26 October 2008

Canzine today!

A great poetry workshop with teens yesterday at Oakville Public Library. Nearly 20 of them signed up, and they each produced nearly 10 poems in the three-hour session. As always, some of them were more vocal than others, but eventually they all read aloud, and there was some really excellent material. It'd been a while since I did a workshop with teens, and it was really inspiring.

And today: Canzine, from 1 to 7 pm at the Gladstone Hotel.

I'll have copies of my recent books and the Orphans CD, as well as all the issues of Peter O'Toole. Also going to sell off some older books at cheap-o prices.

Lots coming up: readings in Toronto, Calgary, Cobourg and Lethbridge. And I managed to get my completed short-story manuscript off to Melanie and Freehand this past week. The book is coming out in the spring, and there's still much to do.

Over and out.

23 October 2008

Collaborative Poetry workshop … and my stay in Montreal

Been compiling writing strategies for next Monday's Collaborative Poetry workshop, a new addition to my workshop roster. It'll be a short session — just a three-hour evening, and there are still a couple of spaces open. Here's the dirt:

COLLABORATIVE POETRY
Monday, October 27, 6:30-9:30 pm
Christie/Dupont area
$35 includes materials & light snacks

To register, write Stuart at hunkamooga@sympatico.ca

Spend an evening writing poems with complete strangers! This new workshop explores the exciting possibilities that arise when more than one brain creates a poem. A wide range of approaches — including methods used by the Surrealists and the New York Poets — will produce poems unlike anything you’ve ever written.


In the meantime, I'm still in Montreal, where I read last night at Noches de Poesía, an unusual series run by Élizabeth Robert, who I met online when I was mentoring for the League of Canadian Poets' youngpoets.ca. Sina Queyras showed up and we grabbed a couple beers afterwards in Mile End. The night before, Jason Camlot and I spent a couple hours on a collaborative poem, the longest collaborative poem I've been involved in. It took some very neat twists and turns, and I look forward to collaborating with Jason some more.

This morning I'm wrapping up a draft of Buying Cigarettes for the Dog to send to Melanie in Calgary. It'll be nice to have that off my plate for a week or two. I'm fluctuating between "I love this!" and "I hate this!" That's par for the course, though.

Over and out.

22 October 2008

Reading tonight in Montreal

I'm in Montreal now, visiting with my friend and DC Books editor Jason Camlot, and tonight I give a reading. I'll be reading from Dead Cars in Managua and also from some new work.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008
5:30-8:00pm

Le Dépanneur Café
206, rue Bernard Ouest

Seventh installment of the multilingual NOCHE DE POESIA reading series (2008 edition)

dès 17h30 (lectures débutant à 18h00 jusqu'à 20h00).

Alejandro Staricco
lira de ses poèmes en espagnol.

Francis Catalano
lira de ses poèmes en français et en italien.

Stuart Ross
lira de ses poèmes en anglais.

Patrick Coppens
lira de ses poèmes en français et tentera un peu d'espagnol.


Four writers reading in four languages! This is going to be an intriguing one, all right!

Over and out.

21 October 2008

Poetry workshop for teens in Oakville on Saturday

Here's the guff on a workshop I'm really looking forward to this Saturday. Apparently there are still a few spaces left. Know any teens how might be interested?

Teen Poetry Workshop with Stuart Ross

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Meet other poets, improve your writing and get new ideas with well-known Toronto writer Stuart Ross.  Space is limited so register early!

Central Branch Auditorium, 1-4pm, FREE but must register in advance by phoning our Teen Services Librarian, Elise C. Cole on (905) 815-2042 ex. 5037 or by emailing ecole@oakville.ca

http://www.opl.on.ca/blog/2008/07/teen-poetry-workshop-with-stuart-ross/

10 October 2008

Mansfield Press Fall Poetry Party - Toronto, St. Catharines, Kingston



Next week the 2008 Mansfield Press poetry books get launched in three cities. It was an incredible experience this past year, working with Alice Burdick and Jason Heroux on their second full poetry collections, with David McFadden on his first book since 2007's Why Are You So Sad?, and with Catherine Owen and Joe Rosenblatt on their collaborative book.

This is my second season with Mansfield, and it's awfully fun working with Denis De Klerck. Now, I just have to hope that the books sell a few hundred copies so he'll keep me around!

Over and out.

08 October 2008

Poetry workshops in Toronto coming right up!

I'm offering up two workshops this month in Toronto. One is the ever-popular Poetry Boot Camp; the other is a new workshop on collaborative poetry, which I going to be a blast.

Here's the skinny, followed by a brief bio for me and a heap of comments participants have made about my past sessions.

STUART ROSS'S POETRY BOOT CAMP
Saturday, October 18, 10am-5 pm (w/ 45-minute lunch break)

Christie/Dupont area
$75 includes materials & light snacks

To register, write Stuart at hunkamooga@sympatico.ca

A relaxed but intensive one-day workshop for beginning poets, experienced poets, stalled poets, and haikuists who want to get beyond three lines. Poetry Boot Camp focuses on the pleasures of poetry and the riches that spontaneity brings, through lively directed writing strategies and relevant readings from the works of poets from Canada and abroad. Arrive with an open mind, and leave with a heap of new poems!


COLLABORATIVE POETRY
Monday, October 27, 6:30-9:30 pm
Christie/Dupont area
$35 includes materials & light snacks

To register, write Stuart at hunkamooga@sympatico.ca

Spend an evening writing poems with complete strangers! This new workshop explores the exciting possibilities that arise when more than one brain creates a poem. A wide range of approaches — including methods used by the Surrealists and the New York Poets — will produce poems unlike anything you’ve ever written.



MY BIO

I am the author of six full-length poetry collections, including the acclaimed I Cut My Finger (Anvil Press) and Hey, Crumbling Balcony! Poems New & Selected (ECW Press). DC Books has just published my newest collection, Dead Cars in Managua. I'm Poetry Editor for Mansfield Press and Fiction & Poetry Editor for This Magazine. I also writes a regular column — "Hunkamooga," which recently received props from a New York Times Book Review writer — for the literary magazine sub-Terrain. For nearly 25 years, I've led writing workshops and I've brought my popular Poetry Boot Camp to venues across Canada. In 2009, Freehand Books will release my second short-story collection, Buying Cigarettes For The Dog.


COMMENTS ON MY PREVIOUS WORKSHOPS

“I really enjoyed myself and felt like I got a lot done. I thank you very much for the stimulation & the relaxed atmosphere.”

“Yay! Excited to go back to trying to write poems. I have so many new things to try now. Thanks!”

“I liked being exposed to the familiar in a new, fresh, creative way.”

“I found all the exercises helpful.”

“A big help! I have a much better idea now of how to get the ball rolling.”

“Just what I needed!”

“I most enjoyed the relaxed pace and the self-directed nature of the work.”

“I loved hearing other people’s work & liked that there was all positive response.”

“The Boot Camp pushed me beyond my comfort zone in precisely the way that I hoped it would.”

“Thank you, Stuart, for opening the door.”

“Excellent pacing! The day passes quickly — it really is a boot camp!”

“I really enjoyed all of the exercises!”

“I wrote much more than I anticipated — that’s a good thing.”

“You always get such interesting characters attending your workshops!”

“Really interesting. Touched on a lot of subjects that got me excited and made me think of areas that I had put away.”

“Excellent overall. I got a lot of out of it. Money very well spent! I’d recommend it to others.”

“Very well-run, well-thought-out workshop! Thanks!”

“My favourite part was the variety of non-threatening strategies for writing.”

“Really informative, really helpful workshop. Great energy!”


Over & out.