LIT LIT LIT LIT VIII: Nanaimo is an evening of new readings, written and given by Sonnet L’Abbé (Nanaimo), Roger Farr (Gabriola Island), Casey Wei (Vancouver), Hamish Hardie (Nanaimo), and Charlotte Zhang (Nanaimo) Saturday, May 6 6:30 pm Art Lab at Nanaimo Art Gallery 150 Commercial Street Admission by donation SONNET L'ABBÉ, Ph.D. is the author of A Strange Relief and Killarnoe, and was the 2014 guest editor of Best Canadian Poetry. Her chapbook, Anima Canadensis, was published by Junction Books in 2016. Poems from her new project, Sonnet’s Shakespeare, in which she "writes over" all 154 of Shakespeare's sonnets, appear in Best American Experimental Writing 2016. Sonnet's Shakespeare will come out with McClelland and Stewart in 2018. L'Abbé lives on Vancouver Island and is a professor of Creative Writing and English at Vancouver Island University. ROGER FARR joined the English Department at Capilano University full-time in 2004 and has been affiliated with the Creative Writing, Culture and Technology (RIP), and Liberal Studies BA programs. He’s published two books of poetry (SURPLUS, 2006 and MEANS, 2012), a collection of prose poetry (IKMQ, 2012), a collaborative research project, and numerous articles and essays. From 2010-2013 he edited CUE books, and is currently a Contributing Editor to the Capilano Review. He also edits the poetry and poetics journal Parser. As a researcher his project revolves around the relationship between literature, aesthetics, radical social movements, and everyday life. HAMISH HARDIE is a student and aspiring writer currently completing his final year of high school. He has an interest in literature and art history, and will be pursuing post-secondary studies in these subjects. He is involved with the Nanaimo Art Gallery through volunteering and his participation in Code Switching, the Nanaimo Art Gallery's teen contemporary art collective. CASEY WEI (b. Shanghai) is an interdisciplinary artist and musician based in Vancouver. She graduated with an MFA from SFU in 2012. Her practice has evolved from filmmaking (Murky Colors (2012), Vater und Sohn / Father and Son / 父与子 (2013), into incorporating elements of relational aesthetics in works that crossover between art, music, and the community at large (Kingsgate Mall Happenings (2014), Chinatown Happenings (2015), art rock? (2015-present). In 2016, she began Agony Klub, a music and printed matter label that releases material under the framework of the 'popularesoteric.' She also plays in the musical projects Late Spring and hazy. CHARLOTTE ZHANG is an emerging artist, writer and filmmaker based in Nanaimo, BC who is completing her final year of high school. She is involved with the Nanaimo Art Gallery in the Code Switching collective and participated in the exhibition Ron Tran Somewhat Mine: A Nanaimo Retrospective (Nanaimo Art Gallery; 2016). This past November, Zhang was selected as the winner of VISFF’s new Pitch-A-Flick contest that will allow her to realize her script under the mentorship of Knight Studio Productions and more recently, she published an essay titled “The Power” in Oni Magazine.
–Very special thanks to Nanaimo Art Gallery, Art Lab and Code Switching for supporting this event.