Left to right: Katie Brown, Francisco Peña, Derek Carr, Michelle Bolduc

With funding from the UBC Okanagan-Exeter Excellence Catalyst Grant, Dr. Francisco Peña is working with a team of researchers from the University of Exeter and UBC Vancouver to continue the work of translating General e Grand Estoria (GGE), the most expansive 13th-century book written in Spanish.

Commissioned by King Alfonso X of Castile, a.k.a., “el Sabio” (the Wise), the book was compiled by various contributors from different major religions, writing history together. The resulting publication is the first, and only, version of the Bible in which Christian, Jewish, Islamic, and apocryphal interpretations are accepted.

This project positions the General e grand estoria within the multicultural context of its production and re-evaluates the role of Judaism and Islam, as well as the Graeco-roman classical traditions, in the birth of Spanish and European historical writing and the beginnings of vernacular fiction.

“We are creating a new methodology of study, involving digital media, creating new tools for innovative interdisciplinary study of the Middle Ages,” says Peña, Associate Professor in the Department of Languages and World Literatures.

He adds that the translation this book into English will make the text more accessible to the modern reader while still capturing the flavour of the mediaeval original. Divided into six parts, the General e Grand Estoria narrates human history, from creation to year zero, including the biblical and non-biblical past, and the Jewish and non-Jewish past.

The research team includes Francisco Peña (UBCO), Katie Brown (Exeter), Derek Carr (UBCV), and Michelle Bolduc (Exeter). They been working together for 4 years, digitalizing the book, which is now accessible to the group in a shared online platform. Translators will work in that platform to create a written translation of the text, so that in the end, a reader can select the chapter, see a photo of the original manuscript, and then be able to read the text that is being translated.

This project will recruit students onto the Masters of Arts Translation Studies at Exeter and provide them with specialist training in translating mediaeval Spanish in La Rioja, Spain. Those students will work on the translation of the GGE over the course of their MA, allowing them to broaden their language skills, intercultural understanding, and employability through involvement with an international, interdisciplinary team.

“This project provides work experience for students, so that when they graduate and go into the job market, they come with experience of project management and working within a team,” Peña explains.

This pilot will build the long-term commitments necessary to successfully pursue an SSHRC Partnership Grant, which will be the foundation of the larger GGE study, translation, and subsequent publications.

Find out more about the Confluence of Religious Cultures in Medieval Histography project.

Akeem Johnston

Akeem Johnston completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in 2021 with a major in English, and is currently working as Brand Coordinator at Bylands Nurseries in West Kelowna. Akeem says, “I chose UBC’s Okanagan campus because I knew it would give me the best opportunity to explore my passions while determining what degree I wanted.”

We asked Akeem to tell us a little bit about his time here at UBCO and what he is doing now that he has graduated.

Tell us about your experience here at UBC Okanagan.

I had many highlights during my UBC experience, but three stand out. The friends I made at UBCO are important to me and have become some of my best friends over the past few years. I took a year off my studies to be part of the co-op program and had the opportunity to work at the university which became a jumpstart into my profession. The professors I connected with at UBCO helped me learn as much as possible about my writing while helping me gain skills that have proven valuable in my work environment. Margaret Reeves is a professor that made a difference and helped me immensely. She challenged me to become a better writer and to develop distinct arguments. I knew I could send her a thought-provoking idea and that she would help me create a congruent argument while allowing me the freedom to pursue the argument to its full extent. She also helped me with my career, as she was a reference during my co-op and she wrote me a letter of recommendation that helped me obtain my current position. I made sure to get a seat in her class every year and highly recommend other students do the same.

 Why did you choose to major in English?

When I entered UBCO, I knew I wanted an English degree, but I did not know what was possible with such a degree. During one of my first-year classes, a guest professor explained the relationship between an English degree and marketing, and that presentation convinced me to pursue marketing. Obtaining any degree is difficult and the road proved arduous at certain junctions, but my professors were very helpful and understanding which made the journey easier.

