Ren Louie’s Kidlit Books

Indigenous author, Ren Louie (left) is set to release an adaptation of his book for younger audiences, about his childhood journey of connecting with his culture through a drum gifted by his mother.” FULL STORY

 

Bill bissett’s acceptance speech for Woodcock Award

April 02nd, 2008

a long strange n wundrful road: a tapestree uv names n places

on erth th place uv klinging bin up n down magik hiway 97 a thousand times n bin on hundrids uv planes buses boats all veree great tho ium originalee from lunaria a planet konstellaysyun way past venus 312 months 2 get ther in erthling time mor thn months 2 return i was on th first shuttul uv lunarian childrn being sent from lunaria 2 erth

on lunaria we childrn wud comb th evreewher orange lite in th mornings 2 supply enerjee 4 th entire gallaxee planet konstellaysyun ths devotid n dilligent combing uv th ubiquitous orange lite reelee wud supply all th enerjee needs uv lunaria

th shuttul i was on arrivd in halifax wher i was konseevd from lunarian dna n givn birth from an erthling mothr n erthling fathr i had thot i wud emerg in th littul red school hous on th mgm lot wch louis b mayer had designd from th littul red school houses in rural nu brunswick wher he was from manee othr canadians mary pickford mack sennett wer part uv th birth uv hollywood canadian bizness peopul thot th mosyun pickshur effort wud nevr suceed

it was whn i was 10 n 11 in th oxygen tent in th childrns hospital in hfx nova scotia aftr sum mor operaysyuns on my bellee i realizd i wud nevr now b a ballet dansr or a figur skatr or a hockee playr ther wer way 2 manee scars on my bellee th abdominal musculs all slashd that wer i allowd 2 pursue my first ambishyuns i nevr wud b abul 2 n i notisd in th moovee magazines they bgan bringing me moovee stars thees wer gods n goddesses n thees moovee stars didint go 2 th bathroom eithr like me n i cud draw n paint n write n still b part uv th line mooving thru space n time wch is what i wantid as soons i cud i wud leev home n write n paint 4evr leeving with billie oliver n 2 leev western civilizasyun

in th hospital i wrote a storee abt a boy who liked 2 swim in th undrtow evn tho that wud worree his familee terriblee n he evenshulee welkumd them undrstanding his need 2 get out on his own n swim against th rules reel n metaphorik

whn i got on my own in vancouvr 17 i was writing all th time n meeting lance farrell was dewing non narrativ writing espeshulee embraysing that sylabuls onlee mostlee n totalee eschewing th narrativ line 4 a mor xcellent sylabik uttrans writing n using th space uv th papr th page 2 avoid squares or rektanguls as th onlee shapes wun cud write in

also avoiding th singul vois diktate getting in2 manee voices ideaz accents manee sounds multiplisiteez peopul found ths veree diffikult now sum wud find that mor undrstandabul yes but thn opposisyun 2 th posisyun nowun wud publish us martina clinton maxine gadd judith copithorne lance farrell we cudint evn get free papr from th universiteez sew we startid printing ourselvs 1962 yeer our dottr michelle was born me n martina clinton using th name lance farrell n robbie sutherland n me found in a dicksyunaree blew ointment by dropping my fingr randomlee on2 random page evree yeer th producksyun valus improovd first a hand run gestetner from george priestman th downtown printr in vankouvr with whom i workd 4 almost 20 yeers n we printid hundrids uv peopul from yew k bob cobbing canada bpNichol margaret avison n yewnitid states d.a. levy poland n chekoslovakia ivo vroom japan sew manee places all ovr th world brazil from wher konkreet vizual sound poetree was blossoming almost ovr nite evreewher first we got in2 th canada council publishing program at th lowest levl thn improovd inkre mentz evree yeer thn bertrand lachance n me wer working blewointment press manee books evree yeer n thn alan rosen workd with me produck
syun valus stedilee improoving n it seemd 4 a whil that revenues thru grants n sales wer keeping up almost neerlee with costs veree amayzing ther reelee was a market 4 blewointment books ths preseeding paragraph covrs twentee yeers approximatelee yes n writrs wer pd 100.oo n givn half th copeez if th book wer solee theyrs wch bgan 2 happn aftr th first yeers uv magazeens or antholojeez uv blewointment n i developd a narrativ vois my own that cud hold a storee line viz a vee killer whale th canadian wch wer both n othrs like them th emergency ward latr antholojizd a lot helpd my abilitee 2 perseveer n latelee paddy aldridge jordan stone bob kasher princess rosa adeena karasik carol malyon

