A Robin Skelton Tribute
The Malahat Review celebrates its fortieth year in print this October and also marks the tenth anniversary of the death of Robin Skelton, the magazine’s co-founder and long-time editor.
To celebrate Skelton’s and the magazine’s achievements, we are publishing a tribute issue in Fall 2007 (Issue No.160) in his honour and are staging a literary festival at the University of Victoria and around the city of Victoria.
You can download the promotional brochure (.pdf, 358KB) and poster (.pdf, 1.12MB) for the event. Each is a high-quality, printable PDF file. If you have a slower connection, you can read this page for information on the many events we have planned.
The Festival: October 10 to 14
The Party
Celebrate our fortieth-anniversary issue, which is a tribute to Robin Skelton, and In This Poem I Am: Selected Poetry of Robin Skelton just published by Toronto’s Dundurn Press.
Reception sponsored by Godfrey-Brownell Vineyards.Wednesday, October 10, 2007 at 4:30pm
Maltwood Art Museum and Gallery, University Centre, University of Victoria
Free admission
The Talk
Renowned B.C. author Robert Bringhurst sheds light on Robin Skelton, Charles Lillard, Bill Reid, and the West Coast Renaissance. Part of the Faculty of Humanities’ prestigious Lansdowne Lecture Series.
Thursday, October 11, 2007, at 7 pm
Room D288, Maclaurin Building, University of Victoria
Free Admission
The Gala
Marilyn Bowering, Robert Bringhurst, Linda Rogers, Harold Rhenisch, Neile Graham, Derk Wynand, and Rhonda Batchelor read their own poetry and their favourite poems by Robin Skelton on the poet’s birthday.
Friday, October 12, 2007, at 7:30 pm
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
1040 Moss Street, Victoria
(250-384-4101)
Regular Gallery admission applies: $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and students
Robin Skelton: A Living Collage
Tim Gosley, a Victoria-raised, Toronto-based puppet artist reflects on Robin Skelton the man, poet, and witch, utilizing video, light, and egg puppets with spoken word and music from Skelton’s own 78 rpm collection.
Saturday, October 13 at 2 pm and 7:30 pm and Sunday, October 14 at 2 pm
La Run
1983 Fairfield Road, Victoria
$12 per person. Limited seating (advance purchases highly recommended). Tickets on sale at all festival events. For more information, call 721-8524.
BookCrossing
During the festival, pick up one of 100 books by Robin Skelton donated by the Skelton family or a free Malahat back issue. Everything is registered at BookCrossing. In the spirit of BookCrossing, pick something up, read it, then pass it on.
The Exhibitions: August to November
The Hold of Our Hands: Art from the Robin and Sylvia Skelton Collection
A survey of paintings and prints by West Coast artists donated by Robin and Sylvia Skelton to the University of Victoria.
August 31 to November 15, 2007
Maltwood Art Museum and Gallery, University Centre, University of Victoria.
250-721-6562; curator@uvic.ca
10 am to 4 pm Monday to Friday, with occasional evening and weekend openings in conjunction with Farquhar Auditorium events.
Free Admission
Mingling of Memory and Desire: Books and Papers of Robin Skelton
Books and ephemera highlight Skelton’s milestones, associations, and achievements throughout his dynamic, multifaceted career as a poet, author, artist, publisher, and academic.
August 31 to November 15, 2007
McPherson Library, Archives and Special Collections, University of Victoria
250-721-8257; speccoll@uvic.ca
On view during Library hours outside Archives and Special Collections (basement level)
Free admission
House of Dreams: Collages and Sculptures of Robin Skelton
Drawn from his family’s personal collection, Robin Skelton’s collages provide insight into the highly charged visual world that inspired his poems. Accompanied by his previously unknown works in soapstone.
September 15–29, 2007, at Emily Carr House,
207 Government Street, Victoria
(250-383-5843; ecarr@island.net)
11 am to 4 pm, Tuesdays to Saturdays
Carr House admission applies: $5 for adults; $3.50 for ages 6 to 18 (and students with valid id); free for children under 5.
About Robin Skelton
Known internationally as a poet, editor, and publisher, Robin Skelton was born in England in 1925 and came to Victoria in 1963. Key to establishing the University of Victoria’s Department of Writing, Special Collections at McPherson Library, and The Malahat Review, he published over one hundred books of poetry, fiction, criticism, history, and on witchcraft, and was a renowned collector of art, and a collagist. When he died in 1997, he left us a legacy of cultural excitement still relevant today.
Contribute to the Robin and Sylvia Skelton Scholarship Fund
The University of Victoria is raising funds to set up a memorial scholarship in the Skeltons’ honour that will be given annually to a student in the Faculty of Fine Arts. For more information or to donate to the fund, please contact Karen Walker, the Development Officer for Fine Arts, at 721-6305, or kmwalker@uvic.ca.
The Auction
Own your own piece of Skeltonia. Art and artifacts created or collected by Robin and Sylvia Skelton, along with other artworks donated in tribute, are being sold to the highest bidders, thanks to the generosity of the Skelton family and Kilshaw’s Auction House. All proceeds go to the Robin and Sylvia Skelton Scholarship Fund.
Thursday, October 18, 2007, at 6 pm
Kilshaw’s, 1115 Fort Street, Victoria, (250) 384-6441
Viewings: Monday, 1 to 5 pm, Tuesday and Wednesday, 9 am to 5 pm, Wednesday, 7 pm to 9pm, Thursday, 9 am to 1 pm
