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 RYGA READINGS
 The Creative Legacy OF GEORGE RYGA » Tuesday 4 May 2010 | 5 pm » Hooked on Books, 225 Main Street, Penticton An informal afternoon hour showcasing ideas and people in the Okanagan creative economy. Join us as publisher Robert MacDonald and writers Sean Johnston and Frances Greenslade explain why the works, ideas and influence of George Ryga have inspired an unique Okanagan creative collaboration. » $2 at the door. Refreshments are available at a modest cost. » Seating is limited, please reserve yours HERE Institute Launches South Okanagan Initiative with Ryga Celebration "How pleasant it would be to live where a farm produced a living, where a man could find warmth and comfort in the companionship of a good tractor, and plants which grew tall and strong, where there was no more fruitless labour in working the soil by hand, or tormenting horses until they were just as weary and sick as the men who drove and guided them, where there were proper schools, and a kid didn't have to begin working the moment he stood upright. Where there was no fear and no want to twist and damage the soul and body of man." So wrote George Ryga in his 1963 novel Hungry Hills, now made into a feature film. An outspoken and perceptive social critic and writer, Ryga has inspired generations through his novels, plays and broadcasting work.  On Tuesday, May 4th at 5 pm the alternate weekly Okanagan Institute Outlook series at Hooked on Books in Penticton presents The Creative Legacy of George Ryga. Join us as publisher Robert MacDonald and writers Sean Johnston and Frances Greenslade explain why the works, ideas and influence of George Ryga have inspired an unique Okanagan creative collaboration. This is one in a series of readings, performances, publications and other initiatives planned for the coming months as part of the Ryga Festival of the Arts presented by the Okanagan Institute and the Ryga Initiative at Okanagan College. These initiatives are a result of the seeds George Ryga planted in the rich soil of the creative imagination of the Okanagan and Canada. Whether directly through his own work, or indirectly through the incredible impact his art in all forms had in defining a new vision of what's possible and who we are, George Ryga remains a seminal figure in Canadian life and letters. By showing us the possibilities of cultural and critical engagement, practically and metaphorically, Ryga's creative works continue to inform a transformative vision of society. Our goal is to honour and further his life and work by showcasing the talents of writers and artists who identify with his struggles with creative identity. In a world often bereft of hope and opportunity, our best writers and artists do not flinch from representing the possible and giving idealism voice.  Sean Johnston is the author of A Day Does Not Go By (Nightwood, 2002), which won the 2003 ReLit Award for short fiction, and the novel All This Town Remembers (Gaspereau, 2006). He's also published two chapbooks: A Long Day Inside the Buildings (with Drew Kennickel; JackPine Press, 2004) and Bull Island (Gaspereau, 2004). Sean teaches Literature and Creative Writing at Okanagan College, and is the Editor of Ryga: A Journal of Provocations.Of the first issue of the Ryga Journal, he wrote, "We take our name from Ryga, a political writer, to honour his commitment to his art and to his world. His legacy is this: he was a human living in a community and that community was living in a nation, that nation in a world. He wrote without nostalgia about the world that lived around him. He believed the artist had a responsibility to write counter-narratives, to treat the marginalized among us fairly, to challenge the formal boundaries of his art without losing the humanity of the characters that drive it. These characters live and move according to a complex, tentative political agreement that must not be taken as natural, but must be interrogated in every way."  Frances Greenslade was born in St. Catharines, Ontario and grew up with four sisters and one brother, playing among the grapes and orchards of the Niagara Peninsula. Her father often travelled to Winnipeg on business and came home saying, "It's a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there." She moved there when I was ten. Winnipeg was home for the next 14 years. She went to Springfield Collegiate in Oakbank and did an English degree at University of Winnipeg. The sudden summer thunderstorms, the frozen Assiniboine River in winter and the leafy neighbourhoods of St. Boniface and Fort Rouge became what she missed when she moved to Vancouver. There she worked for TV Guide and finally admitted that she wanted to take what seemed like an impractical step towards becoming a writer. She graduated with a MFA in Creative Writing from UBC in 1992. She met her husband shortly after and they moved to Regina, Saskatchewan so that he could attend what is now the First Nations University of Canada. Having now lived in four provinces, and having made each her home, she began to wonder about what home meant anymore, to migrant Canadians like her. Her first book, A Pilgrim in Ireland: A Quest for Home, looked at that question. Her second book By the Secret Ladder: A Mother's Initiation, was published to critical acclaim. She teaches at Okanagan College. Robert MacDonald has had a long and distinguished career in publishing. He was the Director of the Publishing Workshops at the University of Toronto and the Banff Centre for fifteen years. He was a founder of the Canadian Periodical Publishers Association and the Graphic Arts in the Public Service Foundation. He has consulted for - and started - book, magazine and multimedia publishing companies in Canada and the US. He is the Publisher in Residence at Okanagan College, the Publisher of Ryga: A Journal of Provocations, and the Director of the Okanagan Institute.FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER ONLINE CLICK HERE  The Creative Legacy of George Ryga takes place at Hooked on Books, 225 Main Street, Penticton. This is the 1st event the Okanagan Institute has held there, and the 136th public presentation offered in the Okanagan since 2007.
