Reading at the Port Medway Reader’s Festival
Stephen Kimber will be the featured speaker Saturday, July 31, at the 2010 Port Medway Reader's Festival in Port Medway on Nova Scotia's south shore.
Founded in 2002 by writers Cynthia Wine and Philip Slayton, the Festival is "an opportunity for readers to listen to and meet writers in an informal and friendly village setting. The Festival continues the tradition of the Tennysonian Reading Circle, started by the ladies of Port Medway in 1903."
During its eight-year history, the event has featured, among its readers, Margaret Atwood, George Elliot Clarke, Marq de Villiers, Wayne Johnston, Robert MacNeil, Donna Morrissey, Lisa Moore, Calvin Trillin and Jane Urquhart.
Tickets are $15. Proceeds will be used to support the Port Medway Cemeteries Committee for work at the Old Port Medway Cemetery, a Municipal and Provincial Heritage Property.
Readings take place in the Old Meeting House on Long Cove Road in Port Medway from 7-8pm. Readings are followed by a reception and book signing—which the Globe and Mail once described as a "down-home party"—at the Port Medway Fire hall across the street.
For more information, check out the Festival's website. Or email the organizers.
Copyright 2010 Stephen Kimber
“Everything Right:” IWK Review in Atlantic Books Today
"When, just 15 minutes into reading the book, I am in tears, then something's got to be right. And I believe Stephen Kimber has done everything right in his captivating history of the extraordinary story of pediatric care that exists right here in Halifax and beyond... Kimber has given us a fully integrated account of what makes the IWK Health Centre what it is today, 100 years from the opening of the Halifax Children's Hospital... Interspersing the time-line with case studies has made this book a superb read and, indeed a collector's item."
Shirley Gueller
Atlantic Books Today
Spring 2010
Copyright 2010 Stephen Kimber
‘IWK: A Century of Caring’ nominated for book award
2010 Atlantic Book Awards Shortlists...
Dartmouth Book Award (Non-fiction)
- Greg Cochkanoff and Bob Chaulk, SS Atlantic: The White Star Line's First Disaster at Sea (Goose Lane Editions)
- Stephen Kimber, IWK: A Century of Caring for Families (Nimbus Publishing)
- Anne Murray with Michael Posner, All of Me (Knopf Canada)
Copyright 2010 Stephen Kimber
Africville… a look back at the struggle for redress
Today's announcement (February 24, 2010) of an agreement between the Africville Genealogy Society and various governments will mark the culmination of a decades-long, sometimes seemingly endless and too often hopeless struggle.
The deal—like almost anything to do with Africville—will be controversial. But as we consider what it means, it is worth looking back at how long—and how hard—it has been to get to this point.
Over the years, I've done a number of stories and columns—not to mention a novel, Reparations—about the struggles of Africville's former residents. Here are a few of them:
- Irvine Carvery's a 'born optimist'
- A 1994 profile of the former Africville resident who started the Afrciville Genealogy Society and launched the fight for recognition of the injustices done to them.
- Column on the Carvery sit in
- A May 1991 column about the Carvery brothers' sit-in
- Seaview Park church replica will honor memory of Africville
This Halifax Daily News column originally appeared on December 18, 1991. Incredibly, today's settlement includes yet another promise to build the replica of the still unbuilt-church. - Irvine, the UN and the Hotliners
- The local aftermath of the 2004 UN report on reparations.
- The compensation issue drags on
- The city attempts to pressure the Geneaology Society. A column from March 1995.
- Victor and Eddie's excellent adventure
Revisiting the story of Irvine's brothers who staged a camp-in at the site of their old community to try and force the city to acjknowledge their grievances. - An update on the eve of another Africville reunion
From The Coast, July 27, 2006 - Yet another year... and still no church
From The Daily News, July 26, 2007
If you'd like to know more about the real Africville, you may also want to check out these web sites, as well as the Africville Genealogy Society website.
From Wikipedia
From the CBC Archives
Pamela Brown
Dissident Voice: The Ethnic Cleansing of Africville
Copyright 2010 Stephen Kimber
From Quill & Quire online
Copyright 2006 Stephen Kimber
Sailors, Slackers wins national Torgi Nonfiction Award
Sept. 21, TORONTO: The Canadian National Institute for the Blind Library is pleased to announce the winners of the 2004 Torgi Literary Awards, the only awards program in Canada to celebrate books in formats such as PrintBraille and audio. More than 300 guests, including authors, book publishers, CNIB client judges, and CNIB volunteers attended the 20th annual awards ceremony, held today at the new CNIB service centre in Toronto.
Austin Clarke’s The Polished Hoe won the award for CNIB Produced Fiction. Judges praised Clarke’s command of Island dialect and gripping plot. The nuanced language of Clarke’s setting meant that the role of narration was central to its production as a talking book. As one judge commented, “the intersecting tales of these characters are wonderfully colourful, believable and compelling. This is a wonderful book, which should delight the reader. The narrator of this book did a wonderful job and added much to the enjoyment of the reader. This is one case where a talking book would be much preferable to a print version because of the narrator's contribution.”
The other Torgi Literary Awards went to:
- Sailors, Slackers, and Blind Pigs: Halifax at War by Stephen Kimber (CNIB Produced Non-Fiction)
- Run, by Eric Walters (Tiny Torgi Audio)
- Stanley’s Party, by Linda Bailey (Tiny Torgi PrintBraille)
- Buddha Da, by Anne Donovan (Partner Produced Fiction)
- Stupid White Men: And Other Excuses for the State of the Nation, by Michael Moore (Partner Produced Non-Fiction)
Award presenters included CNIB Library clients Simon Braham and Niall Hartnett (seven and 11 years old, respectively).
Giller Prize founder Jack Rabinovitch gave the keynote address, a highlight at the event.
Margaret McGrory, executive director of the CNIB Library, added, “This year is an exciting time of new beginnings. As we move to full digital production and settle into our new building, clients of the CNIB Library have more opportunities than ever to pursue their love of reading.”
Established in 1984, the Torgi Literary Awards (named after Morley Torgov, the author of the inaugural winning book) was the first awards ceremony in the world to recognize alternative-format books. The awards celebrate PrintBraille, and talking books that have been written, published, and produced with excellence for adults or children who are blind or visually impaired. As readers' choice awards, winning books are chosen by juries of CNIB Library clients. The awards also highlight the work of the more than 500 CNIB volunteers who produce these books.
Since 1906, the CNIB Library for the Blind has been working to promote literacy and to ensure that Canadians who are blind, visually impaired, or deafblind have equitable access to information, culture, and lifelong learning. The CNIB Library is one of the largest producers of alternative-format materials in the world and circulated 1.8 million items last year.
Matt Ferguson
(416) 486-2500, ext. 7423
Jessica Parrales
(416) 486-2500, ext. 7570
Copyright 2006 Stephen Kimber
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About
STEPHEN KIMBER, a Professor of Journalism at the University of King's College in Halifax, is an award-winning writer, editor and broadcaster. He is the author of one novel -- Reparations -- and seven non-fiction books.
Buy his books at Amazon.