The Short Line Reading Series is a free literary event that takes place at The Railway Club in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

— a venue historical for showcasing local artistic talent. Hosted by '' Memewar Magazine'', the Short Line is advertised as “a space where artists from different circles can connect, debate and collaborate”{{citation needed, date=June 2013 — an idea that its organizers keep in mind while constructing diverse line-ups of readers. At each event, members from various Vancouver-based literary groups read short selections of their work (i.e. poetry, prose, essays, performance). Short Line events often include readings by prominent upcoming voices and well-established guest readers. The Short Line began on January 9, 2007 with a reading by Michael Turner, author of ''

Hard Core Logo ''Hard Core Logo'' is a 1996 Canadian mockumentary adapted by Noel S. Baker from the novel of the same name by author Michael Turner. The film was directed by Bruce McDonald and illustrates the self-destruction of punk rock. Released in 1996, ...

'' and organizer of The Reading Railroad, a regular literary event of the mid-1990s, and inspiration for the founders of the Short Line.

History

The Short Line reading series was founded in November 2006 after conversations between Vancouver writer

Carmen Papalia Carmen Papalia (born 1981) is a blind artist from Vancouver, British Columbia. His practice focuses on "creative wayfinding", the use of alternative modes of navigation without visual cues. Papalia is known for his performances. This includes a per ...

and Vancouver poet and musician Andrew Lee. The two drew their inspiration from author Michael Turner’s Reading Railroad series—a similar event of the mid-1990s which featured readings by various, and often conflicting, literary and musical artists. Instead of presenting a mixture of starkly contrasting genres and styles as Turner did, the Short Line was designed to “connect” various prominent literary groups in Vancouver. A statement on the ''Memewar Magazine'' website reads, “In the spirit of this mixing of genres, the Short Line will include readings by artists from different Vancouver-based literary circles.”

Origin of name

The name “Short Line” refers to the “Short Line Railroad”, one of the four railroads in the popular board game

Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...

. The other railroads found on a standard Monopoly board include: B&O Railroad, Pennsylvania Railroad and Reading Railroad; the last being the name of Michael Turner’s popular reading series of the mid-1990s. The term “

short line railroad :''Short Line is also one of the four railroads in the American version of the popular board game Monopoly, named after the Shore Fast Line, an interurban streetcar line.'' A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that oper ...

” is used to describe an independent railroad company which runs a short distance, and often “connects” different industries. The tagline of the Short Line reading series: “A space where artists from different circles can connect, debate and collaborate” perhaps refers to this quality of “connecting”. Both “Short Line” and “Reading Railroad” also refer to “The Railway Club”, the Vancouver music venue which is famous for the miniature trains that run along its walls.

List of readers (by date)

*January 9, 2007:

Mette Bach Mette Bach is a Danish-Canadian author, teacher, screenwriter, and director. She was born in Denmark and grew up in North Delta. Bach attended Simon Fraser University where she received a Bachelor of Arts in English. She has an MFA from the Univer ...

, Ryan Flowers, Danielle LaFrance, Andrew Lee,

Garry Thomas Morse Garry Thomas Morse is a Canadian poet and novelist. He is a two-time nominee for the Governor General's Award for English-language poetry, at the 2011 Governor General's Awards for ''Discovery Passages'' and at the 2016 Governor General's Awards f ...

, Carmen Papalia, Michael Turner, Sean Wilson. *February 13, 2007: Roger Farr, Emily Fedoruk, Liam Ford, Reg Johanson, Elliott Lummin, Tracy Stefanucci, Irene Zafiris *March 13, 2007: Phinder Dulai,

Patrick Friesen Patrick Frank Friesen (born 5 July 1946) is a Canadian author born in Steinbach, Manitoba, primarily known for his poetry and stage plays beginning in the 1970s. Life and career Friesen was born into a Mennonite family in Steinbach, Manitoba ...

, McKinley M. Hellenes, Dave Morris, Natalie Simpson, Aubyn Rader *April 10, 2007: Andrea Actis,

Clint Burnham Clint Burnham (born 1962 in Comox, British Columbia) is a Canadian writer and academic. He published the poetry collections ''Be Labour Reading'' (1997) and ''Buddyland'' (2000), and the short story collection ''Airborne Photo'' (1999), before pu ...

