Heart of a Champion
The launch party for "Heart of a a Poet" is happening tonight in Toronto. I wish I could be there. I haven't seen the show yet-- I am supposed to receive a DVD of the one that features me, but it hasn't got here yet. The episode of "Heart of a Poet" that I am in airs on December 14th at 8:30 on BOOK TV.
I've seen pictures from the night Cara Hedley, Brea Burton and I read at Lexiconjury (which "Heart of a Poet" filmed) and my face looks freakishly pale from the make-up, though Cara kindly said that it looks like I have a perfect complexion. Which I don't. What I really want on DVD is the hours of footage they got of us three and Paul Kennett and Angela Rawlings fooling around. At one point, we were being interviewed in a park and Paul chased away some ravens or pigeons (can't remember anymore) that were chewing on a dead thing by impersonating a much larger bird. Ah, memories. Walking around Toronto with a camera on me and miked up for two days. Trying my hardest to memorize the 20 pages of text that Tina gave me that morning, failing, and disappointing her by admitting that I am not the kind of poet who knows her own work off by heart, but instead am the kind of poet who is based on the page and only performs with any panache at all through long years of practice. Filming a Tarot reading and a tea-leaf-reading in Angela's apartment, and making Tina happy again by having my chapbooks with me (so visual! perfect!) Sitting on Angela's rooftop after it was all over, drinking rum and gingerbeer at sunset, going out for dinner with no cameras, staying out and getting Bill Kennedy and Kyle Buckley into a salsa club, ending up somewhere else, going back to Angela's and talking the rest of the night until it was time to leave for the airport. The stuff we filmed at Coach House that probably will only make it in in snippets: me pretending to set type, Angela looking through the grimy window and me miming "Come in!" in an oh-so-natural way. The two-hour conversation with Alana Wilcox and hiding the mike in the flowers... I think we filmed me walking up to Alana's office and knocking on the door four times. Documentary.
The schedule for "Heart of a Poet" is here. I have to admit, I am disappointed that my publisher Coach House isn't making a bigger deal about it-- they have quite a few authors featured on the show (Coach Houseketeers Christian Bok, Sherwin Tija, myself, and I'm sure bill bissett's been published by Coach House, not to mention the show is hosted by Angela Rawlings, whose Wide Slumber for Lepidopterists is coming out in the spring), but it hasn't appeared on their mailbot mailout and isn't on their website. All publicity is good, no? It'd be nice to get a little more support. Small(er) presses don't have as much publicity power, I know, but that's why piggy-backing on other events seems so ideal to me. Well, that's what I think. If I had a publishing business. One day...
Other events I am missing: Shift & Switch launches in Vancouver, (November 26, 8pm, at The Helen Pitt Gallery 102-148 Alexander St.) and Toronto (November 29, 7pm, at Supermarket on Augusta Ave. in Kensington Market.) Sigh. I should have joined the League of Canadian Poets when I could afford the fee, then I'd be able to travel to do a reading now. I need to be better at planning ahead.
I've seen pictures from the night Cara Hedley, Brea Burton and I read at Lexiconjury (which "Heart of a Poet" filmed) and my face looks freakishly pale from the make-up, though Cara kindly said that it looks like I have a perfect complexion. Which I don't. What I really want on DVD is the hours of footage they got of us three and Paul Kennett and Angela Rawlings fooling around. At one point, we were being interviewed in a park and Paul chased away some ravens or pigeons (can't remember anymore) that were chewing on a dead thing by impersonating a much larger bird. Ah, memories. Walking around Toronto with a camera on me and miked up for two days. Trying my hardest to memorize the 20 pages of text that Tina gave me that morning, failing, and disappointing her by admitting that I am not the kind of poet who knows her own work off by heart, but instead am the kind of poet who is based on the page and only performs with any panache at all through long years of practice. Filming a Tarot reading and a tea-leaf-reading in Angela's apartment, and making Tina happy again by having my chapbooks with me (so visual! perfect!) Sitting on Angela's rooftop after it was all over, drinking rum and gingerbeer at sunset, going out for dinner with no cameras, staying out and getting Bill Kennedy and Kyle Buckley into a salsa club, ending up somewhere else, going back to Angela's and talking the rest of the night until it was time to leave for the airport. The stuff we filmed at Coach House that probably will only make it in in snippets: me pretending to set type, Angela looking through the grimy window and me miming "Come in!" in an oh-so-natural way. The two-hour conversation with Alana Wilcox and hiding the mike in the flowers... I think we filmed me walking up to Alana's office and knocking on the door four times. Documentary.
The schedule for "Heart of a Poet" is here. I have to admit, I am disappointed that my publisher Coach House isn't making a bigger deal about it-- they have quite a few authors featured on the show (Coach Houseketeers Christian Bok, Sherwin Tija, myself, and I'm sure bill bissett's been published by Coach House, not to mention the show is hosted by Angela Rawlings, whose Wide Slumber for Lepidopterists is coming out in the spring), but it hasn't appeared on their mailbot mailout and isn't on their website. All publicity is good, no? It'd be nice to get a little more support. Small(er) presses don't have as much publicity power, I know, but that's why piggy-backing on other events seems so ideal to me. Well, that's what I think. If I had a publishing business. One day...
Other events I am missing: Shift & Switch launches in Vancouver, (November 26, 8pm, at The Helen Pitt Gallery 102-148 Alexander St.) and Toronto (November 29, 7pm, at Supermarket on Augusta Ave. in Kensington Market.) Sigh. I should have joined the League of Canadian Poets when I could afford the fee, then I'd be able to travel to do a reading now. I need to be better at planning ahead.
posted by Jill at 10:37 AM
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