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Interview with Mr. Rice: Inspiring Inspirations

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Interview with Mr. Rice: Inspiring Inspirations

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Among the many things he discussed, Mr Rice shared his inspirations for his novel Moon of the Crusted Snow.

In terms of setting, the August 2003 blackout that occurred in the US and in Canada was not a source of fear, but rather an event that he felt comfortable with because his community in the rez was able to adapt. In fact, whenever something happened in the city, he knew he could go to the rez. The blackout and the author's community's ability to adapt served as frameworks for his novel.

Moon of the Crusted Snow, as Waubgeshig Rice put it, is a sort of hommage to his people, and through his novel, he also sought to highlight the impacts of colonialism which he discussed in a way that was not limited to the novel. The guest speaker discuss the detachment from their culture his people often feel because of external forces that created a disconnect between language and culture. He brought up the fact that the Indigenous people from his generation don't speak their native languages because of the shame trickling down from the majority.

That's about it for my posts about the ImagiNation Literary Festival. Don't hesitate to pm me for more details and follow my page for more extra crispy content.

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If you want to know more about the authors:
https://www.morrin.org/evenements/imagination-2019-paige-cooper-sina-queyras-et-eliza-robertson/

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Yesterday's evening at the Morrin Center

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Yesterday's evening at the Morrin Center

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Yesterday I went to the ImagiNation Writer's festival. I was too tired to talked to you about this evening, but now that I am well rest, let me tell you about the amazing authors that I had the chance to hear.

First of all, we have heard Eliza Robertson. She read us an extract of her recent novel intitled "Demi-Gods". Her voice soothed us into the first pages of this book. It was an interesting story, but it did not picked my interest as much as needed to pursue the discovery of her work.

Then we had the pleasure to listen to a trombone quartet. They were professional musicians and they came from all across the world. They had carefully chosen each song (one song per reading) that they thought well represented the work of the author.

Second of all, we have heard Paige Cooper and her short story that took place in space. The story was really interesting and I wished I could have heard all of it.

Finally, we have heard from the author Sina Queyras. Her energy was quite different from the others, but her reading was still exquisite. She presented two poems from her book called "My Ariel".

Overall I really appreciated my evening, but I thought that having a direct connection with the words and the notes would have been better. The music and the writings should coordinate to create a marvelous presentation.

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Waubgeshig Rice: an Indigenous author worth discovering

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Waubgeshig Rice: an Indigenous author worth discovering

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When I first read the description of the evening first evening session that was to be held on Wednesday night, I was intrigued by Waubgeshig Rice, an author I had never heard about. Turns out that the interview was captivating! I can't stress enough how interesting it was! Being magnanimous as always, I could not withhold the interesting facts I learned during the interview, so I'll share them with you (you can thank me later).

To contextualize my Wednesday evening, the author talked about his most recent novel, Moon of the Crusted Snow. Throughout the novel, the reader can follow the adventures of a small Indigenous community in a post-apocalyptic scenario. In fact, "something" happened and the community has to survive.

So that's it for today, follow my facebook page for upcoming details about the interview

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Last week, I attended the ImagiNation literary festival held in the beautiful Old Quebec and let me tell you that this event highlighted my Wednesday night!

To be honest, I did not feel like attending the event at first because I wasn't too sure what it was all about and I felt that I had had enough of literature with my literature courses in cegep (believe me, literary trauma is a real thing).

I was pleasantly surprised though by the way literature was discussed. Rather than approaching it from a formal point of view as I've always been used to, the speakers discussed it in a more personal and relatable way.

I must congratulate the organizing committee for being able to organize this wonderful event which was successful in sparking a lost interest in literature in me.

Overall rating: 9.5/10

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Finally! I have just received my ticket to assist at the Literary Notes evening. This activity will take place at the Morrin Centre on April 3rd for the Imagination Writer's festival. This opportunity allows me to discover some Canadian's writers and gives me a chance to hear some musician from the Orchestre Symphonique of Quebec.

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An unusual wednesday night at the Morrin Centre

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An unusual wednesday night at the Morrin Centre

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As soon as I received the ticket in my mailbox, I knew that It was going to be a fun night for only 8$.

