"I am 3/4ths Canadian, and one 4th New Englander - I had ancestors on both sides in the Revolutionary war." - Elizabeth Bishop
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Saturday, September 28, 2013

Elizabeth Bishop Legacy Recording launch in Halifax, Nova Scotia



Suzie LeBlanc will be performing at a fund-raiser for Opera Nova Scotia earlier in the day, 2:00 p.m., at the Lilian Percy Hall at the Halifax Conservatory. So, you can hear her sing if you attend this event and then come with her to PIPA for food and fun at the launch. You can find out more about both these wonderful events at Suzie's website: www.suzieleblanc.com.


Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Readers Respond to ECHOES OF ELIZABETH BISHOP -- Part Five

In June 2013, the EBSNS launched Echoes of Elizabeth Bishop: The Elizabeth Bishop Centenary (2011) Writing Competition. The editors have asked a some of our readers to provide a comment, a personal response, to the collection. We will post them over the next few weeks. We hope these readers’ responses will tempt you to buy a copy for your own library. It also makes a wonderful Christmas gift!

You find out more about Echoes on the EBSNS website:

You can purchase online at: http://www.elizabethbishopns.org/publications.html or at Bookmark, on Spring Garden Road in Halifax, N.S.

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Response from Linda Hargrave

Sandra Barry and Laurie Gunn have created a small gem of a book with Echoes of Elizabeth Bishop. We begin with a quote from Bishops iconic “In The Village” and then, almost at the end, are treated to a fresh perspective in the voice of eleven year old Ryan Spencer, writing a letter to Elizabeth herself. A lot has changed, but you would still recognize the village, writes Ryan, “I go to the same school you went to when you were a little girl.” His letter reminds us of how change is inevitable but how in rural Nova Scotia, as in most rural communities, much remains the same.

I’m sure Elizabeth would have loved this little book with its sumptuous dust jacket that invites your touch, the gorgeous design of its front cover, and especially its provocative contents. Comprised mostly of emerging young writers and artists the book itself is a journey and a glance into lives being lived. Here and now.

Some are the stories of those who came by choice from far away places, others are the connections made by the authors to the generations who were here long before them. Chris Greene shares with us the excitement of moving here from England to begin a new life. Ryan Atkinson writes hauntingly of the river near his home where much of his youth was played out. “We swam and spent hours talking and joking and looking for love,” he tells us, and then, glancing pensively back over the years, asks … “Where have my friends gone?”

The rather nebulous Aaron Holland writes beautifully of the sugar woods and a camping trip he will never forget, while Dakota Warren takes us to Neil’s Harbour, which she calls home sweet home, but where she still worries when her dad is out on the water fishing lobster. And in her story “Wallace by the Sea,” Maria Duynisveld also speaks of the water. “I feel that water shapes me and my home, and I’m connected to it …. There’s something about the ocean that makes me ‘me’, and I think it’s something that will last forever.”

A simple and elegant, sweet little surprise of a book. Yes, I believe Elizabeth would like this … and I believe it will last. Sandra and Laurie have done a marvelous job.

Painting by Joy Laking
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Linda Hargrave moved back home to Nova Scotia three years ago and is happily ensconced in a little white house on Parrsboro Harbour. She happily offers occasional writers workshops for Tantramar Seniors College and  continues to head the writers group “Assembly Of Text” which she began soon after arriving back on her beloved East Coast.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Readers Respond to ECHOES OF ELIZABETH BISHOP -- Part Four

In June 2013, the EBSNS launched Echoes of Elizabeth Bishop: The Elizabeth Bishop Centenary (2011) Writing Competition. The editors have asked a some of our readers to provide a comment, a personal response, to the collection. We will post them over the next few weeks. We hope these readers’ responses will tempt you to buy a copy for your own library. It also makes a wonderful Christmas gift!

You find out more about Echoes on the EBSNS website:

You can purchase online at: http://www.elizabethbishopns.org/publications.html or at Bookmark, on Spring Garden Road in Halifax, N.S.