2 oftn th main streem wants art writing 2 b a mirror uv itself not 2 show th whol pickshur s or diffrent uses uv langwage n being prseveer lukilee find our audiences feel our xpressyuns realizd n spred 2 join othrs uv like undrstandings n evn thos who dont yet have wiring wide enuff 2 appresiate may opn with th art xperiens as my mothrs jena hamilton n joy masuhara say north amerika is almost entirlee surroundid by mirrors
my mothrs wer th pioneers n paramount enerjeez in th challange 2 have legal marriage 4 gay peopul in canada

thru thees yeers i was drawn 2 th karibu wch i love still dew as well as vancouvr wch i lovd n still love n go 2 work n live oftn iuv livd in vankouvr n th karibu most uv my life sew far n in th karibu printid books n got in2 th magik uv th countree life ther n th sew soulful erth beginning with th hi green hill writtn much ther th karibu n much abt its beauteez n fiersness bears rabbits loons wolves deer swallows ravens kokanee salmon buttrflies bats mostquitoez eaguls hawks ospreys rats foxes crow turkee buzzards giant cadinals iuv seen

its bin a long strange oftn wundrful road mor 2 cum yes halifax long ago human erthling terms in toronto writing ths 2007 livd in london ontario 85-91 it was part time ther with vankouvr mooving back n 4th wher th work was reedings sub leteez three times writr in residens unb frederikton 98 western u london 86-87 alan gedalof n woodstock on tario th libraree 87-88 ellen jaffe mar laymon sew far travelld almost evreewher in canada from vctoria 2 st johns nufoundland frankee rich wuns i sat back whn ther was time 2 remembr them all i did all th detail th xcellens n th comedeee its sew amayzing all th packing n th playing with n sorting all th luggage n th peopul n carreeing my luggage evreewher snow ice heet rain n my paintings getting in2 films ma vie l’escort as parts uv th narrativ ther n l’amnesie castor pollux pro ducksyuns montreal time b4 driving paintings n drawings with joy zemel long 2 burnaby 2 th vincent price kolleksyun wher our works wer lukilee bout evn tho we had quote lost our invite cards 2 th appointments we didint reelee have we sd sumthing abt th wind th tickits wer on th convertibul dash bord th top was opn yes n joys sales ther wer trubul with a galleree ownr evn tho we wer outside th vancouvr citee limits we nevr did that agen but we did well ther n made th rent agen thats usualee th big challeng 4 th artist alwayze trying 2 make th rent

in london ontario working with alternativ rock band luddites we re cordid a lot n did gigs thruout southern ontario 4 a few yeers n just b4 we got 2 th next levl we wer getting air play n stuff we dissolvd tho in 2008 a reissew cd uv our work is being releesd was also in bands mandan massacre n sonik horses dermot foley luddites was gerry collins peter denny murray favro n myself aftr luddites workd n recordid with chris meloche rainbow mewsik n bill roberts rumours uv hurricane pete dako deth interrups th dansing all thees cds with dennis johnson at red deer press n michael antony n cathy ford carolyn zonailo all keeping it going 4 evreewun phylis webb miriam wadington pk page david mcfadden john newlove bileh nickerson with john barton editid th
first canadian gay male poetree antholojee semenal 2007 my work is in 4 arsenal press vancouvr 30 sum yeers aftr ian young editid 4 crossings press th gay male muse north amerikan gay male poetree my work was in dewing reedings as well with lillian allen joe rosenblatt sew manee othrs mark sutherland clifton joseph 4 horsemen paul dutton paul n me did a yew k tour in th 80’s n alwayze dr sean fay ms vicki n th brain doktor dr emma n her teem n gerry n helen geisler who tuk me in wintr carreeing boxes n luggage thru th bush in relays 2 get it ther chopping wood peeling logs working in gas staysyun bringing blewointment books in th karibu beginning hauling watr up from big lake

