* * *

T'ai Pu was the closing performer of the festival, when you think about it. I mean, Sunday's programming consisted of a screening of Book Shorts, which are book-inspired videos, but that's not an in-person author. Which means that on Saturday night, it was Guy Maddin, George Toles & T'ai Pu.

Anyways, T'ai plunked his hands down on Aqua's counter after his performance, pulling out a ring that broke during his set for the first series of pictures. Then he remarked, "I'm a bangle person," and rolled up his sleeves to reveal a number of bracelets.

But those photos weren't as good, so you'll just have to imagine the bangles.

* * *

T'ai Pu's bio:

T’ai Pu, aka PuConA, was born in rhyme cyphas, groomed in drum circles, nourished by DJs and bands. His word/sound power is expressed through verbals (lyrics, written pieces), spitz (extemporaneous spoken word), voxbox (beatboxing, chants), and percussion. T’ai Pu has performed at jazz and folk festivals, radio-shows, nightclubs, special events, and community projects, and has recorded with several artists. He has captured the attention of young kids in schools and at Kidsfest with his lively poetry&music show, “Keep Sweepin’!” He’s equally adept with teens and adults, mesmerizing audiences with his verbal virtuosity and genuine warmth. T’ai Pu lives in Winnipeg.

* * *
Ariel Gordon is the Winnipeg-based author of two recent small press chapbooks and has had poetry published in fine lit mags such as Carousel, PRISM International and Prairie Fire.

Her first collection of poetry, Hump, is forthcoming from Ontario's Palimpsest Press in spring 2010.

When not being bookish, Ariel likes tromping through the woods taking macro photographs of mushrooms.

* * *

Tim Wynne-Jones, who read a segment from The Uninvited about a ailing mother with designs on her doctor's emerald necklace, very cooperatively put his unadorned hands on the poppy-coloured on-stage couch. Of his hands, Wynne-Jones said, "I always felt they were sort of small."

* * *

Tim Wynne-Jones has 3 books out this year:

Pounce De Leon. Markham: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2008.
Rex Zero, the Great Pretender. Toronto: Groundwood Books, 2009.
The Uninvited. Cambridge: Candlewick Press, 2009.

* * *
Ariel Gordon is the Winnipeg-based author of two recent small press chapbooks and has had poetry published in fine lit mags such as Carousel, PRISM International and Prairie Fire.

Her first collection of poetry, Hump, is forthcoming from Ontario's Palimpsest Press in spring 2010.

When not being bookish, Ariel likes tromping through the woods taking macro photographs of mushrooms.

* * *

After receiving the Banff Center Bliss Carman Poetry Award - i.e. the ring - Linda Frank contemplated the other rings she always wears, a simple wedding band on the one hand and a silver double-ring on the other. She adjusted the rings, moving the Bliss from one hand to the other and wiggling her fingers until her hands felt 'right.'

* * *

Linda Frank's Books:

Cobalt Moon Embrace. Ottawa: Buschek Books, 2002.
Kahlo: The World Split Open. Ottawa: Buschek Books, 2008.

* * *
Ariel Gordon is the Winnipeg-based author of two recent small press chapbooks and has had poetry published in fine lit mags such as Carousel, PRISM International and Prairie Fire.

Her first collection of poetry, Hump, is forthcoming from Ontario's Palimpsest Press in spring 2010.

When not being bookish, Ariel likes tromping through the woods taking macro photographs of mushrooms.

* * *

Priscila Uppal originally aped Elisabeth Bachinsky's on-the-shoulders pose but then quickly flipped her hands over to show me her palms, saying that she had "old people's hands" and that "fortune tellers love my hands, all the lines."

* * *

Over the next year, Priscila Uppal's books include:

The Exile Book of Canadian Sports Stories (Editor: Priscila Uppal). Exile Editions, 2009.
To Whom It May Concern. Penguin India, 2009.
Successful Tragedies: Selected Poetry 1998-2010. UK: Bloodaxe Books, 2010.

* * *
Ariel Gordon is the Winnipeg-based author of two recent small press chapbooks and has had poetry published in fine lit mags such as Carousel, PRISM International and Prairie Fire.

