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Astrid Blodgett, Allison Kydd and Audrey J. Whitson -- Reading and Signing

Thursday Sep 12 2013 7:00 pm, Saskatoon, Travel Alcove
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Event type: reading, signing

You Haven't Changed a Bit (University of Alberta Press) by Astrid Blodgett

Emily via the Greyhound Bus (Thistledown Press) by Allison Kydd

The Glorious Mysteries: And Other Stories (Thistledown Press) by Audrey J. Whitson

Through mesmerizing forays into characterization, voicing, and narrative technique, and with a clean economy of style rare even in short fiction, Astrid Blodgett conjures the moral and existential freight of her fully fledged characters in the throes of realistic moments. You Haven’t Changed a Bit shimmers with the energy of a first book while affording readers the subtlety, complexity, and range of an accomplished master of the genre.

Astrid Blodgett has been writing all her life. After completing an MA, for which she wrote a creative thesis, she took part in a Writing Studio and later a Wired Writing Studio (both at the Banff Centre). For many years she has attended the Writers' Guild of Alberta writing retreats at Strawberry Creek Lodge, where she wrote most of the stories in this collection. She has received a number of literary awards, including a City of Edmonton Seven Arts Club Scholarship and James Patrick Folinsbee writing awards from the University of Alberta. Astrid's stories have been read on CBC Radio's Alberta Anthology and published in Meltwater: Fiction and Poetry from The Banff Centre, Alberta Views, Prairie Fire, The Antigonish Review, and most recently in The Journey Prize Stories.

In Allison Kydd's Emily via the Greyhound Bus, Emily is on a bus, nauseous, and reflecting on her past life — on jobs she has worked, relationships she has had, and what has shaped her as a woman. Years of making the wrong choices, especially with men, and memories of children she couldn't keep, have left her confidence shaken. In flight, without much money and not even a suitcase, Emily becomes a tragic figure but somehow through her independence and determination rises above this stereotype. As the bus rolls west from Toronto across the prairies Emily’s hard-edged impulse for survival and her instinctual savvy lead her to an unexpected self-awareness.

Allison Kydd works as an English distance instructor/tutor for Athabasca University, is on the board of the Saskatchewan Writes’ Guild and has been widely published in magazines and journals.

At the heart of every story in Audrey Whitson’s collection The Glorious Mysteries: And Other Stories is a character seeking personal purpose amongst the deep mysteries of self, and a wholeness amid the fractious nature of life. Whitson’s evocative narration guides us effortlessly through these often turbulent journeys, seamlessly taking in a vast range of time and place along the way. An admirable authenticity of voice lends an intimacy and honesty to her carefully constructed tales. Whitson’s respect for her characters and gift for depicting a world enriched by diversity of beliefs, combined with a unique spiritual edge, creates a book alluringly imbued with significance, unveiled secrets, and mysterious events.

Audrey J. Whitson’s short fiction has appeared in Alberta Views, the Canadian Journal of Prairie Literature, Confluence, FreeFall, and Room Magazine. Her first book, Teaching Places, a memoir about how the land teaches was shortlisted for three awards. Her poetry and essays have been published in many magazines and anthologies and have won awards. She lives in Edmonton, Alberta. Audrey wishes to thank the Alberta Foundation for the Arts for its support.

See:

You Haven't Changed a Bit

- Astrid Blodgett

Trade paperback $21.99
Reader Reward Price: $19.79

Through mesmerizing forays into characterization, voicing, and narrative technique, and with a clean economy of style rare even in short fiction, Astrid Blodgett conjures the moral and existential freight of her fully fledged characters in the throes of realistic moments. From the fascinatingly unhinged hero of "Getting the Cat," to the dreamy survey of prairie landscape and childhood experience of "New Summer Dresses," to the fatal irony of "Ice Break," readers will be hooked from first sentences and carried along on crisp prose. You Haven't Changed a Bit shimmers with the energy of a first book while affording readers the subtlety, complexity, and range of an accomplished master of the genre.

Emily via the Greyhound Bus

- Allison Kydd

Trade paperback $9.95
Reader Reward Price: $8.96

We meet Emily travelling on a bus, suffering from morning sickness, and reflecting on her past life - on jobs she has worked, relationships she has had, and her years of growing up as a First Nations girl. Years of making the wrong choices, especially with men, have left her confidence shaken and with a legacy of unexpected children. Without much money and not even a suitcase, Emily becomes a tragic figure but somehow through her independence and determination she rises above this stereotype. As the bus rolls west from Toronto across the prairies various passengers engage Emily in conversations, some with evil intentions of taking advantage of her. Throughout these incidents we discover Emily's hard-edged attitude for survival and her instinctual savvy.

The Glorious Mysteries

- Audrey Whitson

Trade paperback $18.95
Reader Reward Price: $17.06

These stories about girls and women display a range of storytelling. Stylistically the stories vary with their emotional impact but throughout them all is the steady, careful pulse of Whitson? prose often characterized by first person narration and well-researched local colour. Although a straight-ahead storyteller, her use of first-person creates an intimacy that has the reader leaning in to hear the narrators?secrets and to bear witness to their search for personal meaning. Whether the story is told from the point of view of a small child growing up on an Alberta farm, or a young middle-class woman living in California? saturated culture, there is an undeniable authenticity of voice that is at once intimate and honest. Evocative in her landscape details and insightful in her psychological renderings, Whitson is fully in control of her character? spiritual journeys as she is awed by the forces that shape them.