2007 - 2008 Social Events & Gatherings
with the Writers' Coop
Coop Open Mike, Summer Party and Season Wind-up
On May 22, 2008, over twenty Coop members and family and friends of all ages gathered in Room 3 of the Frances Morrison Library for the final event of the Coop's 2007-2008 season. It was a party, yes, with the program built around an open-mike format-- but with a difference: participants were asked to read or perform selections only by, for, or about children or childhood.
Eight performers treated the audience to a great variety, from prose by Edda Ryan and Don Reimer, to poetry by Erica Jen (first time reader) and Chander Behl, to songs and dances by Alison and Mike Flensburg (ably assisted by young William Bousquet), to a selection of writings by children in Canada's isolated northern communities, as selected and read by Erica Tesar.
Jo Oliver organized the event, brought the chocolate-chip cookies and Rice Krispie cake, and acted as the MC for the evening.
Our thanks go to the performers, the audience, the Library for hosting us, and especially to public relations programmer Dana Jacobs for all her help.
Some pictures from the evening are over here ===>
Coop AGM-- and a Social Evening with a Literary Sleuth!
On March 27, following a brief AGM, over forty Coop members and friends were delighted to be joined by U of S scholar (and current SWG president) Robert Calder, in his newest role: The Book Detective. Imagine trying to track down all the books ever written by every graduate of the University of Saskatchewan. No doubt, you’d meet a few characters along the way… like Douglas Hill, apparently voted the most popular children's writer in Britain in a poll by The Guardian (this was in a pre-J. K. Rowling era, admittedly). From a convicted murderer to a winner of the Nobel prize, we followed the trail with Bob, professor of English and book detective extraordinaire, as he recounted the genesis, discoveries and future of this unique collection of books. (Anyone who'd like to alert Bob and his colleagues to possible additions to the collection can email him at bobcalder@sasktel.net, but bear in mind he's looking only for books of 48 pages or longer.)
Coop members had a variety of their published works on display. Some of us took part in a dress-up contest (dressed as our favourite U of S stereotype). We enjoyed nibbles by Calories. Food, fun, fellowship-- and it was all free! Special thanks go to Karen Millard, who made the punch, tended the bar, and acted as registrar for the evening.
The Annual Financial Statement and other documents related to the Annual General meeting may be found here. At the AGM we said farewell to one board member, Lloyd Ratzlaff, welcomed another, Peter Jonker, and expressed appreciation to all the members, supporters, and volunteers who keep the Coop going strong.
Our seventh Open Mike...
...took place April 24, 2008 at the Frances Morrison Library. Sixteen readers and listeners enjoyed the hospitality of the Public Library and our hosts Dana Jacobs and Writer-in-residence Terry Jordan.
Readers included Linda Wood, Erica Tesar, Gary Chappell, Kevin Wesaquate, Chander Behl, Don Reimer, Darla Tenold, Amy Jo Ehman and Jo Oliver. MC Jo Oliver offered this mini-review: "Darla's and Amy Jo's work is very polished, and Don is on to a VERY interesting new poetry theme. Linda and Chander both read poetry that was interesting and challenging. Gary always has something new-- I enjoy his stuff. Erica has the beginning of a great story set in England, and the new poet in our midst, Kevin, made us see, through his eyes, his culture-- no mean feat."
Our sixth Open Mike...
...took place March 30, 2008 in Jo Oliver's salon, 926 - 8th Avenue North. Readers in this exclusively poetry-themed afternoon included organizer and MC Jo Oliver, Lorene Nickel (new), Gary Chappell, Mic Lafreniere (new), and Chander Behl. Audience included Jennifer Divall and Edda Ryan, and the social and discussion that followed included late joiner Jim Weseen. Excellent fellowship, and marvellous cinnamon buns. Thanks again, Jo. Picture is in the column to the right ===>
Our fifth Open Mike...
