meili, Stephen Harper, youth
Tagged , , ,

Posted by thereginamom on February 26, 2013

http://thereginamom.com/2013/02/26/too-much-politics-all-at-once/

And the attacks on our rights continue…

the regina mom is getting rather sick and tired of the anti-abortion crowd’s attacks on women’s reproductive rights.  They don’t have a leg to stand on, and they know it, so they come out with backdoor attempts, overloaded with emotion, to restrict our access to a basic medical procedure.

This from MPs Vellacott, Benoit and Lizon, which really digs into the glurge, is the latest attempt. The Sixth Estate takes it down quite handily.  Vellacott’s attack follows a long string of attacks including the recently defeated Motion 312, the oft-introduced, many-named and always-defeated Bill C-537 as well as the also-defeated Bill C-484, to name a few, from the “pro-life” extremists recent years.

And now, the National Post’s Jon Kay propagates on their behalf, spreading misinformation to Canadians, breeding confusion and forgetting entirely that the Canada Health Act exists. Fortunately, bloggers like DAMMITJANET! are ever vigilant, not only calling him on his lies and mistruths but also following publicizing his conniving on Twitter and blogging that, too.

Lest we think bloggers and tweeps are the only ones following this, note that Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett was in on the tweeting and now has a blogpost challenging Kay’s misrepresentations.  And here’s NDP MP Niki Ashton’s statement in the House of Commons from earlier this week.

the regina mom is grateful for these strong women in the House of Commons as well as for those who, like the good folks at DAMMITJANET!, keep her apprised of the situation around women’s reproductive freedom in Canada.

2 Comments
by thereginamom on February 2, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in abortion, activism, Canada, feminism, NDP, Niki Ashton, Stephen Harper, women

Posted by thereginamom on February 2, 2013

http://thereginamom.com/2013/02/02/and-the-attacks-on-our-rights-continue/

Celebrating Imbolc: A Poem in Progress

Horoscope: Ground Hog Day

Brighid, the ancient hag of winter, kindles
sacred fires to melt earth’s white blanket

transforming you as she did Galatians and Brigantians
long before Patrick danced green among the Celts

Her healing waters wash away toxic patterns that tax and consume,
erase attitudes that build you into what you are not.

Old Brighid, young Maiden-Mother-Crone cum
Christian saint blesses houses on her feast day, the Cross-Quarter Day

when winter passes halfway through, when once
candles made sacred at Candlemas lit houses and villages,

morphed into the Feast of Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
until St. Brigit’s decanonization. Her fire, snuffed.

A ground hog rippled across the ocean.

 

c. 2013 Bernadette Wagner

Leave a Comment
by thereginamom on February 2, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in feminism, poem, Spirituality
Tagged ,

Posted by thereginamom on February 2, 2013

http://thereginamom.com/2013/02/02/celebrating-imbolc-a-poem-in-progress/

« Older Posts
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 2,300 other followers