Tell us about your co-op experience.

I worked with the team in University Relations at UBCO as a social media manager during my co-op year. This position allowed me to learn about marketing tools to use social media to grow a business. Those same tools are useful for my current position, where I use sales marketing to help Bylands grow as a business. My English major is useful as I have to write and edit throughout the creative process, which is much easier with an English degree. The creativity that an English degree fleshes out of you is also very important for marketing, as I learned how to use my creativity as a tool to display my thoughts to the consumer. I also recommend co-op as an opportunity to determine if the career you imagine is something that you want. Working for UBCO further reinforced my future in marketing, but it also allowed me to focus on another career if necessary before I graduated.

What are you doing now that you have graduated?

My current position is the Brand Coordinator at Bylands Nurseries. I am the head of sales marketing, so I help develop marketing plans and determine the best ways to connect with our customers. I develop sales sheets and sales guides, as well as marketing plans to grow Byland’s presence. One of the most enjoyable parts of this job is the other things asked of me, as every day something new pops up on my desk and presents a unique challenge. I can navigate these challenges with the help of the awesome team of workers we have here at Bylands. There is a family atmosphere that became apparent from my first day onwards, and I am very thankful for the opportunity I have been given by Bylands.

Katherena Vermette. Photo credit: Vanda Fleury

The UBCO anti-racist book club is proud to host an artist talk with Katherena Vermette. On March 23rd, 2022, Vermette will discuss her most recent novel, The Strangers, publicly via zoom. Before the talk, Larissa Piva had the pleasure of sitting down with Katherena for an interview on her book and practice in general.

Larissa Piva is a graduate student in the MFA program with a specialization in Creative Writing. She is working as an academic assistant with Kevin Chong on the Anti-Racist Book Club and Reading Series.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE THIS STORY?

The Strangers book cover. Design credit: Hamish Hamilton

The idea for The Strangers initially was a continuation of The Break, a further exploration of why and how Phoenix came to be the way she is; she was a train that I just had to follow. I also wanted to tell a family story, one that interlaced voices and braided family narrative while traversing generations. The story became this unfolding that I played with quite a bit. One of the really surprising things that surfaced from exploring their voices and lives was this idea of bodily choice. If you’re going to tell the story about family, talking about the person’s choices that brought the people into that family is an interesting thought. It became an obvious connection.

I was familiar with politics around pregnancy choice before, but I did some further research for the novel. I was unfortunately very much familiar with the body politics of Indigenous women specifically and their historical denial of choice. That became one of the main layers. The story unexpectedly became about institutions. Writing it that way came naturally but in editing, I then realized how horrifying the state’s imposition onto Indigenous families is and how so very few of us are unmarked from that heavy surveillance. The criticism and critiques of our ability to parent in our families also surprised me, so I did more research on prisons and the foster care system and followed it. I wanted to specifically explore the intersectionality between Indigenous and female. There are a lot of ideas around family, a lot of ideas around pregnancy and choice, bodily choice, which is not exclusive to women, but in this case, in this story it was important, and I really wanted to talk about those experiences.

YOU MENTIONED THAT FAMILY IS IMPORTANT TO YOU AND INSPIRES YOUR WORK. WHAT POWER OR VALUE DOES FICTION BRING TO PIECES OF ART LIKE THIS THAT NONFICTION JUST CAN’T BRING?

 It all has value, but I love working in fiction specifically because you can change what you need to change. Everything is malleable and you can sculpt whatever is needed in a way you cannot do with factual evidence. Whenever I write in the “real world,” I of course still must adhere to certain rules. Timestamps, places. People can’t grow wings and walk on air. But it’s different because I can really make sure you know what I want you to know. I also can introduce more voices and characters into fiction.

WHICH CHAPTER WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT TO WRITE, EMOTIONALLY OR OTHERWISE? WHICH CHARACTER?