all th peopul iuv livd with sew amayzing romantik turbulent ekstatik evn with th inevitabul stress uv being in diffikult times always that stress n wanting 2 thank them n jerry n arlene lampert n th leeg uv poets n th writrs yuunyun n th canada council without widespred support uv th arts a countree onlee bcums mor n mor brutal n Lenore herb who has th largest kolleksyun uv my art work in th galaxee who creatid direktid produced dvd uv my work at th top uv th world n jonathan rainbow n michael potvin in toronto who have th second largest kolleksyun uv my work n george n deborah siu n all th othr kollektors n scott watson who put 2gethr my 1st reelee big wun prson show at th vancouvr art galleree in 1985 doris shadbolt had put 2gethr a smallr show ther in 71 n ths aint th rosedale libraree bookstore galleree in toronto with sandra alland n dan bazuin in wintr 05-06 n all th shows inbtween n all th curators n host gallereez pizza ricos with wendee wood curating as wlll as th shows at george sius not just deserts th forest citee galleree in london modern fuel in kingston 94 galleree in sechelt kevin stephens artisan gallereez othrs in van pteros galleree virginia dickson randy resch curators toronto 2002-05 iuv dun mor reedings with adeeka karasick n bin on th same bill as thn anee othr poet inspiring as similarlee n diffrentlee we both deekonstrukt n analyze th present n past templates n linguistik harmoneez dissoances xploring sound meenings kadens stakkato n vowell basins george stanley

linda rogers n rick van krugel in victoria helping keep parts uv my familee 2gethr hosting reedings sew i cud get 2 victoria sew awesum n virginia ratsoy n alan penfold in kamloops hosting sew manee reedings
th stars cascading ovr th mountins th vallee ther n sharon nelson n peter grogono in montreal sumtimes snow up 2 th roofs beacons on th road 4 me 4 yeers without wch n much thanks 2 earle birney n dorothee livesay who helpd me a lot with mss sales n defens uv my work 2 censorious peopul whn i was starting out n joy kuropatwa n bruce kramer n carol malyon who drove me in a huge van 2 toronto from london whn i was getting in2 trubul gettin it on with a guy whos lovr was gettin out uv kingston soon 4 killing th last guy he found him in bed with n sum othr stuff n alma lee n th vancouvr writrs festival n th western front 4 a large wun prson show ther in 79 n in 1980 th canada council cut its grant 2 blewointment press by ovr 40% all my apeels ths time did not work small presses wer being life boatid th rite wing was making its powr moovs hard times wer cumming wake up wun morning th klimate changd its a nu n much tuffr danse n that 20 yeer adventur was 4 me ovr n aftr a greef time moovd on 2 work way mor on my own in sew manee wayze n opend up nu areas uv creativitee 4 me a lot uv terrifik times wer ovr all th work that goez in2 running a press n a lot uv hard times 2 charles huiskin laydee sarah ths aint th rosedale libraree bookstore n art galleree paul duguay jim hudson ben kennedy shelia prudom primus richard browning linda david barrett hilary peach wendy morton frankie rich saide kardar 4 in klewding me in his moovee a private god empress diana kosakova patrick lane seymour mayne jim brown with whom very stone hous was foundid pat lowthr

thanks 2 valerie lapointe n th milton acorn festival wch brout me 2 p e i evree summr 8 yeers awesum meeting n hanging with sew manee xcellent poets n renewing sum familee connkesyuns in nova scotia ther was nevr travl munee unless it was 4 dewing gigs gave me a nu slant on life breething n th jail oakalla prison farm n th trial brillyantlee orchestratid by sid simons sew much thanks 2 n th neurolojee ward was long ago as well n it tuk abt 3 yeers 2 rekovr enuff 2 keep going from that xperiens canadian laws on copee rite ed murphys attacks on kultur legasee uv waste in govrnment spending printing pomes without prmisyun ar not veree gud nor ar candian laws on resposibiliteez uv hosts 4 serious accidents within theyr premises i got bettr tho aftr th epilepsee n th paralyses i was luckee cest sa ium still loving writing n painting n i dont know aneething abt stoln emeralds no n i was luckee in jail n 1979-80 AIDS n th sexual revolushyun was reelee ovr 20 yeers plus uv going 2 funerals n memorials manee teers sew much greef n thanking warren tallman tuk huge time out uv his life 2 dfend me n talonbooks n othr writrs n publishrs who wer being lambastid by th veree narrow mindid rite wing warren sold out th italian cultural centr 4 a yeer huge evree month having huge epik reedings by poets from all ovr north amerika th rite wing lernd it cant reelee push us artists around we will back each othr yes th arts ar as important as breth 4 being susan musgrave rosemary hollingshead roger ten trey gregg simpson terry beauchamp ken west selby hotel 80’s toronto carlton arms nyc 90’s n now blaise enrite all th hosts who have bookd me in2 reedings n don mcleod david mason jack david nelson ball jean baird

