Black Ink

I’m currently on a weeklong leave of absence from my day job to spend more time on my book.  Initially I thought I was going to start off this writing week with the removal of the small cyst that moved in and started living on the back of shoulder, but I realized last night while looking at my appointment card that my surgery is scheduled for next week Tuesday, not today.  This works out, as I certainly didn’t want to write with a sore shoulder, but I still found myself creatively stifled.  I managed to churn out a few pages today, which wasn’t at all what I expected, but I suppose this was better than procrastinating all day like I’m so easily tempted to do.  Tomorrow will be better.

So the schedule for Montreal’s Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival has finally been released.  I immediately went searching for the list of authors to get an idea of the types of faces I’d be tempted to go see at the festival.  I’m sad to report that there will be no presence of Jamaica Kincaid at this festival, which is an absolute bummer.  There’s supposed to be a big tribute of sorts to Montreal writer Michel Tremblay.  I’m already trying to make plans to see the discussion between Writers and Company’s Eleanor Wachtel and the fabulous West Indian poet Derek Walcott.  This on-stage interview is scheduled for Saturday April 8.

On the same day, Donna Bailey Nurse is expected to be at the festival and she’ll be hosting the panel Black and White.  Now this is supposed to be a panel of black writers talking about the experience of writing in a white world, but I wish the organizers at Blue Metropolis would stop with the title and the whole theme itself.  Firstly, this isn’t a “white world.”  Secondly, as one black novelist stated on the panel last year, why is it that no one asks “what it’s like for Jews to write in a Gentile world?”  Thirdly, Nurse has just published an anthology on black Canadian writing.  The book has 29 contributors from which to choose.  You’d think this would be the perfect time to assemble a panel of black Canadian writers and give them a platform to discuss the state of black writing and publishing in Canada.  Why the hell didn’t they put together a panel of black writers to discuss blogging or urban literature in North America?

I was excited about the Black and White event last year.  Now I feel as though it’s going to be a lazily organized repetition of the same discussion that was held one year ago at the festival.  Derek Walcott will be one of the guests and probably the highlight next to Nurse.  They’re also going to have an Indo-Canadian writer on the Black and White panel.  I’m going in to this event with no expectations.

Thankfully, the organizers have actually succeeded in putting together a hip-hop literary show, which will feature the likes of UK hip-hop writer Patrick Neate, Montreal poet Kaie Kellough, and UK poet Luke Sutherland.  Blue Met has even tapped the boys from The Goods to take care of the music.  Now this sounds promising.