The Creative Legacy OF GEORGE RYGA » Wednesday 28 April 2010 | 5 pm » Kalamalka Café, Okanagan College, Vernon An informal afternoon hour showcasing ideas and people in the Okanagan creative economy. Join us as publisher Robert MacDonald and writers Sean Johnston and Craig McLuckie explain why the works, ideas and influence of George Ryga have inspired an unique Okanagan creative collaboration. » $2 at the door. Refreshments are available at a modest cost. » Seating is limited, please reserve yours HERE Institute Launches North Okanagan Initiative with Ryga Celebration "How pleasant it would be to live where a farm produced a living, where a man could find warmth and comfort in the companionship of a good tractor, and plants which grew tall and strong, where there was no more fruitless labour in working the soil by hand, or tormenting horses until they were just as weary and sick as the men who drove and guided them, where there were proper schools, and a kid didn't have to begin working the moment he stood upright. Where there was no fear and no want to twist and damage the soul and body of man." So wrote George Ryga in his 1963 novel Hungry Hills, now made into a feature film. An outspoken and perceptive social critic and writer, Ryga has inspired generations through his novels, plays and broadcasting work. On Wednesday, April 28th at 5 pm the alternate weekly Okanagan Institute Showcase series at the Kalamalka Café, Okanagan College, Vernon presents The Creative Legacy of George Ryga. Join us as publisher Robert MacDonald and writers Sean Johnston and Craig McLuckie explain why the works, ideas and influence of George Ryga have inspired an unique Okanagan creative collaboration. This is one in a series of readings, performances, publications and other initiatives planned for the coming months as part of the Ryga Festival of the Arts presented by the Okanagan Institute and the Ryga Initiative at Okanagan College. These initiatives are a result of the seeds George Ryga planted in the rich soil of the creative imagination of the Okanagan and Canada. Whether directly through his own work, or indirectly through the incredible impact his art in all forms had in defining a new vision of what's possible and who we are, George Ryga remains a seminal figure in Canadian life and letters. By showing us the possibilities of cultural and critical engagement, practically and metaphorically, Ryga's creative works continue to inform a transformative vision of society. Our goal is to honour and further his life and work by showcasing the talents of writers and artists who identify with his struggles with creative identity. In a world often bereft of hope and opportunity, our best writers and artists do not flinch from representing the possible and giving idealism voice. Sean Johnston is the author of A Day Does Not Go By (Nightwood, 2002), which won the 2003 ReLit Award for short fiction, and the novel All This Town Remembers (Gaspereau, 2006). He's also published two chapbooks: A Long Day Inside the Buildings (with Drew Kennickel; JackPine Press, 2004) and Bull Island (Gaspereau, 2004). Sean teaches Literature and Creative Writing at Okanagan College, and is the Editor of Ryga: A Journal of Provocations.Of the first issue of the Ryga Journal, he wrote, "We take our name from Ryga, a political writer, to honour his commitment to his art and to his world. His legacy is this: he was a human living in a community and that community was living in a nation, that nation in a world. He wrote without nostalgia about the world that lived around him. He believed the artist had a responsibility to write counter-narratives, to treat the marginalized among us fairly, to challenge the formal boundaries of his art without losing the humanity of the characters that drive it. These characters live and move according to a complex, tentative political agreement that must not be taken as natural, but must be interrogated in every way."  Craig McLuckie was born in Scotland and raised in South Africa, Canada and Scotland. Craig's commitment to the teaching and learner-centred mandate of Okanagan College is reflected in his scholarly work, especially in the purposely polyphonic and political design of the edited collections: Critical Perspectives on Dennis Brutus, Ken Saro-Wiwa: Writer and Activist, and Arthur Nortje: Poet and South African. He has also published essays in a variety of academic journals, and two monographs, one on Nigerian Literature (1990) and one on Scottish writer, William McIlvanney (1999). Craig has been teaching for twenty-five years, twenty-one teaching English at Okanagan College. Craig is a founding member of the Kalamalka Institute for Working Writers. His musical tastes cover Lucinda Williams, Billy Bragg, and Pink Floyd. Craig is also an avid motorcyclist, a rugby enthusiast, and he has a passion for Guinness.Robert MacDonald has had a long and distinguished career in publishing. He was the Director of the Publishing Workshops at the University of Toronto and the Banff Centre for fifteen years. He was a founder of the Canadian Periodical Publishers Association and the Graphic Arts in the Public Service Foundation. He has consulted for - and started - book, magazine and multimedia publishing companies in Canada and the US. He is the Publisher in Residence at Okanagan College, the Publisher of Ryga: A Journal of Provocations, and the Director of the Okanagan Institute. The Creative Legacy of George Ryga takes place at the Kalamalka Café on the campus of Okanagan College in Vernon. This is the 1st event the Institute has held there, and the 136th public presentation offered by the Okanagan Institute since 2007.
