Dear RCLAS Members: First of all, I want to wish each of you a 2016 that is filled with laughter, love and of course, literature. As the new President of RCLAS, I am slowly getting to know my way around an organization that has an incredible number of moving parts. For a three-year-old non-profit society, I can’t believe the tremendous growth that has been achieved in this short time. When you realize our literary arts group with its seven programmes and four annual events has reached this stature on the backs of hard-working volunteers, it is truly mindboggling. I would like to share a little about some of these special individuals, especially those who have stepped down. In the fall, we saw the departure of our then Treasurer, Ashok Bhargava and one of RCLAS’ founding members, Ken Ader. Without Ken, you would never have had the opportunity to see some of the activities RCLAS produces. As our resident videographer, he has given us much-needed exposure through our own YouTube channel that we otherwise would never have had. We also keenly felt the absence of our resigning President, Kyle McKillop. As I continue to lean on Kyle in my early days here, I have come to recognize that RCLAS has been blessed with one of its most congenial, affable and knowledgeable individuals. At our AGM last month, we watched as our outgoing Vice President, Manolis Aligizakis stepped down. Never has RCLAS had such a prolific writer on the Board. It was also a bittersweet day as we witnessed our beloved Poet Laureate, RCLAS Co-Founder and Past President, Candice James, take leave for the last time. Small in stature but huge in her achievements, she has been the singular driving force that has brought RCLAS to a place where today it proudly sits at the fulcrum of New Westminster’s (and the Lower Mainland’s) literary arts community.
To all those who have stepped down, to all who have assisted with RCLAS’ birth and growth over the last three years, this deep bow of gratitude is for each of you. Our current team has big boots to fill, but they are energized, enthused and eager to continue adding to the successes that those before them have achieved. You can find out who the current Board members are here. I won’t tell you about our 2015 activities here, nor our future plans. Everything is contained in our Annual Report that was circulated at the AGM. Take a look at it now and be prepared to be bowled over by the programmes and events this little literary society runs. And keep reminding yourself of the energy, commitment and dedication our team gives to RCLAS. Most of all, to you the members who year in and year out, support RCLAS with your love (and membership dues). It’s simple; without you, we couldn’t operate. So thank you. My hope is that we will see you in person, enjoying as many of our upcoming initiatives as possible. All the best, James Felton President, Royal City Literary Arts Society January 2016
RCLAS Write On! Contest 2016
Submissions are now open! Deadline: Friday, April 1, 2016 Winners will be announced on Friday, April 15
Contest Rules:
Three genres (you may submit to more than one genre; however, only a maximum of three submissions, total, permitted): o fiction (maximum 1,500 words) o non-fiction (maximum 1,500 words) o poetry (maximum one page, single-spaced) submissions must be a Microsoft Word document in Times New Roman font, size 12 submission fees (per submission): $10 for RCLAS members; $20 for non-members previously published work is eligible providing you (not your publisher) retain copyright submissions to include: the genre, your name, address, email address, and phone contact current RCLAS Board members are ineligible author identity will be removed before submissions are forwarded to our judges
Prizes (for each genre):
1st prize: $100 2nd prize: $50 3rd prize: $25 there will also be three Honourable Mentions for each genre Winners and Honourable Mentions are published in RCLAS’ e-zine, Wordplay at Work 1st-place winners will be invited to read at LitFest NewWest in May, 2016
Payment Option 1: 1. Go to our website (www.rclas.com) and submit your payment via PayPal 2. Then email your submission(s) including contact information to: secretary@rclas.com Payment Option 2: 1. Mail your cheque/money order (including contact information) to: Royal City Literary Arts Society, P.O. Box 308, 720 Sixth St., New Westminster, BC V3L 3C5 2. Then email your submission(s) to: secretary@rclas.com For further information, email us at: secretary@rclas.com
David Blinkhorn is an award-winning poet and writer who resides in New Westminster. A graduate of the SFU’s “Writer’s Studio” (Fiction) in 2011, he is the founder and director of the “Fraser Valley Writers School”, a place of learning the craft of writing for the emerging writer. He is the director of “Brown Bear Publishing”, a fledgling boutique press specializing in artistic books by British Columbia writers. He enjoys a wide variety of interests in his writing and poetry,as well as travel and hockey. He is presently organizing “Euro2016,” a writing retreat set for November, 2016 in Greece and Italy. He is a member of RCLAS, having provided several workshops in previous years.
