It's a triple book launch! Hear readings from three great B.C. books written by three Sunshine Coast authors. Jo Hammond's memoir Edge of the Sound, published by Caitlin Press, Rosella Leslie's novel Drift Child, published by NeWest Press, and Betty Keller's fiction-based-on-a-true-story A Thoroughly Wicked Woman, published by Caitlin Press, will be launched simultaneously at 7 p.m. this Saturday, Oct. 2, in the Doris Crow-ston Gallery of the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre in Sechelt. All book lovers are welcome. Admission is free.
Acts of poetry
Poets across Canada will visit juvenile detention centres, alternative schools and youth centres Oct. 4 to 9, during the seventh annual Random Acts of Poetry event, sponsored by Canada Council for the Arts.
During the week, poets will read to youth and hand out copies of their books. Here on the Sunshine Coast, poet Susan Telfer will be at the Chatelech Secondary School foyer or in the library Monday through Thursday and possibly Friday (Oct. 4 to 8) during lunch hours (11:40 a.m. to 12:25 p.m.).
On Thursday, Oct. 7, at 1 p.m., Telfer will be at the Gibsons Alternate School with Cindy Reid's students. On Friday, Oct. 8, at 10:30 a.m., she will be at the Sechelt Alternate School with Wendy Charters' class. She expects to read to more than 50 students one-on-one.
Les Mis
On Monday, Oct. 4, at 7 p.m., watch a live-via-satellite presentation from London of Les Misérables at the Raven's Cry Theatre in Sechelt. The theatre is working with Omniverse Vision in the U.K. to present the 25th anniversary celebration of Les Misérables. It will host a company of more than 300 actors and musicians, including the casts of the original production at the Queen's Theatre. Admission is $22 general, $18 seniors and $14 child/student (six to 17). Phone the theatre at 604-885-4597 for details.
Departures
The SC Film Society presents a Japanese film (the Best Foreign Film of 2009), Departures, with a live performance by cellist Christina Rzepa on Monday, Oct. 4, at 7:30 p.m. (doors at 7) at Gibsons Heritage Playhouse. The story is about a young musician forced to leave his dream of a career as a cellist and return to his childhood home in northern Japan. Needing work, he takes the only job available - something advertised as dealing in "departures." He discovers his new job is not as a travel agent, but a much less conventional position: a mortician. For more information see: www.scfs.ca.
Water film
Water is the most amazing yet least studied substance. Featuring Dr. Masaru Emoto, the film Water: The Great Mystery illuminates recent breathtaking discoveries by researchers worldwide that expound upon the unexpected and challenge assumptions. Following the film, a discussion will be led by water licence holders and families who depend upon the creeks and streams of Mount Elphinstone for their water, which are under threat from current logging plans. The film shows on Tuesday, Oct. 5, at the Creek hall at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $8. More information is available by calling 604-886-2780 or emailing www.blackcatcinema.ca.
Arts Council
The Sunshine Coast Arts Council presents Krista Maurer's Faces, Places and the Spaces in Between, opening Wednesday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. with an opening night reception.
Maurer makes her home in Garden Bay, and is currently focusing on her art full-time. She has been an art specialist at both elementary and secondary schools in the Lower Mainland and is an active volunteer and an enthusiastic traveller. This exhibition will show work that is not a portrait of a specific individual, but represents the face of humanity.
Pottery space
There is a new clay studio at the Arts Building in Gibsons with two potting wheels and supplies for people to come try their hand in this medium. Adult studio times are available on Wednesday evenings from 6 to 9 p.m. and Friday mornings from 8:30 a.m. to noon. Private wheel-throwing lessons may be booked. People are welcome to use the space for other mediums as well, such as painting, sewing, collage, etc. There is an after-school studio time for children and youth on Mondays from 3:15 to 4:45. Pre-registration for all these times is necessary. See www.artsbuilding.org or phone 604-740-7790.
Let me know about your arts event, but keep it brief, via mail [email protected] or phone 604-886-4692 before 5 p.m. on Tuesday. The column covers events one day to one week ahead only.