19h:      It started in a usual way— I got lost going to the Morrin centre. It was like my third time going there but I still could not find the place. Me and my legendary bad sense of direction . Well, at least, Gabrielle and I just made a small detour and were able to arrive just in time.

20h:      I do not know any of the authors that are going to present their works, but I am always quite curious in regard of discovering new writers.

21h30:                I was not disappointed by the authors. Their stories were quite interesting but for now, I am too tired and I just want to go home. Tomorrow I will describe the authors, their works and the musicians.

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03/04/2018
To mark the 10th edition of the annual ImagiNation writer's festival, The Morrin Centre partnered up with three female authors (Paige Cooper, Sina Queyras & Eliza Robertson) and the OSQ in an event called literary notes. It was particularly interesting to see how different forms of art can convey the same message and the differences in how the audience receives it. The authors were invited to read excerpts from their own literary works and then four members of the OSQ played a musical piece that they had chosen based on the tone, the atmosphere and the emotions of the different stories. Then, the event ended with a period of question where we got to learn even more about the authors, the context in which they wrote their books, etc. It was a very pleasant experience. If you have the opportunity to assist to such an event, I highly recommend it. It's a great way to see how the different ways of using artistic language has an influence on our perception of a work.  It was an amazing learning experience.
On this note, I will definitely attend next year's edition! Until then, I will get to learn a little more about the authors I met through this event.

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This is a book written by Stephen King which is a collection of basic knowledge a writer needs to be able to write good stories. It was quoted during the Tuesday evening conference at Imagination festival and I’d encourage all of you aspiring authors out there to read this book as I’m certain everyone has something to learn from one of the leading author in fiction writing. I wish you a happy read!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10569.On_Writing

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So I got a lot of you asking about the writing activity that we did with Claire Holden Rothman this Tuesday at the Imagination festival. You should go read my previous post if you want to know what the whole presentation was about but basically it’s on how conflict and desire are crucial to a novel.

The writing activity goes a little like this:

Take a notepad and a pen and put aside 15 minutes of your time. Think up a setting and a character. Your character has to desire something which another character does not want to give, be it car keys, a kiss, respect, anything really, let your imagination roll. The story should be a discussion between both characters where your main character will try to get what he or she wants. This activity is all about noticing the importance of desire and conflict and making it the center of your story. It’s also important to respect the timer as then you will make sure to force yourself to write quickly what comes off the top of your head without overthinking it.

I encourage you to try it out before reading my reaction.

When I did this activity I found it HARD! I’m not very good at writing on a time limit so I got way too caught up in the description of the setting and barely got two lines of dialogue in, simple hellos. I’ll try and do it again before the end of Imagination because I like the idea of having a limited amount of time to make something, because it brings out ideas which can be reworked later to make something interesting. All and all a great writing activity, and I’m sure many more will be had this week at Imagination, so I hope to see you there!

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Tuesday night starts the Imagination festival

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Tuesday night starts the Imagination festival

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So Imagination just started Tuesday April 2nd and you know I’ll be there! Opening night was with Claire Holden Rothman, a writer and translator from Montreal who gave an amazing presentation on how to give life to your story.

Rothman talked all about how important conflict is in a novel and how new writers trying to create a good story need to pay attention to the desires of each character. A fiction novel cannot exist without conflict, and she pointed out how this is sometimes put aside by new writers when they try too hard on perfecting their style. Just think about any event which you could turn into a story and you’ll see that there will always be conflict. How about a guy trying to go on a date but he needs his dad’s car, there’s conflict (thanks Rothman for the example), or what of a guy trying to put a ring in a volcano but an army tries to stop him (classic). Anyways, conflict is the essence of the fiction novel and is definitely something every author should put a lot of thought into when writing a book. That sums up the gist of what Rothman presented this Tuesday, as well as a writing activity to test out what she had just shown us.

It was a lot of fun and a great experience, and I am definitely going back this week. Don’t miss out on any of the wonderful conferences given at the Morrin center this week, they’re all worth it!

Imagination is more than just a book discussion, it’s all about bringing out the writer in all of us by giving useful tips and tricks that are real eye openers sometimes. A lot of inspiring authors are there to share their experience in writing and the rooms are filled with aspiring authors with a lot of creativity, so the results of the writing activities are always interesting!

I hope to see you there.

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@Waubgeshig Rice and @Rachelle Solomon offered us such an agreeable conference!

