BookShorts BiblioBlog

David Wroblewski with Lynn Rosen (BEA) on The Story of Edgar Sawtell

2008-07-01T11:30:00.002-04:00

www.movingstories.tv -- the first in our series of interviews from BookExpo America 2008, our BEA host LYNN ROSEN speaks with this summer's hot find, DAVID WROBLEWSKI about his first novel, ten years in the making -- THE STORY OF EDGAR SAWTELL. This an excerpt from Lynn's blog ... about the pivot from private to *way* public ...

"how arbitrary such boundaries are, between the work-in-progress and the work that is "done." It's never done. You could always do more. But nevertheless, you're finished with it, and it becomes this beautiful, foreign artifact that looks nothing like the stack of laser printer paper you've lived with for so long. Just when it becomes perfectly real to everyone else, it looks least like what you've known it to be as the writer.

Shot live at BookExpo America 2008, courtesy Michael McKenzie at Ecco/HarperCollins; published in Canada by Bond Street Books /Random House of Canada.

(c) 2008 BookShorts MovingStories.TV; for more information about our editorial and commissioned Author Interviews, contact judith@bookshorts.com

Festival Presenters at Moving Stories Film Preview

2008-06-30T09:45:00.002-04:00

www.movingstoriesfilmfest.com -- The consensus is growing - books on film help reach new audiences, and are an exciting way to bring readers to books. Moving Stories Film Fest proposes to do just that, and at the recent BookExpo Canada, MSFF Programmer Paul Quarrington had the opportunity to get one-on-one with the festivals presenters that will be orchestrating the short film program across the country this fall. Festival Advisor Nino Ricci and Anne Collins were there too, champions of the initiative to support authors' work on screen; as is author Susan Swan whose novel What Casanova Told Me was the very first to be adapted as for BookShorts.

Shot live at BookExpo Canada, Moving Stories Film Fest Preview event, June 15, 2008. Paul Quarrington With Anne Green, Charlene Diehl, Hal Wake, Kelly Davis, Susan Swan, and Judith Keenan with Nino Ricci.

What it takes to get in the picture: Motorcycle gang hits BEC 2008

2008-06-16T09:18:00.002-04:00

www.movingstoriesfilmfest.com -- what it takes to get into the picture -- 8 bikers, a Harley ride on the exhibit floor, a sense of humour, and a trade show full of people willing to be "convinced."

Moving Stories Film Preview June 15 @ BookExpo Canada

2008-06-09T12:11:00.004-04:00

BookShorts, the seminal producer / distributor of media inspired by books, is excited to announce Moving Stories Film Festival, a 90-minute curated program of short films celebrating the written word. The films are being selected by Festival Founder Judith Keenan and Programmer Paul Quarrington in consultation with prestigious Film Advisors, and have been submitted by artists around the world. From September to December 2008, Moving Stories will screen at public events hosted by film and literature festivals across North America.

A preview of Moving Stories will take place in the BookShorts Lounge at BookExpo Canada on Sunday, June 15 at 2:00pm. The event will include authors and directors whose work is represented in the program. Programmers from host venues will be in attendance. Moving Stories will announce the final selection of films in July 2008.

For more information about the Preview event, contact Sherry Naylor at Meisner de Groot & Associates, sherry@mdgassociates.com (416) 368-8253.

To submit films before the Film Submission deadline July 10 -- http://www.movingstoriesfilmfest.com

BookExpo 2008 New Author Events & Timely Conference Program

2008-06-06T22:54:00.005-04:00

www.bookshorts.com/bookexpo -- Held in Toronto, BookExpo Canada is the publishing industry trade show that combines a large and diverse selection of book titles with an unparalleled conference program. This special publishing industry and author event is held annually to create a dynamic environment for networking, sourcing and relationship building within the publishing industry in Canada.

BOOKSHORTS LOUNGE returns this year with new features on MovingStories.TV . BookShorts will present a whole new line up of video author interviews from authors across the country. And the best thing is, you can take them home with you on DVD!

If you are a publisher hosting authors at BEC, or an author in Toronto readdy, willing and able to join the 21st video age, visit bookshorts.com/bookexpo to hold a spot in the BookShorts Studio program. We'll shoot and produce a Video Author Interview in time for fall promotions.

