Writer

Author returns to her childhood roots in role as writer-in-residence at U of T Scarborough

noreen.rasbach — Fri, 18 Jan 2019 21:04:10 +0000

Author returns to her childhood roots in role as writer-in-residence at U of T Scarborough

noreen.rasbach Fri, 01/18/2019 - 16:04

Don Campbell

Topic

City & Culture

Alumni

Culture

U of T Scarborough

Writer

The Scarborough of author Carrianne Leung’s 1970s childhood was a much different place than it is today.

“We immigrated from Hong Kong in 1971 and shortly after moved into a new house in a brand new subdivision in Agincourt,” says Leung, who will spend the winter term as writer-in-residence at ��Ƶ Scarborough.

“Scarborough was predominantly white – when we arrived there were only a handful of Chinese families in our neighbourhood and I was always one of two kids of colour in my class.”

It was the same year that multiculturalism became official policy under then prime minister Pierre Trudeau. While this manifested itself in things like “multiculturalism” days at her elementary school, Leung says she still experienced racism.

Her recent book, That Time I Loved You, draws inspiration from some of those early childhood experiences. Using a series of short, interconnected stories, the book explores themes of racism, mental illness, suicide, sexual violence, and queerness through racialized and first-generation Canadian characters as they try to navigate life in 1970s Scarborough.

“We’ve developed language and ways of talking about these issues, but in the ’70s there was this attitude of suburban respectability,” says Leung, who earned her PhD in sociology and equity studies at the Ontario Institute for Studies In Education.

“Everyone had their own secret lives and we didn’t really have the tools to properly articulate what was really going on. So outside the home you had this façade of respectability, but inside there were these tensions and anxieties that no one was talking about.”

Much like authors Catherine Hernandez (Scarborough) and David Chariandy (Brother), Leung is known for using Scarborough as a muse and backdrop for her work.

With Scarborough developing as a cultural scene – Nuit Blanche, for example, is expanding into the area – Leung says she's excited to see it receive the recognition it deserves, but cautions against fetishizing one or two things about the place.

“Scarborough is such a rich and complicated place with so many awesome things happening that it can’t be reduced to a one-liner,” she says.

“The Scarborough I explore in my book also doesn’t exist anymore, but the stories coming from the younger generation of artists in Scarborough will be very different and equally as exciting.”

In her role as writer-in-residence, Leung will host workshops, visit classes, hold office hours and work on her next book as well as a collection of essays. What excites her most about the role, though, is the opportunity to work with the next generation of writers.

“I love mentoring young writers. It’s also such an exciting time to be a writer because there are so many fresh and unique stories coming out that that have never been heard before,” she says.

“This new wave of young writers is bringing an energy and passion that is giving a voice to their individual experiences and the unique experiences of their families.”

Meanwhile, Leung will host a reading at the U of T Scarborough library Wednesday that will include her personal essay about growing up in Scarborough.

Multidisciplinary artist Aisha Sasha John is U of T Scarborough’s new writer-in-residence

noreen.rasbach — Mon, 15 Jan 2018 16:16:38 +0000

Multidisciplinary artist Aisha Sasha John is U of T Scarborough’s new writer-in-residence

noreen.rasbach Mon, 01/15/2018 - 11:16

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Aisha Sasha John, U of T Scarborough’s new writer-in-residence, is a poet, dancer and choreographer (photo by Yuula Benivolski)

Topic

For Aisha Sasha John, this is the second time the ��Ƶ Scarborough has been the location for a first.

“My very first gallery show was at UTSC’s Doris McCarthy Gallery, and this is my first academic writer-in-residency, so the fact that they both happened here, completely independently, makes me feel like I have a relationship to this campus,” she says.

John, U of T Scarborough’s writer-in-residence for winter 2018, is a poet, dancer and choreographer. She has published three collections of poems: The Shining Material, THOU and most recently, I have to live. THOU was a finalist for the Trillium Book Award for Poetry and the ReLit Poetry Award.

Her solo dance performance, the aisha of oz, premièred at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York this past June. Renamed the aisha of is, the show will have its Canadian première in Montreal in April.

