EAWLC 东西联学社

5 Poets Breaking Into Song -Live
2021-11-05 19:00 - 21:00 (America/Toronto)
(Poster made by Shirley Chen)
Enjoy poetry in music, among friends in a theatre in Downtown Toronto (beer available at the bar)!
Or, relax on the couch, have some wine, and listen to the poems and songs through the live streaming on our YouTube channel!
Thanks to national poet laureate George Elliott Clarke, the East and West Learning Connections are co-hosting this exciting in-person event for the first time since the year 2020.
Time: Friday, November 5, 2021 (7-9 PM. EST)
Venue: Tranzac Club Main Hall, 292 Brunswick Ave @Bloor, Toronto
Maximum in-person attendees: 50 attendees, must show proof of full COVID vaccination.
Tickets available at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/5-poets-breaking-into-song-tickets-196724677807
Click here for live streaming on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_FfnYxypY0
For inquiries, please send emails to info@eawlc.org. Thanks!
The Poets
Ayesha Chatterjee grew up in India and is the author of two poetry collections.
Luciano Iacobelli has penned 6 collections, crafts handmade books for Lyricalmyrical Press, and co-owns Quattro Press.
Giovanna Riccio has authored 3 books. Her philosophical elegy, “The Archivist”, just won the AICW’s Venera Fazio Award.
Lisa Richer has inked 2 books, including Nautilus and Bone, winner of the National Jewish Book Award for Poetry.
Banoo Zan is the founder of Shab-e She’r (Poetry Night); sacredly secular, liberatingly rebellious, her 3 books lyric proverbs.
The Composers
Emily Hiemstra, David Jaeger, James Rolfe
The Singers
Emily Hiemstra, James Rolfe, Karen Usha
And The Pianists
Adam Hu, Juliet Palmer
Sponsors:
George Elliott Clarke
East and West Learning Connections
League of Canadian Poets
Host: George Elliott Clarke and Jovial Si
Poster Design: Shirley Chen
Everybody is welcome to spend the beautiful evening together with us, either in the theatre or on YouTube!

East&West Dialogue: FROM PIAZZAS TO PARKAS -- ON ITALIANS BECOMING CANADIANS
2021-10-29 19:00 - 20:30
In collaboration with the Writers’ Union of Canada, we are thrilled to have three Italian- Canadian writers as guest speakers to discuss their stories of immigration. Woven into their stories will be the personal, social, historical, and political factors that influence how an Italian immigrant may “become” Canadian and what “being Canadian” means for the various generations.

Generations of immigrants to Canada have multi-faceted experiences. The discussion will hit on issues such as tensions and conflicts with the dominant Anglo-Canadian or Quebecois culture, discrimination, and negative and positive stereotyping of Italian-Canadians. Among Canadian immigrants, generational tensions cannot be avoided and our guests will consider conflict between first generation parents and children: how second and third generation Italian-Canadians differ from the former and how the latter connect to and express their Italian heritage. As writers, they will read briefly from their works and also share ideas on how authors express their heritage and why language and labels matter.

Time: Friday, October 29, 2021, at 7 – 8:30 P.M. Eastern Time
Language: English
Cost: Free
Online Zoom meeting. Please click below link to register:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEsd-mhrTgsHtV-l7C-UyzUIelufUiaFS2_
Room will open at 6:45 P.M.
For inquiries, please email at info@eawlc.org.

About the Writers

Antonia Facciponte is an author and an MA Candidate at the University of Toronto. Her poetry has been published in various prominent literary magazines, including Exile: The Literary Quarterly, The Northern Appeal, Libretto Magazine, and ACTA Victoriana. Antonia’s first book of poetry, To Make a Bridge, was recently published by Black Moss Press.

Francesco Loriggio was born in a small town in Calabria, one of Italy’s southern regions, and migrated to Vancouver with his family in the mid-1950s. He studied at UBC and received his PhD from UCLA. He taught at the State University of New York (Albany campus) and then at Carleton University, from which he retired, as Professor Emeritus, in 2008. As a scholar, essayist and translator, he has published extensively in a variety of journals and anthologies in Canada, the US, and Italy, edited essay collections, and published translations in both Italian and English.
He is a past president of the Canadian Society for Italian Studies (now the Canadian Association for Italian Studies). In the Italian community of Ottawa, where he has lived for most of his life, he has served, in various capacities, in the National Congress of Italian Canadians and in the Dante Alighieri Society.

