~ David Reid

David Reid was born in Belfast in 1940, was awarded a PH.D. at Queen’s University of Belfast in 1967, and emigrated to Canada with his wife in 1968 to take a position in the Department of Biology. In 1976 he became a Professor of Botany (and a Canadian) at the University of Calgary and Head of the Department of Biological Sciences 1999-2005. His teaching, research and publications (about 160 published papers published in international refereed scientific journals) dealt with matters pertaining to plants and in particular how they survive nasty and ever changing environments. In 2009, David wrote three 900-word op-ed pieces for the Calgary Herald on global warming.

Saturday, May 1, 2010, 9 am to noon

Facilitated by Angela Kublik, co-publisher, House of Blue Skies

There are accepted standards among publishers of what is an ‘excellent package from an author. Learn the simple and effective rules and ensure your work is given the best possible reception wherever you send it. How to copyright your work without big expenses? See your work through an editor’s and publisher’s eyes.

Location, Little White School, 2 Madonna Drive, St. Albert. The Little White School is a St. Albert heritage site located near the centre of St. Albert, directions will be forwarded to registered participants.

Our Facilitator, Angela Kublik, writer, editor and publisher, well regarded in each of those disciplines; will provide an exciting, interesting morning for writers of all genres. Both recent Blue Skies publications Writing the Land and Home and Away critical acclaim, were listed on the Best Sellers lists of several newspapers, sold out the first printing with reprinting sales reported as excellent.

Supported by, the City of St. Albert, Musee Heritage, Writers Guild of Albert and other soon to be named grant providing agencies in St. Albert, total fees to attend are $0.00. Therefore preregistration is required. The morning is limited to a total of 30 participants, preregister by email to Andy Michaelson at andymichaelson@shaw.ca.

The fine calligraphy
acid, alchemical filigree
on indigo silk swirl
of the unrolled prayer mat
of a setting sun.

~ Marian Robson

Maria Robson is a Montreal teacher, freelance writer and translator who loves to travel and research, first hand, the nomadic life. She is currently working at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman.

Read more of Maria Robson’s poetry:
- Potter’s Hands
- That Which Must Go
- Cynical Vows
- The Nameless Tune
- Bougainvillae
- Sunset

Few joys compare
to meeting words that match,
whisper, the grey-ragged milk
of layered mist
on winter-pined crags

Words, like giddy-green back flips
from silver-sharp skates,
deceptive in effortless loop
on blue-crystal ice

Words that burn in the Reader
like Psyche’s lamp high -
hanging the consequence -
daring the wrath of gods
to glimpse Eros,
languid in sleep

~ Marian Robson

Maria Robson is a Montreal teacher, freelance writer and translator who loves to travel and research, first hand, the nomadic life. She is currently working at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman.

Read more of Maria Robson’s poetry:
- Potter’s Hands
- That Which Must Go
- Cynical Vows
- The Nameless Tune
- Bougainvillae
- Sunset

Ken and Dymphny chat about how House of Blue Skies got its start, the process of creating a poetry anthology, the fun of working with Alberta’s amazing poets, and how the anthology found its way onto the bestseller lists in both the Edmonton Journal (#2) and the Calgary Herald (#3), as well as being featured in The Grande Prairie Daily Herald-Tribune.

body or mind bereft
of a place for soul
so that even the touch of

my bare feet to the ground
signals the idea of nothing
complete not even that of

a life lip-licked on vellum

~ Anne Sorbie

Anne Sorbie was born in Paisley, Scotland and she lives and writes in Calgary. Her fiction has appeared in journals such as Geist and Other Voices. Anne’s first novel, Memoir of a Good Death, is forthcoming (September 2010) with Thistledown Press.

Read more of Anne Sorbie’s poetry:
- some quaint perched aerie on the cliffs of time #2

Editor’s note: This poem is one of a series of ten “neruda spell” poems by Anne Sorbie that are being featured on blue skies poetry this week.

yet one touch of your hand
is like a promissory note

carved in agate on a high peak
tumbled in the heat of thawing falls

~ Anne Sorbie

Anne Sorbie was born in Paisley, Scotland and she lives and writes in Calgary. Her fiction has appeared in journals such as Geist and Other Voices. Anne’s first novel, Memoir of a Good Death, is forthcoming (September 2010) with Thistledown Press.

Read more of Anne Sorbie’s poetry:
- some quaint perched aerie on the cliffs of time #2

Editor’s note: This poem is one of a series of ten “neruda spell” poems by Anne Sorbie that are being featured on blue skies poetry this week.

inspected from above
as if by agate-eyed white doves

crushed like a beach
crashed and sanded

by the ocean’s
constant salt

~ Anne Sorbie

Anne Sorbie was born in Paisley, Scotland and she lives and writes in Calgary. Her fiction has appeared in journals such as Geist and Other Voices. Anne’s first novel, Memoir of a Good Death, is forthcoming (September 2010) with Thistledown Press.

Read more of Anne Sorbie’s poetry:
- some quaint perched aerie on the cliffs of time #2

Editor’s note: This poem is one of a series of ten “neruda spell” poems by Anne Sorbie that are being featured on blue skies poetry this week.

fur it in snarls
and great rearing jaws

claw at it without
tearing asunder

its meaty parts
while blue sky

and white sun
reign warmth

on its strangled throat

~ Anne Sorbie

Anne Sorbie was born in Paisley, Scotland and she lives and writes in Calgary. Her fiction has appeared in journals such as Geist and Other Voices. Anne’s first novel, Memoir of a Good Death, is forthcoming (September 2010) with Thistledown Press.

Read more of Anne Sorbie’s poetry:
- some quaint perched aerie on the cliffs of time #2

Editor’s note: This poem is one of a series of ten “neruda spell” poems by Anne Sorbie that are being featured on blue skies poetry this week.

she wants
to bite his
cherry tomato lips
seed them transparent

until they overflow palms
wet wrists
maim arms
cross clavicles
taint neck
insect mouth
dry on tongue

II

she wants
to wrap soft
in hair bending triumph
seek what is beneath

the dream of a
sleep tufted cheek
stalked and deep green
thin-pressed like
flowers cupped and buttered
against the heat of
an inked page

~ Anne Sorbie

Anne Sorbie was born in Paisley, Scotland and she lives and writes in Calgary. Her fiction has appeared in journals such as Geist and Other Voices. Anne’s first novel, Memoir of a Good Death, is forthcoming (September 2010) with Thistledown Press.

Read more of Anne Sorbie’s poetry:
- some quaint perched aerie on the cliffs of time #2

Editor’s note: This poem is one of a series of ten “neruda spell” poems by Anne Sorbie that are being featured on blue skies poetry this week.