The @Morrin Centre was almost filled with literature lovers from all over Quebec City. Francophones and Anglophones alike participated with interesting questions for the author. Everything took place in a pleasant and relaxed atmosphere.

Rice even read us an excerpt of Moon of the Crusted Snow. A beautiful vocabulary and various layers of meaning contribute to give the book an magnificent depth. According to Solomon, the book is a gripping read from one cover to the next. From what I saw, I can easily believe her!

I greatly enjoyed my evening at the Morrin Centre and surely recommend each one of you try to pass by for one of the remaining activites of the Quebec Imagination Writers’ Festival.

You may bid me farewell for the next two days, since I’m about to disappear in Rice’s MOTS. Expect a review to be coming up shortly!

Until then, you may enjoy this slightly awkward picture my friend took of me at the Morrin Centre… I recommend you focus on the fashionable architecture surrounding me 😊

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RACHELLE SOLOMON TO HOST WAUBGESHIG RICE'S CONFERENCE

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RACHELLE SOLOMON TO HOST WAUBGESHIG RICE'S CONFERENCE

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Hey guys! Guess what? CBC's journalist @Rachelle Solomon will be hosting tonight's conference with
@Waubgeshig Rice at the @Morrin Centre.

Just thought I'd give you the info. If you were missing a reason to come, you've got it now!

By the way, I’ve heard a “notewordy” performance will take place right after Rice’s conference. The OSQ and the @Quebec Writers’ Federation are joining forces to present a combination of stories and music. Should be interesting. The musicians are a quartet of trombones, for those of you interested in music!

EDIT : I just spoke to Rachelle on the phone and she has read and enjoyed MOTS (Moon of the Crusted Snow). It looks like this conference will be a success!

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Don't miss out on @Waubgeshig Rice!

The Wasauksing First Nation author will be at the @Morrin Centre tonight at 6:30, to give an exclusive conference about his new release : Moon of the Crusted Snow.

Briefly put, the book tells the story of an Anishinaabe community surviving on a Northern reserve through a prolonged blackout. Guided by new leaders, the community will find its way through this hardship by going back to the land and to Anishinaabe culture.

According to critics, the powerful and gripping novel plunges the reader into a dark post-apocalyptic atmosphere, enlightened only by the resilience and rebirth of a strong people.

“Indigenous characters in MOTS, like Evan Whitesky and his family, are people who have already lived through their own apocalypses, through colonialism and displacement and the uprooting of their culture,” says Kevin Hardcastle from CBC. This sure makes a change from y usual post-apocalyptic story.

I still haven’t found time to read the book, but you will be sure to see me at the Morrin Centre in a few hours!

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We had so much fun listening to this impressive  panel! The interview was amazing!

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Sarturday night : What a great discovery!

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Sarturday night : What a great discovery!

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Hey guys!

On Saturday night, I went to the ImagiNation festival with a friend of mine. Honestly, at first, I wasn’t in the mood for a long and boring conference. You know, the type of presentation where the speaker doesn’t even want to be there?

My friend Maude was very hyped up for this event. She BEGGED me if I could go with her. Since I’m a good friend, I said yes, but I truly didn’t want to go. I’m not a big fan of literature and stuff…

Even though I wasn’t to keen on the idea, I accompanied Maude. My first thoughts were : What a great location! The Morrin Center is situated near everything. If you want to go grab a bite before a conference, there is a lot of options. Apart from the location, I thought that the building itself was very pretty, kind of old, but oh so charming!

When the conference started, the subject caught my attention. There were three authors presenting their SUSPENSE novels. I was particularly curious about the stories and the murders portrayed in the novels.

I also found one of the author’s background very interesting. Trevor Ferguson was actually a literary fiction writer, but, to get the cash flowing, he decided to start writing crime fiction under the name of John Farrow. He also told the audience that his latest book was taking place on a university campus. I found that so #relatable that I wanted to read it!

And guess what? I actually WON the book Perish the day. I was the lucky winner.

After all, my Saturday night was not so bad. I’m SO excited to start this book at the end of the semester!

If you want to read it too, I can lend it to you when I'm finished. Just DM me!