John graduated from U of T with a bachelor's degree in African studies and semiotics, and then received a master's in creative writing from the University of Guelph. She has had her work exhibited at the Doris McCarthy Gallery and Oakville Galleries.

From 2015 to 2017, John choreographed, performed and curated as a member of WIVES, a feminist collective based in Montreal and Toronto. In early 2017 she was commissioned by Art Metropole to do a public art residency at Union Station. John invited four other artists to spend a week with her in Union Station’s west wing where each day they collaborated on a performance in response to the directive John designated as the project’s title: Let’s understand what it means to be here (together).

A self-proclaimed “singing dancer,” John describes her various practices as spaces in which she develops critical faculties – as well as undergoes healing. “In some way – in an important way – my work consists of the knowledge I produce through self-healing.”

John says her work as a poet and performer is inspired by the transformation she sees art produce in herself and others. “I’ll read something or I’ll see a show and afterward think to myself, 'I’m a different person now,’” she says.

The Montreal-born artist says she’s “excited about being part of a university community,” noting U of T’s notable library collections and the university's emphasis on research. She’s also glad to be in Scarborough for the campus environment, especially being surrounded by nature.

On Jan. 24, John will deliver her first reading in the UTSC Library Makerspace. Back in the Makerspace on Jan. 25, she will facilitate a hand-on writers' workshop. In addition to hosting workshops and visiting classes, John will consult with students on manuscripts-in-progress while also working on a new collection of poems.

John’s office hours will be held Tuesdays from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in HW 324, where she welcomes anyone on campus to drop in and consult with her.

Margaret Atwood comes to U of T for Canadian premiere of “The Handmaid’s Tale”

Romi Levine — Thu, 27 Apr 2017 18:28:58 +0000

Margaret Atwood comes to U of T for Canadian premiere of “The Handmaid’s Tale”

Romi Levine Thu, 04/27/2017 - 14:28

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Margaret Atwood answers questions from the audience at Innis College (photo by Romi Levine)

Romi Levine

Author legacy

Romi Levine

Topic

Faculty of Arts & Science

Writer

Margaret Atwood

Subheadline

“Now we have the election of Mr. Trump – that has changed things radically in the way people view this book”

When the producers of the television adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s famed novel The Handmaid’s Tale began developing the series, they didn’t realize how closely it would follow the political realities of the United States over the past year.

“The entire cast of the series woke up on Nov. 9th and looked at each other and said, in essence, ‘We are no longer in a fiction,’” Atwood told a full house of ��Ƶ students, faculty, staff and media at Innis College on Wednesday for the Canadian premiere of the first episode of the series.

The event was organized as part of Innis College’s Canada 150 celebrations by U of T’s writing and rhetoric program in partnership with Bravo, which airs the show in Canada, and Ryerson University.

“I was very lucky,” said Atwood about working closely with the show’s writers and showrunner Bruce Miller, who wanted to stay faithful to the novel while updating it to reflect the modern day.

Read about Fisher Library's collection of Atwood's archives on the novel

Elisabeth Moss plays Offred in the TV adaptation of The Handmaid's Tale (photo courtesy of Bravo)

This involved making some changes to the characters themselves – like casting the commander and his wife younger than in the book (to increase the tension, she said) – and depicting interracial relationships.

“There are many more intersectional friendships, relationships, kids with two different kinds of parents – that is happening now in cities,” said Atwood.

It made sense for the show to reflect that, Atwood said, while at the same time acknowledging that everything that happens in the narrative’s near-future has roots in the past.

“There's a lot of guidance in the historical notes as to where these things came from in real life because it was my rule not to put anything in that did not have a precedent somewhere at some time,” she said.

The past has also informed how The Handmaid’s Tale is interpreted – changing its meaning depending on when it was read or watched, said Atwood.

“Now we have the election of Mr. Trump – that has changed things radically in the way people view this book,” she said.

Similar to events that take place in the novel, people in the U.S. are now grappling with the rolling back of reproductive rights in certain states, said Atwood.

