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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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Reading by Five Alberta Authors
Five Alberta authors to feature in North/West Passages online event marking 50th Anniversary of The Writers’ Union of Canada For more information, interviews or photos, contact Jackie Carmichael at Carmichael dot Jacqueline at gmail dot com Five Alberta authors will feature in an upcoming online event marking the 50th Anniversary of The Writers’ Union of Canada. North/West Passages is a year-long monthly Zoom-based reading series celebrating authors from The Writers’ Union of Canada. Featured readers on Tuesday, Oct. 17, at 6 pm Alberta time will include authors Lori Hahnel, Katherine Koller, Sharon Butala, paulo da costa, and Anna Shannon. “I’m dazzled by the calibre of writing this series is attracting. Each of these…
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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 Prairie Fire
Fall 2020, Volume 41, No.3 $14.95 We’re all looking for a little more breathing space and something to hold on to during these troubled times. Living in a House on Fire asks how we live amidst the nameless despair that is constantly smouldering in the background of our lives. At times our despair rages like a forest fire as we grapple with the knowledge that we’re in the midst of mass extinction, leading to deep sadness, depression and anxiety. The stories, essays and poems in Living in a House on Fire give a voice to these worries, shine a light on the darkness humanity is facing, and offer a roadmap…
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James H. Gray Award for Short Nonfiction
WGA CNF Award HR Winners of the 2020 Alberta Literary Awards The Writers’ Guild of Alberta is pleased to announce the winners of the 2020 Alberta Literary Awards. This year’s award winners were announced in an online video release on June 4th. The video is available to watch on our Facebook page and YouTube channel. This celebration marks the 38th anniversary of the Alberta Literary Awards and brought together writers from across Alberta.The Alberta Literary Awards were created by the Writers’ Guild of Alberta in 1982 to recognize excellence in writing by Alberta authors. This year, jurors deliberated over 220 submissions to select winners in the following eight categories. James…
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Short-listed for the James H. Gray Award for Short Nonfiction
The creative non-fiction “Learning to Shave, Learning to Leave” originally published by The Fiddlehead, has been short-listed for an Alberta Literary Award. Congratulations to all the finalists. James H. Gray Award for Short Nonfiction Paulo da Costa (Calgary) — “Learning to Shave, Learning to Leave” (The Fiddlehead) Jennifer Bowering Delisle (Edmonton) — “Abracadabra” (The Forge) Omar Mouallem (Edmonton) — “Billionaires, Bombers, and Bellydancers” (The Ringer) The Writers’ Guild of Alberta is excited to announce the finalists for the 2020 Alberta Literary Awards and Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize. Each year, the Alberta Literary Awards and the City of Edmonton recognize and celebrate the highest standards of literary excellence…
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On Falling from Grace – author and reader
This post includes my clarifications (in the guise of a response) to a few points/interpretations raised by Emanuel Melo regarding a few essays in Beyond Bullfights and Ice Hockey. I deemed the response necessary and relevant in light of his interpretations of my Canada Reads essay, and in particular, amid the present high-profile event of the Jian Ghomeshi trial. The original intent of the essays under discussion, and his interpretation on some details, were so unexpected and so far from my original intent that I needed to present my interpretation. This response was originally sent to Emanuel by email. He found the points valuable and suggested I included the response…
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Interview in Portuguese-American Review
original interview in Portuguese-American Review Portuguese-American Review – Congratulations on publishing “Beyond Bullfights and Ice Hockey: Essays on Language, Identity and Writing Culture”. What is this book’s genre or category? paulo da costa – The book can be seen as a creative non-fiction collection of texts that stretches its traditional essay-like boundaries past the more journalistic or academic essay by its irreverence, humour and often its embrace of a poetic tone to deliver thought through the vein of beauty. I hope it will be seen as a garden of beautiful words with philosophical substance. A poet at heart can never abstain from wrapping his thoughts in beauty. An edible…
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The Guest who refuses to be polite – impressions by Emanuel Melo
I’m hanging out with paulo da costa these days. On the crowded subway ride to work in the morning and again in the evening on the way home I listen to him; those around me don’t. But I prefer listening to him when I get inside my solitude, sitting on my sofa, in the quiet of my library, where I can be attentive without the pull of people’s chatter. Even at four in the morning, when I cannot sleep, he is still talking. Non-stop. He is the guest who refuses to go home at a decent hour and so, to be polite, I let him speak his words. He gives…
