English Department Blog
By Alex Wetmore April 23rd is World Book Day (or World Book and Copyright Day) as recognized by the United Nations, a date which offers an opportunity to reflect on the personal, cultural, historical, and global significance of books. To commemorate this day, and as part of our “Every Day English” series, I thought … Read more
Student guest post by Taylor Breckles Merhaba! As you might have guessed, that greeting wasn’t Polish. A surprise, I know. The reasoning behind this bold, creative choice stems from my most recent adventure outside of the classroom: my trip to Turkey. Well, my trip to Izmir to be precise. Izmir is a region of Turkey … Read more
By Andrea MacPherson I often recommend poetry collections, and often get a look of bafflement in return. Then, a meek, “I don’t really read poetry.” I firmly believe everyone should read poetry, regardless of whether you have any interest in actually writing poetry. And, I equally firmly believe that people only think they don’t like … Read more
Student guest post by Jessica Milliken Unless you are deep in the savanna or at the Greater Vancouver zoo, zebras are hard to come by. But I bet you see a zebra more often than you realize. In the late 1940s, Dr. Theodore Woodward told his med students, “when you hear hoofbeats, think of … Read more
Last week was Literary Arts Week at UFV, but the fun’s not over–we’ve got so many events happening in the next few days that we should be calling it Literary Artier Week! There’s something for everyone . . . March 2nd, the UFV CreWri Club delivers a workshop to help writers keep doing what they … Read more
Nadeane Trowse contributes our next Every Day English blog post to commemorate Freedom to Read Week. Photo Credit: americanobiblioteca Flickr via Compfight cc When freedom to read is only the necessary start I was ten when I read a portion of a banned book. My great aunt (who valued ‘culture’), gave a mimeographed copy of … Read more
We kicked off Literary Arts Week in style with the arrival of our WIR, Jordan Abel, the launch of the latest issue of the Pacific Rim Review of Books, and a colloquium on the current state of Canada’s publishing industry. Jordan Abel got things started. After talking about how his Nisga’a identity informs his creative … Read more
Michelle LaFlamme contributes our next Every Day English blog post to commemorate World Day of Social Justice. Photo Credit: JFrazier_Photo Flickr via Compfight cc I teach Canadian literature and specialize in Aboriginal drama. This means that I am necessarily engaged with postcolonial theory and numerous social justice issues that preoccupy many contemporary writers. One thing … Read more
Are you ready for Monday? We’re not just talking about going back to class — Monday, February 20th is also Jordan Abel’s first day as our Kuldip Gill Writing Fellow, and we’ve got an exciting afternoon planned. It all happens at U-House . . . 2.30: Jordan Abel will read from his work and do … Read more
By Michelle Superle I learned about Braille from books, appropriately enough—from the Little House series, my childhood favourites. There I was, cozy on my couch, while back in 1800s Dakota poor Mary was going blind. Her family worried that wouldn’t be able to earn a living. To me, the greatest tragedy was that Mary … Read more