Invocations READINGS FOR RYGA » Thursday 25 March 2010 | 5 pm » The Bohemian Café, 524 Bernard Avenue An informal afternoon hour showcasing ideas and people in the Okanagan creative economy. Join us as writer and editor Sean Johnston, artist Jude Clarke and special guests introduce the new issue of the groundbreaking literary publication Ryga: A Journal of Provocations. » $2 at the door. Refreshments available. » Seating is limited, please reserve yours HERE Writers Explore the Imagined Weight of Art at Ryga Celebration "How pleasant it would be to live where a farm produced a living, where a man could find warmth and comfort in the companionship of a good tractor, and plants which grew tall and strong, where there was no more fruitless labour in working the soil by hand, or tormenting horses until they were just as weary and sick as the men who drove and guided them, where there were proper schools, and a kid didn't have to begin working the moment he stood upright. Where there was no fear and no want to twist and damage the soul and body of man." So wrote George Ryga in his 1963 novel Hungry Hills, which last year was made into a feature film. An outspoken and perceptive social critic and writer, Ryga has inspired generations through his novels, plays and broadcasting work. On Thursday, March 25th at 5 pm the ongoing weekly Okanagan Institute Express series at the Bohemian Café presents Invocations: Readings for Ryga. Join us as writer and editor Sean Johnston, artist Jude Clarke and special guests introduce the new issue of the groundbreaking literary publication Ryga: A Journal of Provocations.This is the first in a series of readings, performances, publications and other initiatives planned for the coming months as part of the Ryga Festival of the Arts presented by the Okanagan Institute and the Ryga Initiative at Okanagan College. These initiatives are a result of the seeds George Ryga planted in the rich soil of the creative imagination of the Okanagan and Canada. Whether directly through his own work, or indirectly through the incredible impact his art in all forms had in defining a new vision of what's possible and who we are, George Ryga remains a seminal figure in Canadian life and letters. By showing us the possibilities of cultural and critical engagement, practically and metaphorically, Ryga's creative works continue to inform a transformative vision of society. Our goal is to honour and further his life and work by showcasing the talents of writers and artists who identify with his struggles with creative identity. In a world often bereft of hope and opportunity, our best writers and artists do not flinch from representing the possible and giving idealism voice.  Sean Johnston is the author of A Day Does Not Go By (Nightwood, 2002), which won the 2003 ReLit Award for short fiction, and the novel All This Town Remembers (Gaspereau, 2006). He's also published two chapbooks: A Long Day Inside the Buildings (with Drew Kennickel; JackPine Press, 2004) and Bull Island (Gaspereau, 2004). Sean teaches Literature and Creative Writing at Okanagan College, and is the Editor of Ryga: A Journal of Provocations.Of the first issue of the Ryga Journal, he wrote, "We take our name from Ryga, a political writer, to honour his commitment to his art and to his world. His legacy is this: he was a human living in a community and that community was living in a nation, that nation in a world. He wrote without nostalgia about the world that lived around him. He believed the artist had a responsibility to write counter-narratives, to treat the marginalized among us fairly, to challenge the formal boundaries of his art without losing the humanity of the characters that drive it. These characters live and move according to a complex, tentative political agreement that must not be taken as natural, but must be interrogated in every way."  Jude Clarke is a visual artist and author living in Vernon BC. She was trained in visual arts at Notre Dame University in Nelson, Three Schools in Toronto and the University of Regina. She has been exhibiting her work in private and public art galleries for over twenty-five years. She is the author of The Language of Water, a literary work of non-fiction published by Thistledown Press, Saskatoon, in 2002. She is currently working on a writing/painting collaborative project with her husband, writer John Lent, and is also preparing work for a five-person exhibition at Cityscape Gallery in North Vancouver, June/July 2010.Of the image, Midnight Over Kalamalka which appears on the cover of the second issue of Ryga, she writes, "You are floating on your back in Kalamalka Lake. At the edge of your vision is the shoreline. You watch the sun drop with a final benevolent glint behind the far mountain. You hear children splashing and the distant drone of a helicopter scanning the mountains for wildfire. Far beneath you, shadows are held motionless, weighted to the floor of the lake. They are rising now, breaking the water's surface, finding air in the wide-open sky. They shift, break apart, form shape, take on colour, drift into line, chatter, and rise further. They are unremorseful children, thumbing their noses at gravity. It is impossible to deny their invitation, their beckoning, so you let go, feel your body lift and rise above the surface of the water. There now. You are airborne."  