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Response from Mary Ellen Sullivan
When editor Sandra Barry handed me my copy of Echos of Elizabeth Bishop I thought -- what a beautiful book! It is so fitting that the tangible part of this book is a creation of Gaspereau Press, in their classic, ageless style. It is something you handle with care, a structure that does justice to the art work and prose pieces contained in it.

I immediately went to page twenty-five “Wallace by the Sea” by Maria Duynisveld.  Last year, at age eleven, Maria sent me her poem “Summer Haze” a beautiful love poem about her farm. “Wallace by the Sea” is equally lovely, an expression of her love for the land and sea and the people who work them. Her story about lobster fishing with Gramps and her brother John Burns is gentle, observant and vivid in imagery. She describes the experience and her relationship with her brother with twists of humour.  Maria’s use of exclamation marks emphasizes her delight and sense of wonder. They signify to the reader just how pivotal this experience is to her.

Co-contributor Anne Pollett, in “The Three Bookmarks,” refers to “the monotony of the task” as a reflective and creative opportunity.  Similarly, Maria speaks of lobster fishing: “Some people might think it’s boring…”  But not Maria it’s a window into something deeper.

People say that the taste of wine, the ‘minerality’, is dependent on the type of rock the grapevines grow on. I think of the skillful simplicity of images and the precision of memory in Elizabeth Bishop’s poetry and prose, where ‘chores’ become wondrous.  I wonder what type of rock lies under Wallace Bay, whether it’s the same type of rock that Elizabeth Bishop stood on in Great Village.  There is certainly an echo, a flavour of Elizabeth’s voice in Maria’s writing

Maria and Mary Ellen, with Maria's dad and brother, Halifax 2012
 
  
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 The experience of growing up on a farm has greatly shaped and influenced Mary Ellen Sullivan’s writing.  She has no doubt that the natural and social landscape that Elizabeth Bishop loved as a child was the foundation of her writing career. Mary Ellen is the ‘Open Heart Farming’ poetry harvester. She is a member of the EBSNS.

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Exchanging Hats

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Readers Respond to ECHOES OF ELIZABETH BISHOP -- Part 3

In June 2013, the EBSNS launched Echoes of Elizabeth Bishop: The Elizabeth Bishop Centenary (2011) Writing Competition. The editors have asked a some of our readers to provide a comment, a personal response, to the collection. We will post them over the next few weeks. We hope these readers’ responses will tempt you to buy a copy for your own library. It also makes a wonderful Christmas gift!

You find out more about Echoes on the EBSNS website:
You can purchase online at: http://www.elizabethbishopns.org/publications.html or at Bookmark, on Spring Garden Road in Halifax, N.S.

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Response from Helen Cannon

A recent New York Times Book Review featured an essay by Phillip Lopate who confesses that despite the literary accolades he’s received over the years, he nevertheless finds himself wondering why his work has not received this prize or that. For aspiring writers, it’s never enough. “Regrettably, I’ve never been very good at counting my blessings,” Lopate admits, so we’re made aware an established and lauded writer — one of the literary demigods — can still crave prizes and formal recognition. Why not a Guggenheim, and what about the MacArthur, and while he’s dreaming, why not the Nobel?

On the page opposite Lopate’s obsessing about awards is a feature on the history and anniversary of the Caldecott medal. “It is deeply satisfying to win a prize in front of a lot of people.” E.B. White put these words in the mouth of an aspiring pig by the name of Wilbur, who recognizes that his very life was saved by his spider friend’s terse accolade, “Some pig!”

Clearly prizes and recognitions encourage and give affirmation to writers, young and old. Elizabeth Bishop herself found impetus and incentive to write by way of winning a prize offered by The New Yorker magazine. With a purse of one thousand dollars, this fellowship was aimed at young writers hoping to publish their first books. Katharine White, then the poetry editor at The New Yorker, encouraged Bishop to submit, which she did, and won. This marked only the beginning of The New Yorker’s editing and publishing of Bishop’s poetry and prose. Most writers are spurred on by publication. Emily Dickinson, with her dresser drawer poetry, is the rare exception.

