The Great Canadian Surreal Beaver Ball
Refuse Locale: An Evening of Surrealism in St. Catharines

Join us on Wed., Mar. 5, 2008, for a very special evening celebrating the ongoing legacy of surrealism in Canada at the Niagara Artists' Centre at 7 p.m.

Featuring readings by contemporary surrealist poets Stuart Ross and Beatriz Hausner, and acclaimed Automatist scholar Ray Ellenwood reading from his recent translation of Thérèse Renaud's /The Sands of Dream/ (the first book of Canadian surrealist poetry), the evening will also include surrealist games, films, art, and activities.

The evening will see the launch of the Great Canadian Beaver Balls Multiples installation. Great Canadian Beaver Balls is an exhibition of 1600 artist multiples created by 120 Brock University students from five different classes, representing three disciplines in the Humanities department: English, Art History and Studio Art. Encapsulated in plastic balls and sold from a classic Northern Beaver Vending machine, artworks include: miniature bookworks, temporary tattoos of concrete poetry and sculptural explorations in a wide range of media. Beaver Balls will be available from vending machines for $2 each during gallery hours. The Multiples exhibit will run at the NAC until Mar. 15, 2008. Visit NAC's website for gallery hours at www.nac.org

To cap off the evening, theatre company Suitcase in Point will present an original interpretation of Claude Gauvreau's remarkable "In the Heart of the Bulrushes."

Join us for an evening of Canadian Surrealism on Wed., Mar. 5, 2008 at 7 p.m. at the Niagara Artists’ Centre, 354 St. Paul St., St. Catharines, ON. Tickets available at the door: $8 adults | $5 students/seniors/artists.



For more information or to set up interviews contact:
Marie Balsom, School of Fine and Performing Arts,
T: 905-688-5550, ext. 4765 | E: mbalsom@brocku.ca | W: www.brocku.ca/finearts

Howling at the Moon

Filmed by Lisa Betts at Strega Cafe, this piece was inspired by Claude Gauvreau's "Jappement a la lune."

4 February 2008

A Divine Night without PRECIPICe

Some photos from the 8 February 2008 reading, which was, ostensibly, the launch of the next issue of PRECIPICe. The reading featured four authors in the next issue. The books, however, are as of yet en route, somewhere between Winnipeg and St. Cats.

Geoffrey Hlibchuk

Hlibchuk on Adorno's life in Hell

Stephen Cain -- for some reason, no reason, there are no pictures of Stephen from this event. He put on a fantastic show, which probably locked our humble photographer in his tracks. In any event, this photo was taken by John W. MacDonald back in 2005. Check out John's website for a wealth of excellent literary photos.

Camille Martin


Aaron Giovannone


The after-hours scene at Strega

Divine Italian Poetry this Friday

from http://www.pulseniagara.com/viewstory.php?storyid=3750

Divine Italian Poetry

Local Poet Aaron Giovannone sipped on San Pellegrino as he explained how he came to write the collection, Little Italies, which he will read from this Friday at Strega Café as part of the Grey Borders Series. “It’s about finding the Italian in everyday,” Aaron says, amused for realizing both his beverage and choice of meeting place to further illustrate the theme of his new collection.

“I was looking for places where Italian erupts in everyday language, literature and culture. I would go to places like Starbucks and realized I see Italian everywhere: in hip–hop, movies and television.” Shuffling through his manuscript, Aaron pulls out a photocopied receipt that serves as a clever example of his conceptual poetry.

“It was a horribly depressing day outside and I was trying to figure out where I’d end up,” Aaron elaborates, “I ended up at Wal–Mart.”

Inspired somewhere between the greeter and the dark abyss, he created a type of poem called a terza rima out of arranging the shortened Italian names assigned to certain items on the receipt. Portfolia, Bon Jovi, umbrella all neatly displayed down the left column. “A terza rima for $61.15,” Aaron laughs. “It was actually less. I returned the portfolio and the Bon Jovi CD.”

For those of us who are unfamiliar with the term, terza rima is an Italian stanzic form of poetry used by Dante in his Divina Commedia. Aaron worked in this fixed form, using Italian words that are common in English. His poems are riddled with pop culture references: Godfather or Rocky clichés, Tony Danza and singing chefs. He is playing with language and our common usage as a way to create critical distance. “It’s a fun form to work in, I suppose, because I invented it.”

Influenced by the avant–garde, Aaron’s poetry is both innovative and fun. “I think it’s important that the work is accessible to people who just like poetry. You don’t need a graduate degree to enjoy it.”
Aaron does, in fact, hold a graduate degree from the University of Calgary and plans to further his studies in poetry. He currently teaches at Brock University in St. Catharines alongside the poetry series coordinator, Professor Gregory Betts.

“Greg has made Grey Borders one of the best things going for literature in St. Catharines,” Aaron says. Obtaining funding through the Canada Council for the Arts, Betts has been able to more fully develop Grey Borders as a showcase of professional talent. Indeed, Betts has been able to attract some impressive poets to the area such as Alberta Literature Prize recipient Shane Roads [sic] and the darling of the 1960s avant–garde movement, Bill Bissett. The University has attracted its own, with Professors Adam Dickinson and Tim Conley reading their work in the series as well. “I’ve lived in Montreal and Calgary and never thought that I’d be involved in a lit scene here,” Aaron says. “And now, I am.” P

[ANABELLE LEE]

Aaron Giovannone
w/Geoffrey Hlibchuk, Camille Martin, Sharon Harris [read: Stephen Cain]
@ Strega Cafe
19 King St. St. Catharines
Friday, February 8. 7:30pm
greyborders.blogspot.com

Some more pictures from the 4 February reading:

Mathew Timmons

Aaron, Ryan, and Gary Barwin with Devon.

Lisa Betts

Some scenes from the 4 February 2008 reading... Thanks to the readers and to those who joined in the fun.

Joseph Makkos

et encore

Mathew Timmons

Gary Barwin

Four Hoarse Men

A series of photos from readings past... some long past. Photos by Clelia Scala and me.

Shane Rhodes


bill bissett


Our favourite Lunarian poet


The scene at Strega.

Gary Barwin and Jordan Fry

David Fancy

Mathew Martin

Adam Dickinson at the launch of the first issue of PRECIPICe.

Jordan Fry's head at the Merchant Ale House PRECIPICe launch.