The first chapter of Phoenix was probably the most emotionally difficult. It was also the first chapter I wrote. The Break came together in layers, it was all over the place but again Phoenix was that train I had to follow. I wrote that first chapter quickly and I just cried; there was so much pain. It’s an abrupt way to start a book and credit to my editors for not trying to sway me from the artistic choice to start the book like that. Actually, one of the novel’s big criticisms is how Phoenix opens the book: aggressively with a big potty mouth.

She swears a lot, but I do think it is a very white-centric idea, I would venture to say a white upper-class privileged idea, to think that we are all supposed to act and speak a certain way. I am always fascinated by voice. I am fascinated by the way people choose to communicate. So often we learn to communicate in ways that we completely normalize but other groups might not understand, which is why code-switching exists. Swearing and communicating aggressively is Phoenix’s entire world. She fronts this hyper aggression to keep herself safe; that’s what life taught her over and over again. The way she speaks doesn’t negate the value of her experience. I resent the idea that you’re supposed to create this palatable character and spoon-feed them to the masses. No, we have to meet characters, as fictionalized as they are, where they’re at. I want to hear her story through her words, which is a hell of a lot more valuable than any fabricated saturation of couth. My characters have harsh lives so sometimes they have harsh language, harsh ways of presenting themselves. I love them like that, and I wanted to present them like that, not a polished version.

DID YOU BEGIN WRITING THE STRANGERS PRE OR POST-COVID? IF BEFORE, HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT MAKING THE CHANGES? 

I wrote each character completely before Covid. I had a lot of the book’s bones before it happened, but while weaving the stories together suddenly the world became different. I could have ignored it, just skipped over it to maintain the escapism, but I felt that would’ve fucked up the timeline. That, and writing life events into stories may not seem important now, we think no one will notice, but twenty years down the line, people will definitely notice.

Covid became a hindrance to the characters too. For a lot of the book, Elsie is trying to get together with Cedar and Cedar is trying to get together with Phoenix. It became part of that, another barrier, another hurdle they had to go over. Plastic barriers and masks and social distancing still kept them apart in a lot of ways.

THE CREDITS MENTION HOW YOU TAKE THE NAMES OF YOUR CHARACTERS FROM YOUR FAMILY TREE. YOU MENTION NOT WRITING ANY SPECIFIC FAMILY MEMBERS INTO YOUR NOVELS, BUT HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BRING NEW LIFE INTO A NAME OF A PERSON WHO MAY HAVE LONG PASSED?

I love that idea of bringing new life into the names because I’ve explored these names for so many years. As Michif people, we have extensive genealogies. The church documented us well, they kept track of us in order to contain us, but we’ve used those extensive genealogies to create and maintain community and nationhood, which I love. I love the power of reclaiming that tool but also what it left us: so many names.

Angélique Laliberté is my third great-grandmother I believe. She lived for a long, beautiful time through the 1800s and the Métis world changed threequel in her lifetime. I love her name. Not only Angélique but Laliberté. That means liberty, freedom.

Métis nationhood has a lot to do with those ideas, but that’s almost all I know of her, so I loved bringing her into this other character. Something Métis people do often is name children after those who came before. That’s why we have so many Josephs. We really do! Not only because St. Joseph is our patron saint, but because many people were named Joseph and then they named their children after someone. So, it’s Joseph, Joseph, Joseph. I have lots of Josephs to take from. I kind of made that a joke in my writing because I think every book has a character named Joseph.

*laughs*

You can’t get away from it! I am a total name nerd. Whenever I write, I think about the creation of these big stories around names. I love where they come from and what they mean.

Katherena’s next book, The Circle, is set to be released Fall of 2023. She gave Larissa a few details to share. While each novel stands alone, The Circle is connected to and will include characters from both The Break and The Strangers in an “impetus conclusion.” The novel starts with Phoenix’s release from prison and continues with characters convening.