All of this is to say that I consider the Bishop centenary project, Echoes, to be of high merit, because of the incentive it offered to writers, young and old. Most of the writers and artists whose works appear in Echoes had already been recognized in an earlier Bishop centenary competition, but Echoes brings to fruition by way of publication, and singularly beautiful publication at that. Gaspereau Press of Nova Scotia refuses anything short of perfection in its publishing, and this handsome little booklet proves the point with its navy textured jacket and beautiful silver and navy flowered bound cover. All of the writers and artists represented in this beautiful chapbook have obvious reason to feel proud.

But this lovely book not only serves as incentive and recognition to writers young and old, it also offers quality to readers. From Mary Jo Anderson’s confident and wonderful opening essay, “Home Body,” to Laurie Gunn’s closing photo image, “Looking Towards the Blacksmith Shop,” possessors of this little book have sure reason to value it.

I thought for a long while about the choice of title and the reasoning behind it, then I read again Teresa Alexander Arab’s paragraph accompanying her resonant photograph that she calls “The Walker.” In that paragraph Arab gives ample and reasonable validity to the choice of title: “... A photograph shows a moment that can never be repeated, but it is an  echo of that moment only.” Arab then accurately and sensitively considers Bishop’s poem “One Art,” and concludes that every loss leaves an echo behind — “a hole ... that is the exact size and shape of the loss. The art of loss is not so much the acceptance of loss but recognition of the echo it leaves in our lives, and in some cases our souls. ... Life can [be] viewed as a series of losses, but we can take comfort in the echoes left behind until we too are lost.”

This understanding of echoes certainly sets the tone for the more somber pieces in the collection, but in the happier entries, echoes reflect a sure sense of place. Perhaps I am most charmed by the youngsters winning submissions, their sure affirmations of place and their own place in it,  and I feel sure that Bishop would agree ....

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Helen Cannon is a retired teacher of Creative Nonfiction and Contemporary Women’s Literature.  She loved teaching at Utah State University and loved her students, many of whom now remain her fast friends. For a dozen or more years, Helen has had the good fortune to be a student of Sandra Barry, who teaches her most all there is to know about Elizabeth Bishop. She also learns from her mentor about Canadian life and letters, past and present, and, by example, how to live an informed, principled, and giving and good life.

 
 Photograph by Binnie Brennan

Sunday, September 8, 2013

An Afternoon with Suzie LeBlanc

Join us for a inspiring afternoon about art and life with renowned soprano Suzie LeBlanc. Hear about her many exciting projects, including the Elizabeth Bishop Legacy Recording, about to be launched! This event is a fund-raiser for the Elizabeth Bishop House.

Where: Elizabeth Bishop House, Great Village, N.S.
(8740 Highway # 2, right across from Wilson’s)
When: Sunday, 22 September 2013, 1:30-3:30 p.m.



Space is limited to 15 people so don’t wait!
Suggested gift $25.00
Reservations will be taken on a first come basis, and they will go fast!!
Light refreshments
(tea, coffee, savouries and sweets)
RSVP ASAP to reserve a place

Suzie LeBlanc first made her mark with music of the 16th and 17th centuries, performing on international stages and researching and recording many unedited works. She appears on over 50 recordings with the world’s leading early music ensembles.

In 2004, she began adding Acadian folk music, art song and lieder to her repertoire, and recorded Mozart lieder with Yannick Nezet-Seguin. She followed this recording with "Chants de terre et de ciel" by Messiaen and "Tempi con variazioni" with the ensemble Melosphere. The last two were awarded an Opus Prize in the Contemporary and World Music categories.

During the Elizabeth Bishop Centenary Festival (2011), she commissioned and premiered several Canadian works on Bishop' poems - works by Alasdair MacLean, Christos Hatzis, Emily Doolittle and John Plant. This repertoire, paired with Linda Rae Dornan's documentary "Walking with EB" is being released this fall.

Suzie has appeared in several documentaries and played the lead role in the feature film “Lost Song,” which won the City TV's Best Canadian Film award at TIFF in 2008. Her many contributions to culture have earned her four honorary doctorates, and in 2011, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) awarded her a bursary for her career achievements.