All at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, downtown Toronto, Conference June 13, 14, 15; Trade Show June 15, 16, 2008. Contact judith@bookshorts.com

Donner Prize Shortlist 2007/2008 The Book Profiles

2008-04-26T22:27:00.002-04:00

www.movingstories.tv ... Allan Gotlieb, Chairman of the Donner Canadian Foundation states, This year will be remarkable for a number of reasons. We are celebrating the Donner Prizes 10th anniversary, and we have five exceptional shortlisted books that grapple with some of Canadas most pressing public policy challenges.

The Shortlist video delivers the expert opinions of this years jury at the heat of the moment during their their intense jury adjudications. Together with the evocative images, musical score, and flavoured by Colin Mochries narration, the Shortlist Book Profiles are moving tribute to the spirit of the Donner Prize.

More on the prize at www.donnerbookprize.com

Night Work: A Sawchuk Poem - Directed by Justin Simms

2008-04-02T09:32:00.002-04:00

Click to play BookShort Film

www.bookshorts.com/watch_nightwork.htm ... "The book by Randall Maggs certainly illustrated for me the power Sawchuk carried in terms of his mythology. Dealing with heroes, and our interpretations of them, is always a fascinating thing... and Sawchuk, with his great warrior spirit in the face of relentless adversity, is a striking example of the human condition. I think it makes Sawchuk's story universal. In its own way, his story is our story." This from Director Justin Simms, about his short film adaptation inspired by Maggs' NIGHT WORK: THE SAWCHUK POEMS. Randy has been receiving excellent reviews across the country, and is in great demand by festivals and audience across the country. Catch him in April at Readings at Harbourfront in Toronto, and in a tour out west in the Fall of 2008.

What would you do At a Loss for Words: Diane Schoemperlen

2008-04-02T02:35:00.006-04:00

Click to play BookShort

http://www.movingstories.tv -- Read Diane Schoemperlen's novel, "At a Loss for Words." Then read Quarrington's "The Ravine" right after, immediately after. Or the other way around, doesn't matter. Very interesting that juxtaposition.

BookShorts Literacy Program; Special Thanks to Becky at International Readings at Harbourfront and Phyllis Bruce at HarperCollins for sending the novel-that-could-be-my-personal-journal.

Food, Sex, and Salmonella: Why Our Food is Making Us Sick

2008-03-14T01:20:00.002-04:00

Click to play BookShort

www.movingstories.tv -- With solid science and deft humour, celebrated epidemiologist David Waltner-Toews brings us tales of the bacteria, viruses, and parasites that have made their way into our food supply. He describes the global patterns of foodborne disease, from ciguatera toxins in fish to pandemics of Salmonella, and the changes in climate, culture, agriculture, and trade that have led to the emergence of new diseases and epidemics. It's not all doom and gloom -- "Dr. Dave" provides practical advice for what each of us can do on a daily basis to take responsibility for mitigating the effects for the future.

Charles Taylor Prize Names Richard Gwyn, John A.

2008-03-04T08:12:00.002-05:00

Click to play BookShort

www.movingstories.tv -- The bookselllers in the room, the authors at the podium, they rank the Charles Taylor Prize in an echelon shared by Scotiabnk Giller Prize for fiction, and Griffin Prize for Poetry. All this literary splendour, within days of the announcement that the plug was pulled on the US, NBC-broadcast Quill Awards. Makes us feel good in a Canadian way, eh.

Richard Gywn, whose book was published by our favourite rock-star publisher Anne Collins of Random House Canada, won this year's Prize for literary fiction. Also nominated were David Gilmour, Lorna Goodison, Kevin Bazzana and Anna Porter. Look for snippets from these excellent authors in the upcoming blog entries.

King Leary Crowned in Canada Reads - Congrats Paul!

2008-02-29T18:42:00.002-05:00

Click to play BookShort

www.bookshorts.com/blog -- Congratulations to our friend and colleague Paul Quarrington, and kudos to champion Dave Bidini, in today's KING LEARY'S win on CANADA READS! There is so much great coverage of all the books (isn't soooo Canadian to obe soooo even handed in awards stuf - LOL!!) that we just want to add our little piece, directly from the boys themselves.