ovr 40 yeers its a long way from putting packages undr wash basin stands in gas staysyuns n running like th wind or pleezing sumwun i didint want 2 that much n runnin out uv veins n konstantlee out uv food n living on day old cakes n pastreez from th landladee on robson street b4 starting job shelving books on robson street librare iuv kept mostlee working bin luckee how oftn can i thank talonbooks christy n karl siegler 30 yrs theyv bin publishing my writing awesum 2 work with n now ths honour th george woodcock award thanks sew much alan twigg n bc bookworld yu rock thanks veree much amayzing ther have bin honours lateleee organizd by steven roxborough jeff pew n radiant danse uv being from nitewood press wch usd 2 b blewointment press n all th reedings rox n jeff held 4 me in kimberlee cranbrook vancouvr victoria toronto sheri de wilson n mike roberts 4 dewing that in calgary spokn word festival its great 2 b home agen in vancouvr wher iuv livd reelee most uv my life sew far next week up in th karibu home is also in th lettrs words images th magik taktilitee uv th text pickshurs in th lettrs lettrs in th images i bgan wanting 2 write mostlee non narrativ thn wanting 2 write narrativ romantik sound lyrikul sexual politikul spiritual opn spayshul vizual fuseyun in wch sum or mor uv thees elements apeer in th same pome kontainr non narrativ his her storikul naytur pomes metaphysikul kevan alder jim gilmour big kollektors n stephen reid sfu n york universitee speshul kolleksyuns tons uv mss

always hopeing 2 b xplooring all thees elements approaches taking nothing as set keep going reseeving th dorothee livesay poetree award 93n 2003 inkorrekt thots n peter n th towring boxes both talonbooks n thanking keith wallace 4 show at th vancouvr art galleree in 1989 calld rezoning with jess n al neil works uv konstruksyun found objekts
mostlee from th medows uv th karibu n hammerd 2gethr in organik composisyuns sum uv thees works ar in th permanent kolleksyun ther at th vag as ar sum othrs as well n thanks 2 ian wallace 4 show uv collages at ubc galleree it was 50 – 60 below that wintr carreeing thos works 2 th place 2 ship 2 him great kold wintrs great hot all nite long n long summrs n alvin balkind 4 konkreet poetree show also at th ubc galleree n th show uv vancouvr 6 at harbourfront toronto sum yeers latr

n bpNichol 4 my first book we sleep inside each othr all from his ganglia press 1965 th cosmik chef his editing 4 oberon press also erlee seven teez a brillyant box uv manee poets konkreet vizual work n 2 gertrude stein who influensd both uv us n our writing each othr abt n othr pome thots back n forth th erlee mid sixteez n latr i was reelee helpd sew much by lsd n latr mda n meditaysyun wch i still dew evree morning n steev clay at granary books nu york citee 4 th art book lunaria wch i workd on 2001 til 2002 evree day hand painting ovr th drawings i had made alredee printid in th book archival papr 9 x 12 86 pp in gold box blu cloth covrs i workd i wud cum 2 evree day eschewing all els 2 xperiens th illuminaysyn watr colours soluabul drawing pencils 42 copeez illumiating mss n captin carol n mr javier dr carol ribner john wieners

want 2 thank geoff invararity joanne randle margaret avison n alan ginsberg jack kerouac whos howl n on th road gave me moral support 4 leeving home robert duncan john rechy a lot uv inspiraysyun diane di prima ths kind uv bird flies backward kedrick james jamie n carol reid wallace stevens edith sitwell e e cummings endre farkas Gwendolyn macewen th t, e, lawrance pomes n leonard cohen book uv mercy n th enerjeez uv slaves goez without saying manee othr pomes by both thees poets as with evreewun menshyund heer sew much thanks 4 helping n 4 being n all th un named prsons along th way in parks at nite in sacrid alleewayze by day on th see shore neer th magik stars also my thanks 2 arthur richardson jeffrey birkin dennis robbins hank green
how trollee bus rick stenhouse vahe andonian ken karasick stanlee kammerer byron chief moon n familee russ n donna mcfee sew manee brite lites rudolph nadassky helen mcaferty ann n john walsh working with irene karasick a name is a label ekstasis press dr bill berinati