“You probably noticed that the Texas legislature had a visitation of handmaids who went and sat in it while a bunch of guys were deciding what to do with women's bodies,” Atwood told the audience. “They just sat there. There's a picture of them [see below] sitting there surrounded by men with guns that could be a still right out of the television series.”

2 DPS officers, Senate door guy & sergeant at arms have positioned themselves around a group of #handmaidstale activists in Senate #txlege pic.twitter.com/UC54ZlULQd
— Alexa Garcia-Ditta (@agarciaditta) March 20, 2017

“The [television series] acquired more gravitas,” she said. “The reviews have been universally spectacular, and I have to think that is in part a relation to the political situation they've gotten themselves in. It's no longer a thing you can brush off and deny.”

At the time of writing the novel, it was the height of the Cold War, which offered a different kind of political tension. The newspaper clippings on the news events that influenced The Handmaid’s Tale as well as Atwood’s original handwritten notes can be found at U of T’s Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library in the author's extensive archives.

Atwood said she found the archives helped to organize her life’s work and allowed her to easily access items from decades ago that might influence future works.

“They have them all nicely arranged and labeled if I need to remember something – like what the heck was I thinking back in 1984. I went into them myself recently and there it all was. It all sort of comes back to you,” she said.

“They've acquired a quaint, analog ambience,” she joked. “They're on paper, and I was writing in ink and also with a typewriter – don't you think it's quite archaic, antique and sort of cute?”

‘The Handmaid’s Tale’: Margaret Atwood's handwritten first draft at U of T's Fisher Library

Romi Levine — Mon, 24 Apr 2017 20:30:35 +0000

‘The Handmaid’s Tale’: Margaret Atwood's handwritten first draft at U of T's Fisher Library

Romi Levine Mon, 04/24/2017 - 16:30

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‘The Handmaid's Tale’ has been translated into numerous languages in countries around the world. Copies of the novel from Iran, Canada, Germany and China (photo by Romi Levine)

Romi Levine

Author legacy

Romi Levine

Topic

New writers-in-residence eager to mentor aspiring writers at U of T

ullahnor — Mon, 16 Jan 2017 15:43:49 +0000

New writers-in-residence eager to mentor aspiring writers at U of T

ullahnor Mon, 01/16/2017 - 10:43

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Novelist Zoe Whittall is U of T Scarborough's new writer-in-residence

Don Campbell

Author legacy

Don Campbell

Topic

City & Culture

Writer

Books

Zoe Whittall has pretty much done it all as a writer. In addition to writing novels, short stories and poetry, she’s worked as a journalist and also writes for television.

The Toronto-based, award-winning author can now add writer-in-residence to her impressive resume. She is the new writer-in-residence at U of T Scarborough, the fourth since the program’s inception in 2013.

“I’m really looking forward to meeting students and reading their work,” says Whittall. “Mentorship is so important because writing is a very solitary vocation and artistic practice, one that is necessarily filled with rejection at every turn.”

Whittall is not the only writer-in-residence at U of T.

Award-winning Canadian author André Alexis is University College’s Barker Fairley Distinguished Visitor in Canadian Studies this year.

The Trinidad-born author's latest novel, Fifteen Dogs, won the $100,000 Scotiabank Giller Prize and the $25,000 Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. Alexis (pictured left) says he likes talking to students as part of the program.

“I’m comfortable talking with any age group,” says Alexis, “but I love talking with young people. I love the questions they bring to me.”

U of T alum and adjunct prof Anne Michaels named Toronto poet laureate

sgupta — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 15:33:03 +0000

U of T alum and adjunct prof Anne Michaels named Toronto poet laureate sgupta Wed, 10/14/2015 - 11:33

Arthur Kaptainis

Author legacy

Arthur Kaptainis

Pier Giorgio Di Cicco

George Elliott Clarke

Faculty of Arts & Science

Subheadline

All five poets laureate have been members of U of T community

The ��Ƶ has a lock on local couplets – again.