After a recital tour with pianist Julius Drake this summer, she performed Israel in Egypt for Festival Vancouver and premiered a work by Peter Togni with Sanctuary in Nova Scotia. This coming fall, she performs arias from famous soundtracks with the East Texas Symphony, Carrissimi's Jephte with Tafelmusik, "Summertime" (from Purcell to Gershwin) with Les Voix Humaines, Handel duets and arias with Daniel Taylor for the Montreal Bach Festival and a Christmas concert with Vancouver's Pacific Baroque Orchestra, directed by Alexander Weimann. She will perform the newly released Elizabeth Bishop songs with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra in February 2014, directed by Anne Manson.

Suzie LeBlanc is the founder and artistic director of Le Nouvel Opéra, whose recording of Caldara's "La conversione di Clodoveo", directed by Alexander Weimann, was nominated for a Juno Award.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Readers Respond to ECHOES OF ELIZABETH BISHOP -- Part Two

In June 2013, the EBSNS launched Echoes of Elizabeth Bishop: The Elizabeth Bishop Centenary (2011) Writing Competition. The editors have asked a some of our readers to provide a comment, a personal response, to the collection. We will post them over the next few weeks. We hope these readers’ responses will tempt you to buy a copy for your own library. It also makes a wonderful Christmas gift!

You find out more about Echoes on the EBSNS website:
You can purchase online at: http://www.elizabethbishopns.org/publications.html or at Bookmark, on Spring Garden Road in Halifax, N.S.

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Response from Sybil Flemming

There are echoes in the Village.

There are echoes from across the Bay; my roots clinging to the opposite shore, and perched on the mountain on the south side of the Valley. For years I was a “come from away,” tagged by those who were here first, but I have been able to stay and can almost say, “O, you’re from away.”

There are echoes in the Village; the church stands tall and proud, guarding the busy corner and the cozy house where Elizabeth lived and felt at home. Nearby the assurance of the fire hall, the busy gas bar, the former corner store where folks gathered to buy milk and bread and eggs. Now I can buy treasures and hear their echoes.

There are echoes in the Village; the aboiteau closes, its clamour unheard as it works to keep the muddy tides out of the peaceful river. The children splash in the Rock Hole near the iron bridge; the sun is hot, there is no school, no bell today.

There are echoes in the Village; what does the artist on her stool see today? I see the eagle soaring over the hay field next door, the crows perching in my aging maples, the young pheasants scrambling for cover under my pines, and the steady rhythms in my community.

There are echoes in the Village; a new generation of elms stretching upward replacing the lofty trees, “We’re coming back!” The power of nature echoes, “Respect me forever.”

There are echoes in the Village; I hear the voices of neighbors. “How’s your garden?” “Did you see Logan’s barn lately?” “Carl’s got a lot of cattle there.” Shared words of wisdom on growing, pruning, fixing, fishing and caring.

There are echoes in the school house; music and math, science and sports. This echo secretly whispers to me about helping young minds to grow, challenging them to try.

There are echoes in my hallway; footsteps from the past reminding me of others who lived here before me: the millionaire, the Cat lady, and nameless others laid here for visitation. I wonder what will be said of me when I am gone.

There are echoes in my garden; echoes of peace and tranquility; a place of searching and contemplating; the questions become more clear, but the answers remain elusive.

There are echoes in my mind; family taken, too young, too soon, too much suffering. But the past takes on a new face as cousins meet and laugh, tales of adventure and folly unroll. Ah, yes, those stories will live on, maybe even stretch and grow as we grow old.

There are echoes against loneliness; the family sounds the make a house a home. Sounds of kids, and Christmases, barbecues and music; Sophie’s excited barking announcing that guests have come; sounds of children’s laughter, sobs and fears. The echoes will continue, sometimes happy, sometimes nagging, but one thought will permeate, now I am home.

The book is awesome, a lot of vignettes from such a diverse group. Hope these reflections fill the niche you want. The Village has changed since EB was here; but I think the essence is the same.

