It’s that time of year, when the contemplative warmth of early winter and its holidays gives way to colder days and the chilled rush of newness that a new year brings. All the projects that we postponed show up, suddenly ready to be tended to, and I find myself happy to see them, ready to take on some new challenges and learn some new lessons.
Performance-wise, I am very excited to head into rehearsals later this month for Theatre New Brunswick’s upcoming production of Heroine, by Nova Scotia playwright Karen Bassett, which tells the tale of two women who sailed the seas at the height of piracy’s Golden Age. I’m honoured to participate in this show, and I can’t wait to bring it to New Brunswick audiences! Watch this space for more details.
On the writing front, I recently had some poems featured in the Fall Issue of Arc Poetry Magazine, which focuses on labour and livelihood. The issue includes a lot of great poems, some incredible artwork by Zachari Logan, and an essay by Tom Wayman about what he calls “the prevalent taboo against an accurate depiction of how daily work affects men and women” in literature and culture more generally. My own poems, about homemaking and caregiving, head into such taboo territory, and I am pleased for them to be among such esteemed company.
I have reviews of several new poetry titles forthcoming in the Montreal Review of Books and a longer critical essay coming out in the next issue of Résonance, a new journal of writing by and about the Franco-American communities of the U.S. That piece is a retrospective of the poetry of Franco-American writer Connie Voisine, whose work I’ve spent a great deal of time with over the past year, and I’m excited to see what treats the rest of the issue holds.
Looking ahead to later in the year, I am working on plans for future performances of my solo show, Les filles du QUOI?, in both Canada and the U.S., and I’m also exploring publication possibilities for my plays. I will certainly post here once those plans are ready to hatch.
If you want to receive future updates about these projects and my other goings-on, you can sign up to receive my intermittent, easy-on-your-inbox email newsletter here or check back soon for more news. I hope your January is a time of renewed energy, excitement, and hope!
Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly now, love mercy now, walk humbly now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it. – The Talmud (Pirkei Avot, 2:21)
ABBY PAIGE 