Anne Michaels, an adjunct professor of English and former Barker Fairley Distinguished Visitor in Canadian Studies at University College, has been named Toronto’s poet laureate. She follows George Elliott Clarke, the E.J. Pratt Professor of Canadian Literature at U of T.

“Toronto is fortunate to embrace dozens of languages and has an invaluable literary history,” Michaels said in a statement released by the City of Toronto. “I am looking forward to celebrating our many voices, old and new."

The native Torontonian graduated from U of T in 1980 and launched her literary career in 1986 with The Weight of Oranges. Miner’s Pond (1991) received the National Magazine Award, the Canadian Authors Association Award for Poetry and a nomination for the Governor General's Award.

Michaels’s most recent volume of poetry, Correspondences (2014), is an elegy to her father, replete with references to 20th-century artistic and intellectual figures. Published with folded pages in the manner of an accordion, the book was shortlisted for the 2014 Griffin Poetry Prize.

Among her most acclaimed works is the 1996 novel Fugitive Pieces, which won the Trillium Book Award, the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award, the Guardian Book Prize and Orange Prize for Fiction (U.K.) and America’s Lannan Literary Award for Fiction. The movie based on this book was screened on the opening day of the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival.

Michaels is Toronto’s fifth poet laureate; all five have been members of the U of T community.

First in 2001 was U of T alumnus and former Victoria College English instructor Dennis Lee. He was followed by Pier Giorgio Di Cicco, an alumnus who became a visiting professor in the St. Michael’s College graduate department of Italian studies; and Dionne Brand, an alumna of both U of T and OISE.

The university has figured in the work of the poets it has touched or generated. Fugitive Pieces, a novel about war and memory, includes as a major character Athos Roussos, a geologist who escapes Greece during the Second World War to take a position at U of T. Michaels has called the war the “formative event” for people of her generation.

Michaels’s interest in multiculturalism and language is manifested in this novel particularly in the figure of Jakob Beer, an orphan from Nazi-occupied Poland whose acquisition of Greek and English erases his memory of the Holocaust.

"With that book, I was asked am I Jewish, am I Catholic, am I Greek,” Michaels told The Guardian newspaper in 2009. “And, yes, I did resist answering, because I really feel that to answer would be a cop-out."

Michaels, who founded the long-distance creative writing program at U of T's School of Continuing Studies, was named one of the inaugural University College Alumni of Influence in 2012. Her term as poet laureate, to be confirmed by Toronto City Council in November, will last for three years.

Clarke is delighted by the nomination of Michaels and the link to U of T.

"Whenever I teach Canadian Poetry, I always point out the strong connection between Canada's most appreciated Eglish-language poets and the ��Ƶ," he told U of T News.

"After all, this was the home of poet E.J. Pratt and the great critic Northrop Frye. Together, they nurtured the finest poets of the mid-20th century, including Margaret Atwood and Jay Macpherson, and made Canadian poetry a distinctive, valued genre for creativity and for study.

"Anne Michaels is an heir to the marvelous legacy engendered by this institution. Perhaps alumni will now raise funds for a Poets’ Tower to join the splendid Soldiers’ Tower on our campus."

Organizations and individuals took to social media to congratulate Michaels and thank Clarke for his services. Among them was mayor and U of T alumnus John Tory, who tweeted: "I want to thank George Elliott Clarke for serving as Toronto's Poet Laureate & all he’s done to promote our city’s diverse voices."

Read the Toronto Star story on the poet laureate

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Writer

Author returns to her childhood roots in role as writer-in-residence at U of T Scarborough

Multidisciplinary artist Aisha Sasha John is U of T Scarborough’s new writer-in-residence

Margaret Atwood comes to U of T for Canadian premiere of “The Handmaid’s Tale”

Read about Fisher Library's collection of Atwood's archives on the novel

‘The Handmaid’s Tale’: Margaret Atwood's handwritten first draft at U of T's Fisher Library

New writers-in-residence eager to mentor aspiring writers at U of T

Read more about Alexis

U of T alum and adjunct prof Anne Michaels named Toronto poet laureate