WRITING AND READING BEYOND BORDERS

Sun Jan 13 11:17:53 EST 2008

Hi Angela,

Thanks for articulating so well the importance of publishing plays. I don't
know why there is any doubt about the importance of publishing plays. Plays,
as written, are major works of art, reflections of society and cultures,
integral parts of literature, and exciting invitations to play and create
together.

In addition to publishing plays, I would speak up about the importance of
translating plays, and about the need for theatre people willing to take the
risk of staging plays "beyond borders."

Louise Forsyth

-----Original Message-----
From: Canadian Theatre Reserach [mailto:CANDRAMA at LISTSERV.UNB.CA] On Behalf
Of Angela Rebeiro
Sent: January 11, 2008 10:33
To: CANDRAMA at LISTSERV.UNB.CA
Subject: WRITING AND READING BEYOND BORDERS

>>
>> Hope someone includes in their paper that the importance of publishing
>> plays is that as books cross borders, more easily, frequently, and 
>> less expensively than staged productions,
>> the visibility of Canadian playwrights and
>> their work has grown significantly in the past ten/fifteen years. And,
>> those borders are not just international,
>> they are provincial, academic, community theatre, schools, and for the
>> few readers drifting about who enjoy reading plays.
>> Recently I was invited to be part of a panel and as the only odd 
>> person
>> in the room talking about theatre, the question came up about
>> why publish plays.  When I observed the features, it was clear from 
>> the
>> expression on 20 people's face that
>> I'd hit a cord; none of them had given this a thought.  I believe 
>> quite
>> strongly, however, that a lot more Canadian drama is being
>> done in the US, because playwrights Canada Press is represented in 
>> the U.S. by Theatre
>> Communications Group for sales, marketing,
>> and distribution.  it's not just a distribution activity, which many
>> Canadian publishers have.  I think Albert Glaap, Ute Schafenberg,
>> Christian Horn and a few others who travel back and forth between 
>> Germany and
>> Canada, have been able to encourage an interest
>> in Canadian theatre in that country, because we send books to them on 
>> a regular basis. 
>> Were theatre not published, academics and other teachers would
>> not have easy access to plays to enhance their literature and drama
>> classes.  Community theatres would not know about as many of the
>> Canadian plays as they now do, and so on and so forth.  Theatrebooks 
>> now represents
>> about 30% of our annual sales, up from about 7 - 10%% 16 years ago, 
>> and I
>> suspect that's true for the other drama publishers.  None of what 
>> I've said here applies
>> only to this Press.  Talon's Modern Canadian Drama  does very well in
>> universities.  In fact I think these two volumes go along way to 
>> sustaining Talon's publishiisng
>> programme, which is also fiction, poetry and non-fiction. Ditto for
>> Scirocco, and so their books
>> cross provincial borders and increase the visibility of Canadian
>> playwrights and their work.

