chris-benjamin-writing-blog

New video, writing, books, book readings and signings

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 20:06:02 +0100

Lots going on so far in 2012. So much I need to categorize:

Multimedia:

I've finally created a snazzy webpage just for Eco-Innovators stuff - video, pics, words and links. See the whole shebang at http://www.chrisbenjaminwriting.com/eco-innovators.php.

It includes several new videos that I uploaded from recent book events. See those on youtube at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTQzNk335W0&context=C33d990fADOEgsToPDskIWhoIbcM7iHQ0-a90LryT6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxs9z9MHKIs&context=C3cf5865ADOEgsToPDskJOJpGL6dx4D_ceSzw7W5_2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyfKlIKAELM&context=C3315d16ADOEgsToPDskJqzihNr2S7N5Av5EhDzvBP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl3Jrg_K4Ec&context=C3f8f72aADOEgsToPDskI4P6nBPzg_61H0Fm-bj2Ag

Stuff featuring your humble scribe:

I've seen lots of book reviews, but this review of the "PEI Drive-by Saviours book launch" is a first for me:

http://surveyoronline.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/art-imitating-life-writers-showcase-their-works-during-a-reading-at-upei/

Writers are often asked why we write. "We're nuts," is maybe the truth, but not the most satisfying answer. Here's my attempted explanation, along with that of Kathleen Winter, Russell Wangersky, Leslie Vryenhoek, and Lorrie Nelson Glenn: http://saltyink.com/2012/01/27/five-writers-on-one-reason-they-write/

Upcoming opportunities to buy me a coffee:

On Jan. 31 at noon in the Sobey Building at St. Mary's University I'll be giving a talk on how Halifax's inferiority complex hurts the environment, and how self-esteem could make us greener.

On Feb. 3 and 4 I'll be speaking at Mount Saint Vincent University's "How to be an Environmentalist" conference. Details at https://www.facebook.com/events/232261773517924.

On Feb. 12 at 1 p.m. at 1113 Marginal Road, Halifax (by Pier 21, at the Writers' Federation office) I'll be one of many writers reading (aloud) the work of the great poet, Elizabeth Bishop.

On Feb. 23 the Eco-Innovators tour comes to Fredericton: http://tbgmedia.ca/c/greenshops/sustainablefeb23/

Stuff I wrote recently:

It probably won't surprise you that I like to read. Here are the 13 best books I read last year: http://www.chrisbenjaminwriting.com/chris-benjamin-writing-blog/best-books-i-read-in-2011

My latest column in The Coast explores opposing perspectives on what exactly makes a house qualify as sustainable: http://www.thecoast.ca/halifax/net-zero/Content?oid=2918635

Best Books I Read in 2011

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:22:16 +0100

It's time for my annual "Best Books I Read Last Year" list, this time featuring 13 works of poetry, novels, nonfiction and anthology. As usual, these books didn't necessarily come out in 2010; that's just when I read them. This year, you should too. [Click on the picture to find out more about the book.] Happy reading!

Poetry

Goyette’s imagery is evocative, precise, tangible yet layered with meaning:

I'm beyond biased here because I've got two poems in this anthology of Halifax guerilla poetry, and I like the idea so much I've written a feature about it. But I was genuinely impressed by the quality of work from my town's closet poets:

Nonfiction

Rogers elucidates how the failures of "green" or "natural" capitalism are the failings of capitalism itself:

Paradoxically dense and sprawling, but worth the effort. You know when people say, "This is how the world really works!" Well, this is part of it:

It's actually a novel interspersed among reflections on a campaign to ban uranium mining in Nova Scotia. I never quite figured out how they fit together, but the former is engaging and entertaining and the latter is inspirational and thought-provoking:

Fiction

Rushdie, having accomplished everything a writer could hope for, seems to be just having fun now. And it's a lot of fantastical fun to read too:

This novel was a rollicking fantastic adventure through the idealism of the 60s and the coming of age bestowed by Vietnam. Above all, it had an enormous sense of wonder:

Counter-intuitive to the title, for me these stories resonate with the sad truth of being a grownup:

MacDonald is a natural story teller and he connected all the emotional dots, providing a poignant tale of cultural change, the erosion of old ways and the maturation of young talent and pride:

The lady dialing 911 for love with all the wrong paramedics, the crack-addicted mathematician scoring rock for Robert Oppenheimer, the single condo-dwelling web designer more easily accepting the flaws of his Andalucian woolfhound than those of human companions – all serve Christie well as he masterfully illustrates the interwoven highs and lows of urban isolation:

