Blog
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James H. Gray Award for Short Nonfiction
Alberta has just made my writing a little more visible by honouring me with another award for non-fiction. Jury Remarks: “Enclosures” is a skilful study of the environment and the self as both manipulated and restricted by complex cultural expectations and the background of a fascist government. The elegant prose and moving scenes frame a beautiful story of struggling with the idea of freedom for humans and animals alike. The second-person narrative was an effective and touching way for Da Costa to expound his feelings about raising and eating animals all while dancing between history and tradition, childhood and adulthood, revolution and freedom. My congratulations to Kyra and Marcello (who…
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Keynote Address & Teaching the Short Story State of Mind at AWC
Get Lit Writer Series – Alexandra Writers Centre With award-winning authors like Alice Munro, Haruki Murakami, George Saunders, Kurt Vonnegut, there is so much to love and learn. Spend a day Getting Lit on short stories. Learn craft, process, publishing and so much more. Guaranteed to put you in that Short Story State of Mind. May 27, 20239-5pmAWCS Members: $150 | Non-Members: $200 Keynote & Presenterspaulo da costa | Lee Kvern | Leslie Greentree |Sarah L. Pratt | Robert Bose Note: Participation in Get Lit is entirely IN PERSON.Full schedule with times will be available to participants. Blue Pencil Sessions with Your Favourite PresenterSubmit up to 1500 words of a…
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The Edge of Winter Exhibition – Art Walk
This Saturday, if you happen to be in the vicinity of the Crescent Heights area, and wish to enjoy a stroll in the Rotary Park, please join us on an art walk. We will be viewing and performing the work of Calgary writers and artists on display. On of my poems is featured, as well as the written words and art work of five other Calgarians listed below. The Edge of Winter Exhibition – Art WalkApril 15, 2023Saturday, 1:00pm-230pm MTRotary Park, 617 1St NE, Calgary, AB(This link shows the parking lot at the venue: https://goo.gl/maps/vRgEtetajXBUBUi16) A walk along the gallery route, stopping at each of the six gallery displays. The…
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New Sci-Fi Story in Mithila Review
Check out my new story in Mithila Review’s special global Hopepunk issue of science fiction (and fantasy) devoted to positive and powerful character-driven stories that imagine an open and inclusive tech-empowered democratic future for all people, species and countries on Earth. Harefoot Express – Think Globally, Travel Locally. A story that takes place in Mohkínstsis, (present day Calgary), and sometime in the late 21st Century. This tale transports us to a future that still holds hope for human existence, including more inclusive and democratic forms of governing, as well as new strategies for the long process of restoring the earth’s natural ecosystems and diminishing the human footprint. What will tourism…
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Enclosures
Check out this podcast from Reckoning Magazine where the editor Michael DeLuca talks about my essay Enclosures. You can read the complete text too or download the podcast to listen at your leisure … whenever and wherever . Enjoy! Podcast Episode 18: Enclosures https://reckoning.press/?powerpress_embed=3058-podcast&powerpress_player=mediaelement-audio Today I’m going to read you an essay by paulo da costa, “Enclosures”, from Reckoning 6. I think of this piece as a new perspective in an ongoing conversation that started, for me, with Kate Schapira’s essay “On Political Change, Climate Change, and the Choice to Not Have Children” that appeared in Catapult in 2017, and my editorial piece in Reckoning 2, “On Having a Kid…
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WGA 2023 Literary Award Readings
Please join the Writers’ Guild of Alberta for readings from twelve finalists of the various 2023 Alberta Literary Awards. Featuring short readings from Lareina Abbott, Paulo Da Costa, Marcello Di Cintio, Patti Edgar, Tasnuva Hayden, Kyra Koustrup, Kimberley McCullough, Seth Rasporich, Trevor Schmidt, Vivek Shraya (virtual), and Chris Turner. April 25 7:00pm – 9:00pm (MDT) Shelf Life Books 1302 4 St SW 100 Calgary, AB Canada get directions Calgary – Reading with the FinalistsTuesday, April 25, 7:00 pmShelf Life Books, 1302 4 St SW #395 Tuesday, April 25th at 7pm, please join the Writers’ Guild of Alberta for readings from 12 finalists of the various 2023 Alberta Literary Awards. Featuring…
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New essay in Reckoning 6
Check out my new essay in this amazing USA based publication focusing on themes of environmental justice. Reckoning 6 Reckoning 6 – Print Edition Preorder $20.00 Add to cart Reckoning 6, edited by Aïcha Martine Thiam and Gabriela Santiago, addresses the intersection between social upheaval and environmental change. “[I]t’s like a brief closing of the hand around something small and floating, framing it just long enough that we are able to look, really look at it. And then, if we can, we let it go.”—Aïcha Martine Thiam “It is not utopia. But it is what we can have, these careful negotiations, communications, challenges, and sharing. We have relationships. New, complicated,…
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Enclosures, Short-Listed for the 2023 Alberta Literary Awards
My creative non-fiction essay, Enclosures, published by Reckoning, has been short-listed for the James H. Gray Award for Short Nonfiction. Congratulations to the other two finalists as well. Marcello Di Cintio with “The Cowboy Exclaims” (Canadian Geographic) and Kyra Lark Koustrup with — “You and the Grass” (Freefall). If you are in Calgary please come and celebrate with us literary excellence and the Alberta’s writing community. Awards will be presented in nine categories that include fiction, nonfiction, drama, poetry, memoir, and children’s literature. Alberta Literary Awards Gala 2023 (in-person, Calgary): Saturday, June 3, 6:00 PM to 10:00PM. Location: Fort Calgary (750 9 Ave SE, Calgary, AB). Tickets for the gala are $50…
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New creative essay in Queen’s Quarterly
The Colours of Happiness, a new creative essay, published in the Winter issue of Queen’s Quarterly Review (Queen’s University in Ontario). Check it out. Winter 2021 Vol. 128 No. 4 From the Editor – Winter 2021 ~ James Carson Going for Ice at the Motel on Ocean Boulevard ~ Marc Plourde Lilac Clouds and Wind Chimes ~ Deidre Dwyer Crown of Vespers (poem) ~ Mazzy Sleep In the Neighborhood of Sickness and Love ~ Alexis David Reasons Not to Be Human #1, 46: Airbnb ~ Sara Salih Old Blue Jeans (poem) ~ Sarain Frank Soonias Soldier’s Heart ~ Tanya Bellehumeur-Allatt Healing Power, Present Wisdom (poem) ~ Meg Freer A Condensed History of Window Gazing ~ Christopher Cherney The Wash (poem) ~ Nicholas Bradley Playing…
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Grant(ed) – The Successful Grant
Teaching Grant(ed) – The Successful Grant Instructor: paulo da costa $45.00 Tuesday March 7 7-9pm MT – on-line Sign Up MEMBER PRICE: $33.75 (with member coupon AWCSM25) NON-MEMBER PRICE: $45.00 Do the writing grants seem like an unattainable mirage? What are jurors evaluating in the application project? How to make your strongest proposal in this ultra competitive field? Grant writing is both an art and a skill. Make your grant stand out from the hundreds in the pile. paulo has been an adjudicator for several Canadian grant organizations that provide funding to authors, and in his writing career has received numerous writing and research grants from the Canada Council, B.C Arts Council,…
