Exile in great company at Chapters-Indigo, Regina

On our visit to the Chapters bookstore in Regina, SK, this week, my companion pointed out that the computer showed three copies of Exile on a Grid Road on the shelves.

Canadian Poetry, at Chapters-Indigo in Regina
Exile on a Grid Road, in Canadian Poetry, at Chapters-Indigo in Regina

I found them at the beginning of the Canadian Poetry section.

And yes, I know Banks comes after Acorn in the alphabet, though that may be news to some. So when I reshelved my poetry collection after this iPhone photo, I placed all of the copies in a somewhat more traditional alpha-order… Right between Milton Acorn and Lorna Crozier. How cool is that!

Then again, my poems were originally nestling up against a hard cover edition of Tolkien’s Fellowship of the Ring, which is pretty cool, too…

Continue reading Exile in great company at Chapters-Indigo, Regina

My books in the window at Thistledown Press

While we were in Saskatoon, we dropped by the publisher’s — Thistledown Press — and what a delight to see copies of my book, Exile on a Grid Road, in the window! (Thanks Jackie, Al and Stephanie!)

Yes, there it is… Exile on a Grid Road, in the bottom of the left display.
The poster for our reading, also in the window – and way over at the left, my book, half hidden…
~~~~~

Reading Exile on a Grid Road in Saskatoon

And now, pictures from our readings in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in early November… (Shelley Banks with Exile on a Grid Road, Tara Gereaux with Size of a Fist and Jan Wood, Love is not Anonymous.)

My thanks to everyone who came out to McNally Robinson Booksellers for the reading — what a great crowd!

Shelley Banks (Thanks, Gord Hunter!)
Jan Wood (Love is not Anonymous)
Tara Gereaux (Size of a Fist)
Marcy Hildebrand, of McNally Robinson Booksellers
Shelley Banks, with Saskatoon writers and friends, Theodora Ofosuhima and Danica Lorer
Saskatoon writers and friends, dee Hobsbawn-Smith and Dave Margoshes
The audience! They had to keep bringing more chairs!
At the signing table… At left, Tara talks to Stephanie of Thistledown Press.
Tara Gereaux, Jan Wood and Shelley Banks
Okay, I confess — this is the first time I have even been featured on a menu
McNally Robinson’s display of featured authors.
 ~~~~~

The Future is Always Beginning

the-future-is-beginningI am honoured to be asked to participate in the new “Poet Laureate Emerging Writers Reading” on November 25 at 7 p.m., at the Art Gallery of Regina, 2420 Elphinstone Street.

My thanks to Saskatchewan’s poet laureate, Judith Krause, for hosting “The Future is Always Beginning”!

I’ll be reading with Cassidy McFadzean, dee Hobsbawn-Smith and Jim McLean. For an insight into the range of work you’ll hear, here are short bios, from the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild.

Continue reading The Future is Always Beginning

Risks and Reading: Exile in Big River, Saskatchewan

Reading in Big River, Saskatchewan, was an adventure for several reasons. First, I’ve never been to that part of the province. Then, there were friends I hadn’t seen for some time. And finally, I took the risk of reading “Kiss of Knives,” a suite of poem about breast cancer from Exile on a Grid Road. And  yes, that was a risk.

It’s always good to take risks as a writer, to push yourself further and into new material. But reading that material can be another matter…

Some scenes from the Big River reading, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2015, which featured Jan Wood’s launch of Love is not Anonymous, with readings by Tara Gereaux (Size of a Fist) and Shelley Banks (Exile on a Grid Road), all from Thistledown Press.

Writers in Big River – from Regina, Big River, Prince Albert: Lynda Monahan, Laurie Muirhead, Veryl Coghill, Carla Braidek, Tara Gereaux, Shelley Banks, and Jan Wood.
The audience at the Big River Library, while Jan Wood reads.
MC Carla Braidek.
Shelley Banks, with moving book
Tara Geraux
Jan Wood
Gord Hunter and Grant Wood
Veryl and Carla
Carla and Shelley
Tara and Gord
~~~~~

The Road to Big River, Saskatchewan

Last week, we drove to Big River, Saskatchewan, to join Jan Wood for her launch of Love is not Anonymous. (We, being Tara Gereaux with Size of a Fist, and me, Shelley Banks, with Exile on a Grid Road, along with my partner.)

It was a mini-reading tour that also included Regina and Saskatoon, planned to celebrate our books that were published at the same time.

I’ve never been to Big River. Never been further north in Saskatchewan than Batoche. And so the drive was both familiar and new…

Continue reading The Road to Big River, Saskatchewan

Regina Launch: Exile on a Grid Road, Shelley Banks

Yeah! Exile on a Grid Road is now officially launched! I had a great time Thursday night at Bushwakkers, with a capacity crowd in the Arizona Room joining me, fellow writers/launchers Jan Wood and Tara Gereau, along with MC Eric Greenway.

We read, we laughed, we ate. Cake! (Thank you, Anne McDonald!) My thanks too, to Thistledown for support with the event — and the books!

Shelley Banks with Anne McDonald, purveyor of Happy Book Birthday cakes!
Shelley Banks, with the event banner we made.
MC Eric Greenway
Tara Gereaux, reading from her novella Size of a Fist
Jan Wood, reading from her collection, Love is Not Anonymous
Shelley Banks, finding her place in Exile on a Grid Road
Close-up of the Exile cake! (Thanks, Anne!)

(There are more event pix on LatitudeDrifts, and a few here on my ShelleyBanks.ca blog.) 

 ~~~~~

Exile on a Grid Road officially launched

Shelley Banks, with Exile on a Grid Road book and banner.
Shelley Banks, with Exile on a Grid Road book and banner..

Book launch? Check. Finished. Official.

All done but all the things still yet to do. And the readings this week I’m looking forward to in Big River and Saskatoon, SK.

But now, a moment just to celebrate! My manuscript has become a book, and I read from it to a packed room at Bushwakkers in Regina last week, along with co-launchers Tara Gereaux and Jan Wood. Continue reading Exile on a Grid Road officially launched