ARTS
Friday, january 20, 2012
queensjournal.ca
• 11
LIterAture
Written with care Kingston author releases his first novel, Critical Care B y M eGan c Ui Contributor Over 90 per cent of proceeds from a new novel will go to benefit developments at Kingston General Hospital (KGH). Local writer, business-owner and actor Phillip Brown said he sees his novel Critical Care as a personal project, not one for financial gain. The money from his book, released in November, will go toward improving KGH’s intensive care unit. “I’m a firm believer in community, commerce and culture,” Brown said, who’s family business Brown’s Dining Solutions owns the Tim Horton’s franchise in the BioSciences Complex. “As a local business owner myself, I know the importance of fostering culture so that the community can thrive and then our economies will also follow suit in that manner.” Two of Brown’s family members received care and assistance at
KGH. While KGH will receive the benefits of the book’s sales, Critical Care was actually set in a Boston hospital, depicting Peter Douglas who after a tragedy must fight against the doomsday clock. The journey of writing Critical Care began nearly eight years ago. Two thousand hours of writing and 2,000 hours of editing later and the novel was released in November 2011. Almost 300 copies have been sold to date. Brown said he was supported by the Queen’s Writing Centre and the Queen’s department of English. He hired for technical editing, English students Justin Tisdale and Brandon Crilly to comb through his manuscript. “You have no idea just how extensive the editing process really is until you’ve tried to publish a book,” Brown said. “I gave the manuscript over to two other people, and suddenly you’re told all over again just how far you are from the finish line.”
IntervIew
More than a hobby Po’ Girl have travelled from Amsterdam to Cameroon with their urban roots tunes B y M athieU s ly Contributor In 2006, members of the urban roots trio Po’ Girl decided to drop their day jobs. “You don’t want it to be a hobby, you don’t want it to be a sideline thing,” singer Allison Russell said. “Really, the worst that can happen is it doesn’t work out and you have to go and get another job. You’re not going to die. You won’t die!” Before her full-time music pursuit, she was a social worker in Vancouver’s east side. Russell grew up in Montreal with French-speaking foster parents and a pious grandmother who would drag her along to church. Russell left home at 15 years old and found a new religion. “It’s like our church,” Russell said of music. In Vancouver, Russell met fellow
singer Awna Teixeira and formed Po’ Girl — in between their day jobs. Po’Girl now consists of Russell, Teixeira and Mikey “Lightening” August. They share singing duties and play a handful of instruments ranging from the clarinet to the gutbucket bass — an instrument Teixeira chronicled in her 2011 book A Brief History and Introduction to The Gutbucket Bass. Russell and Teixeira will travel to Kingston for two shows with singer-songwriter JT Nero. Local fans can expect to hear pieces from Teixeira’s solo work as well as collaborative pieces from Russell and JT Nero’s Mountains/Forests. The band will also play new tracks from their upcoming album Birds of Chicago Volume 1, which they just finished recording on Jan. 16. The band is currently touring
LITERATURE IN THE LIMESTONE 1985: Kingston-born author Bronwen Wallace publishes her third work Common Magic, a book of poetry. The first Bronwen Wallace Memorial Award was given out in 1994. 1992: Booker Prize winning book The English Patient is written by Queen’s graduate Michael Ondaatje. 1995: Architectural historian Jennifer McKendry releases her book With Our Past Before Us: 19th Century Architecture in the Kingston Area. 2004: Queen’s geography professor Brian Osborne writes The Rock and the Sword, a book about the history of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Kingston. 2008: Kingston native Joanne Page releases a book of poetry about the aspects of water, called Watermarks. 2009: Hooked, the fifth book of poetry from acclaimed poet and Queen’s creative writing professor Carolyn Smart is published. 2010: Queen’s graduate Russell Smith’s novel Girl Crazy is published by HarperCollins Canada. 2011: Queen’s graduate Chris Turner writes The Leap: How to Survive and Thrive in the Sustainable Economy. — Savoula Stylianou
Ontario, which Russell said is a chance to find inspiration. “You spend a lot of hours in the van and that for me can be really good writing time,” she said. Po’ Girl plays the Whip on Wolfe Island on Saturday night and the Mansion on Sunday night at 9 p.m. with JT Nero.
Po’Girl’s Allison Russel (left) and Awna Teixeira (right) will play two shows in Kingston with JT Nero (middle).
supplied
Phillip Brown has had two family members receive care at Kingston General Hospital.
photo by justin chin