NIC’s Write Here Readers Series will host the poetic pair on Friday, June 1 at 7 pm at the Tyee Lounge as they talk about their 3D digital art project Loss Sets and read from their individual literary works.
“Having these two incredible, innovative artists read and present their work at NIC is something we are excited about,” said Nick Van Orden, NIC English instructor and series organizer. “Together they’ve created an intriguing project that translates poems about loss into sculptures using a 3D printer. It’s this kind of inventive art that we are proud to showcase to students and the community through the Write Here Readers Series at NIC.”
For a poet who stutters like Jordan Scott, “every word is achieved through bodily negotiation.” This critically acclaimed artist from Coquitlam wields his speech impediment like an artistic weapon, receiving a nomination for the 2009 Dorothy Livesay Prize for Poetry for Blert, which he deliberately crafted to be as difficult for him to perform as possible. Scott, who recently moved to the Comox Valley, will be reading from his newest collection Night & Ox, a long poem that invokes expansive loneliness, where the poet's emotional response is to carry on.
Okanagan-born Aaron Tucker is a poet, scholar and digital artist who will be reading excerpts from his debut novel Y: Oppenheimer, Horseman of Los Alamos. Y is a literary biography that explores the mind and morality of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the ‘reluctant’ father of the atomic bomb. Tucker, an English professor and research fellow at Ryerson University, will also discuss the uncertain future of modern atomic weapons and Canada’s historic role in the creation of them. His other digital humanities work includes ChessBard, a co-created app that translates chess games into poems, and irresponsible mediums: the chess games of Marcel Duchamp.
The Write Here Readers Series is hosted by NIC’s English department and highlights the richness and diversity of literary arts in our region, our province and country. Funding for the series is made possible through the Canada Council of the Arts.
Each semester NIC offers a wide selection of university transferrable English and creative writing courses such as Introduction to Creative Writing: Poetry and Drama (ENG-108) starting this fall. Others are available at reduced rates to learners ages 55+ through NIC’s Joy of Lifelong Learning. For information on courses offered at NIC, visit www.nic.bc.ca.
To find out more about this free public event or the Write Here Readers Series, visit www.nic.bc.ca/university-transfer or contact Nick Van Orden at Nicholas.VanOrden@nic.bc.ca.
Media Contact
Christiana Wiens
Media Liaison, North Island College
O. 250-334-5280 | M. 250-218-4097
christiana.wiens@nic.bc.ca
