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Shameless Women
Andrea Thompson: Slam Poet

Every other Thursday I profile a new incredible woman, each from a different walk of life. Different professions, causes, backgrounds, ethnicities, orientations, and anything/everything else!

So without further delay, let me introduce the wonderful Andrea Thompson…

Andrea Thompson

A popular performer at venues and festivals across North America, Andrea Thompson is a pioneer of the Canadian Slam Poetry scene. Her work has been featured on film, radio, and television; as well as been included in magazines, literary journals and anthologies across Canada. Her Spoken Word CD One, was nominated for a Canadian Urban Music Award in 2005 and she was the host of season 2 of the 13 part television series, Heart of a Poet (Bravo TV, 2007). On top of all that, she’s this week’s Shameless Woman.
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Picks from Planet Venus, Playlist
IWD In Your Ears

As members of CKUT‘s feminist radio collective, my Venus co-hosts and I were asked to program a special set today on the show New Shit for International Women’s Day, on women musicians we love and who’ve inspired us. We ended up having a great time just playing records and chatting about women we admire, so I thought I’d post a link so you can hear the songs and stories we’ve been throwing down.

Click here to listen.

You’ll be hearing our heroes Yoko Ono, Laurie Anderson, Kate Bush, Patti Smith, Wendy O. Williams, Sleater-Kinney, Le Tigre, Hole, Secret Trial Five, Mary J. Blige, Gina X, Heart, Las Grecas, and The Flying Lizards.

And that’s just the beginning… okay, that’s the whole hour. But as far as amazing women musicians go, they’re a drop in the bucket.

women in radio

Our Venusian ancestors.

Arts, Eco Speak
Write a Play NOW!

Writers and aspiring playwrights take note: NOW!, the by-youth for-youth sustainability organization, is hosting a national playwriting competition for youth. From the NOW! newsletter:

Are you an innovator passionate about the environment? Do you want a challenge? Do you love writing? Enter the Act NOW! National Playwriting Competition!

Who? Dreamers and change-makers (Ages 14-26, divided into junior and senior categories)
What? The Act NOW! Playwriting Competition! Write a short play on sustainability.
When? Deadline: March 31st 2010 (At the end of this month!)
Where? All across Canada.
Why? Make a difference and push your creative boundaries.

Plus, cash prizes ($500 for each winner), and the opportunity for your play to be performed all over Canada and filmed and aired by Sustainability TV, to an estimated audience of 10,000 people! Quality plays will be published in a free online sustainability play database for change-makers to ripple sustainability innovations.

Check out the NOW! website for more information and to enter.

Media Savvy, Playlist
Junos 2010…Is There Hope?

Junos 2010

To be honest, I don’t normally pay attention to the JUNO Awards. Often reflecting what major radio stations are playing as opposed to what Canadians are actually listening to, the Junos have in the past seemed…”out of touch” is a nice what to say it, I think.

This year, things appear to be a little different.
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All About Shameless
Shameless is growing!

Shameless magazine, Canada’s independent, feminist voice for young women and trans youth, is expanding its editorial team. Are you devoted to grassroots publishing? Do you have a commitment to anti-oppression and inclusive feminist politics? Do you have some time to volunteer and a vision for Shameless? Then we need you.

We are looking for smart, sassy, shameless people to fill the following roles:

• A Managing Editor, who will oversee the magazine’s editorial production, assign and edit stories, work with writers and collaborate with editorial staff.
• A Web Editor, who will develop projects and content for the website, coordinate our community blog, and develop a link between the print and online components of the magazine.
Associate Editors, to assign and edit stories and work with writers.

We are looking for people who work well collaboratively, who have a good sense of Shameless’s editorial vision, who are committed to anti-racist feminist politics, who have some editorial or publishing skills, and who are excellent communicators and work well over email (Shameless has no office).

Please check out our detailed job descriptions.

Like all roles on this volunteer-run magazine, these positions are unpaid. (If you have ideas for how we can change that, then please get in touch!)

We strongly encourage applications from women of colour and First Nations women and those with experience with anti-racist feminist politics and/or anti-racist feminist organizations. Preference will be given to residents of the Greater Toronto Area to facilitate face-to-face meetings with magazine staff.