2006 – 7 ium working with jordan stone foundr n direktor uv th secret handshake th first n onlee peer support group n network 4 n with peopul with schizophrenia in canada iuv seen mirakuls n peopul regaining theyr lives a brothrhood n sistrhood meetings wuns a week n manee peer support calls n events

th first blewointment 1962 was in honour uv in search uv innosens a jack long len foret nfb producksyun abt van artists n paintrs few yeers latr maurice embra made a film abt me n my work strange grey day ths embra producksyuns 2006 a heart uv a poet episode abt me n my work makin movies produsr thanks 2 maureen judge direktor amay
zing 2 work with bravo timothee priske steven weir warren knechtel steve powell mr gull renee rodin in halifax george grant art davis

working on nu book hopefulee 4 talon 09 sublingual i cant thank talon enuff evr reelee karl n christy awesum as is evreewun iuv men syund heer 2 me past present n futur n nu cd with composr pete dako n a nu book uv konversaysyuns 52 plus brekfasts at th goldn gridl with carol malyon iuv slept like a lot uv yu in sew manee places barns hotels motels billets fields warehouses apartments houses rooms n playd with my luggage thruout canada parts uv yewnitis states nu york citee anacortes seattul whidby island detroit sew manee xcellent adventurs as well as thruout northern europe yew k a lot mexico sew thers a lot mor 2 see boat from roslaire 2 marseilles going ovr th curv uv th erth seeing it like evreething 4 a changing spell that was on a tour with adeena karasick thru europe n yew k 93 n thanks sew veree much 2 we both xploor langwage n templates wanting 2 serch find delinate each awareness uv each lettr a gift discoveree n a previous tour i went with alan rosen 74 n a latr wun thn that with susan musgrave george johnston 79 n by myself 99 oftn dreem uv th old ships inn
on th top uv th atlantik ther th pink pavilion briteon n ireland wales scotland london working ther with espeshulee bob cobbing wun uv th originators uv contemporaree sound poetree n clive fencott n chris cheek

paula claire manee othrs dennis cornies playing piano with me in concerts n on 2 cds unmatching phenomena 1 n 2 tom graff produck syuns n thanks 2 james reaney 4 helping sew much at th beginning

like sew manee writrs n artists iuv bin veree bizee th debts have onlee inkreesd n ium grateful 4 that n ium grateful 4 th peopul who havint helpd that reelee helps as well its like a dreem isint it time space bcumming being sum kind uv mirage veree oftn evn if th prep work is reelee redee sew its veree thrilling n th qwestyun how much dew we selekt n how much dew we xperiens thru fate destinee n how much is onlee in our heds wher els cud it b tho we chose ths planet erth th places uv klinging n th places uv ekstasee lerning un lerning othr gallereez twice at iron works th most recent show i had ther hung by dr carl peters n th book carl peters is preparing on my art work textual vishyun galleree in anacortes othr presses iuv publisht with black moss oberon nu star books weed flower press working w margaret atwood n dennis lee on nobody owns th erth from anansi choosing or fate wch all thees qwestyuns n magik temporaree destinaysyuns shine oftn repeet themselvs n ar in our art n our lives isint it a great n amayzing adventur ths long n strange n wundrful n skaree road yes n it goez on 4
thousands uv yeers wev all travelld 2gethr n much thanks 2 kathy n bill sheffeld n th saturna island free school n sittin heer with penny east on her wundrful balconee at pal in beautiful toronto reeding ths 10th draft uv ths essay sayin whew ms pennee yu awake yes n 4 ths

inkredibul honour bc bookworld thank yu veree much sew much n evreewun heer 4 ths george woodcock award ther ar sew manee awesum writrs n artists n as iuv lernd 2 say from beverley rosen-simons
lots uv love n thanks

Essay Date: 2007

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