Christina Myers spent more than a decade working in the newspaper business at papers such as the Royal City Record, Burnaby Now, Abbotsford News and The Province. She is a current member of "The Writers Studio" at SFU under the mentorship of JJ Lee and is working on a non-fiction collection. She won the "2015 RCLAS Non-fiction" competition, was a runner up in the "2015 Voices of Motherhood" competition, and has been awarded a number of journalism awards at the provincial and national level in column writing, business writing and more. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from UBC and a Bachelor of Journalism from TRU, and is midway through earning a certificate in Creative Writing from SFU. She continues to freelance and write columns for local media.
RCLAS AGM/Christmas Party December 5, 2015
2015 AGM Keynote Speaker – Kevin Spenst Commentary by Lisa Strong Kevin Spenst’s writing cradles a gap between the structures of academia and the freedom of wordplay. As a graduate of the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program at UBC, focusing on poetry and creative writing pedagogy, Kevin’s knowledge of the poetry modality is obvious. Whether quoting from classical or contemporary anthologies or reading original pieces, Kevin’s presentation style draws listeners to the spaces between the words, those short pauses where listeners interpret and extrapolate meaning from the rhythmic and colourful sequence of the language before them. The keynote speech entitled “The Metaphorical Circuitry of the Jabbering Soul” draws on a sampling of original poems and journal entries from our guest, along with readings from various poets and writers. The title reveals the intertwining of two strains of thought – the influence of metaphor, including its most basic form, simile, along with creative merging of free form sounds and words. Jabbering is the utterance of nonsensical, incoherent chatter. Kevin began his presentation by sharing an improvised jabbertalk poem. I was immediately immersed into the colour and shape of this new language and observed myself uncovering the poetic language buried underneath its surface. In an attempt to discern meaning from its cadence and tonality, my thoughts flowed between familiar memories and places of undistinguishable details. Kevin shared some of his notes from the keynote speech with our readers. In his words … As writers we take all sorts of risks. “Constantly risking absurdity,” is how Lawrence Ferlinghetti framed the task of the poet. Or sometimes diving headlong into an absurdity is what’s most needed: a jungle of jabbering in search of something new. As we see here in New Westminster, there’s no shortage of extraordinarily talented writers with books and people on booktours. In order to stand out, you need to follow Ezra Pound’s advice to make it new. At the beginning of 2015 I announced that I’d be doing fifty readings for my first book with Anvil Press, Jabbering with Bing Bong, a ridiculous venture. While I had traditional reading venues like Poetic Justice here in New West, Hogan’s Alley in Vancouver and Planet Earth Poetry in Victoria, I also had to make up venues along the way. Venue #26 was the Queen of Cowichan, a ferry headed to Nanaimo and here’s the poem within a poem that I wrote for and about the occasion:
But now for some tangential jabbering, some risk-taking, some metaphormining. Here’s a journal entry from January of this year that went up on the social media site Medium: There are times during a conversation, big or small, when someone will look at me with a knitted brow, a perplexed expression or some grimace of minor agony. It’s taken me all of 43 years to realize that they are more than likely mirroring my contorted face as I physically muster up a memory or labour to put words together in some comprehensible form. In pedagogical terms, I’m a kinesthetic learner. When something can be put into physical form, my head and heart are at ease. Part of the difficulty with conversation is also the fact that I’m always on the verge of an untruth, a fable, a twist into a purely fictional realm. Before backpacking through Europe in 1991, my high-school buddy and I were stoked about starting in Cairo, but the Gulf War circumvented our plans. Italy became our new starting point, but I had read so much about Cairo beforehand that a month into the trip, I started making up stories about crossing the Nile, visiting Luxor, sweating under the Egyptian sun. I’d grown weary of giving the same account of our travels through Rome, Milan, Athens and Crete and fabrication became a vacation unto itself. A fun getaway from Truth. In 2003, I started writing a story everyday online, a project that continued in various online permutations over the course of four years. All the little fictional tangents that cluttered my thoughts were given the free reign of a blank page. I wrote for half an hour to an hour usually in the morning. After publishing a small collection of some of my favourites, I managed to make it into the MFA program of Creative Writing at UBC where I embarked upon the high-wire absurdity act of poetry. Since 2009, I’ve devoted myself to reading and writing contemporary and canonical poetry. Through writing I’ve learned immensely more than I deserve to know. I’m lucky to have the time and means to let the quirks in my nature play themselves out on the page and it’s you, my fictional (or now real) audience, that I have to thank. You may not even be there. You may not even be reading this, but the thought of a readership is what has given me the traction to write a thousand flash fictions online and now, on Medium, the freedom to explore poetry and prose on a daily basis. I’ve been writing everyday for a week now and I feel fulfilled in a way I haven’t in a long time. In some sense the first act of the imagination of a writer is to imagine an audience. The rest is as easy as keeping your eyes open, having a pen nearby and reading as much as you can. One of my favourite books from the past couple of years is Iain McGilchrist’s the Master and his Emissary.
