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sneak
peek!
Here
is the cover for Dance (147) ... our themed Winter issue,
out in stores in now! Featuring
cover artwork by Cylla von Tiedemann
:::::::::::::Preview
the issue here |
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Mark your calendars! You are invited
to come celebrate with us at the launch of Descant
147, with readings and dancing and more. This special
event takes place at The Arts & Letters Club
of Toronto (14 Elm Street, Toronto) on Thursday,
January 28, 2010, and begins at 7:30 p.m.
Readers for the evening include Vickie
Fagen, Johanna Householder, and Andrew
Smith. Special dance performances
by Nadia Szilvassy, Tom Brouillette, Alex Maeve
Campbell and Mary Newberry. |
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WHO WILL WIN the 2010
Winston Collins / Descant Prize for Best Canadian Poem?
– WINNER ANNOUNCED FEB 19!
This
year's Winston Collins/ Descant Prize for Best Canadian
Poem finalists will be announced on Feb 19 at a gala event sponsored by PAGEWAVE GRAPHICS, Toronto; please join us at this special, free event!
The three finalists will have their winning poems highlighted in a special section in the Summer 2010 issue of Descant.
...for more information on the contest, go
here |
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2010
Themed Calls
(i) Ghosts and The Uncanny (deadline:
March 01, 2010)
An idea, like a ghost, must be spoken
to a little before it will explain itself.
– Charles Dickens
For this special issue, Descant turns ghost hunter and dares to explore the murky connections between life and death, science and superstition, folk beliefs and fictions. We are looking for apparitions of all kinds. Do you have paranormal poetry? Are you haunted by the past? Do you have a ghost of an idea? Perhaps you’d like to address the role of ghosts in literature and film. We want to document the existence of ghosts, both literal and metaphorical, on our pages.
– Guest editors, Alex Maeve Campbell and Christina Francisco
(ii) Sicily (deadline:
June 01, 2010)
Sicily … perhaps no other island conjures up such vivid images as the ancient island of Sicily. What comes to mind? Romantic idyll or land of feuding rivalries? The mafia? An island apart from mainstream Italian culture? What is your Sicily? Does every culture have its own Sicily — its own outsiders living within its midst? Explode the stereotypes and delve into a modern reality of what Sicily represents for you as a writer. Descant is requesting submissions of unpublished fiction, poetry, essays, photography and previously unpublished works of translation from the Sicilian.
– Guest editors, Michelle Alfano and Venera Fazio
...please
remember to review our guidelines before submitting! |
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2009
Fairs:
Descant representatives will attend the following events:

Spring
2009 Toronto Small Press Book Fair takes
place this year at the Toronto Reference Library (789 Yonge
St)
Sat Jun 13, 2009 / 10am - 5pm
More info: torontosmallpressbookfair.org
Eden
Mills Writers’ Festival takes
place annually in
the hamlet of Eden Mills, Ontario.
Sun Sep 20, 2009 / 12 - 6pm
More info: edenmillswritersfestival.ca
Descant will
appear at the 20th annual Word
on the Street, the largest annual
outdoor book and magazine festival in Canada (which takes
place simultaneously in Toronto, Kitchener, Vancouver, Halifax
and Calgary). Here
in Toronto, visitors can browse the more than 250 book,
magazine and literacy exhibitor booths in the festival marketplace
or check-out any of the 150 authors, poets, storytellers,
performers and industry experts featured at more than 13
performance venues.
Sun
Sep 27, 2009 / 11 - 6pm
location: Queen's Park / free!
More
info: thewordonthestreet.ca
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Throughout the year, our two celebrated Contributing Editor’s — Mark Kingwell and Alberto Manguel — take turns writing a special column in our journal’s ever-developing ‘Back of the Book’. Both exceptional thinkers, this dedicated space within our journal allows them a platform to explore new ideas.
Manguel's latest, The Horror, the Horror: Michel Houellebecq on H.P. Lovecraft, appears in Descant 145 |
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Journalist Mark
Medley has started a special feature in the National
Post called 'The Ecology of Books' ... Descant is prominently featured in his recent focus on literary
journals (Jan 24/09)
::::::::::::: Read the feature here |
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New
Writers on the Descant BLOG
Have you had the chance lately to check
out our blog? We'd
like to welcome 3 new bloggers-in-residence to the site:
Kerry Clare, Michael Mirolla and Andrew
Tibbetts, who are joining Michelle
Alfano.
You can check out their bios here |
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The
Armadillo — available now!
Descant Arts & Letters Foundation's
Now
Hear This! literacy program sends professional
writers into schools to conduct writing workshops with students.
These workshops help develop literacy skills, cultivate
talent and creativity, encourage self-expression and foster
analytical skills and critical thought.
