FAIth eRIN hICKs ................................... JAN 1
Comic ArtistIf you read The Coast, you’ve probably seen The Adventures of Superhero Girl, created by comic artist Faith Erin Hicks.
She has also drawn “a billion” online comics, including her long-running webcomic, Demonology 101 (about a demon high-schooler), and has contributed work to the Chronicle Herald. Hicks has published three graphic novels and recently completed a fourth.
JACINte ARMstRoNG ............................ JAN 18
Dancer and Choreographer, SINS DanceA graduate of Dalhousie, Jacinte Armstrong trained at Halifax Dance and went on to study at the New
World School of the Arts in Florida. She co-founded the Verve Mwendo Dance Company and SINS Dance Collective, and has received numerous grants as a performer, choreographer, and teacher. Her current work includes The 7 Deadly SINS Project, a series of dances
investigating the seven sins (gluttony, sloth, envy...), and Falling Off the Page, a contemporary dance duet based on Japanese Calligraphy.
PETER DYKHUIS ..................................... JAN 25
Artist and Gallery DirectorIn 2007, when Peter Dykhuis became director and curator of The Dalhousie Art Gallery, he had already established himself as an artist, art administrator, and critical writer. He has exhibited in galleries throughout Canada, designed and installed travelling exhibitions for the Art Gallery of Ontario, and worked as director of the Anna Leonowens Gallery at NSCAD. He has curated six exhibitions for the
THE CREATIVE PROCESSSPEAKER SERIES
Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and written reviews for ARTSatlantic, C Magazine, Parachute, Canadian Art and Art Papers.
BRIAN MACquARRIe & BILL wooD ...........FeB 1
Sketch Comedians, PicnicfacePicnicface’s Powerthirst has been viewed over 22 million times on YouTube. The group has been
around since 2006 and has had several videos go viral, gaining them popularity across North America and the world. They performed in a special on CBC radio and begin filming a show for The Comedy Network this
spring. Forthcoming in 2011 are their feature film, Roller Town, and book, Picnicface’s Canada (Harper Collins). According to The Toronto Star, “Picnicface is the perfect illustration of how making it in comedy works now.”
BoB BAueR ...............................................FeB 3
Composer, Guitarist, ProducerLarry Lake of CBC Radio, said, “Bob Bauer, in his own quiet way, is a major force in Canadian music.” For 30 years, Bauer worked for CBC as a recording engineer and music producer. He co-founded two
of Canada’s leading new music organizations: ArrayMusic (Toronto) and Upstream (Halifax), working as the artistic director and a performer
with both groups. His compositions have been heard across Canada in concert performances, broadcasts and recordings. His musical style incorporates elements of impressionism, pointillism, minimalism, world music, rock, and jazz.NICoLe DIxoN ........................................FeB 10
Fiction WriterIn 2005, Nicole Dixon’s short story, High-Water
Mark, won the Bronwen Wallace Award, and was short-listed for the Journey Prize and a CBC Literary Award. Her fiction has appeared in Grain, The Fiddlehead, and The New Quarterly, and her first book, a collection of short stories, will be published by Porcupine’s Quill
in 2012. Caroline Adderson, Journey Prize juror, said, “I loved Nicole Dixon’s High-Water Mark for how the smart-ass narrator single-handedly saves the story from melodrama with the power of her voice. Cancer, dead dads and dead babies--and I laughed? That’s some feat.”
LAuRA DAwe ...........................................FeB 15
FilmmakerDal alumna Laura Dawe’s first feature film, Light is the Day, debuted at the 2010 Atlantic Film Festival. Her film centres around three young people who move to a rural farmhouse, as the modern world threatens to collapse. Dawe shot the film for $15,000 in 26 days, and the AFF described Light is the Day as being filled with “beautiful images, subtle, believable performances, and a great soundtrack.”