McGilchrist, a best-selling author with a PhD in English literature and Psychiatry, has this to say about metaphor: Metaphors carry our full beings (body and soul) across moments mundane and tumultuous. Metaphors give us traction into a moment, a setting to explore, a terrain to walk through or swim through. Metaphors have quite literarily carried me across into another life. Attention without feeling is only a report, writes Mary Oliver. As writers we’re looking at the world for detail along with – what Gerard Manley Hopkins calls - the inscape of the object, its spiritual and emotional core. We jabber with each other or we jabber to ourselves or we jabber our thoughts out on the page. From these orts and warts we find patterns, see things differently and take a leap, a risk into a bigger-picture metaphor. In conclusion, while metaphors are what I feel most comfortable in, there are certainly other devices used in poetry: image, diction, rhetoric, plundered language from elsewhere made into a new pattern. What I love about Dylan Thomas’ Fern Hill is the lushness of the language that draws us back to a time when the world was seen in its abundance for the first time. I also like “challenging” poetry because it takes me back to when language was heard for the first time. You understood the gist of emotional tone but the words glimmered more than anything. You paid attention because you knew there was something to learn. ----------------------------------------***------------------------------------
Kevin Spenst is the author of Jabbering with Bing Bong (Anvil Press) and ten chapbooks. A second collection of poetry, Ignite, is forthcoming with Anvil Press in 2016. Kevin is also published in the 2014 Best Canadian Poetry Anthology (Tightrope Books).
RCLAS WRITER OF THE MONTH
Manolis
Manolis (Emmanuel Aligizakis) is a Greek-Canadian poet and author. He is the most prolific writer-poet of the Greek diaspora. At the age of eleven he transcribed the nearly 500 year old romantic poem Erotokritos, now released in a limited edition of 100 numbered copies and made available at 5,000 dollars Canadian: the most expensive book of its kind to this day. He was recently appointed an honorary instructor and fellow of the International Arts Academy, and awarded a Master’s for the Arts in Literature. He is recognized for his ability to convey images and thoughts in a rich and evocative way that tugs at something deep within the reader. Born in the village of Kolibari on the island of Crete in 1947, he moved with his family at a young age to Thessaloniki and then to Athens, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Sciences from the Panteion University of Athens. After graduation, he served in the armed forces for two years and emigrated to Vancouver in 1973, where he worked as an iron worker, train labourer, taxi driver, and stock broker, and studied English Literature at Simon Fraser University. He has written three novels and numerous collections of poetry, which are steadily being released as published works. His articles, poems and short stories in both Greek and English have appeared in various magazines and newspapers in Canada, United States, Sweden, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Australia, Jordan, Serbia and Greece. His poetry has been translated into Spanish, Romanian, Swedish, German, Hungarian, Arabic, Turkish, Serbian, Russian languages and has been published in book form or in magazines in various countries. He now lives in White Rock, where he spends his time writing, gardening, traveling, and heading Libros Libertad, an unorthodox and independent publishing company which he founded in 2006 with the mission of publishing literary books. His translation book “George SeferisCollected Poems” was shortlisted for the Greek National Literary Awards the highest literary recognition of Greece.