, Andrew Lee, Garry Thomas Morse, Thor Polukoshko, Michael V. Smith *September 17, 2007:

Elizabeth Bachinsky Elizabeth Bachinsky (born May 10, 1976) is a Canadian poet. She has published four collections since 2005: ''Curio'', ''Home of Sudden Service'', ''God of Missed Connections'', and ''The Hottest Summer in Recorded History''. Her second book, ''Ho ...

George K. Ilsley George K. Ilsley (born 1958) is a Canadian writer. He has published a collection of short stories, ''Random Acts of Hatred'', which focuses on the lives of gay and bisexual men from childhood to early adulthood, and a novel, ''ManBug''. His new mem ...

Brendan McLeod Brendan McLeod is a Canadian spoken word artist, musician and novelist. His work often deals with the exploration of social and political commentary, family histrionics, surreal love poems, obscure adventure stories, and powerful personal stories. ...

, Patrick Morrison, Kevin Murray, Amanda Ryan *October 22, 2007: Rhoda Hodjati, Matt Hogan, Donato Mancini, Garry T. Morse, Anne Stone,

Rita Wong Rita Wong (born 1968) is a Canadian poet. Biography Wong grew up in Calgary, Alberta, and currently lives in the unceded Coast Salish territories also known as Vancouver, British Columbia. She is the author of multiple books of poetry, includi ...

*November 19, 2007:Jeff Derksen,

Stephen Collis Stephen Collis is a Canadians, Canadian poet and professor. Collis is the author of several books of poetry, including ''On the Material'' (Talonbooks, 2010) and three parts of the on-going “Barricades Project”: ''Anarchive'' (New Star, 2005), ...

, Jason Christie, Nicholas Perrin, Elliott Lummin *January 29, 2008:

Indran Amirthanayagam Indran Amirthanayagam (born 1960) is a Sri Lankan-American poet-diplomat, essayist and translator in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Haitian Creole. Life Amirthanayagam was born in 1960 in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). When he wa ...

, Emily Fedoruk, Fiona Tinwei Lam, Loretta Seto, Jane Silcott *February 26, 2008: Claire Huot,

Robert Majzels Robert Majzels (born May 12, 1950) is a Canadian novelist, poet, playwright and translator. Life Majzels was born in Montreal, Quebec. In 1986, he graduated with a master's degree in English Literature from Concordia University in Montreal, whe ...

, Cecily Nicholson, Carmen Papalia *March 25, 2008: Sonia Capriceru, Jacqueline Turner, Kim Minkus, Louis Rastelli *April 29, 2008: Garry Thomas Morse, Matt Hogan, Sachiko Murakami, Ivan Drury *September 16, 2008: Matt Rader, Addena Sumter-Freitag,

Sonnet L'Abbé Sonnet L'Abbé, is a Canadian poet, editor, professor and critic. As a poet, L'Abbé writes about national identity, race, gender and language. Career L'Abbé has a PhD in English literature from the University of British Columbia, a master's d ...

Russell Thornton Russell Thornton (born 20 February 1942) is a Cherokee- American anthropologist and professor of anthropology at the University of California at Los Angeles, who is known for his studies of the population history of the indigenous peoples of the A ...

*October 28, 2008: Jordan Scott, Taylor Leedahl, Heather McDonald, Ivan Drury

List of Musical Guests (alphabetical)

Jon Anderson (of Jonathan Inc.), Ken Beady (of Radiogram), Megan Lane, Triple “A”

References

*Beattie, Deanne. "Lit: SFU Profs Enrich Community Chest." ''The Peak'' 13.127 (November 26, 2007).

*''Memewar Magazine''. "Short Line Reading Series." ''Memewar Online''

* Millar, Erin. "Memewar." ''Canadian Dimension''. 41.4 (July/August 2007). * Ryan, Amanda. "A Platform for Emerging Writers at Memewar Magazine." ''Scene Not Herd''. 22 January 2008

* Tournemille, Harry. "Local Event: The Short Line Reading Series." ''The Writing Threshold''. 5 March 2007

External links

Short Line Reading Series webpage (on the Memewar Magazine website)
Literary festivals in British Columbia 2007 establishments in British Columbia Festivals in Vancouver