The End

Our last class in Creative Writing 820 was yesterday and it means that this is the last post I write in this context. Even if sometimes it was hard to remember to write a post in between articles, essays, reading responses, and short stories, I am sad that the blog assignment is over. I especially regret not responding more to the blogs of everyone else in the class. People wrote great things. Thank you for all those insights. It might sound like I am "sucking up" but I am sincerely nostalgic.

Now I wonder what I will do with my blog. Will I keep writing posts? I think that I will and I sincerely hope that other students will keep writing. I have enjoyed sharing ideas with all of you.

Thank you again,

Sarah

Historical Romance

Since I arrived in Saskatchewan, I have had the chance to hear stories about World War I from the children or grandchildren of French soldiers. They are very inspiring stories and I want to write something based on them.

That made me think about historical romances. The only scary thing with doing something set in a specific period is the possible anachronisms. I know that the solution is research. It is not very hard to avoid the wrong facts. What I find harder is the language. What should be done? Should we try to make our characters speak and write how people spoke and wrote at the time? It sounds possible for about up to two centuries ago but earlier than that becomes a bit tricky. I read many historical romances and they avoid modern slangs but they don't speak in middle english or early modern english. They simply give them a correct modern english.

But what if they are supposed to be from a specific region. If my character is from 1900s Marseille, how should he write his letters? Thinking about this issue reminded me of the play Zone from Quebec. It is about two teenagers in the city of Montreal in the 50s. It was written in a nice academic french. When we studied it in high school, my teacher had a lot of contempt for it because of the language. She thought that Michel Tremblay was so great because he wrote the way people really speak in Quebec. However, I read many books that don't respect the local dialect and I still think that they are good books.

Furthermore, there are disadvantages to writing in a local dialect. What about the comprehension? And when it is not your own dialect or something you have really been exposed to, you will very likely make mistakes in the portrayal of that dialect. That seems worse to me than writing in a standard english.

Epistolary Form

Since we talked about the epistolary from in our creative writing class I am obsessed with it. Those days, I keep wanting to write in this form or in variants of it (and I have noticed that I am not the only one from the class that feels this way).

 I find that it opens a door into the life of the character. You see what the character wants to share and how he shares it.
It also allows many different narrators within one story. Letters by many different characters can be included.
I also find interesting how you construct a plot through letters. I think that Chelsea, in our class, did a great job at constructing a story with emails. You could easily trace character development through the exchange of messages.

My final comment: It is so great that the characters are writing the story.

Constructing a Story with Memories

Recently, I have realized that people like my stories best when they are made out of a collage of memories. That doesn't mean that they are not fiction. I mix up various past impressions, feelings and/or events and project them on fictitious characters and plots. I can see why this technique would be effective. Since the feelings behind the story are true, the story must ring true.

This is a picture I took of an abbey in Scotland.
It made me think of Wordsworth's poetry

I found in William Wordsworth's "Preface to Lyrical Ballads" an interesting passage expressing a similar idea:

"I have said that poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity: the emotion is contemplated till by a species of reaction the tranquillity gradually disappears, and an emotion, kindred to that which was before the subject of contemplation, is gradually produced, and does itself actually exist in the mind. In this mood successful composition generally begins, and in a mood similar to this it is carried on..." (273)

Source: Wordsworth, William. "Preface to Lyrical Ballads." The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Romantic Period. Ed. Jack Stillinger and Deidre Shauna Lynch. New York and London: W.W. Norton, 2006. 263-274. Print.

Still, it makes me worry about the power of imagination. Can we write about things we don't personally know? Can we write about a feeling we never had?

Bilingual Acrobatics

Laurier Gareau at a writers' retreat in Saskatoon last March

I recently participated in a circle of writers in Regina. Since it was the first meeting of the season, everyone shared the big lines of their current projects. Laurier Gareau was one of the writers participating. He has plays published at La nouvelle plume and writes on a regular basis for the Historical Society (Société historique). His play The Big Wave will be staged in Saskatoon next February and March.
The way he decided to write his new project surprised me. Laurier is writing a novel for children. He wrote the first chapter in English and then translated it in French. For the next chapter, he decided to write first in French and then translate into English. He will repeat this pattern until the novel is finished. I can't wait to see the result and how the language will influence his style.

