Monthly Archives: May 2005
explorWORD: Red Silk Anthology – South Asian Women Poets
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explorWORD – RED SILK POETRY – May 16, 17, 18 – 7:00pm
May 16, 17, 18
7:00 pm at all locations
explorWORD – RED SILK POETRY Reading Series
Program sponsored by CANADA POST CORPORATION
Featuring the launch of Red Silk: An Anthology of South Asian Women
Poets, with Rishma Dunlop and Priscila Uppal, (eds.) Hiro Boga, Kuldip
Gill, Sonnet LAbbé, Danielle Lagah, Sharanpal Ruprai,Sandeep Sanghera,
Shauna Singh Baldwin, Proma Tagore; and special guest Mani Rao. And
readings by South Asian Fiction Writers: Anar Ali, Jaspreet Singh,
Sikeena Karmali.
As rich and exuberant as its title, Red Silk, an anthology of poems
by women who identify as South Asian, is an important contribution to
the growing body of South Asian Canadian literature. Ably edited by
Rishma Dunlop and Priscila Uppal, with a superb “Introduction,” Red
Silk launches some powerful South Asian female, and feminist, voices on
the Canadian literary scene.
These poets explore the complexity, diversity and heterogeneity of
South Asian Canadian identity by examining their relationships, as
women, to the South Asian cultures that they live in their bones,
memory and daily lives. These poems enact how an ordinary household
object, a word, a smell, a gesture, can all trigger a cascade of
memories and responses soaked in cultural significance, and mark one as
South Asian. Drawing on the deep well of South Asian cultural memory
and its semiotic treasure house, these poets redefine and expand both
Canadian culture and Canadian literature.
Experience Red Silk Readings in Vancouver, Burnaby, and Richmond:
May 16 – Vancouver Public Library – Main Branch
May 17 – Simon Fraser University, Burnaby – WAC Bennett Library
May 18 – City of Richmond – City Hall Council Chambers
Sketchoff!#$%!!: Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre- 3rd Anual Asian Sketch Comedy Competetion
Here's an press release from my
friends at Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre re: upcoming 3rd Annual
Asian Sketch Comedy Competition.
This is a VERY funny event. They make jokes about Asian culture
and stereotypes that all Asians can relate to… even if you are White,
it still relates to that little Asian voice inside of
everybody… they even make jokes about White people and White
culture. Is nothing sacred anymore?
Cheers, Todd
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For Immediate Release
NEWS RELEASE
North America’s premier Asian Sketch Comedy Trophy up for grabs again in Vancouver
SKETCHOFF!#$%!! – 3rd Annual Asian Sketch Comedy Competition
VANCOUVER, BC (April 30, 2005) – The trophy? It’s the coveted VACT Rice
Bowl. The event? Sketchoff!#$%!!: Ha Ha HA! – the 3rd Annual Asian
Sketch Comedy Competition. When is the rumble? May 27th and 28th. And
the stadium where tears and laughter will be shed? The Roundhouse
Performance Centre in Yaletown.
Once again, 3 teams of North America’s finest “hyphenated-Asian” comedy
talents come to Vancouver to compete in the world’s only Asian sketch
comedy challenge. Hosted and produced annually by Vancouver Asian
Canadian Theatre (VACT) during the Asian Heritage Month celebrations,
this event has treated sold-out audiences to some of the most hilarious
and innovative sketch comedy routines, blending pure laughs with North
American ethnic diversity and cultural insight.
The two-time winner, LA OPM, from Los Angeles, took the Rice Bowl
trophy to the Oscars ceremonies, will be challenged this year by two
Canadian teams – Toronto’s The Kupps, made up of Second City veterans
and Vancouver’s own Assaulted Fish, freshly netted from their
performance at Sketchfest 2005.
Celebrity judges will jury the teams on Friday, May 27th, where the
winner will be awarded the coveted Rice Bowl trophy. On the following
evening, Saturday May 28th, the audience members themselves will choose
the winning team who will receive the People’s Choys Award. All teams
are allowed to replace or rework any of their sketches from the
previous evening. So expect the pandering to be shameless for this
award.
The host this year will be Tom Chin, with a special guest performance by stand-up comedian Jeffery Yu.
Also a part of this weekend of celebration, VACT will be hosting at the
Roundhouse a public demonstration and discussion workshop on sketch
comedy on Saturday May 28th at 4:00 PM. Billed as Meet The Mockers, the
3 teams will be available to take questions from the audience and
provide insights into their process and their careers. Admission is
free.
For more information on each team, please visit http://www.vact.ca
Event Details
Sketchoff!#$%!!: Ha Ha HA! – 3rd Annual Asian Sketch Comedy Competition
@ Roundhouse Performance Centre
Davie & Pacific Blvd., Vancouver
Dates and Showtimes
Friday May 27 8:00 PM (Rice Bowl trophy)
Saturday May 28 8:00 PM (People’s Choys Award)
Ticket prices
$17 advance at the Roundhouse (in person or by phone: 604-713-1800)
$20 at the door
Note: 14A; some coarse language and sexually suggestive material.
Free public workshop and Q & A session
Meet The Mockers
4:00 PM
@ Roundhouse Performance Centre
Davie & Pacific Blvd., Vancouver
Free admission (donation recommended)
Media passes available. Please RSVP to Joyce Lam at the e-mail address or phone number listed below, no later than May 17.
VACT (Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre) aims to produce quality plays
in which Asian-Canadians take on culturally or artistically significant
roles. VACT works to dispel Asian stereotypes by producing leading
and/or supporting roles where Asian-Canadians are depicted
realistically in the performing arts.
-30-
For photos, interviews with the performers, and media passes, please contact:
Joyce Lam, President, Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre
T: 778-885-1973 E: joyla@shaw.ca
