Louise Penny
Fresh out of the sleeve
with Ruth Schweitzer
a re-print from “The Record”
The first time I met Brian Blain was when I hitch-hiked with Glen Whitehead, a friend of mine, to Hamilton Ontario. “You have to meet this guy my sister knows”, said Whitehead, who knew I was trying to get ahead in the music business. “He works for an ad agency and has a lot of contacts.”
To me, Blain had it made. He drove around in a sports car, had a cool job and listened to all the latest music. He had me listen to Crosby, Stills and Nash’s debut” vinyl” album fresh-out-of-the-sleeve. Wow!
Over the years we became friends, and as I was busy trying to establish Oliver Klaus, he was advancing his career as a songwriter, performer and producer. Finally our careers merged when I invited him to join Oliver Klaus back in the mid-seventies.
RCM Radio Drama Writing Awards
A flagship program.
a re-print from “The Record”
Radio Communautaire Missisquoi is having too much fun! Last summer we initiated the first annual RCM Radio Drama Writing Awards competition and today are pleased to announce the winners of the 2010 contest.
The distinguished panel of judges for the competition – Alex Paterson, Frances Gallagher and Jefferson Lewis – have completed their review of the entries. They met recently to select the winners and reached a unanimous decision that the prizes should be awarded as follows:
Radio Communautaire Missisquoi’s Radio Drama Writing Awards 2010
Announcement of Competition Winners
Radio Communautaire Missisquoi (RCM) is pleased to announce the winners of its Radio Drama Writing Awards 2010. The distinguished panel of judges for the competition – Alex Paterson, Frances Gallagher and Jefferson Lewis – have completed their review of the entries. They met recently to select the winners and reached a unanimous decision that the prizes should be awarded as follows:
Alex Paterson, Chair of the Panel, said that the judges had been impressed by the quality of the entries and commented that “the entries proved once again that our community is blessed with a variety of talented writers whose style and imagination can produce interesting material. Hopefully by contributing to the 2010 competition, our contestants will encourage more entries in 2011.”
Patron Louise Penny thanked all the entrants for deciding to enter this new Competition and for the commitment and effort that they had dedicated to writing a new play. She went on to congratulate the winners and commented “It’s thrilling to have radio plays about the Townships being written and produced. And such a high calibre! As someone who also writes about the Townships, I know what a rich canvas it is. And now we’re discovering, thanks to CIDI, ever more artists, ever more writers, ever more voices – and more stories to tell about a place we cherish.”
Radio Communautaire Missisquoi plans to launch Radio Drama Writing Awards 2011 next summer at WordFest in Knowlton. Its goal is to promote new radio plays about some aspect of life in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, past or present, and to increase awareness of the possibilities and scope of radio in the field of drama. The RCM Radio Drama Writing Awards have been established with the aim of encouraging writers of drama who live in the Townships, or who have some close connection with it.
RCM acknowledges with deep appreciation the encouragement and generous support of the Competition’s Patron Louise Penny, internationally acclaimed Townships writer, and her husband Michael Whitehead. It also thanks The Townshippers’ Cultural & Research Foundation for its grant to help organize this Competition.
RCM is grateful to The Chawkers Foundation for providing the enabling grant to launch the new program “Townships Radio Theatre”. This will make it possible to invite Sunshine Theatre Productions to mount a professional production of one or more of the winning radio plays from the Competition.
The entry deadline for the drama Writing Awards 2010 is fast approaching. You have until December 17 to enter this prestigious competition sponsored by Radio Communautaire Missisquoi. RCM is very pleased to announce its distinguished panel of judges for the competition:
open the full post » Radio Drama Writing Competition Closing Date
Par Marie-Ève Lambert – La Voix de l’Est (Arts & Spectacles) – Publié le 01 septembre 2010 à 08h20
“C’est un grand jour pour moi, ça faisait six ans que j’attendais ce moment, lance l’écrivaine de renommée internationale Louise Penny. Je suis extrêmement contente, maintenant, mes voisins, mes amis et tous les Québécois pourront lire mes livres.”
photo Archives La Voix de l’Est
(Sutton) Louise Penny revenait tout juste de faire une petite balade sur le dos de Markus, ancien cheval de course qu’elle a sauvé de l’abattoir en l’adoptant. «C’est une journée magnifique», s’est-elle exclamée au bout du fil avec un charmant accent anglophone et une joie de vivre absolument communicative.
Il faut dire qu’elle avait bien raison de se réjouir: ses romans sont enfin publiés en français, la langue de sa communauté d’accueil. «C’est un grand jour pour moi, ça faisait six ans que j’attendais ce moment, lance la résidante de Sutton. Je suis extrêmement contente, maintenant, mes voisins, mes amis et tous les Québécois pourront lire mes livres.»
C’est dès jeudi le 2 septembre que sera disponible le premier tome des aventures de l’inspecteur Armand Gamache, En plein coeur (traduction de Michel Saint-Germain de Still Life aux éditions Flammarion). L’action se situe à Three Pines, un petit village fictif des Cantons-de-l’Est grandement inspiré de l’endroit où demeure l’écrivaine à la renommée internationale. «Si je ne vivais pas ici, il n’y aurait pas de livre», dit carrément la Torontoise d’origine.
Journaliste aux faits divers pour le compte de la CBC pendant de nombreuses années, Louise Penny s’est recyclée en auteure de romans policiers à la Agatha Christie il y a une dizaine d’années, alors qu’elle s’installait avec son conjoint dans une maison ancestrale de Sutton.
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