Takes you right there, with the protagonists, feeling their fears, anxieties, pain and stress:

This is a good old-fashioned slog that probably wouldn't be published in the modern Canlit scene. It's prose is poetry and it's best scenes are heart-wrenching. In its entirety it is an unforgettable, honest portrait of rural life, its hardship and its absolute dependence on community even when community gets nasty:

Once again I'm totally biased because I have a short story in this one. But once again I was genuinely impressed to find myself in such accomplished company:

Eco-Innovators makes top 5 Atlantic Canadian books list

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:58:18 +0100

Hi folks,

I'm happy to say that Arts East Magazine has named Eco-Innovators: Sustainability in Atlantic Canada to its Top 10 Atlantic Canadian Books of 2011 list - coming in at number 5.

It's fabulous company to be in, with legends like Sue Goyette, Wayne Johnston, Ami McKay, Marq de Villiers, Harry Thurston, David Adams Richards, well...the whole list. Check it out:

Top Ten Atlantic Canadian Books of 2011!

1. Facing the Hunter – David Adams Richards
2. A World Elsewhere – Wayne Johnston
3. The Virgin Cure – Ami McKay
4. Our Way Out - Marq de Villiers
5. Eco-Innovators – Chris Benjamin
6. outskirts - Sue Goyette
7. The Atlantic Coast; A Natural History – Harry Thurston
8. Chasing Freedom – Gloria Wesley
9. Incidents in the Life of Markus Paul – David Adams Richards
10. David Askevold – David Diviney

Honourable Mention: The Antagonist by Lynn Coady, A Possible Madness by Frank Macdonald, Gulf by Leslie Vryenhoek, That Forgetful Shore by Trudy Morgan-Cole, The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by Steven Laffoley, How Hockey Explains Canada by Jim Prime/Paul Henderson, deluded your sailors by Michelle Butler-Hallett

Thank you Arts East!

Great student journalist video on Eco-Innovators

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 19:22:09 +0100

Eco-Innovators Prince Edward Island Launch Dec. 5 at UPEI Campus

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 17:45:49 +0100

Hi folks,

I'm launching Eco-Innovators on PEI on Monday, December 5 at 7 p.m. Come join us at the Main Building faculty lounge at UPEI, 550 University Avenue. Bookmark Charlottetown will be on hand selling the book.

PEI eco-innovators will also be on hand to say a few words before I read, including:

David Ling, organic farmer;
Marion Copleston of the Environmental Health Co-op;
Harry Smith, innovator of a wind-powered car;
David Taylor, the man responsible for UPEI campus' incredible sustainability initiative.

Also on hand will be PEI author Jeff Bursey.

Book signings, readings, NS's absent water strategy, the richest 10%, and the media's science ...

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:29:30 +0100

Hi folks,

Some events and new material:

1) On Saturday (Nov. 5) at noon I'll be signing copies of Eco-Innovators at the Coles bookstore in County Fair Mall, New Minas. So Nova Scotia people, please let your Valley friends know - these things get very lonely.

2) On Sat Nov 12 at noon I'll be signing Eco-Innovators at Chapters in Mic Mac Mall, so proud Dartmouth people please pop by and say hello.

3) On Sunday Nov 20 I'll be doing two signing sessions, the first at noon at Chapters in Bayers Lake, and the second at 2:30 pm at Coles in the Halifax Shopping Centre, so Haligonians please show some love.

4) On Tues Nov 22 at 7 pm the members of my writers group are doing a joint reading at the Spring Garden Road Library in Halifax - several of us have new books. Details at https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=219458381454274. So again, Haligonians please come on out - should be a fun evening.

5) Here's an article I wrote about Nova Scotia's new water strategy, which is pretty good in principle but lacks teeth and a budget: http://halifax.openfile.ca/halifax/text/no-timelines-no-funding-nobody-charge-nova-scotias-water-policy [A note on headlines: I rarely write them, which is why they often have little to do with the article I've actually written.]

6) Here's an opinion piece I wrote on the Occupy movement, taking a look at how wealth is really distributed and why the middle class aren't 100% behind the occupations: http://halifax.openfile.ca/halifax/text/occupy-numbers-99-percent-what

7) And here's a piece I wrote on meteorologist Richard Zurawski's new book about how poorly equipped the media is to deal with science-based stories: http://www.thecoast.ca/halifax/weird-science/Content?oid=2758050

Enjoy the words,
Chris

Talking Eco-Innovators: Sustainability in Atlantic Canada on The Book Club with Stephen Patrick ...

