POETRY IN TRANSIT—ONE OF MY POEMS IS GOING FOR A RIDE!

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As I always try to put something poetry-related into these posts, I'm happy to announce that my poem, Tethered, that appeared in the anthology Refugium: Poems for the Pacific, edited by Yvonne Blomer, was selected to be included in Vancouver-area's Poetry in Transit this year! There'll be a reading of such poems (plus a couple of others) at Word Vancouver on September 30th and I'll be there. I'll provide more details (ie. where; when) closer to the date, but am I ever excited to think that one of my little poems is going to be riding buses and Skytrain and hopefully providing the odd person who looks up from their phone with a little hit of poetry. Tethered was born in La Manzanilla, the little fishing village on the west coast of Mexico (ie. on the Pacific Ocean) a few years back. I was very proud when Yvonne accepted it for the anthology, and now this! Do let me know if you happen to be riding and spot it. #PoetryinTransit @ReadLocalBC

I've been remiss in my blogging habit of late. Truth be told, I've often gone AWOL from Purple Mountain Poetry since I started it some twelve years ago, but after a happy month of daily blogging in April I had decided I'd make an attempt to blog at least a couple of times a month, just to keep those particular poetry muscles working.

Curious about exactly when I started this blog, I just looked up my very first post. It was in May of 2006, and I was so nervous about putting myself out there I wrote it in third person!

At the beginning of June, my 98-year-old mom had a heart attack, was in hospital for three weeks and is now back in her apartment in the assisted living place where she's lived for the past ten years. This has kept me and my two sisters unbelievably busy, leaving little energy for stuff like cleaning the house, never mind blogging! Here she is with her favourite grandson, Jesse. He got his musical talent from her; she was a fine violinist and pianist in her day and can still discuss the finer points of all things classical. And she supported his early musical training by giving him violin lessons, starting after we moved back to Nelson when he was seven.

In spite of this not entirely unexpected health drama (I told you she's 98), I have, however, managed to produce two chapbooks since the beginning of June. They aren't at the finished stage yet (ie. they're not quite ready for printing) but almost, and I'll certainly write about them when they are. Making little poetry books helps keep me sane.

I also made three Coptic-bound journals for a friend in Victoria and yesterday when I took visiting friends from Gibsons and La Manz over to the Kootenay Gallery I was told that someone had come in that morning specifically looking for one of my journals as she'd been gifted one before and loved it!

Speaking of making such books, Paper-Ya, my old Vancouver go-to place to buy book cloth has stopped carrying it. If anyone reading this has any tips as to where I can source good-quality (ie. silk) book cloth in Canada, please shoot me a message. I've spent a little time wandering around online, but haven't seen some of the stuff I really like, such as the cloth I used for these ones:

Any and all tips appreciated. You reading my blog is appreciated. All in all, it's a pretty good life.

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SUMMER AND FIRES AND POEMS AND BOOKS — OH MY!

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BORDER FAIRY TALE

There was a time a trip across the border

for a meal or a night out was no big deal.

Now you can arrive with every document you own —

driver’s permit, passport, birth certificate, marriage license,

sworn affidavit that the kids are yours —

and still you may be denied.

What to do about the fire that jumped the border

at Pend d’Oreille, no declaration whatsoever,

no documents from either side,

just another refugee from the north

headed south for the winter.

Wrote that poem a few Augusts ago, for the poetry postcard exchange that's now in its 11th year. Some things don't change.

We haven't had rain in I don't remember when, there are water restrictions and campfire bans all over the province, and both the sun and the moon appear as balls of orange in the sky. It's ever so smokey in these parts, thanks to forest fires in various parts of the province as well as Washington State south of us. 

One of the fire-fighting helicopters heading for the airport

Consequently, I'm happy to be spending time in the basement where I play with paper. I've been busy sewing journals for the Columbia Basin Studio Tour this weekend when Ted and I will both have our studios open to the public. Here's a great article about  the tour in the Castlegar News.

If you're in the area we'd love to see you. If you're too far away, here's a glimpse of what you're missing!

Ted has been busy turning and oiling and creating a display for his beautiful creations 

Where it all began. In 2001 I saw this little Coptic bound book at the gift shop at the Quarry Arts Centre in Whangerei, New Zealand, and I had to learn how to make one. I was taking a paper-making class at the time. Until then, I'd always thought of paper as something you wrote on. I just looked up the book artist online — her name is Mary MacArthur — and lo and behold, she's in Canada! I just sent her a thank-you note. Check out her website, aptly called Those Great Little Books.

The first of these happened at an artist collaboration event in NZ in 2001. I call them "haiku-scapes", although the little poems aren't technically haiku. More like senyru. 

Some of my books. No two the same!

The guestbook is made from PR postcards 

Examples of other kinds of binding

My work station

How to make a book

My book press. And there's a lot of paper hiding behind that Mexican Amate paper I love.

Nose in Book's publishing display

In other news, Big Pond Rumours has three of my poems in its latest E-Zine and you can read them here. Editor of the micro press, Sharon Berg, is currently fundraising to buy a new, heavy-duty printer so she can continue to produce chapbooks without killing her printer. If you have a few dollars you can send her way, here's the link. 

And now, back to work! Thanks, as always, for reading.

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AUGUST 12–13 COLUMBIA BASIN CULTURE TOUR— COME SEE US!

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Ted and I are busy as proverbial beavers these days. We're part of the Columbia Basin Culture Tour that happens August 12 and 13 (Saturday and Sunday) from 10 till 5. It's an annual event where artists of all kinds open their studios so the public can see what we do. Of course, you're invited!

Ted's out in his shop a lot these days, oiling things when he's not actually turning. You can see what he's getting up to here.

He's even polished up his welcoming reflecting leg at the end of the driveway!

Given we're experiencing extremely high temperatures these days, 37-38C, you could almost say I've got it made in the shade as I get to hang out and sew books in the basement where it's degrees cooler! (38C = 100F for anyone needing the conversion.)  Here's the link to my contribution to all this.

Some of the books on that will be on display 

I'm binging on The Handmaid's Tale as I work. Talk about terrifying, given the state of the world these days. I see there's going to be a second season. This is not the time to wish for life to imitate art. 

Coptic binding in progress. Eighteen needles going at once. My Home Ec teachers would never believe it!

Meanwhile, no interface fires here so far. Lots of activity in and out of the airport (we live right on the flight path). Everyone's fingers are crossed and there's a good deal or praying we're spared. 

Heading out to a fire

See you on a beach sometime, maybe!



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COLUMBIA BASIN CULTURE TOUR THIS WEEKEND. COME ON BY!

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This Saturday and Sunday (August 9–10) Ted and I are participating in the Columbia Basin Culture Tour. (That sweet little wooden bowl in the photo I borrowed from the Columbia Basin's Facebook page is one of Ted's).

This means that from 10 AM until 5 PM both days you can come see what we do where we do it. To that end, I've been busy making books, some of which are pictured below. 

 

Sewing a Coptic bound book

Ted will be turning tops and things in his shop and has lots of wonderful work you can look at (and even buy, if you're so inclined). More about him on the CBT website here. And to whet your appetite, here's a sample of what he does:

I will be busy sewing chapbooks and maybe even writing the odd postcard poem (it is, after all, August). More about that here. 

This is the first time we've done this so we have no idea what to expect but we're game if you are so come on by!

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