‘Oh, The CRITIK’s Eye!’ by Sana Janjua

This is an excerpt from a monologue by Sana Janjua presented by her at the Nov 25 meeting of Surrey Muse in 2011.

‘You must be wondering why do I come out every day at this dark hour… and, stand here. Under this lamp. You must be wondering about a lot of things from the way I stand alone, the way I hold this (shows her mirror), the way I speak. You are the Critik I LOVE, and I will let you judge my life just like that.

‘The best part of you is that until the resolution, you will just sit and watch as I go through the pain of all this light, all this isolation, all this darkness. I, the character, stand here ALONE AT THIS DARK HOUR UNDER THIS LAMP!

‘Our history speaks tonight as I stand here telling you the story that you always wanted to hear, and you the CRITIK will sit here and judge the story. I will assign ourselves the roles. You say you have the tools to judge me. You say you know that every story has a beginning, a threshold, a resolution. You say it is smooth to tell a story. You, the intelligent CRITIK, the eye that bears witness to my story, and hopefully the future mouthpiece of my pain: before I plunge into the deepest folds of the secret, I’ll tell you one thing very honestly. I will tell you that every story that has kept a lot of secrets guards suspicion. I’ll tell you as you walk on the same cracked earth that has eaten up so many secrets that you will see horror, and you will be haunted. So, before you set yourself up for this anthropological work, be warned! Be warned as you shatter the epidermis of my story that you will come to know the secret that has haunted me all my life. It is not easy to see the naked writhing bodies once you discard off their shells. Witnessing is never easy. The cracked earth of your discovery has kept secrets of my beginning, my threshold, my ….

‘The story continues…’

Excerpt, Monologue by Sana Janjua.
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Featured Poet Candice James – Surrey Muse

Poet Laureate, City Of New Westminster

Candice James is a prolific poet and a spirited cultural activist. She has published over six collections of poetry, and numerous articles, reviews, prefaces and introductions. At this time, she is the Poet Laureate of the City of New Westminster, and she is working day and night to develop and enhance literary programs and communities in the city.

Her major works include a surrealistic poetry book, ‘A Split In The Water’ (Fiddlehead Poetry Books 1979), ‘Inner Heart – A Journey’ (Silver Bow Publishing 2010) and ‘Bridges and Clouds’ (Silver Bow Publishing 2011), and ‘Midnight Embers’, a book of sonnets that will be launched in March 2012 by Libros Libertad Publishing.

Candice is a member of The League Of Canadian Poets, President of the Federation of British Columbia Writers, President of Slam Central Spoken Word, and a Director of Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. She has founded POETIC JUSTICE a weekly poetry reading series, SLAM CENTRAL a weekly spoken word performance poetry event, and POETRY IN THE PARK a weekly reading series annually in July and August.

Candice has presented her work to different audiences through readings, radio, television and YouTube videos. View some of the videopoems here: www.youtube/saddlestone11

More information is available at the following links:
http://saddlestone.shawwebspace.ca
http://candicejames.shawwebspace.ca

Contact Candice: saddlestone@shaw.ca

At the Feb 24 meeting of Surrey Muse, Candice will present a selection from her published and unpublished work. More on Surrey Muse program.

Contact Surrey Muse:
surrey.muse@gmail.com
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Guest Author Ben Nuttall-Smith – Surrey Muse

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Novelist, Poet, Actor
Editor, Educator, and More
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Ben Nuttall-Smith has just launched a ‘non-fiction novel’ titled ‘Secrets Kept/Secrets Told’ (Libros Libertad, 2012), a courageous work based on his own experiences of abuse. Earlier, he had published his first novel ‘Blood, Feathers and Holy Men’ (Libros Libertad, 2011). He is the author of three collections of poetry, six chapbooks and a children’s illustrated book.

But writing is not the only artistic expression Ben favours. He is a painter and an illustrator, a singer and a musician, an actor and a director, a workshop facilitator and an educator. He studied Theatre, Voice and Music in Montreal, Toronto and Windsor, earning a Masters Degree in Theatre from Western Washington University. He has taught Theatre and Voice at all levels, has directed Theatre and Musical Theatre productions, worked as a radio announcer, and has experience as an actor, performing numerous roles including Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady and Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof.

As well, Ben has a long history of working with writers’ organizations and groups. At this time, he is an executive member of the Canadian Authors’ Association, Fraser Valley representative for the Federation of British Columbia Writers, Editorial Board member for the Canadian Poetry Association quarterly magazine Poemata, and member of the Canadian Writers’ Union.

In recognition of his creative work and his community building efforts Ben was awarded the Special Achievement Award 2011 by the Surrey Board of Trade.

At the February 24 meeting of Surrey Muse, Ben will present readings from his new novel ‘Secrets Kept/Secrets Told’, and perhaps a few poems. Contact Ben at bnuttall_smith@shaw.ca

More about Ben:
http://web.me.com/bennuttallsmith/BenNuttall-Smith.ca/Home_Page.html

More on Surrey Muse Program

Contact Surrey Muse:
surrey.muse@gmail.com
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