Maisonneuve on fire

Vehicule Press would like to extend its congratulations to Signal Editions editor Carmine Starnino and his team at Maisonneuve who were nominated for seven National Magazine Awards, including the much-coveted Magazine of the Year. Winners will be announced June 6 at a gala held at the Carlu in Toronto.

For a taste of what you’ve find in the magazine, please check out the Maisonneuve website, which is updated weekly. We recommend you start with Clive Doucet's "Wish You Were Here" -- a unique and fascinating piece on Cuba and its fundamental importance to what Doucet calls the "global provisioning system."

Patton finalist for Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize

Congratulations to Christopher Patton! BC Book Prizes has announced this year's finalists, and Christopher's book of poetry, Ox, is shortlisted for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. It is much-deserved recognition, indeed.

The winners will be announced at the BC Book Prize Gala on April 26, 2008.

Watch for Christopher this summer when he returns from his studies in Salt Lake City to his home on Salt Spring Island to tend his apple orchard and promote his book.

"Dense, knotty, allusive and musical, this is spiritual poetry of real depth and material engagement. Clearly a first book long in the making and ruthlessly trimmed of fat." —Zachariah Wells

Bleak house

Demolition of the Théâtre de Quat’Sous, February 7, 2008

We like to keep in touch with the goings-on in our neighbourhood here on the fashionable Plateau Mont-Royal. We’re not too pleased to see the passing of the Théâtre de Quat’Sous building on the not-so-fashionable Avenue des Pins just a hop east of St-Laurent Blvd. Because they needed more space (the quarters were cramped and the actors lacked proper dressing rooms), the theatre opted for a new building rather than refurbishment. They also wanted to remain in the quartier. Can’t blame them. However, Luddites that we’re not, we still regret the passing of a neighbourhood landmark. Théâtre de Quat’Sous was founded in 1955 by Paul Buissonneau and moved to its present address in 1965. The building once housed the Nusach H'ari synagogue.

Yes indeed, anything is possible.

Robert Weaver: 1921-2008

We were saddened to learn of the passing of Robert Weaver this Saturday, January 26.

Robert Weaver worked tirelessly to discover, nurture and sustain several generations of Canadian writers, most notably through his work at the CBC. He was responsible for such shows as Canadian Short Stories and Anthology, which featured such unknown writers as Alice Munro, Mordecai Richler, Timothy Findley, Margaret Atwood and Leonard Cohen. He also founded the literary journal The Tamarack Review and created the CBC Literary Awards.

Montreal writer Elaine Kalman Naves recently published Robert Weaver’s biography, Robert Weaver: Godfather of Canadian Literature, with Véhicule Press. An appreciation of Robert Weaver, and a book launching, was planned for Wednesday, January 30, at Massey College in Toronto. It is the wish of his family that the event should take place as scheduled.

A two-part CBC Ideas program on Robert Weaver will air on February 12 and 13.

"I don’t know another person in the CBC who was as loved and as admired and as warmly felt about as Bob Weaver." —Eric Friesen

CKUT goes to Chabanel

Yesterday afternoon, author B. Glen Rotchin could be heard interviewed on the CKUT 90.3 FM show “Shtetl on the Shortwave.” Host Tamara traveled to 99 Chabanel, the main setting for Glen’s novel The Rent Collector, and talked to Glen about his book and about the shmatte industry (garment industry) that inspired it.

Listen to Glen getting grilled about how cutthroat he is as a rent collector, himself (or, more politely, "property manager"). The interview can be heard here (click on the Jan 16 episode).

More of Glen’s musings can be found on his blog: http://therentcollector.blogspot.com/.

The Avi Boxer Archives

After a gap of nine years, Montreal poet Asa Boxer returned to his family cabin in Val Morin where he unearthed a lost collection of his father Avi Boxer’s old photographs. Avi Boxer was himself a poet, active in the 1950s literary scene in Montreal alongside A.M. Klein, F.R. Scott, Louis Dudek, Irving Layton and Leonard Cohen.

In his essay, “The Avi Boxer Archives: Snap-Shots and Recollections,” Asa Boxer describes his discover and examines his relationship with his enigmatic father. Many of the photos have been included, including the one above of Al Purdy, Margaret Atwood, and Avi Boxer in 1970.

You can read the essay here in our online chapbook feature.

Asa Boxer is the author of The Mechanical Bird.

Carmine's CanLit

The American journal of poetry criticism CPR (Contemporary Poetry Review) has written a substantial critical essay on our very own Carmine Starnino, editor of the Signal Editions poetry imprint at Véhicule Press. CPR examines Starnino’s poetry, criticism, and editorial work.

CPR writer Bill Coyle is impressed by what he calls Starnino’s “aggressive sanity,” and suggests that his level-headed and intelligent yet unapologetic and ruthless approach is shaping CanLit for the better:

"In concluding, I’ll risk the kind of statement that would have seemed foolhardy at the outset: Carmine Starnino is one of the most important writers and readers of poetry in the contemporary English-speaking world. America has no one like him. His talent, idealism, and ambition make his work exciting, and I would say necessary, reading."

Read the article here:
www.cprw.com/Coyle/starnino.htm