All posts for the month April, 2013

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

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4 Comments
by Bernadette Wagner on April 30, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in activism, Canada, Stephen Harper, writers
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Posted by Bernadette Wagner on April 30, 2013

https://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 Bernadette Wagner on April 17, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in ecofeminism, feminism, poem, women
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Posted by Bernadette Wagner on April 17, 2013

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