Edward Willett » newspaper

Leader Post features Song of the Sword

Edward Willett — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 13:54:12 +0000

There was a nice feature about Song of the Sword (and me) in the Regina LeaderPost on Saturday. The accompanying photo (at left: it was posted online on Global TV’s Your Saskatchewan site, though with a hilariously wrong caption) was taken on the shore of Wascana Lake with Willow Island in the background: this is the exact spot where, in the book, the Lady of the Lake makes her appearance to my young heroine).

The story, by Tim Switzer, begins:

Looking out over Wascana Lake on foggy mornings in Regina, Edward Willett loved the thought that anything could be hidden in the mist.

So when he came up with the idea of a young-adult urban fantasy novel that would involve the Lady of the Lake and other Arthurian characters, Regina seemed like the logical setting.

“I’ve always tried to sneak a little Saskatchewan into my books when I could,” said Willett, whose first novel, Soulworm, was set in Weyburn. “That’s always been in the back of my mind. You see a lot of fantasy stories set in exotic locations, but to somebody in Italy, Regina is exotic. So why not set it here?”

Read the whole thing.

My review of Globe Theatre’s production of Marion Bridge…

Edward Willett — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:26:36 +0000

…has already shown up online, even though it won’t appear in print until tomorrow. This is the first time I’ve seen something I’ve written pop up that far ahead of the ink-on-paper version, though maybe I just haven’t noticed until now.

The review begins:

I confess that I went into the opening night performance of Marion Bridge at Globe Theatre feeling skeptical.

The premise, after all, sounds like the set-up to a joke: “A nun, an actress and a soap-opera addict walk into a kitchen …”

Not only that, the fact the three are sisters home together — in Cape Breton, no less — for the first time in years because their mother is dying made me fear I faced a turgid evening of stereotypical CanLit dysfunctional-family angst.

But thanks to Daniel MacIvor’s sharp writing, unexpected story twists, and above all top-notch performances, Marion Bridge won me over.

My preview of the Regina Fringe Festival…

Edward Willett — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:23:33 +0000

…and in particular of Julia Mackey’s play Jake’s Gift, is in today’s LeaderPost.

An excerpt:

Mackey says one of the main reasons she created the show was to let veterans know that a lot of people really do appreciate the sacrifices they made.

Another was to educate children, and Jake’s Gift, Mackey says, elicits the same “amazing” response from 10-year-olds as it does their elders.

“Those young kids really get it, and it makes them interested in history. They come up to me afterwards and want to know more about the war and Remembrance Day. That’s such an incredible reward.”

My preview of Fortier Danse Creation’s Cabane

Edward Willett — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 04:57:09 +0000

My preview of New Dance Horizon’s presentation of Montreal’s Fortier Danse Creation’s Cabane is in today’s LeaderPost. It begins:

Cabane, says Paul-Andre Fortier of Montreal’s Fortier Danse Creation, is not your typical dance show: instead, it’s “somewhere between dance, theatre, performance art, installation and site-specific.”

Presented by New Dance Horizons tonight at 8 p.m. in the Jacqui Shumiatcher Room of the Conexus Arts Centre and Friday at 8 p.m. in the Regency Ballroom of the Hotel Saskatchewan, Cabane was created and is performed by Fortier in collaboration with author, musician and visual artist Robert Racine.

“Everybody in his childhood dreamed of a small house you could play in, to create a world for your own self,” Fortier says.

With Cabane he hopes to reawaken in audiences that childhood desire to let imagination run free. There’s no linear story: instead, the two characters “create a number of situations that are quite stimulating to the audience.”

Read the whole thing.