Wednesday, December 29, 2010

English to French to English

I was so goddamn honoured to be asked by Bertrand to read with him at Aqua's annual bilingual Lansdowne - and thereby have my work translated by literati Charles Leblanc - that I couldn't bring myself to turn him down...

...as is my usual practice when people ask me to read with them at Aqua Books, given that I'm events coordinator and my job is not technically to provide myself with reading opportunities.

But bookstore owner Kelly Hughes rolled his eyes twice at my do-you-think-it's-okay anxiety before I agreed to do it. So I figure it's okay.

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Aqua Books Lansdowne Prize for Poetry Series
Bertrand Nayet with Ariel Gordon & Dennis Cooley


When: Thursday, January 27, 7 pm
Location: Aqua Books (274 Garry Street, between Graham and Portage)
Cost: FREE!

The Aqua Lansdowne is Manitoba's largest poetry prize. Based around the award and hosted in conjunction with the Writers Collective of Manitoba, this series celebrates the best in Manitoba poetry.

This event is bilingual, featuring English-to-French translations of Gordon and Cooley's work by Charles Leblanc and French-to-English translations of Nayet's work by Mark Stout.

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Ariel Gordon is a writer whose first book of poetry, Hump, was published in spring 2010. How to Prepare for Flooding, a collaboration with designer Julia Michaud, is forthcoming from JackPine Press in 2011. When not being bookish, Ariel likes tromping through the woods and taking macro photographs of mushrooms.

Since 1973 Dennis Cooley has lived in Winnipeg where he has taught, edited, and written. He is currently past-president of the Manitoba Writers' Guild.

Born in Auxerre France in 1962, Bertrand Nayet lives in St. Norbert, Manitoba. He has published short stories, stories, and poems in various magazines and anthologies. He also writes for the theatre, directs and performs with various theatre troupes in Manitoba. Nayet is a founding father and Secretary-in-Perpetuity of Le Collectif post-neo-rieliste, a group of French-speaking Manitoba creators. He also collaborates on the programming of Le Foyer des Écrivains, the French side of THIN AIR, The Winnipeg International Writers Festival.

Né à Auxerre (France) en 1962, Bertrand Nayet réside à St-Norbert au Manitoba. Il a publié nouvelles, récits et poèmes dans diverses revues et recueils. Il a aussi écrit du théâtre, créé des mises en scène et joué plusieurs rôles pour diverses troupes du Manitoba. Il est l’animateur, un des pères fondateurs et secrétaire perpétuel du Collectif post-néo-rieliste, un regroupement de créateurs franco-manitobains. Il collabore à la programmation du Foyer des Écrivains, la partie francophone du Winnipeg International Writers Festival.

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Mark Stout lives in Winnipeg, where he works as a freelance translator and translation instructor for the translation certificate program at Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface (CUSB). He has lived and worked in the United States, France, and Canada.

Charles Leblanc is a St. Boniface translator, writer, editor, actor and poet. He is a founding member of the Collectif post-neo-rieliste, and helps to create the Foyer des écrivains, the francophone programming for THIN AIR, Winnipeg International Writers Festival. He won the Prix littéraire Rue-Deschambault at the 2005 Manitoba Book Awards for L’appétit du compteur.

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