Category Archives: Event

My first English SF workshop

Posted on January 28, 2010 | Leave a comment

Last Saturday, I took the bus and subway to go to a workshop.

The wookshop took place in the Tightrope books office, with a river of coffee with biscuits and strawberries. It was a very convivial setting, near a subway (excellent for me transiting from Mississauga). Author and poet Sandra Kasturi was our host.

Sandra took the time to explore the preoccupations and favourite topics of each participant beforehand, so the workshop was well attuned. For me, it was my first English-language workshop (all my published books are in French), and I found out that I like to write in English!

Sandra’s sharing of her writing was deep felt. The writing exercises were short but intense, with the added incentive of submitting what we produced to various venues. Each of us, from first time writers to published ones, or hoping to, was well received. Francine is working on her novel, Johanne, an engineer like I was, is negotiating the hurdles of a first hard-SF novel , I had already read some of Kate Riedel’s texts in ON SPEC…

I hope to see them again soon.

Sandra’s vision is that there shouldn’t be hard “rules” in writing, because each of us has a different lifestyle or occupation. She provided us with a lot of practical resource informations, plus a taste to continue to create and share our stories with the rest of the world.

Now, I must work on my flash-fiction…

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Posted in Event, Writing

Tagged Sandra Kasturi, Science-fiction, short-story, Tightrope books, Toronto, Workshop, Writing

Views of Saskatoon in late Autumn

Posted on November 15, 2009 | Leave a comment

P1060589RiviereRochesPont The rocky side of the Saskatchewan River.

For the event Lire à tous vents, I had the joy to discover a Saskatchewan, visiting schools in Saskatoon and Prince-Albert. Prince-Albert was under snow, but I received a warm welcome from the staff and students.

The Saskatchewan River divides in two parts the Saskatoon city, founded in 1882.

Autumn reflection

Saskatoon had been named after the little Saskatoon bay which grew there. Seven bridges were built to reunite the two part.

Freshly disembarqued from the plane, I had a grand afternoon for visit the Mendel Museum with a nice mini-botanical garden, and the Art gallery.

I was impressed by the portraits by James Henderson, realized between 1914 and 1930.

Henderson painted Indians, and was nicknamed Wicite Owapi Wicasa: the man who paints the old men.

Portraits of chiefs with landscapes. Those faces are marked with dignity.

And, since for one I had the time, I took my tablet to copy some of the portraits. The museums offered a lot of folding chairs for artist and art students. Here is on of my efforts.

DreamerW

(Guess which one from the murale…)

I visited 6 schools from threee different School boards who collaborated to make the event a success. A few pictures of the visits, where I explain with caricatures the differences between the flavours of the literature ice cream, to introduce the students to science-fiction

One Naruto in 30 seconds at Henry Kelsey school, Saskatoon

Technologie salvatrice ! This smart board can keep the drawing in memory! (Holy Cross school, Prince-Albert, SK)

Signings at École Sister O’Brien (Ann Gordon O’Brien, social worker, helper of families and education)

The organizers made me discover the nice aspects of Saskatoon, among them, the Bessborough hotel.

With the Mendel museum, I found good restaurants, and never did I ate so well in a Tour! Among the new meals, The salade de poires et de fromage bleu, asperged with a vinaigrette aux Saskatoon berry, well balanced. Also, at my hotel Sheraton (near the “Bess”), The restaurant offered a lasagne au Ricotta et à la courge “Buttercup”. The dessert was, a Saskatoon berries pie.

Some hotels boast a nice interior garden, like this one.

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Posted in Event

Tagged Author visits, literacy, Saskatoon, Science-fiction, Writing

24-24

Posted on October 5, 2009 | 1 comment

Images from my first experience of the 24-24 challenge, to draw 24 pages in 24 hours, at the Image Collections comic shop.

Todd, Image Collections shop manager, giving us the challenge themes

Visitors: in the afternoon, visitors participated, contributing one or two pages.

Juliette (seated, on the photo), near my SIP mug. Also presents : Chris McQuaid from McHozer comics, and Aubry who came later and stayed until the end.

I thought I would be falling over by midnight, but the ambiance, the oppportunity of creating without interruption, and the mad creepy music provided by Todd kept us awake (and laughing). I didn’t have to use my bed roll.

How we remained awake all night. (Dan, Aubry, Kyle, Michèle).

8 o’clock morning saw the four of us working hard to complete the challenge (photo taken by Todd)

After midday, Sunday. We did it!

From left to right: Kyle, Michèle, Daniel, Aubry, all slightly zombified but proud! (Most of us did rise around 8h00 am on Saturday morning!)

I produced “Wind mistress” (Maitresse des vents) a new story, improvised, set in my SF world. Technically, I managed to ink four of the 22 pages of this comic book, plus a cover and back-cover and 22 pages.

And for me? It was paradise. Cartooning without interruption!

The Sunday artist on the Sunday Morning.

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Posted in Comics, Event

Tagged 24-24, Comics, manga, Michele Laframboise, Mississauga, Science-fiction

Anticipation orbits

Posted on August 20, 2009 | 1 comment

The 67th WorldCon Anticipation 2009 attracted some 4000 fans, artists, writers, editors at Montréal. I had the chance of crossing many orbits and meet new friends.