Giovanna Riccio is a graduate of the University of Toronto, where she majored in philosophy. Her love of poetry is her inheritance from a gifted, autodidact father who penned his own verses. She is the author of Vittorio (Lyricalmyrical Press, 2010), Strong Bread (Quattro Books, 2011), and Plastic’s Republic (Guernica Editions, 2019), and her poems have appeared in national and international publications and numerous anthologies. Her work has been translated into Italian, French, Spanish, and Romanian. Giovanna is the 2021 winner of the Venera Fazio Poetry Prize.
giovannariccio.com

Everyone is welcome to this fascinating panel discussion. Bring your own questions, and have a dialogue with our guests!

EAWLC Communication Skills Walk-in Clinic
2021-09-30 20:00 - 21:00
Personal communication skills coach Eleanor James will be sitting in the clinic, and welcome our audience to ask questions they have when dealing with co-workers or bosses at work, peers or teachers in school, or neighbours, acquaintances, or even strangers on the street. Things like how to make small talk, how to approach people, asking questions, dealing with difficult people, or diffusing situations, and being generous.
Eleanor will share her expertise, experience, and perspective to help especially immigrants make their own decisions based on a good understanding of the culture, social norms, and customs here, plus maybe some little witty words or doings to ease the situation!

Time: Last Thursday evening of the month from 8-9 p.m. (Eastern Time)
For Fall 2021, it’s September 30, October 28, and November 25.
Cost: Free
Language: English
Venue: online Zoom meeting. Please click below link to register for each session.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAvcuCrqjMvG9OHx-8OQu8UeHm92kWWGboi

Facilitator Bio

After university for a degree in Literature, Eleanor James worked in television production including a series that won three Emmy Awards. That was followed by several executive roles with broadcasters, including ten years spent as a production executive, helping to launch HGTV and Food Network Canada In the countless days working with talented yet not necessarily the most agreeable people, Eleanor’s practical know-how with inter-personal communication gained her popularity in the industry and was often admired and studied by young colleagues. It triggered the start of her coaching career. She is certified by The Coaches Training Institute (CTI), and the National Communication Coaching Association of Canada (NCCA). She is also a Designated Communication Coach/Trainer with NCCA, and a member of the International Coaches Federation (ICF).

Message from Eleanor:

Inter-personal communication means how we speak to each other. We’ve all been spoken to with harsh words from others, and perhaps done it ourselves. We all know what it feels like: that it’s hurtful, harmful to relationships, and damaging to loyalty and productivity. It’s a perfect example of unskilled inter-personal communication and it’s unnecessary and bad for business. The importance is to bring clear understanding of the value of skillful personal communications, at work, at home, and in the community. There’s a better way and all it takes is the willingness to polish the skills. “Becoming skillful with your interpersonal communications makes life easier. I’m not kidding about that.”

Professionals or home-makers, grown-ups, or young students, if you have a personal communication question or problem to tackle, this will be a good place to seek advice. We encourage you to frame your questions beforehand in a concise manner with necessary details but without disclosing personal information, and bring them to the clinic to make the most out of the consultation time. Please note we will not do any recordings. However, the clinic is open to the public, and all participants will get to listen to the questions and answers.
You are also welcome to send your questions to us at info@eawlc.org, and we can ask Eleanor on your behalf while not disclosing your identity. Depending on the time, questions may or may not be taken at the clinic.

For inquiries, please send email to: info@eawlc.org.
Thanks!

EAWLC Dialogue with CBC Music Executive Producer: Say Yes with Kai Black
2021-09-24 19:30 - 21:00
What if your life plan is different from the plan life has for you? At age 15, Kai Black learned he was going blind. What has he learned over time?… that we must let go of the life we planned and accept the one that is waiting for us. “Just say yes to new experience” offers Kai, who is now an Executive Producer at the CBC, an exciting career creating award-winning projects. Hear his story, with engaging audio and video of some recent projects.
Time: Friday, September 24, 2021, at 7:30 – 9:00 P.M. (Eastern Time)
Cost: Free
Language: English
Venue: Online Zoom meeting. Please click the below link to register:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIkc-ioqTwrHdE7m-91qmPYi-KM1Jr1K92b
The floor will be open at 7:15 P.M.
For inquiries, please send an email to: info@eawlc.org. Thanks.

Guest Speaker Bio:

Kai Black is an Executive Producer at CBC Music. Over the 20 years at the CBC, he has created original radio shows, podcasts, TV specials, and contests, including the award-winning initiative ‘Volkswagen Beetle Roadtrip Sessions,’ and the ‘TD Rock Your Campus’ contest. He is also the leader behind The creation of the CBC Music Festival that has engaged tens of thousands of concertgoers.
Kai is legally blind. He studied classical guitar performance and landed in broadcasting by happy accident. Today Kai is a charismatic team leader at the CBC, recognized for his mentoring activities, and passion for authentic engagement both with audiences, colleagues, and stakeholders. He works to find ways to include more people with disabilities in media, spearheading the creation of the first paid placement program for people with disabilities at the CBC.
The East and West Learning Connections is very much honored to have Kai with us. Let’s listen to his fabulous life stories and music projects, and have a free dialogue with him. It is surely to be a beautiful, uplifting evening!
Professionals or home-makers, grown-ups or young students, everyone is welcome!