OSZI FALEVELEK, poetry by Manolis Aligizakis, translated to Hungarian by Karoly Csiby, AB-ART, Gyor, Hungary, 2015
EROTOKRITOS, by Vitsentzos Kornaros, Transcribed by Manolis Aligizakis, Rare Collectible Book, Libros Libertad, Jan, 2015, www.libroslibertad.ca
SVEST, poetry by Manolis Aligizakis, translated into Serbian by Jolanka Kovacs, Sziveri, Serbia, 2015
IMAGES of ABSENCE, poetry by Manolis, Ekstasis Editions, Victoria, BC, 2015, www.ekstasiseditions.com
CARESSING MYTHS, poetry by Dina Georgantopoulos, translated into English by Manolis Aligizakis, Libros Libertad, 2015, www.libroslibertad.ca
Άσματα του Παραλόγου, poetry by Manolis Aligizakis, ΕΝΕΚΕΝ, Salonica, Greece, 2015
ΕΙΚΟΝΕΣ ΑΠΟΥΣΙΑΣ, poetry by Manolis Aligizakis, SAIXPIRIKON, Salonica, Greece, 2015
HOURS of the STARS, Poetry by Dimitris Liantinis, translated by Manolis Aligizakis, Libros Libertad, 2015, www.libroslibertad.ca
HEAR ME OUT, LETTERS TO MY EX-LOVER, by Tzoutzi Matzourani, translated by Manolis Aligizakis, Libros Libertad, 2015, www.libroslibertad.ca
CHTHONIAN BODIES, paintings by KEN KIRKBY - poetry by MANOLIS, Libros libertad, 2015, www.libroslibertad.ca
A FOGOLY, a novel by Manolis Aligizakis, translated into Hungarian by Karoly Csiby, AB-ART, Slovakia, 2015
The Avalanche Š Julia Schoennagel
He stood on the lip of the canyon, surveying the spectacular vista around him. His breath puffed out into the crisp, frosty air, warm bursts of steam billowing from the teapot of his body. He stamped his feet. The crunch of the snow echoed in the vastness. All around him was stillness. Peace. The brilliant blue of the sky stretched endlessly above him, sunshine too bright for the unprotected eye. He adjusted his goggles. All was white, white, white, except for needles of dark evergreens here and there poking up through the relentless snowy blanket. Nothing moved. The silence grew louder, until all at once he was able to discern an uneasy rumbling. The cliff to his far right seemed to be shifting. The unbroken whiteness of the snow seemed to be separating from itself, like seams pulling apart on a too-tight dress. He heard a strange creaking sound as the lower part of the section abruptly dropped several feet, then plunged down the mountain with a crashing, thundering boom that split the air and surrounded him as if he were listening through Dolby stereo. The ground trembled and shuddered beneath him, and he stepped back from the edge, afraid the vibration would grab him and hurl him into the maelstrom below. He gawped at the snow racing down the mountainside, clouds of snowflakes rising into the air, filling his lungs with frost even from such a great distance. A massive wall of snow hurtled downhill, crushing and covering everything in its path. Behind it lay a disconcerting flatness, as if shiny white concrete had been poured from an immense cement mixer and allowed to run wildly down the slide corridor. The far-off cliff was almost unrecognizable—a white wedding cake sliced brutally by the tines of a ruthless fork—rock faces and sliding gravel gleaming and shiny in their nakedness. As unexpectedly as the sound had begun, there came a hush. An eerie quiet rose up from the echoing thunder bouncing through the air, duplicating and dissolving until finally settling into surprising silence. He shook himself, as if to shake himself back into reality. He adjusted his goggles again, brushing fine snow from the lenses, seating them firmly against his face. Planting his poles in the snow, he pushed off, sliding effortlessly in the opposite direction, a polished silvery ribbon unravelling smoothly from the back of his skis. As he disappeared into the valley, an eagle launched itself from the highest branch of a solitary pine, screaming a prayer to the gods of the sky as it vanished swiftly into the azure heaven.
Bandit Brown Š Sylvia Symons
Bandit Brown is the chocolate earth of Northern Alberta the summer of mud pies Elvis died under the hum of my uncle`s electric fence the brown-black clumps of mud made pretty cakes we three young cousins covered them in clover it looked so nice on a near-black backdrop while butter soured on the porch and Elvis was just a god I didn`t know he died inside the kitchen radio a little bit of Jello powder on the counter he just shrivelled up. A dead Ever Ready battery with white powder around its mouth we slapped the sun-warmed mud into circles the shape of cakes then covered them in clover and buttercup a hint of bitter humming like an appliance under a trickle of pretty petals.