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

Martine Noël-Maw: a Quebec writer in Saskatchewan

When I arrived in Saskatchewan it wasn't long before I linked up to the french community. It is odd that so many people are not aware of that community. I have met a lot of people in Saskatchewan who don't know about the Fransaskois and probably even more in Quebec despite the fact that they share the same language.
That said, I would like to introduce a great writer from that community. Her name is Martine Noël-Maw. I heard about her for the first time at a community dinner. A man, let's name him John, told me about her novel Dans le pli des collines (In the Fold of the Hills). The story is set at Fort San and he was very proud that a novel about his beloved region had been published. It sounded like just that would have been enough to make it one of his favorites but on top of that John assured me that it is a great story.

Martine Noël-Maw reading a passage of
Dans le pli des collines at St-Denis (a town near Saskatoon)

I love a good novel and that was a great opportunity to integrate my passion into my part time job. At the time, I was writing  articles for the french newspaper l'Eau vive as a freelance. An article about a local writer was perfect. I will let you discover the book on your own. All I will say is that Sophie, the main character, will make many shocking discoveries as she tries to unearth the past of Fort San. Not long after my review of the book was published in the newspaper, Martine won le Prix du livre français au Saskatchewan Book Awards 2010 for Dans le pli des collines.
I had the chance to meet her for an interview. While we were talking over a cup of coffee and a bagel, she taught me two very down to earth but nonetheless very important lessons. If you don't clear up your schedule you will never write and if you don't have the courage to take the manuscript out of the drawer you will never be published.
Another lesson has been how a place can shape you as an artist. Martine claims that if she hadn't moved to Saskatchewan in 1993, she would probably not be a writer today. Saskatchewan's landscapes are an inspiration. When she drove down Qu'Appelle Valley for the first time, her stories found a place in which to live.

I invite you to visit Martine's website. It includes an english section.
http://www.martinenoelmaw.com/

For all the Montréalais who might be reading this: I know that you think the bagels in Regina are not "real bagels" but that's how they call them here!

Anglin Lake

For my first post, I thought that I would start with explaining my choice of background for the blog.
As of september first 2011, I have been in Saskatchewan for one year. More precisely, I have been in its capital, Regina. As impressive as the Plains are they don't feel like home. I come from a region in Quebec that is full of small mountains. Each mountain is covered with majestic trees. I never feel better than when I am in a forest. I simply love trees. In my childhood, I have spent hours at a time observing the thick bark of a tree.
This summer I was lucky enough to become friend with a young singer who was raised in the same region than me but whose parents are originally from Saskatchewan. His father's side of the family owns a farm near Willow Bunch. In this way I had the privilege of exploring "the land of the coulees" like his family calls it. It is a very beautiful land. I like what Connie Kaldor wrote about this specific region in her song A Long, Long way: "where the trees aren't majestic, they leave that to the sky." I think that it is a very fitting description. All this to say that despite of how much I liked that place, it didn't bring that feeling of home, the feeling of being where you should be.
That same friend also has family at Anglin Lake. This is a lake about an hour north of the city of  Prince-Albert. We went there at the end of the summer. And there they were... the trees. I was overjoyed to walk in between them and to smell their bark.  I told my friend how happy I was to be around trees but that they didn't have the same beauty and majesty than those in Quebec.
During a walk we came where that background picture was taken. I tried to take a picture. I will be honest, my attempts did not look good. I was annoyed. I have that problem ever since I came to Saskatchewan. My landscapes look awful. This is the first time that happens to me. I love photography and have always been proud of my results. So far in Saskatchewan I concentrated my efforts on portraits because landscapes just didn't work.
Seeing my frustration, my friend simply said: "Why don't you change your perspective. Sometimes that's all it takes." I listened to his advice and at the cost of getting wet I lied down on the dock and took a picture. That is the one I chose for my blog. Changing perspective just suddenly made everything in the landscape work.
I realized that maybe it is not only with photography that I have to change my perspective to make things work. Anglin Lake has taught me to accept my presence in Saskatchewan's landscapes.