SNAP Etobicoke attended our last breakfast meeting on January 17, 2015. They snap’d many nice photos. Here is the link.
All posts by Maurus Cappa
January 22, 2015 Bill Galvin and Lady Marina
WEN member and longtime horseman and recent Canadian Hall of Fame inductee, Bill Galvin, is the proud owner of newly acquired two-year-old pacing filly, Lady Marina, named for German beauty queen Marina Ohnezat. The handsome and slick-gaited black beauty is currently in training for the rich stakes events scheduled for Woodbine and Mohawk race tracks. She is expected to make her racing debut in early May, 2015.
Short Story Contest Announced January 12, 2015
[gview file=”https://wenetwork.ca/site/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/WEN-Short-story-2015.pdf”] WEN announces The 2015 Joseph Smrdelj Short Story Competition
Topic: Open
Submission Requirements: Open to WEN members ONLY
1. All manuscripts must be original, unpublished fiction or non-fiction, typed and double-spaced, between 500 and 2,000 words using Times New Roman 12 font.
2. The word count is strict and stories that have been published in all other formats , such as blogs are considered previously published. The authors retain their copyright, but first-print rights are granted to WEN for the anthology.
3. The contest deadline is 11:59 p.m. eastern time on May 31, 2015. Entries sent after May 31 will not be considered. The entry fee is $10 for the manuscript and should be submitted via email as a Word .doc file to communications@wenetwork.ca .
4. The judging is blind. Authors can submit a maximum of one manuscript.
5. Entries will be judged anonymously. The author’s name should not appear anywhere in the manuscript.
6. Submission entries must be accompanied by a separate cover sheet with the author’s name, complete mailing address, email address, phone number, the title of the piece, and the word count.
7. Payment is in Canadian funds via cheque to 251 McKee Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M2N 4E2 or pay at a Breakfast Meeting.
Prizes and Publication:
1. First place is $250, second place is $125 and third place is $75. Three Honourable mention prizes of $25.00 will also be awarded. All winning entries will be read at our Members Reading in July 2015.
2. Winners will be contacted by June. Results will be posted on our website and Facebook.
3. Contest Judges are Stevens Han and Nina Munteanu.
December 3, 2014 Virginia’s Ghost
A Ghost of a Flapper, December 3, 2014
By
Braz Menezes
Virginia’s Ghost (Kindle Edition)
I have always felt nervous in the presence of ghosts. Virginia’s Ghost was no different. I took courage from Author Caroline Kaiser as she led me into the auction house, introduced me to the lead character Virginia Blythe, and then left me, and I didn’t even notice. I was completely absorbed. Virginia is a somewhat nervous character, suspicious of almost everyone, but unlike some of the other employees of Auctioneers Gable & Co, she is a kind sympathetic person, and the perfect protagonist. She made me feel completely at home as I followed her effortlessly. She knew every nook and corner of the auction house. To the layperson, these places may appear as dumps for an assortment of other people’s discarded or distressed assets; just one step away from the scrapyard or landfill. But Virginia changed my mind. She even knew the 200 or so porcelain and ceramic figurines by their first names, as if they were all friends on a FB group. The author does an excellent job of describing ‘the innards’ and functioning of the vast ‘downstairs’ area in the basement, a perfect setting for a mystery story. Early on Virginia meets the ghost for the first time — a woman dressed like a flapper, who is happy speaking at a short distance, but disappears into a wisp of smoke just as Virginia tries to get closer, to know her.
A nervous Virginia shares her ghost experience cautiously with her different work colleagues, all of who are interesting characters, if somewhat hypocritical and dysfunctional as a team. They appear in and out of the story, adding snippets of gossip, rumour and innuendo. The plot thickens and reaches a climax when the overpowering, Brian Gable III boss, an alcohol addict and bully, discovers some very valuable porcelain antiques are missing just before an important sale event. Virginia is held responsible for finding the items, or else. I will leave the rest of the story for the reader to discover.
