UNB Reading Series (Oct 24, 2014) – Event Details
So this one should be particularly… interesting. A time-warp of sorts.
See, I haven’t been back to Fredericton since August 2005, having moved away about a year and a half after I finished my MA in Creative Writing at the University of New Brunswick. And what was I doing during that extra year and a half? Oh, you know. Driving cab. Writing. Moving and delivering furniture. Teaching first-year multimedia. It’s a long story. Or could be, anyway. But then I moved here to Alberta, off to pursue fame and fortune in the hallowed halls of academe. (Indeed, as a sessional instructor, I continue to haunt those halls to this very day.)
Anyway, long story short, I’m going back! For a weekend, at least. And while I’m there, I’ll be giving a reading at my old alma mater. (Or wait, is “alma mater” specific to undergrad degrees? Whatever. Today, I’m claiming UNB as an alma mater.) And I’m looking forward to it. Catching up with old friends, seeing how both they and the town have changed (or not), and so on. Oh, and the reading, of course.
Which is to say, all cheekiness aside, it feels like a homecoming of sorts. UNB was a big deal for me. It’s where I went when I finally decided to take this writing thing “seriously.” In some ways, one could say it’s where I first started to think of myself as a “Writer.” To dare to think of myself that way. (Now I tell my students that’s silly. And I believe it. Writers aren’t magical creatures. Just people who devote themselves to a craft, like carpenters or plumbers or any other trade one might care to name.) But you see how nostalgia twists me around, gets me off track. Right. Event details. That’s where I was going with this…
So yes, looks like I’ll be reading on Friday, October 24, at 8 p.m. in the Alumni Lounge, appropriately enough. So if you happen to be around—still or again, or even just now—I’d love to see you there. Old friends to catch up with, an audience of talented young writers, probably a healthy helping of nostalgia (for me, anyway). And what’s not to like about that?
Oh, and I think I’m going to stick around for the whole weekend. Might as well, right? I’ll be giving a talk for a group of librarians on the Saturday, then chilling for the rest of the weekend. Which is to say, lots of time to wander around, see how things have (or haven’t) changed. Like I said. I’m expecting a bit of a time-warp feeling. But in a good way.