About the author

Katherena, a Red River Métis (Michif) writer from Treaty 1 territory, is an award-winning author, poet, and filmmaker. To name a few accolades, Vermette’s 2013 poetry collection North End Love Songs received the Governor General’s Award, The Break won the Amazon Canada First Novel Award, and The Strangers received the 2021 Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. When she is not writing, Katherena explores her love for genealogy, supports marginalized youth, and spends time with her family.

UBC Okanagan’s Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies (FCCS) is pleased to share the finalists of the 2022 Okanagan Short Story Contest.

The Okanagan Short Story Contest awards the best new short stories by fiction writers in the Southern Interior of British Columbia: east of Hope, west of the Alberta border, north of the US border and south of Williams Lake. Past winners have gone on to publish with Penguin Random House, Arsenal Pulp Press, and NeWest Press, as well as numerous magazines and journals nationally and internationally.

A total of 121 short story entries were submitted for the adult category, and 70 stories for the high school category.

“It is exciting to see so many entries from all over the region,” says FCCS professor Nancy Holmes. “We are looking forward to see who will take home the prizes!”

Shortlisted authors: adult category

• Steven Lattey – Vernon, B.C.
• Shawn Bird – Salmon Arm, B.C.
• Amber Nuyens – Lake Country, b.C
• Debra Kennedy – Cranbrook, B.C.
• Anthea McLean – West Kelowna, B.C.
• Ximena Gordillo Cruz – Kelowna, B.C.
• Sid Ruhland – Oliver, B.C.
• Laura Foisy – Cherryville, B.C.
• Stephanie Plumb – Kelowna, B.C.
• Kristin Burns – Vernon, B.C.
• Manjinder Sidhu-Kong – Penticton, B.C.

Shortlisted authors: high school category

• Kai Greenhough – Kelowna, B.C.
• Mae Glerum – Kelowna, B.C.
• Olivia Bagnall – West Kelowna, B.C.
• Brooke-Lynn Andersson – Penticton, B.C.
• Annika Crum – Vernon, B.C.
• Frances Myers Lynch – Nelson, B.C.

Fun facts about a few of our finalists: Kristin Burns is a UBCO MFA alumna, and received second place in the 2021 contest. Manjinder Sidhu-Kong is a current MFA student. Amber Nuyens is a current UBCO student, and has just been accepted into the MFA program at UVIC. Steve Lattey has been a finalist in the past. Shawn Bird has been shortlisted three times before and is a UBC MEd alumnus.

FCCS is offering cash prizes to the top three stories—$1,000, $400 and $200; the first prize winner also wins a one-week retreat at The Woodhaven Eco Culture Centre in Kelowna. The top story by a high school student receives a cash prize of $200. Co-sponsors of the contest are FCCS, TD and the Central Okanagan Foundation.

Winning submissions will be selected by FCCS Writer in Residence, Naben Ruthnum, who will announce the final four writers at the March 31st event.

The free, one-hour public event takes place Thursday, March 31^st, at the Okanagan Regional Library, downtown Kelowna, 1380 Ellis St., starting at 7:00 p.m.

There is no need to register, please note that public health orders will be followed and vaccine passports will be checked upon entry to the space.

Respect Magazine team. Front row: Élise Machado , Anita Chaudhuri. Back row: Ximena Cayo Barrantes, Nancy Jiayi Lu, Rishma Chooniedass

With the desire to enhance the equity work that is happening at UBC Okanagan, this project is aligned with the Inclusive Action Plan, and Indigenous and anti-racism initiatives. UBC Okanagan professors Anita Chaudhuri and Rishma Chooniedass are working to create an online space where students can share their experiences in the realm of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI).

With support from the Equity Enhancement Fund, and with a team of undergraduate students, they have created RESPECT, an online magazine to do just that.

“Our intent with this project is to bring the student community together to connect what they are thinking about, what they are doing, and how they are involved with EDI practices and issues. We are working to create an avenue where students can publish their work dealing with these issues,” says Chaudhuri.

