UPDATE: Episode 2 of Le Moncton Studio Video Radio Show, which was postponed, has now been rescheduled! The show will be broadcoast Monday, September 21, 2020, at 7pm EST (8pm ATL). You can find the relevant info and links here: https://www.facebook.com/events/608291316716135/
[ORIGINAL POST:] How’s your pandemic going? My primary observation about it is that it does just keep going, sweeping us along on its current. I hope the ride hasn’t been too rough for you and yours.
Change is hard, especially when it’s imposed on us, and meeting change with calm and creativity takes real courage. I’ve been really moved to see how artists and arts organizations are adapting and discovering new ways to create and share their work. There was a lot of scrambling in the early days of this crisis, but it feels like, where I am at least, people are settling into a new phase, where we are attempting to respond to this “new normal” with a different, more patient energy. It’s an exciting shift, to see people looking outward, thinking deeply, taking time.
Sa
tellite Théâtre, based in Moncton, always makes work that gives off a kind of defiant optimism, and their pandemic pivot feels that way, too. Their Moncton Studio Vidéo Radio Show is a low-fi showcase of new writing, primarily by New Brunswick artists, that reminds me of the late night cable access shows of my youth. There’s music, trippy imagery, and the embullient hosting of artistic director Marc-André Charron. The show is usually in French, but I’ve been invited to participate in a special anglophone edition next week. I know you don’t need auggestions for more things to do on-line, but you should really tune in Monday, August 17 at 8PM (Atlantic) on Satellite Théâtre’s Facebook page to catch all the fun.
And, in case you missed it, last week I did a fun little interview with Ottawa poet and literary renaissance man rob mclennan about my experience with Ottawa’s poetry scene during the years I lived there. It was fun to reminisce about my time in Canada’s capital city and the way I was taken in by the good poetry folks there. You can read the interview here.
Stay safe! I look forward to having more news for you in the fall…
ABBY PAIGE 