Come out to hear Paul's solo music performance at Hugh's Room on Tuesday night (Mar 4) and be sure to pick up the new Porkbellys Futures CD fronted by PQ with his long-time musical collaborator Martin Worthy and fab musicians Chas Elliott, Stuart Laughton, and Rebecca Campbell. www.porkbellys.com . PQ's next novel, The Ravine, hits the stores March 11.

(c) BookShorts Literacy Program; shot on location at Toronto Public Library, Pape Danforth Branch during FREEDOM TO READ WEEK.

FRANNIE IN PIECES by Delia Ephron saving the blues for last

2008-02-25T19:24:00.001-05:00

Click to Play BookShort

www.movingstories.tv -- Saving the blues for last is a wonderful subtitle for this teen novel, on a number of levels. The 15-year old protagonist, Frannie, loses her father to a sudden heart attack. Amongst his belongings, she finds a 1000-piece, handmade puzzle he has left behind, presumably for her. Drawn into its mesmerizing assembly, she literally saves the hardest part - the blue pieces of the sky and water - for last, and in the process, discovers her divorced parents love affair, works through her grief, her blues, and comes through complete. The novel makes you cry and laugh at the same time, just as Delia Ephron's famous books and films for adults have done (Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail, Hanging Up, and more).

Movieola Features JPOD written by Bruce Pirrie

2008-01-10T11:59:00.000-05:00

Heads up from our number one fav shorts broadcaster - Movieola .... Check out another on-screen interpretation of Coupland's novel - there can never be enough of a good thing as far as we're concerned. So, for more excellent short films of all kinds, visit http://www.movieola.ca or add the channel to your cable package and see them on the lean-back screen.

With thanks to Shane Smith for forwarding the news!

DIARY OF A FLY pays respect to the tiny ones, even if they are a little icky

2007-12-27T00:59:00.001-05:00

Click to Play BookShort

www.movingstories.tv - Childrens books are books for which I have a huge respect, but more experience consuming as a young reader than critiquing as a member of the adult reading posse. So Ill quote Susan Moorhead of the New Rochelle Public Library in New York, writing a starred review in the School Library Journal when she reports, Fans of Diary of a Spider and Diary of a Worm will be thrilled with the latest mix of whimsy and scientific fact in DIARY OF A FLY (all titles published by HarperCollins), written by New York Times bestselling author Doreen Cronin and illustrated by Harry Bliss.

BookShorts' Coal Lumper Holiday Party Rocks

2007-12-13T22:55:00.001-05:00

Click to Play BookShort

Guest Posting by IRENE DUMA of BitterTonic.com ... BookShorts celebrates the season with all their naughty friends. Let's see who's on the list.

I see the Porkbelly Futures. That's their second time on the list. Good work Paul, Marty, Chaz, Stu and Rebecca. Oh, and Teddy Leonard too.

The Gents are naughty. That's Bruce Pirrie, Bob Bainborough, Mark Baram and Doug Morency. Patrick McKenna, the 5th Gent, was being nice in Hamilton and so couldn't come out this evening.

And so is Marty Adams - cast member of the much hoopla'd current Second City show "Facebook of Revelations." Which we might add was directed by the aforementioned naughty Mr. Pirrie.

Oh - she calls herself a pilgrim, but party MC Sue Kenney is very, very naughty. Judith Keenan was there of course. Naughty. With bells on.

And then there was me, the evening's host, Irene Duma. 100% pure angel.

Thanks to our guests - yup - mostly naughty.

And big sloppy thank yous to: The Gladstone Hotel, our hosts for the second of five years of history-making holidays; Come As You Are available for toys year round at 701 Queen Street West, and Inniskillin Wines who graciously provided most excellent spirits.

Meisner, de Groot now Associates

2007-12-13T22:49:00.001-05:00

Click to Play BookShort

www.bookshorts.com ... It's a power duo if ever there was one - Susan Meisner, Debby de Groot -- look out press here they come! And by all accounts it was welcomed by all at their joint Holiday Party and announcement Monday December 10. The two firms intend to join forces as of January 2, operating out of the Meisner offices on King Street East in Toronto.