And, so someone will now challenge me to say that the internet is even 
faster, and I would not disagree with that,
but we're not there yet, and so in the meantime published plays slip 
across all kinds of borders much more
readily than staged productions.
>>
>>
>> Angela Rebeiro
>> Playwrights Canada Press
>> 215 Spadina Avenue
>> Suite 230
>> Toronto, Ontario
>> M5T 2C7
>> (416) 703-0013
>> (416) 408-3402 FAX
>>
>> On Jan 11, 2008, at 9:49 AM, Glen F. Nichols wrote:
>>
>> > From
>> > >>> Wendy Roy wendy.roy at usask.ca> 2008-01-10 15:30 >>
>> > Updated Call for Papers / Appel à communications
>> >
>> > The Association for Canadian and Québec Literatures (ACQL)
>> > Association des littératures canadienne et québécoise (ALCQ)
>> >
>> > Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences
>> > University of British Columbia
>> > 31 May-2 June 2008
>> >
>> > (Le texte français suit)
>> >
>> > Writing and Reading Beyond Borders
>> >
>> > The Association for Canadian and Québec Literatures invites 
>> proposals
>> > on borders and border crossings for its 2008 conference. Borders 
>> can be
>> > defined as geographical lines between countries, provinces, and
>> > regions, but can also suggest divisions between people in terms of
>> > gender, sexuality, ability, language, ethnicity, "race," and so on. 
>> How
>> > does literature in Canada and Québec both reflect and transcend 
>> these
>> > borders?
>> >
>> > In keeping with Congress's 2008 theme, "Thinking Beyond Borders," we
>> > welcome papers that cross the traditional boundaries of perspective,
>> > genre, and discipline. Possible topics include:
>> >
>> > * Transing genders and sexualities
>> > * Blending theoretical methodologies
>> > * Crossing the boundaries between genres (fiction and biography, 
>> prose
>> > and poetry, illustrated novels)
>> > * Comparison of literatures written in English and in French
>> > * Regionalism
>> > * Migration, dispersal, and settlement
>> > * Postcolonial perspectives
>> > * Diasporic literature in Canada
>> > * Writing and travel
>> >
>> > We also welcome member-organized sessions on topics related to any
>> > aspect of the study of Canadian and Québec literatures. All paper or
>> > session proposals can be written in French or English. Those who
>> > propose papers or sessions must be members of ACQL before the 
>> Congress.
>> > See the ACQL website (www.alqc-acql.ca) for membership registration
>> > information.
>> >
>> > Please also check the ACQL website for calls for papers for
>> > member-organized sessions on Dream Narratives in Canadian and Québec
>> > Literature, Zones of Tension: Theorizing Conflict in Contemporary
>> > Culture in Canada and Québec, and Comparative Literary Nationalisms.
>> >
>> > Send paper proposals (no more than 500 words) with a short biography
>> > and a 50-word abstract to one of the coordinators listed below by 15
>> > January 2008.
>> >
>> > COORDINATOR (English)
>> > Wendy Roy
>> > Department of English
>> > University of Saskatchewan
>> > 9 Campus Drive
>> > Saskatoon, SK  S7N 5A5
>> > Phone (306) 966-2132
>> > Fax (306) 966-5951
>> > Email: wendy.roy at usask.ca
>> >
>> > COORDINATOR (French)
>> > Jorge Calderon
>> > Department of French
>> > Simon Fraser University
>> > 8888 University Drive
>> > Burnaby , BC V5A 1S6
>> > Phone: 778-782-7638
>> > Fax: 778-782-5932
>> > Email: calderon at sfu.ca
>> >
>> > Appel à communications / Call for Papers
>> >
>> > Association des littératures canadienne et québécoise (ALCQ)
>> > The Association for Canadian and Québec Literatures (ACQL)
>> >
>> > Congrès des sciences humaines
>> > Université de la Colombie-Britannique
>> > 31 Mai-2 Juin 2008
>> >
>> > Écrire et lire au delà des frontières
>> >
>> > LAssociation des littératures canadiennes et québécoise vous 
>> invite à
>> > proposer des communications sur le thème des frontières et de la
>> > traversée des frontières dans le cadre de son colloque de 2008 qui 
>> aura
>> > lieu à Vancouver. Les frontières peuvent être définies, en fonction 
>> de
>> > notions géographiques, comme étant des lignes qui divisent des pays,
>> > des provinces et des régions. Mais, les frontières peuvent aussi
>> > évoquer des divisions entres les individus en fonction de leur genre
>> > sexuel, leur sexualité, leurs habiletés, leur langue, leur 
>> ethnicité,
>> > leur «race», etc. Alors, de quelles façons les littératures du 
>> Canada
>> > et du Québec reflètent et transcendent ces frontières ?
>> >
>> > En respectant le thème du congrès de 2008, cest-à-dire «Penser sans
>> > frontières», nous acceptons des communications qui remettent en
>> > question, traversent et fusionnent les limites respectives des 
>> genres
>> > littéraires et des disciplines universitaires. Parmi les sujets
>> > possibles, il y a les suivants :
>> >
>> > * Traverser les genres sexuels et les sexualités
>> > * Mélanger les théories et les méthodologies
>> > * Traverser les limites entre les genres littéraires (fiction en 
>> prose
>> > et biographie, prose et poésie, les illustrations visuelles des 
>> romans)
>> > * Comparer les littératures écrites en anglais et en français
>> > * Le régionalisme
>> > * La migration, la dispersion et la colonisation
>> > * Les perspectives postcoloniales
>> > * Les littératures des diasporas au Canada
>> > * La littérature de voyage
>> >
>> > Nous acceptons également des séances sur des sujets reliés à tous 
>> les
>> > aspects de létude des littératures du Canada et du Québec. Toutes 
>> les
>> > communications ou les propositions de séances peuvent être 
>> présentées
>> > soit en français, soit en anglais. Les personnes intéressées à
>> > présenter des communications ou des propositions de séances doivent
>> > être membres de lALCQ avant le début du congrès. Vous pouvez 
>> consulter
>> > le site Web de lALCQ (www.alqc-acql.ca) pour avoir plus 
>> dinformation
>> > au sujet des demandes dadhésion à notre association.
>> >
>> > Sil vous plaît voir le site Web de lALCQ au sujet des 
>> propositions de
>> > séances organisées par des membres de lassociation: Le récit de 
>> rêve
>> > dans les littératures canadiennes et québécoise, Zones de tension:
>> > conflictualités dans les cultures contemporaines du Canada et du
>> > Québec, et Nationalismes littéraires comparatifs.
>> >
>> > Envoyez votre proposition (maximum 500 mots) accompagnée dune 
>> courte
>> > notice biographique et dune description de 50 mots de votre
>> > communication à lun des deux organisateurs du colloque, dont les 
>> noms
>> > apparaissent plus bas, au plus tard le 15 janvier 2008.
>> >
>> > Organisatrice et responsable du programme en anglais
>> > Wendy Roy
>> > Department of English
>> > University of Saskatchewan
>> > 9 Campus Drive
>> > Saskatoon, SK  S7N 5A5
>> > Phone (306) 966-2132
>> > Fax (306) 966-5951
>> > Email: wendy.roy at usask.ca
>> >
>> > Organisateur et responsable du programme en français
>> > Jorge Calderón
>> > Department of French
>> > Simon Fraser University
>> > 8888 University Drive
>> > Burnaby , BC V5A 1S6
>> > Phone: (778) 782-7638
>> > Fax: (778) 782-5932
>> > Email: calderon at sfu.ca
>> > <Part.001>