Please email a resume, a cover letter containing your ideas for the magazine/website, and three writing samples (published or unpublished) to volunteer@shamelessmag.com. The deadline for applications is Monday, March 22, 2010. We’ll contact you if we’d like to set up an interview.

All About Shameless
Big news at Shameless

The new issue is almost here, and with it comes some pretty big news for Shameless. First, the bittersweet: I’m stepping down as your fearless Shameless editor, and this issue is the last with me at the helm. It’s been a wild, wonderful, really rewarding ride. Shameless has been such a light to me, but it’s time to pass the torch to the next team of smart and talented editors, and for me to catch up on some much-needed sleep.

I am thrilled to announce that Sheila Sampath will be stepping into the role of Editorial Director. Sheila joined Shameless as Art Director in 2006. She has worked as a counselor, organizer, educator and advocate in the anti-violence movement and has chaired the Board of Directors at the Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multi-cultural Women Against Rape. She was an editorial collective member of big boots, the first zine for and by women and trans people of colour. Currently, she combines her background in grassroots, anti-oppression activism with her passion for creative idea-making as a Principal and Creative Director at The Public, a Toronto-based studio specializing in creative communications for unions, not-for-profits, public health and social justice organizations. Sheila has a diploma in graphic design and an Honours B.Sc. in Sociology and Psychology from the University of Toronto.

We will be making an announcement in the next few days about bringing new folks onto the Shameless team.

Thanks to all the readers, writers, teachers and generally kick ass Shameless women who I’ve had the good fortune to work with over the past three years. I’ve been so proud to work with you and to work for you.

Yours ever Shamelessly, MGG

Bibliothèque
Shameless’ Stacey May Fowles gets Canada Also Reads nod

Shameless publisher Stacey May Fowles has been honoured with a pick in the National Post’s Canada Also Reads panel of books for her novel Fear of Fighting (Invisible Publishing, 2008).

The Canada Also Reads panel was set up by the National Post’s The Afterword in response to the mainstream CBC Canada Reads, which has sometimes been criticized for showcasing already well-known books. Canada Also Reads put out a call for nominations of books that were relatively new and comparatively unknown. A very long longlist was eventually shortened to five, including Fear of Fighting.

Want to read Stacey May’s novel but can’t shell out $19.95? You’re in luck! The book will be available as a free e-book download from the publisher’s website until April.

Shameless Women
Adebe D.A.: Writing for Social Justice

Every other Thursday I profile a new incredible woman, each from a different walk of life. Different professions, causes, backgrounds, ethnicities, orientations, and anything/everything else!

So without further delay, let me introduce the amazing Adebe D. A.…

Adebe D.A.

Adebe D.A. is a Toronto-born writer and former research intern at the Applied Research Center, home of ColorLines magazine. A recent MA graduate in English/Cultural Studies, and Cultural Editor of Race-Talk, Kirwan Institute’s blog on racial politics, she writes on issues related to race, social justice, migration, and the phenomena of culture. She currently holds the honour of Toronto’s Junior Poet Laureate and is the author of a chapbook entitled Sea Change (Burning Effigy Press, 2007). Her debut full-length poetry collection, Ex Nihilo, will be published by Frontenac House in Spring 2010, and she’s this week’s Shameless Woman.

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Bibliothèque, Event Listings
Fundraisers for the Toronto Women’s Bookstore

TWB fundraiser

As you may have heard, Toronto’s Women Bookstore is in danger of closing its doors. A number of fundraisers have been arranged to help out…
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Bibliothèque, Race and Racism
OPEN CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: OTHER TONGUES, Mixed-Race Women Speak Out

Other Voices

OPEN CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS!

OTHER TONGUES: Mixed-Race Women Speak Out


Co-editors Adebe D.A. and Andrea Thompson are seeking submissions for an anthology of writing by and about mixed-race women, intended for publication in Fall 2010 by Inanna Publications.

The purpose of this anthology is to explore the question of how mixed-race women in North America identify in the 21st Century. The anthology will also serve as a place to learn about the social experiences, attitudes, and feelings of others, and what racial identity has come to mean today. We are inviting previously unpublished submissions that engage, document, and/or explore the experiences of being mixed-race, by placing interraciality as the center, rather than periphery, of analysis.
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