Invocations: Readings for Ryga takes place at the Bohemian Café. This marks the 131st event the Okanagan Institute has held since the Express series got underway in July 2007. Express has played host to many Okanagan luminaries, including former deputy secretary general of Amnesty International Derek Evans, artists Lee Claremont and Gary Pearson, BC Book Award nominee Don Gayton, CBC Literary prize winner poet Harold Rhenisch, distinguished editor and author Jim Taylor, poet laureate and professor John Lent, animator and filmmaker Jim Cliffe, community activist Don Elzer, dancer David LaHay, architect Jim Meiklejohn, culinary artist and writer Heidi Noble, broadcaster Marion Barschel and many others from a wide range of creative fields.
A LITERARY CELEBRATION » Thursday 5 November 2009 | 5 pm » The Bohemian Café, 524 Bernard Avenue An informal afternoon hour showcasing ideas and people in the Okanagan creative economy. Join us as Peter Hay, Sean Johnston and Jake Kennedy celebrate the powerful legacy of George Ryga's life and work - and the launch of the first issue of Ryga: A Journal of Provocations. Writers Celebrate the Enduring Legacy of a Literary Powerhouse George Ryga (1931-87) was the author of Canada's best known English-language play, The Ecstasy of Rita Joe, first produced in 1967. He was also one of Canada's most prolific authors - he maintained a taxing work program as a short story writer, novelist, radio and television dramatist, poet and film scenarist, not to mention ventures into the world of ballet and opera. In a period of 14 years he produced 190 plays, two cantatas, five screenplays, two longplaying albums, three novels, and a book of poetry, as well as a considerable body of unpublished and unproduced work. Ryga spent the last - and most productive - years of his life in Summerland, and his house there is preserved as the Ryga Centre.  On Thursday, November 5th at 5 pm the ongoing weekly Okanagan Institute Express series at the Bohemian Café presents The Ecstacy of George Ryga. Join us as Peter Hay, Sean Johnston and Jake Kennedy celebrate the powerful legacy of George Ryga's life and work - and the launch of the first issue of Ryga: A Journal of Provocations.George Ryga Week - November 1-7 - has been proclaimed by the Provincial Government and the Office of the Lieutenant Governor. This event is one of a series presented by the Ryga Centre in Summerland, the Ryga Initiative at Okanagan College and the Okanagan Institute to honour the contribution Ryga made to the creative community, to bring his life and work to the attention of the public and to present a series of new publications and projects that are intended to continue and expand his already-considerable literary legacy.  Peter Hay (pronounced 'high') was born in Budapest during the Holocaust and went to England after the suppression of the Hungarian revolution in 1956. He was educated there on scholarships and took his degree at Oxford in classics and English literature. He came to Simon Fraser University in 1967 to direct in the theatre program and teach in the English department. It was there that he became interested in new Canadian plays and started publishing them. In 1969 he joined forces with Talonbooks, then a small poetry press, and during the next dozen years he became the premier publisher of Canadian drama in English. That same year, he was appointed the first dramaturge (literary manager) of the Vancouver Playhouse by artistic director David Gardner, who directed the revival of The Ecstasy of Rita Joe by George Ryga that opened the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. The Playhouse had commissioned a new play from Ryga for the 1970/1 season. It was here that Peter Hay met Ryga, working with him on developing the play that would become Captives of the Faceless Drummer, which was later banned by the Playhouse board following the FLQ crisis. In the national controversy that ensued for several months, Hay was chairman of the citizen's committee that was fighting the Playhouse board which owned the script, forced it to release the rights and finally produced the play on a bare floor at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Meanwhile