Biased though we are (BookShorts is and continues to be a client) we did our own video survey of guests at the fete -- what a hoot to turn the cameras on the gals usually *behind* the scenes! With many thanks to the guests of Susas and Debby, and apologies to all professional camera people everywhere. More video enthusiasm to come when their new website launches - watch for it!

SEAN CULLEN at IFOA on kids, curiosity, writing, and Hamish X

2007-12-09T10:21:00.002-05:00

www.bookshorts.com/blog ... I caught a television interview with Sean Cullen, the talented artist of comedy, television and stage. It must have been shot some years ago. In that interview he quietly aspired to realize his dream of becoming an author. With the success of Cullen's HAMISH X series of books for young readers, he has obviously reached his goal. Hamish X and the Hollow Mountain, the second work, was the focus of this IFOA Kids reading during the last International Festival of Authors. Sean's observation of the TV biz versus book-biz may even give you pause before your next boob-tube armchair tirade!

With thanks to Harbourfront IFOA, Sean Cullen, and the students of York Woods Public School and MacLaughlin College. For more bookish event coverage, visit bookshorts.com/blog. (c) 2007 BookShorts Literacy Program.

Donald Ziraldo, Karl Kaiser launch ICEWINE Extreme Winemaking

2007-12-08T19:20:00.001-05:00

Click to Play BookShort

www.movingstories.tv ... It's finally here, in time for the holidays, and if you are anything like Master Donald Ziraldo, you'll be giving your world-wide globe-trotting fabulous friends and family the quintessential Canadian gift - Icewine! The book of course. That's what Order-of-Canada Donald and his award-winning partner Karl Kaiser are undoubtedly planning, and we'd do well to follow suit. It's a book all beautiful, informative and useful too, showcasing art, science and glorious recipes that honour the beverage these two entreprenuers brought from Germany to put Canada, literally, on the wine-making map of the world. Am I gushing? You bet. I wanna make a movie with a mogul ;)

ICEWINE: Extreme Winemaking is now in stores, published by Key Porter / H.B. Fenn and Company. This video has been assembled courtesy of the gracious guests attending the launch event, held November 21 at Chapters Indigo Young Eglington Centre, with contributions from Jamie Kennedy Kitchens, Artisan Cheese Marketing, Inniskillin Wines, and Key Porter.

Watch for the interview version of our coverage, coming soon!

Governor General Lit Award to Smardz Frost, I'VE GOT A HOME IN GLORYLAND

2007-12-01T09:08:00.002-05:00

www.bookshorts.com -- Now a Governor General Literary Award winner, I've Got a Home in Glory Land by author Karolyn Smardz Frost is the epic story and first entirely original biography of a fugitive slave couple since the 19th century.
BookShorts attended the event celebrating its publication at St. Lawrence Hall in Toronto in the Spring of 2007. Author / Teacher / Activist AUSTIN CLARKE provided clear insight for the significant contribution Smardz Frost has made to history.

The book is the fascinating and absorbing story of Thornton and Lucie Blackburn, two fugitive slaves from Kentucky who made a daring daylight escape from slavery in 1831. It is both a devastating portrait of the conditions and the politics of slavery and an inspiring account of two intrepid fugitive slaves whose flight to freedom changed US and Canadian history.

Detox your mind and soul with MADELEINE MARENTETTE

2007-11-12T16:05:00.003-05:00

http://www.movingstories.tv/ ... Madeleine Marentette has a reason to pay attention to holistic therapies -- they saved her life. Grail Springs Holistic Detox is her way of sharing the knowledge she's gleaned through a lifetime of study, research, dedication and the day to day proof she has seen at her own spa retreat in Northern Ontario. Her book outlines a proven method to cleanse both body and mind, and sets readers on a path to a healthier and happier life.

Published by McArthur and Company, it will be widely available on December 1. For more information, visit http://www.mcarthur-co.com/

Anthony Hutchcroft's IN FLANDERS FIELDS a celebration of poetry in song

2007-11-08T17:09:00.001-05:00

Click to Play BookShort

In November 2006 Mission BC songwriter Anthony Hutchcroft composed new music for his adaptation of “IN FLANDERS FIELDS,” the iconic First World War poem written by Canadian Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae. A few months later Mr. Hutchcroft went into the studio and recorded his vocal performance of the song. The beautiful video here is directed and choreographed by Lee Kwidzinski and performed by the dancers from the Fraser Valley Youth Dance Troupe.

