September 13, 2011—Project Bookmark Canada is unveiling four new installations this fall, one each in Midland, Port Colborne, Hamilton and Mississauga. At each site, Project Bookmark Canada will install a poster-sized ceramic plaque bearing a significant piece of text from a story or poem set in that exact Ontario location.
The Bookmarks are:
“Song for the Field Behind Mississauga Valley Public School” from the Trillium Award-winning Tiny, Frantic, Stronger by Jeff Latosik, published by Insomniac Press, will be Bookmarked in Mississauga, in the public space behind Valleys Senior Public School on September 30 at 11 a.m.
The Queen of Unforgetting by Sylvia Maultash Warsh, published by Cormorant Books, will be Bookmarked in Midland, in Little Lake Park on October 4 at 11 a.m.
“Giants” from Two or Three Guitars by John Terpstra, published by Gaspereau Press will be Bookmarked in Hamilton at Sam Lawrence Park on October 6 at 10 a.m.
Sailor Girl by Sheree-Lee Olson, published by The Porcupine’s Quill will be Bookmarked in Port Colborne at Lock 8 on the Welland Canal on October 12 at 11 a.m.
All unveilings are open to the public.
“We’re very excited to place these stories and poems in the exact locations where they’re set, marking these crossroads where the real and imagined landscapes meet,” says Miranda Hill, Founder and Executive Director of Project Bookmark Canada. “Fans of the books can visit the sites that sparked the scenes and read them right there. Passersby can discover the literature in the landscape, and get a new perspective on a familiar locale.”
These four latest Bookmark installations are made possible through Ontario: Read It Here, a project funded by the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC), and presented in partnership with Open Book: Ontario (an initiative of the Organization of Book Publishers of Ontario) and the Creative Book Publishing Program at Humber College. Ontario: Read It Here is committed to spotlighting Ontario authors, publishers and stories for an audience in Ontario and beyond.
“Ontario is a vibrant hub of literary activity. It is home to so many engaged writers, publishers and readers and, as Project Bookmark highlights, the province inspires the scene for a roster of incredible literary works,” says Amy Logan Holmes, Executive Director of Open Book. “Through Ontario: Read It Here, we invite readers to experience the literary landmarks in person at the Bookmarks, online at OpenBookOntario.com and of course, by reading the Bookmarked fiction and poetry set in our own province.”
Throughout the fall, OpenBookOntario.com will highlight and explore all aspects of the Bookmarks with interviews, articles, videos and contests.
But this is just the beginning, says Hill. Project Bookmark Canada is expanding from its original base in Ontario to create a national network. “Canada is a nation of stories and storytellers,” explains Hill. “We want to celebrate that by giving Canadians and visitors an opportunity to read their way across the country.”
Project Bookmark Canada unveiled its first Bookmark in April 2009 at the Bloor Street Viaduct, bearing 500 words from Michael Ondaatje’s iconic Toronto novel, In the Skin of a Lion. The four latest installations will bring the current tally of Bookmarks to ten across Ontario.
Project Bookmark Canada is a nationally registered charitable organization. Donate, suggest a Bookmark site or learn more at projectbookmarkcanada.ca or follow on Twitter or Facebook.
-30-
Contact:
Miranda Hill, Founder and Executive Director, Project Bookmark Canada
905-975-1797
miranda.hill@projectbookmarkcanada.ca
www.projectbookmarkcanada.ca
@BookmarkCanada
Amy Logan Holmes, Executive Director, Open Book
416.605.3528
amy@openbookontario.com
www.openbookontario.com
@openbookontario