ANNe sIMpsoN .......................................MAR 1
Poet and NovelistWriter-in-Residence Anne Simpson has published
three poetry collections: Light Falls Through You, winner of the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award and the Atlantic Poetry Prize; Loop, winner of the Griffin Poetry Prize and a finalist for the Governor General’s Award for
CRWR 2000 ● WINTER 2011
of things here, but mostly we come up with ideas.”
CRAIG FLINN ......................................... MAR 29
Owner and Chef, Chives Bistro; Cook Book AuthorChef Craig Flinn opened Chives Canadian Bistro in 2001, after attending the Culinary Institute of Canada, working at the Seehotel Waldstatterhof in Switzerland, the Savoy in London, and at the Village Club of Sands Point on Long Island. He decided to
become a chef while in the middle of pursuing an MA in geography, when he decided he wanted to do something more creative. His three cookbooks have gained national popularity for their use of seasonal, local ingredients in
creative, affordable menus. The Coast named him Best Chef two years in a row, and quoted him as saying, “I think that if people walked in and saw a New Zealand lamb shank on my menu, they’d be like, “What are you talking about New Zealand lamb!? You’ve had local lamb for six years!’”
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The Dalhousie Creative Writing Program sincerely thanks all of our guest speakers for their time in
visiting The Creative Process.
For more info, call 416-499-4144www.awic.info
Poetry; and, most recently, Quick. In addition, she has two published novels: Canterbury Beach, shortlisted for the Thomas Head Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award, and Falling. In 1997 her short story Dreaming Snow shared the Journey Prize. Of her collection, Loop, Griffin Prize judges said, “A troubled and generous spirit pervades and inspires Simpson’s achievement of craft and lyric.”
DR. JAsoN BRowN .................................. MAR 3
Mathematician, Professor of MathematicsFor 40 years, nobody knew exactly what chord opened The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night, until Dr. Jason Brown, professor of mathematics at Dal, figured it out using a calculation called a Fourier transform. His discovery was featured in news
media throughout North America, and he jokes that he may be the only mathematician ever to be published in Guitar Player magazine. Dr. Brown is a former Vice -President of the Canadian Mathematical Society, and in 2009, he published Our Days Are
Numbered, described by McClelland & Stewart as “A revealing and entertaining look at the world, as viewed through mathematical eyeglasses.”
ILAN sANDLeR ...................................... MAR 10
ArtistIlan Sandler currently runs Sandler Studio, Inc., and has shown his sculptures, installations, and videos internationally and across Canada. He has completed public art commissions in Toronto, St. Louis, Philadelphia and Busan, South Korea, and is also currently producing two large public art works: The Vessel for the City of Toronto and What’s Your Name? for North Toronto Collegiate Institute. He has received numerous awards and grants, and taught
at the University of the Arts, Moore College of Art and Design, and at NSCAD.
LesLey ChoyCe ..................................... MAR 15
Fiction Writer and PoetCBC Radio’s Peter Gzowski once called Lesley Choyce “Nova Scotia’s answer to the Renaissance man,” and
Maclean’s Magazine said, “His body of work defies categorization.” Choyce has published more than forty books of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction, for adults, teens, and children. In addition, he is the Founding Director of publishing house Pottersfield Press. He hosts a nationally syndicated talk show,
surfs year round, and his YA handles subjects such as “skateboarding, surfing, racism, environmental issues, organ transplants, and rock bands.”
ANthoNy tAAFFe ................................. MAR 22
Associate Creative Director, Extreme Group“We’re not an advertising agency,” says Shawn King, Extreme’s VP/chief creative officer. Instead, Extreme Group takes an innovative approach in representing its high-profile clients, which include, among others, BellAliant, Quiznos, RIM, Canadian Cancer Society,
and Cadillac Fairview. You may have spotted their “Sex workers are people, too” public awareness campaign, or their radio spots for Shops at Don Mills featuring Joan Rivers. For Pure Black Sunshine, they created a choose-your-own-adventure style website where the
experience of buying coffee feels as illicit as a drug deal. Extreme Group’s website tells us, “We do a lot
THE CREATIVE PROCESSSPEAKER SERIES CRWR 2000 ● WINTER 2011