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Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company is proud to present the 5th Annual ÂNSKOHK Literature Festival October 22nd and 23rd in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan! ÂNSKOHK is the only literary festival of its kind showcasing the literary talent of Aboriginal authors from across Canada, educating the general population about the richness of Aboriginal literature, and to promoting further understanding of Aboriginal peoples.
The festival brings professional Aboriginal writers to Saskatoon for a series of workshops, school visits and special events to promote the richness and diversity of Aboriginal writing in Canada. This year, SNTC is proud to announce the 2008 ÂNSKOHK Literary Festival FEATURED ARTISTS (see bio’s below):
Richard Wagamese / Neal McLeod / Louise Halfe / Gregory Scofield
Wednesday, October 22nd will see this year’s featured writers presenting workshops in schools around Saskatoon. The festival kicks off for general public audiences at 7pm with ‘BANNOCKDOTES’ at IDEA’S INC.! The recipe for this exciting evening takes four extraordinary Aboriginal writers, adds songs, stories and mixes them together with an interactive audience to create an evening of art and entertainment you won’t want to miss! Tickets for this event are $10 and can be picked up at MCNALLY ROBINSON BOOKSELLERS or at the SNTC BOX OFFICE.
Thursday, October 23rd is WORKSHOP DAY of the festival being presented at the SNTC Studio Theatre. Workshops by Neal McLeod and Richard Wagamese will run through the day. The two-day festival will be capped off with a celebration of writing as part of the ‘Studio Cafe’, an ‘open-mic’ for all styles of writer from Oral, Traditional and poetry to song!
REGISTRATION:
Registration for the WORKSHOPS is $10/session. To register, download the applicable forms below and submit to the SNTC Box Office at info@sntc.ca or by fax: 933-2738.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22nd, 2008
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23RD , 2008
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* Writers in School tours 9am-3pm
‘Bannockdotes’
7pm-9pm
Idea’s Inc- 120 Sonnenschein Place
(beside Farmer’s Market).
RECIPE: Take four extraordinary Aboriginal
writers, add songs, stories and mix together with an interactive audience. Served up by one of Canada’s premiere Aboriginal theatre company’s equals one night you won’t want to miss!
FEATURES: Richard Wagamese, Gregory Scofield, Louise Halfe, Neal McLeod, special musical guests.
Event Tickets: $10
Available at MCNALLY ROBINSON BOOKSELLER and the SNTC BOX OFFICE (933-2262)
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*** WORKSHOPS: ***
10:00 am to Noon – ‘Poetic Memory Across Generations’ - Neal McLeod
1:00 pm to 3:00 pm – ‘From the Oral Traditions to the Printed Page’ Richard Wagamese
7:30 pm STUDIO CAFE Open Mic for Emerging writers in all genre’s! (Written and oral storytelling, song, poetry...)
Workshop registration: $10
To register for workshops or a spot at the STUDIO CAFÉ open mic, contact the SNTC Box Office at 933-2262
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ANSKOHK and the Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company are proudly sponsored by: Canadian Heritage, Canada Council For the Arts, Sask Festivals through SaskCulture & Sask Lotteries, Saskatchewan Arts Board, City of Saskatoon, Eagle Feather News, Planet S Magazine, C95, ROCK 102, 650 News Talk Radio.
2008 ANSKOHK FEATURED WRITERS:
Richard Wagamese is the author of three novels and the memoire For Joshua. He has worked as a broadcaster for radio and TV, but says his heart was always with the printed word; he was the first Native Canadian to win a national newspaper award for column writing while he wrote for the Calgary Herald. Wagamese has two new books to share this year: One Native Life, a tribute to the people, places and events in his journey to reclaim his identity as an Ojibway man in Canada and Ragged Company, a story that challenges the meaning of home and community.
Louise Halfe has two book publications to her credit. Bear Bones & Feathers was published by Coteau Books in 1994. It received the Canadian Peoples Poet Award, and was a finalist for the Spirit of Saskatchewan Award in that year. Blue Marrow was originally published by McLelland & Stewart in 1998; its revised edition was released by Coteau Books in September 2004. It was a finalist for both the Governor General’s Award for Poetry and the Pat Lowther Award, and for the 1998 Saskatchewan Book of the Year Award and the Saskatchewan Poetry Award.
Louise Bernice Halfe's Cree name is Sky Dancer. She was born on the Saddle Lake Reserve in Two Hills, Alberta in 1953. At the age of seven, she was sent to the Blue Quills Residential School in St. Paul, Alberta. She left residential school of her own accord when she was sixteen, breaking ties with her family and completing her studies at St. Paul's regional high school. It was at this time that she began writing a journal about her life experiences. Halfe made her debut as a poet in Writing the Circle: Native Women of Western Canada, the acclaimed anthology of life-writings by Native women. In 1993 she was awarded third prize in the League of Canadian Poets' national poetry contest and was Saskatchewan’s Poet Laureate for 2005-2006.
She has a Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Regina and currently gives workshops on drug and addiction counselling. Halfe lives in Saskatoon with her husband. She has two adult children.
Neal Mcleod is a witer, visual artist, film-maker and academic. McLeod holds a PhD in Indigeonous Studies and currently teaches at Trent University in Ontario. He studied art in Sweden and has exhibited his unique and powerful paintings in galleries through out Canada. His low-budget film, A Man Called Horst, was screened in Berlin and has become an underground classic. His first book of poetry Songs to Kill a Wihtikow was nominated for several awards including the Saskatchewan Book of the Year and The McNally Robinson Aboriginal Book of the Year. It was the winner of the Anskohk Aboriginal Poetry Award in 2006. He is also the author of the non-fiction work, Cree Narrative Memory: From Treaties to Contemporary Times (2007, Purich Publishing). His second book of poetry, Gabriel's Beach will be published by Hagios Press in 2008.
Gregory Scofield is a Métis poet, non-fiction writer, activist, teacher and community worker whose maternal ancestry can be traced back five generations to the Red River Settlement and to Kinesota, Manitoba. His paternal ancestry is Polish/Jewish and German. He has published five highly praised books of poetry and received such awards as the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize; The Canadian Author’s Association Most Promising Young Writer Award; and the Confederation of Poets Prize. |