Dr. Chaudhuri is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Department of English and Cultural Studies teaching courses in both English and Communications and Rhetoric. Ms. Chooniedass is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in the School of Nursing, and the advisor to the Dean of FHSD on EDI. Both are advisors for the EDI project, collaborating with a group of undergraduate student project managers.

Chaudhuri says that she is interested in connecting with the students to ensure they have the opportunity to share their understandings about lectures, discussions, readings, work in courses, and initiatives on campus related to anti-racism.

“There are many speakers coming here talking about these issues, and this is a way for students to talk about how this is listened to and acted upon. We are trying to capture some of the student actions,” she says.

Within the Faculty of Health and Social Development (FHSD), Chooniedass is a member on the EDI committee who are working to develop an EDI web site to help promote equity and social justice within the faculty with educational workshops , and develop policies with an equity and social justice lens within the faculty.

“UBC is trying to promote and advance equity, and this is a great way to have safe space for students to share their voices so they can have a sense of community,” says Chooniedass.

RESPECT is a student-led project for undergraduate and graduate students across campus. Three undergraduate students are working on the project to put together the submission guidelines, develop a blog platform, and work to establish connections with student groups, course unions, and fellow students.

Élise Machado is a student in human kinetics, who met Chooniedass on the EDI committee in the Faculty of Health and Social Development last spring, and was eager to join this committee when the opportunity arose.

“Equity issues have always had a close place in my heart,” she explains. “Working toward equity and inclusion really boils down to listening and understanding, not just hearing what people have to say. RESPECT struck a significant cord with me as I have always thought that listening and communicating is under the umbrella with respect.”

Nancy Jiayi Lu and Ximena Cayo Barrantes worked on a digital posted on academic integrity  in response to a competition organized but the Office of the Provost and Vice President Academic at UBCO last year and received second place. From that experience, they thought this project would be exciting and decided to get involved.

Jiayi Lu notes, “As an international student, I can contribute a voice from a different perspective.”

The intent of RESPECT is not to create an academic journal, but a magazine that can be a cooperative space, connecting to what students are already doing with blogs or podcasts or activism work.

“Our hope is to use this as a tool to improve EDI practices and improve the diversity within the student body,” says Jiayi Lu. “In this space we want to see creative interpretations on perspectives on these ideas – the good or the bad. We want to hear what students have to say.”

Ximena Cayo Barrantes, is an undergraduate student in my second year of Psychology at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. She is the Events Coordinator for the Psychology Course Union (PCU) and Marketing and Social Media Manager at RESPECT Magazine.

“I decided to participate in this project because as an international student and as a woman, I understand how difficult it is to feel that we belong and are appreciated in society,” says  Cayo Barrantes. “That is why I hope that through our magazine we can create a space of empathy in which students feel comfortable sharing their experiences and opinions to make a change in our community.”

The first call for submissions is around the theme addressing what equity means. Students are invited to submit their work, whether it be writing, imagery, poetry, or a musical piece that speaks about how they understand what equity is, and how have they participated in the conversation in a class, on a blog, or even on social media.

Fine out more about the project and submissions on the RESPECT Magazine blog.

Keep up to date with new and events about this project by following @ubc_respect_magazine.

Alex Cuba. Photo credit: Eduardo Rawdriguez

The Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies is a proud sponsor of the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra’s next performance with Alex Cuba.

“Listening to Alex Cuba’s music is like getting a coat of sunshine applied to your eardrums.” With a prospect like that, you’re going to want to experience this special performance with a multi-award winning artist, appearing with a full symphony orchestra!

Cuban/Canadian singer/songwriter Alex Cuba appears with the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra on Friday, April 1 at the Kelowna Community Theatre (also available by livestream), and on Saturday, April 2 at the Vernon & District Performing Arts Centre. You won’t want to miss this show!

Though raised in Artemisa, an hour outside of Havana, Alex Cuba’s artistry is as far-flung as the place he has settled and lived for over fifteen years: Smithers, BC. His music at once incorporates his roots and is a unique amalgam of styles, having collaborated with artists ranging from Jason Mraz to Ron Sexsmith and Nelly Furtado; and bringing together melodies, popsoul hooks and rock chords in songs that may seem to bear little resemblance to traditional Cuban form.