Prompt: use the words of paint chip colours in a poem
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The Emergency © Mark Mackenzie
The morning crisis of competing needs. I take the bait and argue with my older son and then go back for more. I bark at my younger son, driving his reluctant, protesting carcass towards breakfast. I’m like an ill-tempered cowboy trying to force cattle into a narrow draw they instinctively shy from. I stir oats into boiling water, fighting for control. All I want is the last word, and the challenge has been given to walk away from it. So I sulk over my coffee and a preposterously bad Tom Clancy novel trying to pretend the momentum out the door will proceed without me and in seconds it seems we are all late. The haywire round of bellowing, snarling and bleating resumes. I start it, and insurmountable tasks like finding a shoe, getting yesterday’s stinking lunch container rinsed and reloaded become proving grounds in a three-way contest of wills. Resenting each other, glaring, growling, each of our faults more than merely obvious and suddenly we part. “Bye, have a good day,” they tell me, “I love you.”
Prompt: Choose a title as your theme.
Jarnel, Calcutta and Culture © Mark Mackenzie
Jarnel stood on the edge of the intersection, a mad throng of traffic streaming by - motorcycles, motor rickshaws, scooters, cars, trucks and busses - surging it seemed, in all directions. But the singular impression that struck him, the thing he knew he would remember forever after when anyone said the word “Calcutta”, was the smell. Jarnel closed his eyes and drank it all in; exhaust, sweat, spice, sewage, decay, a chaos of life that had something in common with the striving, crazy traffic. The smells of cooking and excrement filled his head. It was awful and beautiful at the same time. For all the colour, taste, art and motion that Jarnel experienced here, he knew in that moment he was breathing the culture of this city.
Prompt: use the words of paint chip colours in a poem.
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POETIC JUSTICE --- JANUARY 2016 Calendar and Bios at www.poeticjustice.ca NEW LOCATION ORIGINAL'S Restaurante Mexicano, 800 Carnarvon St. at New West Station (Enter from Carnarvon, just west of 8th Street, behind Old Spaghetti Factory) Co-Managers—Franci Louann flouann@telus.net & James Felton jamesfelton52@gmail.com Media Manager/Photographer—Janet Kvammen janetkvammen@rclas.com Poetic Justice: New West on Facebook and group https://www.facebook.com/groups/poeticjusticenewwest/ Twitter @poeticjusticenw
January 10 Sunday 3 – 5 pm Poetic Justice featuring ROBERT MARTENS & HENDRIK SLEGTENHORST (Debut Feature)
Host: James Felton
January 17 Sunday 3 – 5 pm Poetic Justice featuring ALINE LAFLAMME (Debut Feature) & SONJA GRGAR
Host: Franci Louann
January 24 Sunday 3 – 5 pm Poetic Justice featuring FRANCES BOYLE (Debut Feature), BREN SIMMERS & DN SIMMERS
Host: James Felton
January 31 Sunday 3 – 5 pm Poetic Justice featuring NAVARO FRANCO, KEITH GAREBIAN (Debut Feature) & ALAN HILL
Host: Franci Louann
Happy New Year 2016
It is with heavy hearts that we announce the recent passing of treasured poet/songwriter/entertainer, Max Tell. We will miss you. We send our condolences to his dear wife, Estelle, to his children, his family, and close friends. We were truly honoured to have Max as a member of Royal City Literary Arts Society. RCLAS awarded Max with special award of merit on Nov 21, 2015. R.I.P. Dear Max Peace Arch News Obituary A beautiful tribute by Bonnie Nish here
A sampling of the MANY messages posted on our Facebook group: Una Bruhns With a Heavy Hearts, we Bid you Farewell Max, Your Smile will always remain. Ruby Campbell I'm so sorry to hear this sad news. He was a very entertaining and lovely person. My condolences. Cj Prince I feel such sadness. Your brilliant light is shining in another realm. Blessings to your spirit and the hearts of all who love you. Jenny Getsinger Oh, no, so soon! Max was such a great guy. P Charles Ransom I will miss Max so much. He was a wonderful person in every way. RIP Max and God be with you Estelle! Theresa Henry Omg, so sad. An amazing man. My condolences to his family. Margo Prentice This is very sorrowful. He was a treasure. Condolences to his family. Anna Raasveldt I'm just so so sad. ..I just can't believe it. My condolences to his family.. Elena Zhukova RIP. My deep condolences. Kyle Canada McKillop So sad to hear this. What a loss for everyone. Dominic DiCarlo I will miss him. Alan Hill RIP Max- thanks for the good times! Gavin Hainsworth Saddened by this news. He brought so much joy with his love of the word and performing for kids. A gentle soul and a gentleman. Lilija Valis I'm very sad. Max was one of the kindest, most generous people in our community, always extending help, sharing his talent for making others happy, particularly children. He will be missed but not forgotten. A good spirit. Deborah L. Kelly Fly high our sweet poet Angel - Max, you will never be forgotten for you have a place in this heart. Jacquie Pearce Very sorry to hear this news. Lavana La Brey So very sad to hear the news. He shall be missed. My deepest condolences Estelle! Janet Kvammen He has touched so many hearts. Such a bright and vibrant soul with a twinkle in his eye...you will not be forgotten. We love you, Max.