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#Ad                                     You are a teenager eager to learn? You are a fan of literature? Or you would like to discover new genres and authors? You missed your chance to attend amazing events in the picturesque Old Quebec last week at the ImagiNation festival?     Well, the Montreal YA Fest got your back. Next month, the city is hosting an incredible literary festival for young adults.            From indigenous writers to international editors, the festival has a diverse panel of masters of all genres. Come and meet the well known figures from all around the world that will present their award-wining books.                                  We will be waiting for you on May 26 at the Jewish Library in Montreal!          Buy tickets here : https://www.mtlyafest.com/          

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#Ad                                     You are a teenager eager to learn? You are a fan of literature? Or you would like to discover new genres and authors? You missed your chance to attend amazing events in the picturesque Old Quebec last week at the ImagiNation festival?     Well, the Montreal YA Fest got your back. Next month, the city is hosting an incredible literary festival for young adults.            From indigenous writers to international editors, the festival has a diverse panel of masters of all genres. Come and meet the well known figures from all around the world that will present their award-wining books.                                  We will be waiting for you on May 26 at the Jewish Library in Montreal!          Buy tickets here : https://www.mtlyafest.com/          

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ImagiNation Festival: The Magic of Mystery - Sneak peek of a local festival's review

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ImagiNation Festival: The Magic of Mystery - Sneak peek of a local festival's review

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As a festival reviewer in the city of Quebec, 2019 was surprisingly my first year at the ImagiNation festival, the annual writer's festival at the Morrin Center in the Old Quebec.

From April 2 to 7, more than thirty canadian authors and musicians took part in this event at the home of the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec's library.

First of all, I found that the Morrin Center is a wonderful location for this type of festival. Cozy, yet not too cramped, the elegant decor was perfectly suited to the events hosted. However, free parking spaces are scarce and tight, you will most likely want to take the bus for this one.

One of my favorite events was Saturday night's panel of three suspense authors: John Farrow, Barbara Fradkin and Maureen Jennings.

See picture below.

These three compelling writers, whose discussion was animated by Alison Brunette, spoke of building suspense, their writing process as well as their personal limits in regard to the gore of thriller novels. The authors were humorous, captivating and brought forth pertinent information.

In spite of a few technical problems concerning the microphones used, the event went along fluently. Greatly organized, this festival was, in my opinion, an illustrious success.

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Sup homies, hope you had a sick weekend! Man, I have to tell you guys what I did Saturday night. Okay, first off, don't judge. I know y'all are gonna tell me that litterary conferences are old people stuff, but just here me out for a minute.

I actually went to a thing with my grand-ma and IT WAS DOPE. Okay so it was like a book festival thingy in Old Quebec and it was actually really cool! There were like three authors up there talking about their novels and the world of suspense and stuff, and it was so AWESOOOOOME! One of them even said that she killed off people with chainsaws in her novels, HOW COOL IS THAT ?!? Another one talked about how hard it is to keep up with the new, modern forensics of today. You know what that made me think of ? CSI New York! Like, THE best show ever!!!

Oh and guess what? You could actually win a book of one of the authors! Well, I didn't win and that pissed me off, so I decided to buy one of the author's book, but still you can win a book! The book I bought is written by a Maureen girl  and like, she even signed the book!  Like, I am the owner of a signed book now, BE JEALOUS SUCKERS! Haha just kidding people! Please don't unsubscribe...

So yeah, the book is a suspense novel based in like the 1930's with all the World War things going on, it looks good you guys should go check it out!

https://maureenjennings.com/books/charlotte-frayne-pi/heat-wave/

Here are pictures of my book, hope you liked this post! Don't forget to like, share and subscribe to my account.

#likeforlike#followforfollow
#love#bookworm#nerdygirly

Love you homies xoxo

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!!! WARNING !!!

Highly addictive and suspenseful content may follow. Viewer's discretion is advised.

You are an intrigued reader who adores mystery, murder, suspects and death?
You have always wondered what goes on in a suspense author's mind?
You wish to uncover the secret universe of the tightly woven webs of darkness and mstery that guide a suspense novel's plot?
This Saturday night activity is just what you are looking for!

Meet us at 18h30 at the Morrin Center on April 6th for an enigmatic panel composed of three incredibly prized canadian suspense authors.

Encounter John Farrow, Barbara Fradkin as well as Maureen Jennings for a night to remember animated by Alison Brunette!