The author Caroline Kaiser has enriched the setting for Virginia’s Ghost enormously and very credibly, with her previous first-hand experience working in an auction house. Her current expertise as a fine editor results in a book that is beautifully written, meticulously edited, easy to read, informative and entertaining. I have no hesitation recommending it to readers and allocating it a 5 star rating.
Book Review by John Ambury
VIRGINIA’S GHOST
Caroline Kaiser
298 pages, paper, perfect-bound
Lavaliere Press, Toronto
© 2014, the author
ISBN 978-09938137
Caroline Kaiser has taken on the challenge of interweaving a present-day murder mystery with events from many decades earlier. She proves herself up to the challenge, and then some!
The contemporary protagonist is narrator Virginia Blythe, an antiques specialist at a prestigious Toronto auction house. Kaiser draws on her experience in that field to give depth and realism to both the sometimes-eerie setting and Virginia’s mostly-unconventional co-workers.
The voice from the 1920s is that of Constance Pendleton, the eligible and socially-striving daughter of a moneyed Rosedale family. We access her story through her long-lost diary, which her ghost brings to Virginia’s rapt attention. Even though Constance is thinking of becoming a novelist, her prose comes off as rather too constructed and descriptive for a personal diary; a few entries in, however, the reader happily goes along for the sake of absorbing such a vivid picture of Constance, her times, and her emotional tribulations.
A mysterious death at the auction house (complicated by the disappearance of some valuable pieces), and the darkening events in Constance’s past life, unfold together. Refreshingly, both narratives include old-fashioned romantic yearning but no sexual gymnastics. Complications abound; suspense builds. Wraith-like Constance appears as a guiding hand at opportune moments. The eventual resolutions to both threads are satisfying, but not simplistic.
Kaiser’s writing is well-crafted and careful (as befits a professional editor), but is neither pretentious nor affected. She develops the totally credible plots with the skill of a much more experienced novelist. Her many characters are deftly sketched, mainly through their actions and interactions and revealing snippets of their back-stories.
Virginia’s Ghost will readily engage your mind and probably your heart. It is not earth-shatteringly profound in either sphere, but it’s not meant to be. It’s a well-written tale and a rewarding read (ideally by a cozy evening fire) — filled with atmosphere and movement and interesting people. And mystery!
November 23, 2014 The Literary Connection
In Our Words Publisher, Cheryl Antao-Xavier launched her new anthology titled “The Literary Connection” on November 23, 2014. Three WEN members, pictured in the photo, contributed to the anthology … Ben Antao, Zohra Zoberi and John Ambury. Also in the photo is Maria Pia Marchelletta who was the guest speaker at the launch. She gave a presentation on the four types of editing.
November 16, 2014 Inspire Toronto International Book Fair
The Inspire Toronto International Book Fair was held from December 13th through 16th at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Several WEN members attended. Shown in the photo is Prad Chaudhury who displayed his book titled “Medical Malady”. Other attendees included Darlene Madott, Judie Oron, Jasmine Jackman, Braz Menezes and Marilyn Garshowitz.
November 2, 2014 Bridging the Gap
WEN members enjoyed an evening out at the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga on November 2 to watch a screen presentation of
“Window Shopping … for Lasting Love” ,
an Award-Winning play by WEN member, Zohra Zoberi, followed by a lively discussion. The event was jointly sponsored by WFWP Canada and Bridging the Gap Productions.
October 8, 2014 Madott wins Bressani
WEN Member, Darlene Madott was chosen as the winner of the 2014 Bressani Literary prize in the category of Fiction for her book Stations of the Heart.
The award will be presented on November 6, 2014 in the Museum at the Italian Cultural Centre in Vancouver.
October 4, 2015 Ben Antao Announces New Book of Poems
Ben Antao has released a new book of poems titled Love Triangle.
A weekend passion of lust between a lesbian and a heterosexual married man leads to untold grief in this modern story of love triangle narrated in verse by Ben Antao, the prolific author of novels, short stories, travelogues and memoirs.
Love Triangle is composed in terza rima, the three-line, ten-syllable poetic form of interlocking rhymes that Dante employed in his Divine Comedy.