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Sybil Flemming grew up in Falmouth, Nova Scotia, just at the beginning of the Annapolis Valley. She attended Acadia University after high school, and at age 55 received an MEd from Mount Saint Vincent University. Her interests are as diverse as the subjects she teaches at West Colchester Consolidated School. Often found in her gardens, or on an organ bench, or gazing at the stars, she is just as happy doing an assortment of hand crafts or reading a book, especially on a beach.

 Photograph by Laurie Gunn

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Readers Respond to ECHOES OF ELIZABETH BISHOP -- Part One

In June 2013, the EBSNS launched Echoes of Elizabeth Bishop: The Elizabeth Bishop Centenary (2011) Writing Competition. The editors have asked a some of our readers to provide a comment, a personal response, to the collection. We will post them over the next few weeks. We hope these readers’ responses will tempt you to buy a copy for your own library. It also makes a wonderful Christmas gift! 
You find out more about Echoes on the EBSNS website:
You can purchase online at: http://www.elizabethbishopns.org/publications.html or at Bookmark, on Spring Garden Road in Halifax, N.S.

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 Response from Robert Bent

The first time I read Echoes of Elizabeth Bishop I read it just for the enjoyment. I pushed my promise to write this whatever-it-is into the back of my mind, ignored what prize the author had won in what category, and just enjoyed each selection. Out of curiosity, after each story, I turned to the brief biographies at the end of the book. The thing that struck me was not only the age of the writers, some as young as ten, but the quality of their writing and the depth of feeling. I knew in my memory that teenagers could write, for I had been a high school English teacher in a previous life. But ten! Maybe there’s hope for the world after all.

Rather than write about every selection, I want to comment on the youngest writers, beginning with Maria Duynisveld’s “Wallace by the Sea.” Of all the stories in the book, regardless of the age of the author, Maria’s opening lines are my favourite:  “Wallace by the Sea. That’s what they call it. It fits. The wharf — that’s part of what fits. The ocean view — that fits too.”

Wallace by the Sea is a beautiful village, and as Maria describes it, a wonderful place to grow up.  And she nails the ending just as effectively as she nailed the opening:  “There’s something about the ocean that makes me “me,” and I think it’s something that will last forever.”

It will, Maria. It will.

Lauren Kruisselbrink’s story, “Going Climbing” reminds me of another little girl I know who also had “a tree” in front of her house where she would climb “to calm down,” often by reading a book. She grew up to be a very special lady who had lots of adventures, but not as many as she would have wished, I’m afraid. I hope Lauren continues “going climbing” in her “tree” and has as many adventures as her life can hold.  I also know what Lauren’s gonna be. —She’s gonna be — Lauren. And that will be a treat for everyone who meets her, and reads her stories.

Dakota Jewel Warren’s “Home Sweet Home” revisits the same themes first encountered in “Wallace by the Sea,” only now it’s Neil’s Harbour. And she ends with the same sentiment, “I’ll eventually come back one day though because I can’t live without it.”  It’s true. “Home” calls you back, especially if that “home” has dear hearts, gentle people, and a trace of salt in the air; even if you only return in your memories and your dreams.  It’s true of Wallace by the Sea, it’s true of Neil’s Harbour, it’s true of Great Village, and it’s true of all the rural towns and villages scattered around Nova Scotia.

I would like to end with a word for Ryan Spencer. Yes, Ryan, I did enjoy your letter, and I’m sure Elizabeth Bishop would enjoy it too, and smile to know so few things in Great Village have changed.  Do you know why your letter was the last piece in the book?  It’s the same reason you eat dessert last — because after you’ve finished a feast, that’s the taste that lingers in your mouth.

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Robert Bent lives in Lawrencetown, in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley. He has been previously published in the Nashwaak Review and All Rights Reserved and a series of travel/running articles in the Run Nova Scotia Raconteur. He is currently working on a book of Christmas stories entitled Have Yourself a Silly Little Christmas along with illustrator Andrea Wood.