The result is a haunting and spectacular performance that takes McCrae’s poem from dramatic words to a stirring and uplifting musical anthem.

Tony Tobias and Pangaea Media & Music Inc. are proud to represent the songs of multi-award winning songwriters such as Anthony Hutchcroft, as well as Ken Tobias and Jessica Rhaye, whose songs have also graced the soundtracks of two BookShort productions. For more about Pangaea, visit http://www.pangaeamediaandmusic.ca/.

ELIJAH OF BUXTON by Christopher Paul Curtis Addresses Slavery through Fiction for Young Adults

2007-10-31T09:07:00.002-04:00

www.movingstories.tv -- A tall and jocular gent, author Christopher Paul Curtis uses brings his charm and magnanimity to ELIJAH OF BUXTON, an young adult novel that sees the very first child born of runaway slaves in Buxton Canada, 1850-ish, take on an arduous and wrenching journey back into the milieu of America's south. It is a mark of his sensitivity and humour that he has you laughing in the first chapter, then crying just as easily a chapter later as he weaves the fictional tale through the harsh reality of the times. Curtis is a master storyteller, and like those of his ilk, leaves one with hope as well as insight into the world he crafts. For more about this book and others by Newbery Award Winner Christopher Paul Curtis, visit http://www.Teachingbooks.net.

Lesley Choyce on surfing, writing, and finding your own insanity

2007-10-25T09:32:00.002-04:00

http://www.movingstories.tv/ - Book Expo Canada is a great place to run into authors you've admired from afar, right up close and personal. I'd read about Lesley, for instance, and amongst the thronging passages of the trade show floor I ran into him, almost literally. Not one to lose his feet (and if you know his particular form of insanity, you'll understand exactly why), he is an amazing, refreshing and completely open multi-talented artist. Books, music, television, teaching, publishing - you name it, he's pretty much done it, and very well too. Pick up "Republic of Nothing" and be newly inspired to believe in fables; read "Driving Minnie's Piano" and have faith that humanity is alive and well in some parts of the world; give "Wave Warrior" to a young person you love, and give them the gift of compassion.

For more of Lesley's considerable oeuvre visit him on MySpace or http://www.lesleychoyce.com/

3-Year Old Amanda inspires Chris Lin to teach Chinese to Kids

2007-10-17T22:22:00.002-04:00

http://www.movingstories.tv/ -- They say "write from what you know," especially as a new author. CHRIS LIN is taking that literally, but in more ways than one. First, he has created his series of children's books, MANDY AND PANDY, from the first-hand experience of fathering his adopted Chinese daughter, Amanda. Second, he is writing in his adopted language, Chinese, because he loves the language, and sincerely wants his daughter to know her heritage in a way that can only come from speaking its tongue. And last, he has so much fun with Mandy, the character and the real thing, that he can't help but infuse the page with the same spirit of adventure his child shows him every day. It's a lovely back story, and we wish Chris and Mandy, and Mandy and Pandy, all the very best!

10% of all the Internet book sales of the Mandy and Pandy series will be donated to the orphanage where Chris first met and adopted his daughter. For more information (and some adorable pictures of the live Mandy!) please visit http://www.mandyandpandy.com/.

Bedtime Stories for Adults, Under the Covers a first for Open Book Toronto

2007-10-14T17:33:00.003-04:00

http://www.movingstories.tv/ -- Amy Logan Holmes, the Executive Director for OpenBook:Toronto has been very thorough in her programming for the this new awareness campaign, dedicated to bring "fresh and local" authors to the trendy-set. UNDER THE COVERS: BEDTIME STORIES FOR ADULTS was a sexy event co-produced with Jen McNeely of SheDoesTheCity.com, pretty much the polar opposite of the Mini-Indoor Picnic for real little kids at the Drake this weekend. But that's the "clever" of her strategy, in my opinion. In bite-sized hits, she's helping to bring a vitality and presence to the incredible array of great authors and books our Ontario-based publishers put on the shelves every year. For more on what's happening 'round town, visit OpenBookToronto.com; for more on nightlife for grown-up fun loving young ladies, visit shedoesthecity.com.