A forward-thinking, indie-minded artist, Alex has amassed a steadily growing following among critics and fans, with over 20 awards and nominations to his name, including four Latin Grammys, two Junos Awards and three Grammy nominations.

Tickets: Adult $70.00; Senior $59.50; Student $35.00

Learn more and purchase tickets or livestream access through Alex Cuba with the OSO | Okanagan Symphony Orchestra

“Wicked guitar, undeniably soulful vocals. His package is simplicity and he wears it well” — popmatters.com

Rowan Pickard

Rowan Pickard came to UBC Okanagan right out of high school thinking that they would have to focus their studies right away, sacrificing many interests. But they quickly learned that first-year is the best time to explore what the Bachelor of Arts degree has to offer.

Rowan took a first-year course in cultural studies practices, noting that the instructor was so engaging and emphasized a number of things that were important to them.

“When I looked into more cultural studies classes, I realized this area would set me up to learn about things I was interested in,” Pickard notes. “In the intro courses, we touch on so many things, and I became eager to continue learning in this field.”

With an interest in a career in journalism, Pickard wanted to make sure that they would be prepared not only with a broad scope of history and cultural studies, but also learning about different writing styles.

Pickard is now a third-year student doing a combined major in Cultural Studies and English, and says they are able to engage in these classes in a way that allows them to apply what she’s learning to her daily life, and toward her future career in journalism. Engaging and analyzing different forms of media and decolonization practices are key when thinking about journalism.

“Thinking about how we situate ourselves as someone to tell a story or give someone a platform, you have to be aware of who the audience is, who are you speaking to or represent.”

That has been one of the biggest learning curves in the program for Pickard. “Thinking about myself as a white settler, one of the responsibilities I have with my privileges is to try and uphold and amplify voices that are not always given spaces to speak and be heard.”

Cultural Studies allows for more critical thought and engagement, without expectations that there is one answer, you can be critical without having to be right or wrong. It allows you to take all of the things you learned over time and apply them to everyday topics or conversations, she explains.

Many of the projects they have done in cultural studies courses involve taking every-day situations, relationships, interactions, and bits of media and critically examining how it can (re)produce and be embedded with colonial discourse that causes harm and violence.

“I found taking courses in cultural studies, I can apply so many things I learn to my everyday life, which is something I really value. I would rather see things through a critical lens than to take things at face value or take things for granted.”

Pickard is currently working to build the Cultural Studies Course Union with fellow students.

“One of our goals is to engage more students to let them know what Cultural studies is about, not only as a major, but even just to take courses as they can help broaden students’ learning experiences and points of view.”

Students can connect with the course union via email at culturalstudiescu@gmail.com and follow their Instagram @ubco_culturalstudies.

Sara McDonald at the Ponderosa Spinners and Weavers show, November 2019

By Carolyn MacHardy, Professor Emerita (Art History), UBC Okanagan

Sara McDonald, artist and passionate advocate for social justice, died on February 1, 2022.  Sara had a long association with UBC Okanagan, and especially the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, where she completed her BFA in 2000, majoring in printmaking, painting, drawing and mixed-media.  In 2011 she completed her Master of Arts (Interdisciplinary) with a thesis entitled Adults with intellectual disabilities and the visual arts: “It’s Not Art Therapy!”. Her two UBC degrees reflect and knit together two of the driving forces of her life: advocacy for contemporary art and artists, and advocacy for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities, a group which has long been marginalized in societies around the world.