he also published the script, following The Ecstasy of Rita Joe which became the bestselling Canadian play of all time. During the following decade, Hay published several more of Ryga's plays and novels, wrote several articles about him and produced a 90-minute documentary on CBC radio on Ryga's work.Peter Hay and his Vancouver-born wife, Dorthea Atwater, left Canada in 1980 and spent the following 28 years in Los Angeles. There Hay worked in the theatre, he was professor of Drama at USC and UCLA, and was founding artistic director of First Stage in Hollywood developing new scripts for stage and screen. He was also an advisor to Robert Redford in setting up the Sundance Insitute, where he worked as dramaturge in its early years. He returned briefly to Vancouver to assist director John Juliani in the premiere of Ryga's historical drama, Paracelsus. From the mid-80s Peter Hay wrote or compiled ten non-fiction books of biography, theatrical and show business history, which were published in several countries. An avid book collector since his teens, Hay and his wife owned several antiquarian and used bookshops in Pasadena, California. Last year they packed up their personal collection of some twenty thousand volumes and retired to Summerland, two blocks from the house where George and Norma Ryga lived.  Sean Johnston is the author of A Day Does Not Go By (Nightwood, 2002), which won the 2003 ReLit Award for short fiction, and the novel All This Town Remembers (Gaspereau, 2006). He's also published two chapbooks: A Long Day Inside the Buildings (with Drew Kennickel; JackPine Press, 2004) and Bull Island (Gaspereau, 2004). Sean teaches Literature and Creative Writing at Okanagan College, and is the Editor of Ryga: A Journal of Provocations.Of the Ryga Journal, he writes, "We take our name from Ryga, a political writer, to honour his commitment to his art and to his world. His legacy is this: he was a human living in a community and that community was living in a nation, that nation in a world. He wrote without nostalgia about the world that lived around him. He believed the artist had a responsibility to write counter-narratives, to treat the marginalized among us fairly, to challenge the formal boundaries of his art without losing the humanity of the characters that drive it. These characters live and move according to a complex, tentative political agreement that must not be taken as natural, but must be interrogated in every way."  Jake Kennedy is a professor of English at Okanagan College, specialising in modernism and the avant-garde. His poems, prose pieces, and visuals/videos have appeared in over twenty Canadian, American and British journals. His chapbook, Hazard (BookThug, 2006) won the bp Nichol award. He is also on the board of the Alternator Gallery, Kelowna.Of Kennedy's contribution to the Ryga Journal, Sean Johnston writes, "Jake Kennedy's poems are informed by an impulse toward truth, despite the erudition and education of the postmodern artist and reader, despite the fact we are told there is no such thing. Kennedy begins in the world with meditations on material objects - grass, trees, bullets, the screen of a drive-in - and moves outward from them into a world that is wild and domestic at the same time, a world that is inclusive enough to include the heart in its intellectual investigation of life. The tiger, to paraphrase one poem, is not concerned if its stalking measures up to other performances of stalking - it's out for blood. It hunts to survive." Copies of the Ryga Journal and Chapbooks will be for sale at the event. » Ryga: A Journal of Provocations - in perfectbound paperback format, 272 pages with full-colour french-fold cover (shown above) - is $20. Annual subscriptions are $70 for 4 issues. » Ryga Chapbooks - in saddlestitched paperback format, with specially-designed full colour covers and coloured endpapers, in limited editions of 100 numbered copies, signed by the author - are $5 each, $15 for a set of 4. » They also can be ordered HERE.  
 The Ecstacy of George Ryga takes place at the Bohemian Café. This marks the 114th event the Okanagan Institute has held since the Express series got underway in July 2007. Express has played host to many Okanagan luminaries, including former deputy secretary general of Amnesty International Derek Evans, artists Lee Claremont and Gary Pearson, BC Book Award nominee Don Gayton, CBC Literary prize winner poet Harold Rhenisch, distinguished editor and author Jim Taylor, poet and professor John Lent, animator and filmmaker Jim Cliffe, community activist Don Elzer, dancer David LaHay, architect Jim Meiklejohn, culinary artist and writer Heidi Noble, broadcaster Marion Barschel and others from a wide range of creative fields. |