...took place February 21, 2008 at St. Thomas More College, U of S campus. Readers in this mostly poetry-themed evening included organizer and MC Jo Oliver, Alison Flensburg, Gary Chappell, and Peter Jonker (new!) Small crowd, but fine fellowship as usual.
Our fourth Open Mike...
...took place January 24, 2008 in the salon of board member and Open Mike organizer Jo Oliver. Fourteen readers and listeners enjoyed Jo's hospitality and the creative efforts of the presenters, including a play and a duologue.
Readers included Jeff Smith with daughter Brinnameade, Garry Chappell, Donald B. Campbell with friends Judy, Hubert and Chris, Amy Jo Ehman, and Drew Kirk (new!). Thanks to Jo Oliver for organizing and hosting the evening.
Our third Open Mike...
...took place November 23, 2007 at Museo Coffee, The Mendel Art Gallery. Nice location, but a bit hard to hear. Close to 20 people attended, and clearly enjoyed the evening despite the impression that the barista would rather have been elsewhere.
Readers included Art Battiste, Gary Chappell (new reader-- yay!), Wes Funk, Linda Wood, Julianna Dunn, Jo Oliver, Jeff Smith, and Deborah Morse. Edda Ryan organized and MC'd the evening.
Our second Open Mike...
...took place October 25, 2007 at St. Thomas More College, U of S campus.
Readers included Art Battiste, Jim Fuerstenberg, Jo Oliver, Jeff Smith, Wendy Weseen, and Linda Wood. Jo Oliver MC'd the event. Again, sadly, no photos, but a good time was had by all.
Open Mikes - a constant and successful theme
Our summer party and travel-themed Open Mike was such a success, we kicked off the 2007-08 season on September 13 with another Open Mike in the same location-- the Jessie Miller Room at St. James/Refinery. We had a small crowd (we were up against Jane Goodall, after all), but excellent readings, discussions and fellowship.
Readings were diverse-- a children's story by Linda Wood, poetry by Chander Behl and Jo Oliver, memoir by Don Reimer, humour by Jim Weseen, a dramatic excerpt from a novel by Jane Edgett, and a fictional dialogue-by-letter by Edda Ryan.
Edda Ryan also co-organized (with Jo Oliver) the event, and ably performed MC duties. Not a bad evening's work!
Sorry, no photos-- the photographer forgot his camera.
Register to read at an Open Mike
Check out the events the Coop hosted last year
Get Involved as a Coop Volunteer!
If you’d like to become more involved with the
Saskatoon Writers' Coop community, but
can’t commit to regular meetings or take on any more long-term volunteer roles,
consider joining our flock of “active volunteers.” "Active volunteers" are Coop
members who want to help out once in a while, at their own discretion. If you’d
like to join the team, email
coopinfo@writerscoop.org
When we need extra help we’ll give you a call. You can accept or decline the request as you wish.
Summer Party 2008
Some performers and audience members during snack break
William Bousquet and
the Flensburgs
Mike does the monkey
William learns a dance
AGM and Social
Coop president Jim Weseen chairs the AGM
MC Amy Jo Ehman
introduces our keynote speaker
Keynote speaker Bob Calder,
"the Book Detective"
Around the book table, enjoying the variety of books written by Coop members
Diehard socializers honour costume prizewinner Janice Schmidt (in white lab coat)
Poetry Open Mike
Open mike participants and spectators, March 30, 2008
Next Open Mike
Thursday Sept. 11, 2008
7:00 p.m.
Frances Morrison Library
(Room 3, lower level)
Learn more about Coop Open Mike events.
Submit a Photo!
Want to set the scene with one of your own photos? Our goal is to illustrate this website entirely with home-grown photos of "Saskatoon and area." Send us a digital image--jpg preferred--of a family-friendly view (be sure you own the rights to its use) and fame and glory will be yours. Money no...fame and glory, you bet! (Hey, this is for fun!)
Email your photo to coopinfo@writerscoop.org