The francophone friends:

Jean-Pierre Laigle, who crosses the ocean regularly to see us.

Jean-Pierre Laigle, après sa lecture

Jean-Pierre Laigle, after his readings, and the savante folle (photo by Georges Bormand). Note the nice Frankenstein T-shirt hidden under the pass

Stéphanie, Lucas Moreno from Switzerland, and Sheryl Curtis, of Montréal, translator emerita!

My pics of Mark Shainblum are not good, so I sent them directly.

I talked a little with Alain de Bussy, and Jean-Claude Duniach.

I missed several colleagues : Joe Mahoney, Paula Johanson, Mehdi Bouhalassa, … I cautgh a glimpse of Cory Doctorow, no time to buy his latest gem. And what of René Walling, this hero organizer? Always running to and fro!

Yves Meynard in tuxedo, ready to host the Hugo ceremony!

Jean-Louis Trudel in all his prestance, at he end of the Boreal Congress.

Jean-Louis did also help a lot the organisation of Anticipation.

Philippe Aubert-Coté, Mario Tessier and Julie Martel, on the last day, already, snif!

I took a last companiable meal at the restaurant La Popessa, with Mario, Claude Pelletier and Alison Sinclair, a Victoria moved to Montral Sf writer.

And I met a fan at Boreal, wearing one of my own designed Comic T-Shirts !

Benjamin sporting a T-Shirt of the Comic (Micro computer student committe of the École Polytechnique of Montréal) signed Laframboise. The disembodied hand on his shoulder is my own…

The visitors from outer (canadian) space

Larry Niven. I met him for the first time at the Torcon3 (the Toronto WorldCon).

James Morrow, writer and philosoph; I recently discovered his ironic prose. I already have a few ribbons under my pass…

James Morrow and his wife, Kathy

David Hartwell, Tor Books editor, with his eclectic taste in clothes. Fortunately, Don Cherry was elsewhere! And… is that a squid on his tie?

Maybe this is the vest that goeswith the previous day’s checkered pants…

Élisabeth Vonarburg with David Hartwell at the Hugo Ceremony.

David Hartwell’s impressive collection of ties, with his fashion credo.

The Hugo winners

A Hugo finalist receives tiny wearables rockets. Guess the identity of this frequent Hugo finalist…

A happy camper in big shoes: Frank Wu testing his new toy, vrrrroar!

And… Neil Gaiman. My husband Gilles was the one who introduced me to the Sandman series (He even downloaded the complete script!) I didn’t get much time for comics talk, since Neil was well-entoured and certainly tired from his day!

Nevertheless, he was very nice to me, even congratulating on my Aurora win! A nice fan took the photo.

Michèle, Neil Gaiman and his Hugo trophee

I want a little rocket, too!!!

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Posted in Event, Science-fiction

Tagged 2009, Convention, Montréal, Science-fiction

“Les vents de Tammerlan” reaps an Aurora Award

Posted on August 15, 2009 | Leave a comment

My 2008 YA novel Les vents de Tammerlan (Winds of Tammerlan) was awarded the Aurora Prize for best novel in French published in Canada, Friday August 7th. The award ceremony for Canadian SF writers was held at the Anticipation WorldCon, at Montréal.

Christian Taralle, French author Danielle Martinigol and Michèle with her Aurora trophee.

Élisabeth Vonarburg, Anticipation guest of honor, and Michèle, at the Aurora banquet, (before the announcements).

J’avais aussi deux nouvelles finalistes au Prix, mais c’est « Le Dôme de Saint-Macaire », de Jean-Louis Trudel (Solaris 167) qui a remporté le prix pour la meilleure nouvelle.

In English, the novel Marseguro, by Edward Willett (DAW Books), which I read, has been rewarded.

Aurora winners. The Sunday artist is wearing red!

From left to right, the ceremony host, Liana Kerzner, Jean-Louis Trudel, Joel Champetier (Solaris magazine), Michèle Laframboise, Karl Johanson (NeoOpsis), Ed Willett.

Upon receiving the award, I congratulated all finalists.

The Aurora trophee is fortunately easy to take apart. The wooden base and all sharp metallic parts fitted in a back-sac. As I departed to Mississauga with tons of books, I left the trophee at my parent’s Montréal home.

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Posted in Event, Uncategorized

Tagged Award, Michele Laframboise, novel, Ontario, Science-fiction

A steampunk vision of Montréal

Posted on July 4, 2009 | Leave a comment

This steampunk vision is my collaboration to the Anticipation WorldCon, in August 6th to 10th, at the Montréal Palais des Congrès. It is the cover of the third progress report. The drawing was made with ink, then scanned, with the colors digitally added.
The Aurora Awards will be announced in the evening of Friday the 7th. Do not push at the doors: the ceremony will be held with a banquet, at 40.00$ per guest.

Talking about SF…

There is an exposition including my books, at the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec called Virginia messagère des étoiles, underlining the Year of Astronomy.