A Duck in New York City by Connie Kaldor

Connie Kaldor and her band are reading A Duck in New York City
at the Winnipeg Folk Fest 2011

Mentioning the Norwegians of Saskatchewan in my last post reminded me that I haven't talked about A Duck in New York City by Connie Kaldor* yet.
It tells the story of a little prairie duck who wants to dance on Broadway. What makes this book amazing is the musicality of the words. They flow together with the kind of rhythm that makes the best songs. It shows that a career in music and in literature work well together.
This book has been translated in french. (I guess I can't help bringing everything back to french. It is weird that I had to be in Saskatchewan for this to happen.) My point with the translation is that Connie Kaldor and her translator had a difference of opinion. The professional translator wanted to find the words that stayed as close as possible to the meaning. Connie Kaldor wanted to find the right rhythm and flow even if it meant taking some liberties with the translation.
What would you do if you had to translate a book?

*Connie Kaldor is a singer and writer who grew up in Regina, SK. Even though she now lives out East, she is very active as an artist in the Prairies.

This is Connie Kaldor's official website. On it she has a post about a recent show on Broadway. The title is "The Duck gets to Broadway!!": http://www.conniekaldor.com/

English in China

View of West Lake in Hangzhou, China

Today I feel like sharing some information about English publications in China because my friend just told me that her husband is now writing for the Shanghaiist, a magazine in Shanghai.
This post departs a little from the aim of my blog. It is not about writing in Saskatchewan. Yet, I can find surprising links with some aspects of Saskatchewan Literature. There are many minorities who flourish in Saskatchewan. I talk a lot about the Fransakois but there are many other minorities such as the Ukrainians and the Norwegians. English in Saskatchewan is the language of the majority with a very high rate of assimilation into this dominant language.  English publications in China, however, show you a reversal of the situation. It shows you "English" as a minority.
In China, especially in the big eastern cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou, there is a vibrant foreigner community. People come to China from everywhere in the world to teach english and study chinese but also to work as engineers, musicians, editors, cooks, university professors, actors and even bakers.
From this community many things grow such as magazines. Those often give news that are relevant to foreigners, review restaurants and announce social events. I have occasionally found in them some creative writing.
Here are some magazines that I am familiar with:

Intouch Zhejiang: http://en.zjol.com.cn/10en/
More Hangzhou: http://www.morehangzhou.com/
Shanghaiist: http://shanghaiist.com/

eSKapade

David Baudemont at Blind Date, a public reading event.

In Saskatchewan I discovered the book collection eSKapade (SK for Saskatchewan). It is the initiative of a publishing house in Regina: Les Éditions de la nouvelle plume. Even if it is in french and not everyone can read it, I think that the concept is very interesting and worth learning about.
La nouvelle plume is the only french publishing house west of Winnipeg. Their mandate is to publish books (novel, children literature, poetry, non-fiction...) written by writers based in Western Canada and/or about the West.
eSKapade is a very unique collection. Each novel is a collaboration between a professional writer and a school. The writer spends time with a class in elementary school or high school to create a setting, characters and a plot line. After this process is completed, the writer writes the novel.
David Baudemont and Martine Noël-Maw are the main names coming up in that collection. They are writers based respectively in Saskatoon and Regina. They have worked with fransaskois schools and with french immersion schools in the province.

To learn more about La nouvelle plume: http://plume.avoslivres.ca/

A Walk in Regina

I came upon this park while walking in Regina. It is a thin but very long stripe of Prairies in the city.
One moment you are surrounded by houses but as soon as you cross those few meters you are in the Prairies. You really get a feel of the open spaces of southern Saskatchewan.







The first element that strike me in this park is the alignment of the trees.
In that part of the park they grow tall and majestic. They take part in the landscape with ease and yet they follow those lines and patterns that can only be man made.








Here the soft light of the evening gives to the trees a peaceful mood.


















Here the trees were planted in a "bunch" thus creating a little heaven for pedestrians when the sun hits hard.















This picture was taken lying down, like for the picture of Anglin Lake. I love the bareness of the tree against the majestic sky. The road and the sky seems to lead to the infinite. This small tree courageously stands next to them.

 Those small branches stand as a reminder of how stubborn a tree can be. They are growing from the remaining of a cut trunk

 Those tall herbs grow around a small water stream.  They grow as tall as some of the trees in the prairies.










The next three pictures show shapes that attracted my notice. Each of those trees grow in a unique way. To me they have as much personality as humans.

This is were I ended my walk. Despite being in the city you feel far away from it. It reminds me of the Chilean Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo 2010. The theme of that expo was Better City, Better life. What stayed with me after my visit there was that concept the Chileans came with in exploring how to created bigger cities:
To avoid alienation, humans need to stay connected with nature. This is were our roots are. Nature must have its place within the city.

A Story Teller

Mathieu Lippé at the Relais in Saskatoon

In Saskatoon, I heard a story teller. His name is Mathieu Lippé.
He is a musician and a poet from Bas-du-Fleuve, a region in Quebec, and he was in Saskatchewan a couple of weeks ago for a series of concerts.
He told us of his adventures in Saskatchewan. Him and his band went to La Ronge. There they met a girl who sang a song about bears. On the road to Zenon Parc they saw a black bear. Then they went to eat at a friend's home. After eating her delicious spaghetti with just the right amounts of flies in the sauce, they stepped outside. In the sky, there were Northern Lights just in front of the Great Bear constellation. That day was a three bears alignment.
Life is a tale if you are ready to see it.
www.mathieulippe.com