The English Conversation @EAWLC
2021-09-15 19:00 - 20:00, 2021-09-01 19:30 - 20:30

Reading for Culture with Emma: Monthly Reading Group
2021-09-08 19:30 - 21:00, 2021-07-14 19:30 - 21:30
Reading for Culture with Emma: Monthly Reading Group @East and West Learning Connections

EAWLC Dialogue with Berlin Fang: Effective Learning in the Age of Surplus
2021-09-03 20:00 - 21:30
The abundance of learning resources and various opportunities in this age are overwhelming, not to mention the distractions of social media and video games. It is an “Age of Surplus”. How to learn effectively is a problem that affects us all in this time. Dr. Berlin Fang is the author of two influential books “Learning in the Age of Surplus” and “Knowledge Is Not Power”, among many others. Dr. Frank Wang, a mechanical engineer, also an avid reader, and an educational columnist, is keen on developing learning and concentration abilities in the new age. The East and West Learning Connections is honored to invite both to have a discussion on effective learning in the age of surplus, as well as new learning methods advocated by researchers and experts.
We welcome everyone to send us questions in advance.

Guest Speaker Introduction
Dr. Berlin Fang is an educational columnist, literary translator, and expert at instructional design. His major interests are faculty acceptance of educational technology, the diffusion of innovation, managed change, the ethnography of technology use in higher education, and cross-cultural comparisons of education. He has over 20 years of experience in instructional design and educational technology in both China and the United States. Berlin is currently the Director of Instructional Design at Abilene Christian University.
Berlin Fang contributes his writing to such publications as Educause Review, WISE Ed Review China Daily, Southern Weekend, South Metropolitan Daily, Chinese Education News, World Journal, Overseas Chinese News, Financial Times (Chinese), New York Times (Chinese), Radio Netherlands, and Caixin News. His books include 10 Lessons in Online Teaching, Learning in an Age of Abundance, Beyond Knowledge, More than the Passing Grade, English: Trick or Truth, A Translator’s Rant, Don’t Get Old until You’re Wiser, Tea Eggs Under the Star and Spangled Banner, and How the Pamuks Read.
As a literary translator, Berlin’s works include translations of The Sound and the Fury (by William Faulkner), Bend of the River (by V.S. Naipaul), A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (by Betty Smith), and Let the Great World Spin (by Colum McCann) and Songdogs (by Colum McCann). National Book Award winner Colum McCann considers him “one of the finest translators I have ever worked with: he is incisive, discerning, and imaginative. He is a trans-national figure, deeply involved in cultures of China, the United States, and Ireland. While working with him, I found that he crosses cultural boundaries with ease and grace. ”
Frank Wang is a professional engineer in Ontario who has worked in areas of robotics & automation, aerospace engineering, and nuclear engineering. A Ph.D. from University of Toronto in Mechanical Engineering, and most proudly a father of three, Frank cares very much about learning, education, and their trends in this rapidly changing world. He runs a book club for parents, advocating for lifetime study and generalist education. In his spare time, he enjoys writing columns for online magazines on education, among other hobbies. In 2020, Frank facilitated two dialogues at the East and West Learning Connections, one with Zhihu honorary contributor Yingfeng Zhang on generalist education, the other with human resource development strategist Annie Wang on future career and education trends. This time let’s hear what Frank and Berlin will bring to us about effective learning!

Time: Friday, September 3, 2021, at 8:00-9:30 P.M. (Eastern Time)
Language: Mandarin
Cost: Free
Zoom registration link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcrd-2rpjkuHtZYdATW-SKIlAu47h43eIN6
Everybody is welcome to join the dialogue. Don’t miss the opportunity to get some insight and foresight of two experts. Bring your own questions to discuss with Berlin and Frank, and make the evening even more fruitful for you!

For inquiries, please contact us at info@eawlc.org. Thanks!

EAWLC Annual General Meeting (TBC)
2021-08-28

EAWLC Policy Information Session - Duties of Directors
2021-08-18 20:00 - 21:00
EAWLC Policy Information Sessions

EAWLC Policy Information Session - Privacy
2021-08-11 20:00 - 21:00

EAWLC Policy Information Session - Anti-discrimination
2021-08-04 20:00 - 21:00

EAWLC Policy Information Session - Conflict of Interest
2021-07-28 20:00 - 21:00

EAWLC Policy Information Session - Code of Conduct
2021-07-21 20:00 - 21:00
