Every July we share one of our favourite traditions – our annual summer reading list. This year, we are shaking things up with “Artists of Inter Pares”, a celebration of creativity in our community, in the many diverse forms it takes. We are excited to share a collection of prose, poetry, painting, music and textile art created by our talented friends.

Enjoy!

Prose

“Side Effects: Putting Women’s Health Centre Stage” by Sari Tudiver and Karen Seabrooke

Side Effects, a theatre production that details the impacts of the global pharmaceutical industry on women’s health, was developed in the 1980s by Canadian feminist activists in collaboration with the Great Canadian Theatre Company in Ottawa. Sari Tudiver and Karen Seabrooke reflect upon its history in their article which appears in the volume Personal and Political: Stories from the Women’s Health Movement 1960-2010. Sari and Karen both live in Ottawa, Ontario and have been Inter Pares supporters for over three decades. Karen is a former staff member of Inter Pares and Sari currently Chair of our Board of Directors.

The Vimy Trap by Ian McKay and Jamie Swift

Was the Great War a futile imperial debacle? A proud, nation-building milestone? Contending Great War memories have helped to shape how later wars were imagined. The Vimy Trap provides a powerful probe of commemoration cultures. Authors Ian and Jamie are both monthly supporters of Inter Pares. Ian lives in Dundas, Ontario and has supported Inter Pares since 2007. Jamie lives in Kingston, Ontario and has supported Inter Pares since 2013.

Poetry 

Drawing Down a Daughter by Claire Harris

Born and raised in Trinidad, Claire Harris immigrated to Canada in the mid-60s to teach English to junior high school students. In 1993, she retired from teaching to devote herself to her poetry. One of her books, Drawing Down a Daughter, was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award. A supporter since 1985, Claire named Inter Pares in her will because of the connection with her life work. “Inter Pares helps us share in the humanity of people around the world. People are not given charity – they’re treated with dignity and humanity and then they change their own lives. This is what my poetry is all about – humanity, dignity.”

Painting

“Fixin Spouts” from Denis Palmer’s Homage to Rural Life

Denis Palmer has been drawing and painting the people and events of his community, Sawyerville, Qc. and it’s surroundings, since he arrived in 1979. He is attracted to the character of the people, the work they do, the pace of their lives, the manner in which they seek to maintain harmony with their surroundings, and their responses to change and the passage of time. Homage to a Rural Life is a visual and oral record of lives lived and living yet through drawings, watercolour paintings and text. Denis is a monthly donor to Inter Pares and has supported our work since 1988.

Textile Art

“Transforming beauty into beauty” with Carla Costuros

Carla Costuros is a fibre artist and bookbinder who uses her practice to explore ethnographic textile traditions and sustainability, with a focus on women’s experience and resilience. In 2016, Carla partnered with Project Somos in highland Guatemala, to teach local women wet felting and traditional natural dying process. Carla is a monthly donor to Inter Pares and has supported our work in Guatemala and beyond since 1990. She has chosen to leave a social justice legacy with a gift to Inter Pares in her will.

Music

A Room of One's Own by Kye Marshall

Kye Marshall is a professional cellist, composer of classical and jazz music and both a jazz and avant garde improviser. One of the concerts she performs – A Room of One’s Own – consists of improvised compositions whose nature and subject material reflects experiences of women. “Housework” is a composition that reflects the frustration, fatigue & relentlessness of this daily task. “Women in War” describes the courage and valor of women against a background of horror. “Swampland Serenade” is inspired by the world of nature to which she feels deeply connected and which provides her with spiritual solace and musical ideas. “Hildegard” is dedicated to the first known women composer in the Western world and draws on the musical style prevalent in her day. Kye lives in Toronto, Ontario and has been a donor to Inter Pares since 1993.

"Where Does the Heart Go?" by David Melhorn Boe

“Where does the heart go when we know that dignity
is an undergirding cornerstone of shared humanity,
and our calling to empower is to build community?
Where does the heart go?
Where does your heart go?”

(excerpt from the song "Where Does Your Heart Go?")

David Melhorn-Boe, an Inter Pares supporter since 2012. lives in Kingston, Ontario. David and his partner, Margaret Moncrieff, are active singer-songwriters, drawing attention through their performances to issues of environmental sustainability, and social and global equity. David's song, "Where Does the Heart Go?" was written in 2013 as a response to continuing news about poverty and displacement among peoples around the world.