I vote for books. Meow.

Vote now: On the Same Page features three UM connected authors

September 8, 2014 —

Three recent books by authors with U of M connections will vie for the coveted spot of feature title for the annual On the Same Page competition sponsored by The Winnipeg Foundation and Winnipeg Public Library.

The project encourages all Manitobans to read and talk about the same book at the same time — and includes book giveaways, author appearances and special events inspired by the feature book. The three books with U of M connections include two photography books and one poetry collection. A reading of all four titles on the shortlist will be held at McNally Robinson Booksellers at 1120 Grant Avenue on the evening of Thursday, September 11, just before the voting closes on Monday, September 15.

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Imagining Winnipeg by Esyllt Jones.

Imagining Winnipeg: History Through the Photographs of L.B. Foote, by Esyllt Jones, associate professor in the department of history, Faculty of Arts, is a double threat, since it’s published by the University of Manitoba Press.

The photographs of Lewis Benjamin Foote (1873-1957) have become iconic representations of early Winnipeg life. Imagining Winnipeg takes readers beyond the iconic images to reveal the complex artist behind the lens and the ways his photographs have been used to give credence to sometimes irreconcilable views of Winnipeg’s past. The book includes 150 stunning photographs — documenting everything from royal visits to deep poverty, from the building of the landmark Fort Garry Hotel to the turmoil of the 1919 General Strike — from the more than 2,000 images in the Archives of Manitoba Foote Collection.

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North End Love Songs.

Poet and recipient of the 2013 Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry and Centre for Creative Writing and Oral Culture (CCWOC) affiliate Katherena Vermette’s collection North End Love Songs is another contender.

In the poems, Vermette thinks back to her coming-of-age in North End Winnipeg. Much of this powerful book focuses on the loss of her brother, who went missing on November 3, 1991, after his friends left him at the bar where they all had spent the evening. He had just turned 18.

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Another book of Winnipeg photographs, Stuck in the Middle: Dissenting Views of Winnipeg, this one by alumnus Bryan Scott and journalist Bartley Kives, is also up for contention. The contemporary images highlights a love-hate relationship with our city.

Stuck in the Middle: Dissenting Views of Winnipeg, published by Great Plains Publications.

Scott, who’s been “making images of one kind or another” since he was a kid, graduated from the U of M with two degrees, one in film studies and another in environmental design. Both helped him develop his photography skills, he says. After self-publishing a first book of photos from his popular blog Winnipeg Love Hate a number of years ago (which includes many shots of the U of M campus) the current project has been a bit of a departure for him. The recent collaboration between Scott and Kives came about when Kives, a fan of the blog, inquired whether Scott was interested to work together on a project.

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Vote early, vote often, as they say.

UM Today Staff

Alumni, books, campus community, faculty