Bring a smile and a friend, see you there!

Adults: 15$
Morrin Center members: 11,25$
Students: 7$

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Imagination 2019 : John Farrow, Barbara Fradkin et Maureen Jennings - Morrin Centre

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MASTERING MYSTERY Panel / Animé par Alison Brunette Intrigues, morts suspects, disparitions, meurtres... Trois auteurs canadiens primés se joignent à nous pour une discussion au sujet de leurs plus récents romans policiers et de l'art de maîtriser les homicides. Découvrez comment ils font monter le suspense et construisent leurs intrigues.

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/!\  GIVEAWAY ALERT /!\

Swing by the ImagiNation Festival 2019 and attend one of the many conferences to get your chance to win a copy of every book presented during the writer's festival AND meet, discuss with the authors behind them !

Choose the activity or activities that suits your interests : panel discussions with experienced ex CBC host Rachelle Solomon, books & wine pairing activity, musical events and more. Find the all the info and the programmation at the link below!

I myself attended Waubgeshig Rice's conference on April 3, where the journalist and author presented his latest novel, The Moon of the Crusted Snow. Rice read an intriguing passage of his novel, and took us through very interesting parts of his writing process, such as his inspiration and the choice of the title for his story. Rachelle Salomon and the audience's insightful questions also guided a discussion around the challenges Native communities have faced and are still facing today, particularly regarding the effects of colonialism on their culture.

Festival website : http://www.morrin.org/en/events/imagination-2019/

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The impact of colonialism on aboriginal culture

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The impact of colonialism on aboriginal culture

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Waubgeshig Rice, a First Nations author, exposed, during an interview on his latest book Moon of the Crusted Snow, the impacts of colonialism on people living in reserves. The government voted laws to make aboriginal culture illegal. With the Indian Act and Residential schools, communities lost interest in their own culture and knowledge of their language. As a matter of fact, the last Residential school closed in 1996 which is less then 25 years ago. It is not so far away, the period of our history, where First Nations were persecuted for having a culture which was different from ours. Nowadays, the survival of their culture comes from the importance of elders in those communities.

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Just as in Indian Horse, Moon of the Crusted Snow has an important elderly woman character.
Waubgeshig Rice stated in his interview that he wanted to honour the strong Native women who guided Indigenous communities through post-colonial era by creating this character.
Not only does she represent resilience, but she also symbolizes contact with the Indigenous culture, because Native women have done the most in protecting Native culture and passing it along to their children.

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Moon of the Crusted Snow, by Waubgeshig Rice

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Moon of the Crusted Snow, by Waubgeshig Rice

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What I found particularly interesting about Waubgeshig Rice’s novel is the origin of the title.
Rice told us in his conference that he struggled with finding a name for his story. He finally settled on Moon of the Crusted Snow because it describes a significant moment in the book, where the character is reflecting on what his life has become as he walks through crusted snow. “Moon of the Crusted Snow” is also the Ojibway name for a season, onaabanad, during which this significant moment happens. It also means “spring to come”, which symbolizes the spirit of hope and resilience though the story.

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During the conference, Mr. Rice read a passage of the second part of his novel « Moon of the crusted snow ».
The novel seemed really interesting. The reading was smooth and easy and the vocabulary was wisely chosen.

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Importance of elders in Indigenous culture

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Importance of elders in Indigenous culture

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One main subject of Waubgeshig Rice’s conference on April 3rd was the importance of the elders in the Ojibway culture.

First, they are the only ones who know and teach the ojibway language. Himself doesn’t speak ojibway, he learned only English in school and only speaks that language at home too.
Sadly, elders do not teach it anymore because they are shamed of it.

Also, elders can interpret dreams. In his culture, dreams hold different meanings and hidden messages. He went multiple times have dreams interpreted by elders.

Moreover, Rice offered an elderly figure to his character in his new book « Moon of the Crusted Snow » because of their importance. They hold their community together and explain how the community came to be, how the people interacted together.

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https://globalnews.ca/news/5134609/quebec-city-writers-festival-brings-english-authors-into-schools/?fbclid=IwAR1c_s6fwH9nc_k3eHxd_jhP55QQVv_HQwJDUJkcdEFF0g1UrgfKqiRUVk4