Sara grew up in Maple Ridge but moved to the Okanagan thirty years ago and raised her four children, Nathan, Jordan, Rachel and Elisabeth Lige. In 2003, realising that her son Jordan, a talented artist who has a learning disability, would no longer have access to the type of art education he had in  high school, and that there was nothing available in the community, Sara formed Cool Arts, the first supported studio in the B.C. Interior. Over the past nearly two decades it has offered classes to many artists with intellectual disabilities, using professional artists in a professional studio setting. As Sara constantly reminded people, Cool Arts firmly rejects the medical/therapeutic model that suggests people be cured or treated for what are now called neurodiversabilities; rather, each artist is encouraged to develop their own body of work, much as they do in an academic studio setting. Cool Arts burst onto the Kelowna art scene in late 2009 with the exhibition We Are Artists at the Kelowna Art Gallery and since then they have exhibited widely.

Sara was an artist, a gardener, a reader, a maker of beautiful things large and small. She offered sage advice and unflinching honesty, often at the same time. And she made things happen. She fearlessly took on politicians at all levels of government, bluntly pointing out flaws in their policies and then suggesting how those flaws could be remedied. ALS presented her with enormous challenges when she was diagnosed a little over two years ago and she tackled them with her usual candour and energy:  she advocated for increased funding for ALS research in B.C.; she charted her experiences in a blog that offered her many friends a way of emotionally accompanying her through the stages of a relentless disease that stole so much from her; and when it was clear that end of life decisions had to be made, she lobbied the then-Federal Health Minister, Patty Hajdu, to grant her an exemption to use Psilocybin, illegal in Canada since 1974, for therapeutic purposes. She was the first ALS patient in Canada to be granted an exemption, and with her typical sense of mischief, she sent emails headed “I’m going on a trip!”. They were followed by a serious, informative op-ed in the Vancouver Sun on August 31, 2021.

On Munson Pond February 1, 2022

A heron flew by

As the sun crept over the frozen surface

And a merl of red-winged blackbirds raised their voices in song

What: UBC Anti-Racist Reading Book Club and Reading Series
Who: UBCO’s Kevin Chong with guest author Katherena Vermette
When: Book club meeting March 9, 7:00 pm;  Public Reading with Katherena Vermette March 23, 7:00 pm.
Where: Live via Zoom

This book club and online reading series, organized by creative writing professor Kevin Chong, features high-profile writers of colour who have written recently about racism in society, and also in writing and publishing.

The second book that will be discussed is Katherena Vermette’s book The Strangers. Kevin Chong will lead the book club meeting on March 9 in advance of a public event with Katherena Vermette scheduled for March 23. Vermette is a celebrated author of poetry, novels, children’s fiction and film.

People must sign up be a part of the book club, limited to 25 members, and the first 20 people to sign up will get free copies of the books for the club. Please note that all 25 spaces in the book club have been taken, feel free to read the book on your own and join us for the public event on March 23rd.

Find out more about the author, and register for the pubic event on March 23rd below.

Register Now

This event is presented with support from UBC’s Anti-Racism Initiatives Fund.

Alongside the Dark event at the Woodhaven Eco Culture Centre

The FEELed Lab is a feminist environmental humanities field research lab with the goal of creating a hub for researchers, students and community members who share common interests in environment and sustainability issues, specifically from feminist, queer, anti-colonial and disability justice perspectives.

“We are interested in sharing ideas related to environment humanities with people who may not always feel part of ‘environmentalism’s’ target audience,” says Astrida Neimanis, director of the FEELed Lab. “We want to make sure that we include diverse voices in the field of environmental humanities which has emerged over the last two decades with a focus on environmentalism’s stereotypical subject – i.e. a white, male, abled, Western, and so on.”

Participants reading at the Alongside the Dark event

To date, the FEELed Lab has organized and hosted a series of events, such as the Littoral Listening sessions and Fringe Natures outdoor gatherings. Neimanis sees herself as a facilitator, creating both physical and virtual community space to gather people together so they can then pursue their own interests related to the field of feminist environmental humanities. She is also a Canada Research Chair in Feminist Environmental Humanities at UBC Okanagan, and an Associate Professor cross-appointed in FCCS in the Department of English and Cultural Studies, and in FASS in the Department of Community, Culture and Global Studies.

