Franco-American
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Interview with Open Book Ontario
Today, in conjunction with the launch of my chapbook “Other Brief Discourses,” I’m featured on the website of Open Book Ontario. I recently participated in their new author interview series focusing on reading, which gave me the chance to talk about some books that I love. Since my recent posts have focused on themes related…
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Who Is Franco-American?
When I began research for my solo show, Piecework: When We Were French, I wouldn’t have described myself as Franco-American. When I was growing up in Vermont, my family tended to describe ourselves as French-Canadian or simply French. Before long I realized that this was a description of our past rather than our present. I…
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Consider the Cretons
Our Piecework fundraising campaigning is edging ever closer to the $5,000 mark, with less than $400 between us and that milestone as of this writing. Meanwhile, rehearsals have begun for my March performances at Lost Nation Theater, where the DVD will be shot. Production plans are developing with our videographer, Jeff Farber, and we are…
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Franco-Americans, Nativism, and the KKK
All this month I’m posting on topics related to Piecework: When We Were French, my solo show. The play was originally commissioned to honor the legacy of French-Canadian immigration to Vermont and New England. Of course, in the process, it does much more: it explores the immigrant experience more generally; it reveals how the family…
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Who Says This Is A One-Woman Show? (Part 3)
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. I’ve borrowed this image from Facebook, where it was being used to honor today’s global day of action, One Billion Rising. Check their site to see live footage of events happening all over the planet, calling for an end…
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DVD Fundraising Update: A Week 4 Enticement!
On January 22nd, I launched a fundraising campaign to support the production of a DVD of my solo show, Piecework: When We Were French. Yesterday marked the beginning of the campaign’s fourth week, and I’m excited to report that, with 22 days down, we’ve been able to raise 60% of our overall goal. This is…
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Whose Stories?
Today marks the beginning of my fourth week of fundraising to support the DVD production of my solo show, Piecework: When We Were French. In just three weeks, we have managed to raise $4,000, almost 60% of our overall goal. During these three weeks, I have been reflecting on the show’s creation, the themes and…
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Kerouac: Franco-America’s Favorite Son
Once I learned that Jack Kerouac was Franco-American, I wondered how I had never figured it out on my own: his boxy, square head and dark eyes; his clean part; his humor and his melancholy, intertwined; the alcoholism that killed him; his visionary uprootedness. Suddenly, knowing his origins in a Massachusetts mill town, Ti-Jean Kerouac,…
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St. Joseph’s Co-Cathedral
We broke the $4,000 mark! On my fundraising journey, this is another milestone toward my $7,000 goal. We are now just $3,000 away (well, $2,995, to be exact) away from the amount needed to guarantee production of the Piecework: When We Were French DVD. The writing and creation of the show consisted of many hours…
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Documenting Eugenics
All this month I’m posting on topics related to Franco-American history and culture, in honor of my ongoing DVD fundraising campaign. Thus far, most of these posts have been light-hearted in tone, and why not? Franco-Americans are first-class revelers who enjoy a good party and a good song. But it must be acknowledged that the…
ABBY PAIGE 