Her first collection of poetry, Hump, is forthcoming from Ontario's Palimpsest Press in spring 2010.

When not being bookish, Ariel likes tromping through the woods taking macro photographs of mushrooms.

* * *

I asked Elizabeth Bachinsky if I could shoot her hands immediately after her Afternoon Book Chat at McNally Robinson's Polo Park. She paused, then asked me to catch her during the Mainstage, as she was going for a manicure that afternoon. "Maybe french tips," she purred, before following Rhea Tregebov out of the bookstore.

But she might have had second thoughts, as her hands were shell pink and shiny when she laid them on her shiny shoulder. I apologized for the flash then walked away.

* * *

Books by Elizabeth Bachinsky:

Curio. Toronto: Bookthug, 2005.
Home of Sudden Service. Gibson's: Nightwood, 2006.
God of Missed Connections. Gibson's: Nightwood, 2009.

* * *
Ariel Gordon is the Winnipeg-based author of two recent small press chapbooks and has had poetry published in fine lit mags such as Carousel, PRISM International and Prairie Fire.

Her first collection of poetry, Hump, is forthcoming from Ontario's Palimpsest Press in spring 2010.

When not being bookish, Ariel likes tromping through the woods taking macro photographs of mushrooms.

* * *

Scofield muttered about his homemade heart tattoo, saying he got it when he was fourteen on a camping trip, but agreed to have one hand photographed after checking with Lauren Kirshner that she'd also had "her hands done."

* * *

In 2009, Scofield will be releasing the following books:

kipocihkân: Poems New and Selected. Gibson's: Nightwood Editions, 2009.
Love Medicine and one Song. Wiarton: Kegedonce Press, 2009.
I Knew Two Metis Women. Saskatoon: Gabriel Dumont Institute, 2009.

* * *
Ariel Gordon is the Winnipeg-based author of two recent small press chapbooks and has had poetry published in fine lit mags such as Carousel, PRISM International and Prairie Fire.

Her first collection of poetry, Hump, is forthcoming from Ontario's Palimpsest Press in spring 2010.

When not being bookish, Ariel likes tromping through the woods taking macro photographs of mushrooms.

* * *

Jon Paul Fiorentino wouldn't let me photograph his fingers, saying he'd get in trouble. He didn't even want his thumbs showing, so I told him to tuck them in. And he did.

* * *

Books by JPF:

Stripmalling. ECW, Toronto, 2009.
The Theory of the Loser Class. Toronto: Coach House Books, 2006.
Asthmatica. Toronto: Insomniac Press, 2005.
Hello Serotonin. Toronto: Coach House Books, 2004.
Resume Drowning. Fredericton: Broken Jaw Press, 2002.
Transcona Fragments. Winnipeg: Cyclops Press/Signature Editions, 2002.

* * *
Ariel Gordon is the Winnipeg-based author of two recent small press chapbooks and has had poetry published in fine lit mags such as Carousel, PRISM International and Prairie Fire.

Her first collection of poetry, Hump, is forthcoming from Ontario's Palimpsest Press in spring 2010.

When not being bookish, Ariel likes tromping through the woods taking macro photographs of mushrooms.

* * *

As I was shooting these pictures, Burnard remarked, "I have my father's hands. So do my three children."

* * *

Writing is a pretty hands-on endeavor in that it is the hands that make our thoughts legible via pen-on-paper or keyboards. Without working digits, writers are reduced to working aloud, dictating their work to a machine or an assistant. Which would make it either too noisy or too public for my liking...

I'll be posting similar portraits throughout the week. If there's an author whose hands you'd like to see, let me know...

* * *

Books by Bonnie Burnard:

Suddenly. Toronto, HarperCollins, 2009.
A Good House. Toronto, HarperCollins, 1999.
Casino and Other Stories. Toronto, HarperCollins, 1994.
Women of Influence. Regina, Coteau Books, 1988.

* * *
Ariel Gordon is the Winnipeg-based author of two recent small press chapbooks and has had poetry published in fine lit mags such as Carousel, PRISM International and Prairie Fire.

Her first collection of poetry, Hump, is forthcoming from Ontario's Palimpsest Press in spring 2010.

When not being bookish, Ariel likes tromping through the woods taking macro photographs of mushrooms.