After a smashingly successful inaugural
year, we
are proud to present The Armadillo,
an anthology of student-written stories, poems, personal
essays, reviews and screenplays documenting the success
of Toronto's first-ever ongoing writers-in-schools program.
The journal was launched recently at the
Now Hear This! celebration, which took place Monday,
November 19 from 7-9pm at the Gardiner
Museum (Terrace Room, 3rd Floor, 111 Queen's
Park). This well-attended free event was a chance to recognize
everyone's enthusiastic participation in the program, hear
from writers-in-residence and students about their experiences,
give kudos to those who helped make the program possible,
enjoy some nibbles and generally celebrate Now Hear
This!'s success.
$15
(including shipping) — Purchase a copy here |
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Descant
T-shirts!
— available now!

Limited edition Descant t-shirts in
various colours and sizes, only $22 including shipping —
purchase
one here |
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Descant
Wins Gold at 2007 Canadian magazine awards!
We are very proud to announce that
Descant and writer R. Johnson
recently received the Gold Prize for Poetry from the
National Magazine Awards Foundation, for Johnson’s
exceptional work quietus. A big congrats to R.
Johnson for winning the $1000 grand prize!
You
can find quietus, as well as two other poems by
R. Johnson (Islander and Land scape) in
D-133: Bibliomania, our summer 2006 issue.
For a complete listing of all the winners at the 30th
Annual Canadian Magazine Awards, visit their website
here
A year earlier, we received 'Honourable
Mentions' in
the following two categories:
2006
Poetry, Honourable
Mention
P.K.
Page "Up
the Amazon: 1959"; "Mexico: 1960"
(which
appeared in Descant
130, Fall
2005 Vol 36, No 3)
2006
Words & Pictures, Honourable
Mention
Larry
Frolick, Donald Weber, Karen Mulhallen "Kebabistan—The Woman with Seven Heads"
(which
appeared in Descant 131,
Winter 2005 Vol 36, No 4) |
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...We'd
also like to congratulate Mark Laliberte, Descant's
Managing Editor, for winning a NMAF 'Gold' award for a special
'pagework' project completed for Prefix
Photo:
2006 Still-life Photography, Gold
Mark Laliberte "Record (In Memoriam)"
(which appeared in in Prefix Photo Issue
12) |
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Descant-related
Journey Prize nomination:
Congratulations
to Craig Boyko for having his piece "The
Baby" reprinted in the prestigious
The
Journey Prize Stories #18 anthology (out now),
which annually presents the best stories published in Canada
by new authors... order it today!
("The
Baby" originally
appeared in Descant
131)
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Our
literacy outreach project Now
Hear This! has its
own website: nowhearthis.ca
...the
program, now in its 3rd year, connects practicing authors with a broad spectrum
of Toronto’s population, helps at-risk youth articulate
their experiences and, above all, promotes Canadian writing
and literature through a culture of self-expression, participation
and inclusion. |
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Descant
Bonus Publication!
134+:
Cuba por dentro y por fuera (PDF)
A free 78-page PDF bonus-book has
been prepared to accompany our paper Cuba issue; it expands
on the print edition by offering the original Cuban texts
that appear in a translated form in Cuba, Inside/
Out.
To access this special project, go
here |
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In
Memory of Jane Jacobs (1916–2006)
We at Descant
are saddened to hear of the passing of Jane
Jacobs – social activist, urban thinker
and writer – whose work appeared
in Descant 125: Sub/Urbia (Su2004).
For
a profile of her life, go
here |
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In
Memory of Roland Brener (1942–2006)
We at Descant
are saddened to hear of the passing of Canadian
sculptor and art educator Roland
Brener. Brener, whose marvelous “Genies”
graced the cover of Descant 130 (F2005),
was a consummate artist, recognized both nationally
and internationally for his unique style and
experimentations with kinetic sculpture. Notably,
his work was showcased at the Biennal de São
Paulo (1987) and the Venice Biennale (1988)
and his art continues to be represented in significant
public and private collections. Descant takes this opportunity to join with its readers
in acknowledging the important life and career
of Roland Brener. |
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Descant
held a Live Auction at our Spring
2006 Launch for an original
hand-drawn cartoon by Margaret
Atwood. This item (framed in metal with single-diamond
glass and matted with acid free paper) brought in a respectable
$1300 for the magazine!
Thanks to all those who participated in this auction. |
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Appearing
on poet
rob
mclennan's blog: a review of issue 132/
The World of Barbara Gowdy |
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Descant
Index v001-132 (1970-2005) /
An alphabetical indexing (listed by
author) of everyone who has appeared in the pages of our
magazine. This comprehensive index was printed on pages
153-256 of Descant 133; you can download
the PDF here |
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