“We are very much interested in grounding this research in Kelowna, in the Okanagan watershed,” Neimanis explains. “We recognize we are on unceded Syilx lands, and we want to be accountable to that. We are interested in what situated research looks like, and building relationships with the human and more-than-human communities that we live with.”

‘The FEELed Lab is where the FEELed Lab does’

As a Canada Research Chair, Neimanis will work to build a research community in Canada related to feminist environmental humanities.

“The FEELed Lab is a strong hub for research here in our local area, but can also serve as a scaffold to maintain international collaborations,” says Neimanis.

She notes that her research already involves international collaborations, so keeping those connections through inviting researchers here whether in person or virtually, organizing exchanges, and sharing info through her networks will be a benefit for the lab community. It can serve as a resource for both local researchers, and those who are not from this area.

Madeline Donald and Dani Pierson work alongside Dr. Neimanis, forming the FEELed Lab team.

Dani Pierson, an undergraduate student majoring in Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies and minoring in Cultural Studies, is the lab administrator. Her previous education in arts and entertainment management made her the perfect candidate for this position, doing the behind the scenes work with administrative tasks, web site and social media, the creation of the lab newsletter and blog content management.

“I found out about this project and this position for the lab while in Dr. Neimanis’ Gender and Women Studies course last term,” Dani explains. “I was intrigued by Dr. Neimanis’ approach to dealing with environmental humanities issues, which is not based within a ‘doom and gloom’ lens.”

The FEELed Lab was presented as a very curious and welcoming place, which Pierson says was very refreshing as a student, and a young Metis-Cree-Dane-zaa woman who is trying to feel hopeful about our ability to repair relations with our world.

Madeline Donald is a FEELed Lab Research Associate, working to support the events and projects. As a PhD student, Donald was actively seeking out people to collaborate with when Dr. Neimanis arrived at UBCO in the winter of 2021, and was pleased to discover mutual interests with Astrida. Donald is in the Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies program in the Sustainability theme. Her research is grounded in relational research methodologies, saturated by the riparian habitats of the Okanagan watershed, and rooted in the same values that uphold the FEEled Lab

“There is a deep curiosity and respect for the place in which we do our research. We work to understand our own deferring obligations and relationships to those places as settlers, indigenous researchers, and people of different genders and cultural backgrounds,” Donald says.

Events are a big part of what the FEELed Lab has been offering over the last number of months. The Littoral Listening sessions are held once a month in a virtual environment and are organized like a reading group, but the reading happens with everyone present.

“This is a chance to practice listening, attunement, and sharing ideas,” Donald explains. “We do short readings in these small groups so everyone has a chance to listen and share ideas.”

Neimanis adds that for each session, readings are chosen around a theme that is relevant to our work. The first session last fall was on the theme “in case you want to save the planet” (named for a poem that they recited together on the walk). This month the theme was “We”, and March will feature readings on sex ecologies.

The Fringe Natures events are also planned once a month – these are gentle, Covid-safe outdoor events, where participants can come together in person with various accessibility options.

Fringe Natures walk along the Rail Trail, November 2021

“These events are a place to meet others who may have similar interests in building a research community, but they also highlight feminist, anti-colonial, queer and disability related issues around environmental sustainability,” Neimanis explains.

Several of the events have been at the Woodhaven Eco Culture Centre. There are a number of eco-poetry and other events hosted by FCCS that have happened there over the years, and the FEELed Lab is working to make Woodhaven a more lively and accessible space.

Future plans for the lab include creating a bigger presence on the blog for undergraduate student research, co-hosting a symposium this spring called Fire and Water that will include arts-based presentations, workshops and discussions around issues of fire and water in the Okanagan, and creating education-based workshops preparing students to do research in and with place. The lab is committed to doing all of this work, recognizing importance of working with the Syilx Okanagan people and organizations.

For more information and to get involved in the FEELed lab, visit thefeeledlab.ca.

Friday Funday walk through the Woodhaven Regional Park, October 2021