Ruth Kozak I felt so sad hearing this. I had prayed he'd somehow recover. Pandora Ballard I'm so sorry to hear the news. I had no idea that he was so ill. I didn't know him all that well, but he seemed to be a sweetheart with a great love of children. RIP, Max. Sonya Furst-Yuen I can't believe Max is gone. I will always remember him and his presentations at New West LitFest and hosting his workshop for RCLAS....it was a pleasure knowing him and he will be missed. Carla Evans Max will be remembered in many happy ways, and with his wonderful work‌ sending hugs and prayers. Chris Horne We will miss Max Tell's interactive songs and instruments. I am happy to have known him as he always brought cheer to our souls. Mickey Bickerstaff I'm so sorry. He was such a lovely man. I met him several times and he was always so upbeat and happy. Liz Houlton Schofield How very, very sad......my deep-felt condolences to his family. Glenn Wootton sorry to hear of Max Tell's passing. Jaz Gill The poetry family has lost a beautiful light...He will remain in many hearts...Condolences to Max's family. ♥ Janene White So sad to hear about Max Tell's passing. He brought so much joy and laughter to our hearts. Cristy Watson Sorry to hear this news - he often attended our Open Mic at the Pelican Rouge condolences to his family... Hardest this time of year.
Video Playlists by Ken Ader
Playlist1 Playlist 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mb7zhs2N4Mc
Max Tell Youtube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQLJwRPZAA7fC99Nq9MkFMA
WORDPLAY AT WORK FEEDBACK & E-ZINE SUBMISSIONS
Janet Kvammen, RCLAS Vice-President/E-zine janetkvammen@rclas.com Antonia Levi secretary@rclas.com
Open Call for Submissions - RCLAS Members Only Poems & Prose Open Call for Submissions including the following themes/features: February Themes: Haiku, Love, The Colour Purple. Deadline January 15, 2016 March Themes: Spring, A Favourite Place, and Crows. Deadline February 15, 2016
Open Call: Poems, Short Stories, Book excerpts & Songs are welcome for submission to future issues of Wordplay at work. Submit Word documents to janetkvammen@rclas.com Please send us your latest news, feedback on our e-zine and any ideas or VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
If you would like to participate in a single event, or make an even bigger contribution, please contact our event coordinator.
Director/Event Coordinator: Sonya Furst-Yuen sonya.yuen@rclas.com
Thank you to our Sponsors
Arts Council of New Westminster
New Westminster Public Library
City of New Westminster
Judy Darcy
Renaissance Books
100 Braid Street Studios
Original’s Restaurante Mexicano
The Heritage Grill
Network Hub New Westminster
Find the magic that lives inside you! Spread a little joy wherever you go. These are the true gifts of life. Wishing you peace of mind and happiness.
See upcoming events at www.rclas.com www.poeticjustice.ca Facebook
January 2016 Wordplay at work ISSN 2291- 4269 Contact: janetkvammen@rclas.com RCLAS Vice-President/ E-zine Design