February at Coach House Books Includes the AWP Conference, EUNOIA and More

Welcome to the shortest month of the year! But you know what they say: good things come in small packages. Like Reese Peanut Butter Cups or Small Wonder. At Coach House, we've packed this short month with Margaret Christakos and Matthew Heiti events in Ontario's 'Near North,' participation at the AWP Conference and our brand-new Kaffeeklatsch seminars.

Looking ahead to our Spring 2014 lineup, make sure you mark Thursday, April 3 in your calendars. That's the date of our big Toronto Spring 2014 launch at The Garrison (1197 Dundas Street West) and we'd love to see you all there!

AWP: Sleepless in Seattle!

Like Kurt Cobain, Sir-Mix-A-Lot and so muchtossed salad and scrambled eggs, Coach House will be in the Emerald City for the annual AWP Conference! From February 27 to March 1, theAssociation of Writers & Writing Programs Conference is bringing some of the continent's best writers (and most enthusiastic MFA students) to Seattle, including Annie Proulx, Sherman Alexie, Chang-rae Lee, Anne Waldman and many more. Coach House will be holding it down at the incredible AWP Book Fair, spanning Seattle's Washington State Convention Center and Sheraton Seattle Hotel.

Drop by Coach House Books at Table L4 (in the North Hall) for AWP-eautiful book deals and our very special AWP Activity Book. The Book Fair is open to the public on Saturday, March 1, so even if you're not a creative writing practitioner or student, you can join in the fun!

Representing Coach House, poets Jen Currin (School), Jon Paul Fiorentino(Needs Improvement) and Susan Steudel (New Theatre) will be at the conference, and will also read as part of a hot-ticket off-site event: the UW Bothell-presented From the Convergence Zone, taking place at Seattle's Sole Repair Shop (1001 East Pike)! The Coach House crew will share the stage with authors from Belladonna, Les Figues Press and more. Find out more details on the Facebook event page. See you in the shadow of the Space Needle!

Dance, Dance, Dance, Eunoia! Dance it all the Time!

Love Christian Bök's Eunoia, but feel it could use more pas de chevals? You're in luck. This March in Toronto, Harbourfront Centre's World Stagewelcomes the world premiere of Eunoia, the latest work from choreographer Denise Fujiwara ofFujiwara Dance Inventions. An adaptation of Christian Bök's celebrated constraint-based Griffin Poetry Prize winner, Fujiwara's dance piece applies similar constraints to her choreography to devise a witty, expressive and highly experimental work.Eunoia will run at the Harbourfront Centre's Enwave Theatre March 19 to 22.

Fujiwara Dance Inventions wants to give Coach House mailbot subscribers a special discount to attend a performance of Eunoia. Simply enter the code 'COACHHOUSE' when you order your tickets here, and you can get two tickets for only $25 each. (Those tickets run $39 for non-Coach-House fans.) The offer is valid until March 10. Watch this space for more Eunoia news in March!

Catch up with the Coach House Kaffeeklatsch

Coach House Books is putting the 'CH' in 'Kaffeeklatsch' this year. Starting in February, our coffee room will host a monthly Coach House Kaffeeklatsch! Not so much writers' workshops (there are already plenty of excellent writing workshops in Toronto) but talks and conversations with publishers and authors about the more practical aspects of being a writer and working in book publishing. These small, monthly, early-evening seminars will feature at least one expert leading a discussion in our Coach House coffee room, with light refreshments provided.

We begin our 2014 Kaffeeklatsch schedule on Monday, February 24, with acclaimed book designer Ingrid Paulson (Ingrid Paulson Design) walking people through cover design basics. Kaffeklatsches cost $10. RSVP atEventBrite. Don't miss this chance to learn from the award-winning designer of Tamara Faith Berger's Maidenhead, Emily Schultz's Heaven Is Small and more. Bring a sample of your own work and, time permitting, Paulson will bring it into the discussion. There will be a Kaffeeklatsch the final Monday of every month, so stay tuned for further announcements. We have plans for seminars on typography, maintaining author blogs, the writer/editor relationship, letterpress technique and more.

Sudbury Thursday Night

Laurentian University is bringing two Coach House all-stars to Barrie and Sudbury this week. The university is hosting evenings featuring two Sudbury authors: local writer Matthew Heiti(playwright-in-residence of the Sudbury Theatre Centre) will read from his first novel, The City Still Breathing, a literary crime novel set in Sudbury in the 1980s, and acclaimed poet Margaret Christakos, former Sudbury resident and author of the intriguing poetic social media investigationMultitudes, will join him.

The two authors will tear up Ontario's Near North, reading at The Creative Space (12 Dunlop Street East) in Barrie on Wednesday, February 5, then interviewed by Laurentian Barrie campus students Erin Cortese and Laura Kernen. The following night - Thursday, February 6 - a similar event will happen at the Vale Living with Lakes Centre (840 Ramsey Lake Road) in Sudbury, followed by an open mic. Read more in the Other Events section below!

Other Events

TORONTO

Feb 7 - Margaret Christakos and Stephen Collis at U of T Long Poem Colloquium

Canadian Long Poem Colloquium and Readings
featuring Margaret Christakos (Multitudes), Stephen Collis (Decomp), Michael Boughn, Brenda Carr-Vellino and Paul Dutton
Colloquium: Jackman Humanities Building
170 St. George Street, Room 100
1:30 p.m., free
Readings: Hart House
7 Hart House Circle, Debates Room
8 p.m., free
RSVP on Facebook

Feb 11 - Cordelia Strube at York University's Canadian Writers in Person

Canadian Writers in Person
featuring Cordelia Strube (Milosz, Lemon)
York University, Accolade West Building, Room 206
7 p.m., free
yorku.ca for more information

OTTAWA

Feb 7 - 22 - Age of Arousal at the Gladstone Theatre

Age of Arousal
a new production of Linda Griffiths's acclaimed play
The Gladstone Theatre, 910 Gladstone Avenue
Various times and ticket prices
Tickets and more information at vendini.com for more information

Feb 25 - Jon Paul Fiorentino at the Tree Reading Series

The Tree Reading Series
featuring Jon Paul Fiorentino (Needs Improvement) and Stephen Heighton
Club SAW, 67 Nicholas Street
8 p.m. (6:45 p.m. for poetry workshop), free
treereadingseries.ca for more information

BARRIE

Feb 5 - Laurentian University presents Margaret Christakos and Matthew Heiti

Coach House Writers Read in Barrie
featuring Margaret Christakos (Multitudes) and Matthew Heiti (The City Still Breathing)
The Creative Space, 12 Dunlop Street East
7 p.m., free (and open to the public)
RSVP on Facebook

SUDBURY

Feb 6 - Laurentian University presents Margaret Christakos and Matthew Heiti

LUminaries Reading Series
featuring Margaret Christakos (Multitudes) and Matthew Heiti (The City Still Breathing)
followed by an open mic
Vale Living with Lakes Centre, 840 Ramsey Lake Road
7 p.m., free (and open to the public)

NEW YORK

Feb 12 - Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly at the Thalia Book CLub

The Thalia Book Club
an on-stage discussion between Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly (subject of Jeet Heer's In Love with Art)
Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway (at 95th Street)
7:30 p.m., $25 (or $15 for the under-30 crowd)
symphonyspace.org for tickets and more information

To post a comment, you must register and login.