The 160 Sonnets surpassing the 154 of Shakespeare’s dwell on the themes of art and artists, persons, places and things that Antao encountered during his travels in Canada, France, Goa, Italy and the United States.
The book is priced at $25, bu tBen will offer it for $20 for WEN members.
Breakfast Meeting, January 17, 2015
SONIA ODUWA AIMY
With an inimitable velvety voice, Nigerian-born via Italy songwriter, singer, actress, writer and cultural activist Sonia Aimy (Aimy) is the quintessential virtuoso of afro-jazz music. Her music juts out unrestrained brilliance evoking the sound of afro-jazz, highlife, and call-and-response traditional African griot styles. Aimy’s style, however, is still effortlessly “afro-jazz & folk”. Fluent in English, Italian, French and several African languages, Aimy also enjoys exploring African languages through her music including Edo, Yoruba, Hausa (Nigerian), Obamba (Gabon) Wolof (Senegal), Lingala (Congo), Kiswahili (East Africa), Somali, etc.
Touching hearts and souls has always been her passion since she started singing at the age of 11 in her native Benin City in Nigeria where she received early education from her mother in traditional folklore.
Aimy’s experience in the arts earned her various lead roles as an actress with the National Theatre of Turin, Rome, Alma Theatre (with Paolo Rossi) with which she toured across Europe, as well as RAI Radio Television Italia where she excelled in various drama series. She has performed at numerous concerts throughout Europe, Africa and in North America.
The multi-talented Aimy has also starred in several Italian films. Aimy’s work in the media includes writing, producing, directing and presenting multicultural programs for radio. Aimy’s music career started when she was in her teens, singing at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Benin City, Nigeria.
She developed interest in folk, traditional music and storytelling. She pursued education in traditional music and dance. When she came to Italy she studied jazz music and interpretation as well as theatre arts. This extra music education as well as practice through performances has allowed Aimy to craft a unique sound that is distinctly her own that is a beautiful amalgam of jazz, folk, and afropop. Aimy commitment to themes of motherhood and fairplay respectively is highly present in her lyrics.
Aimy is an author and writer with credits including “Il Colore Sulla Pelle”(Harmattan Italia, 2002 Co-authored with Professor Franca Balsamo), “Le culture intrecciate: Letteratura e Migrazione” (Harmattan Italia, 2007), “Poesia vagabonda” (Settimopoesia 2003), “Lingua Madre”(Edizioni SEB 27, 2006).
She was nominated among the best writers in a national contest organised by Centro Studi Pensiero Feminile promoted by the Regione Piemonte, International Book Fair and Turin World Capital of Book fair.
Her playwright work credits includes “Idia, Sango’, Fat and Beautiful, Rhythm & Voices from Africa, Pepper Soup, Racism, Women on Stage, Ikaladerhan, Co-written Voices of Orisa (workshop version co-written with Prof Omofolabo Ajayi Soyinka), Scarti, Chi e’ Ultima at Alma Teatro, Turin Italy, among others.
Her talent and effort has been recognised in the Italian and Nigerian society through awards and nominations like: Best Positive Figure for Youths in Turin and Caserta (2005/2006); Millennium Models Nominee among fifty Nigerians in the world by Platinum Bank Limited, Nigeria in 2003; Nominated in 2005 by AfroLife magazine among the Top Ten best Nigerians in Italy. Recently, Aimy received an award in recognition of her work and commitment to end human trafficking through Art and Culture by Regione Vale D’Aosta.
‘Miss Aimy is a hardworking artist, who manages her time creatively engaging in numerous artistic initiatives. Her kind and generous spirit is evident in her lyrics and can be felt in her music and stage plays and is obvious in the much of an echo of Spirituality she leaves on the stage in her live performances. Her art is distinctly cultural with a deep sense of her motherland, an echo of Spirituality setting the backdrop and providing her audience the spiritual foundation for every moment of her presentation.
Aimy moved recently to Canada and while settling, she is currently networking in the artistic and authors scene, and working in the re-branding of her music geared towards accessing the Canadian and North American audience.