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 16:52:07 +0100

Listen to me on CKDU's The Book Club with Stephen Patrick Clare, talking about my new book: Eco-Innovators: Sustainability in Atlantic Canada:

Chris Benjamin on Habitat with Erica Butler

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 16:44:44 +0100

Listen to me on CKDU's Habitat, with Erica Butler, aired live on Oct. 7 2011, talking about my new book, Eco-Innovators: Sustainability in Atlantic Canada:

Eco-Innovators: Sustainability in Atlantic Canada - the Book Launch!

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 15:52:25 +0100

Hi friends,

I'm launching my second book into the world the evening of Oct. 11 at Dalhousie University in Halifax. There will be a roundtable discussion on Creating a Sustainable Future featuring some of the leading environmental thinkers in Halifax, with questions from the audience. And I hope you will be among them - consider this post your official invitation!

All the details are below, but if you have any questions fire them my way. And please spread the word to colleagues, friends, family, etc.

Hope to see you there.
Chris

Eco-Innovators: Sustainability in Atlantic Canada - the Book Launch!

Time: October 11, 7:00-9:30 pm
Location: McCain Building (6135 University Avenue, Halifax, NS)

Details:
Join some of Nova Scotia's leading environmental thinkers and actors---straight from the pages of the book---for an edutaining (oh why did he use that word?) panel discussion / par-tay celebrating the launch of a new book into the world. Book-sale proceeds for the night go to Ecology Action Centre!

Special guests include:
Pam Cooley, CarShare Halifax President and social entrepreneur
Maggy Burns, Internal Director of the Ecology Action Centre and Owner of ReCover Journals
Ken Donnelly, VP Atlantic at Lura Consulting and social marketing guru
Linda Pannozzo, Senior Researcher at the Genuine Progress Index and author of The Future of Work
Chris Benjamin, freelance journalist, user of ridiculous hybrid words and, ahem, author of the book being launched

About the Book:
Eco-Innovators is a collection of stories about the region’s most forward-thinking leaders in sustainability. These entrepreneurs and educators, activists and agitators, farmers and fishers have all made measurable contributions in their respective fields of interest and in motivating others to make change.

Meet Kim Thompson, a strawbale builder and consultant, who has recently brought her building experience to a renovation of an older house in downtown Halifax. And Edwin Theriault, who bought a bale of clothing back in 1971 and launched Frenchy’s, a chain of seventy-six used-clothing stores that has become an East Coast institution and kept countless tonnes of material out of landfills. Also profiled are Speerville Flour Mill and Olivier Soaps in New Brunswick, Sean Gallagher of Local Source in Halifax, David and Edith Ling of Fair Acre Farm on PEI, and Jim Meaney of Cansolair solar heat air exchangers in Newfoundland, among many others.

With ten chapters on matters like reducing consumption, greening the home, sustainable eating, dressing, transportation, and vacationing, the book is an important look into the lives of Atlantic Canadians committed to creating viable green options in our region.

Eco-Innovators Book Launch Oct. 11

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 16:26:07 +0100

OK folks, the big news is my new book, Eco-Innovators: Sustainability in Atlantic Canada, is printed! AND will be officially launched on Oct. 11, 7 p.m. at the McCain Building in Halifax (6135 University Avenue). More details to follow but it should be a stimulating evening so please do book it ;-)

In other news, I'll be doing a workshop at this year's Halifax Book Camp on Sept. 24. Details here.

The very same night I'll be a literary speed-dating participant at the NS writers' federation's Fall Into Writing event. See here for details.

And the next day at 11 a.m. I'll present the award for best novel in the 2011 Atlantic Writing Competition at the Halifax Word on the Street, held this year on the Halifax harbourfront. See here for details of that.

Strangest of all, I'll be MC'ing a fashion show/business launch for sustainable clothing company Tamper Me This at the Seahorse bar in Halifax at 7 p.m. on Sept. 28. See here for details on the business, which is owned and run by my friend Gia Greer.

Lastly, it was fun to see Drive-by Saviours featured on the HRM Library blog in the books-about-social-workers category. See here for that post.

Chris Benjamin