KevinHutchings.ca

Broken bones

Kevin — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 04:20:59 +0000

Yesterday I slipped on the ice, fell, and broke my wrist, and I’m already tired of telling people what I did to put my forearm in a cast. So–prepare for some name-dropping–my friend Tanya Huff, the wonderful million-selling fantasy novelist, emailed me the following story to tell my students and colleagues when they see me this week:

“What happened? I was doing parkour around the campus and assumed the edge of the roof was six feet back from the snow overhang but it was only four and although I got my feet under myself in time to leap off the dumpster and double backflip onto a passing Prius I lost my footing when the driver insisted on braking for a freshman.”

Now this is a much better story, no? Thanks, Tanya!

Back to the books!

Kevin — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 23:43:40 +0000

After a relaxing holiday break, I’m back to work feeling energized and exuberant. Last night I taught my first class of the term–a new seminar course I’ve developed on “Ecocriticism and Environmental Literature”–and I’ll be heading to the lecture hall in a few minutes to teach the first class of my “Introduction to Romantic Literature” course. With courses like these ones, I’ll be teaching everything from William Blake and Mary Wollstonecraft to Salman Rushdie and Eden Robinson. Although I hold a research chair appointment, teaching is my favourite part of my job. Look out students–I’m stoked and ready for some interesting literary fun!

Anna Jameson and Sir Francis Bond Head

Kevin — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 21:57:30 +0000

I’m currently putting the finishing touches on an article I’ve co-written with my research assistant, Blake Bouchard, entitled “The Grave Robber and the Paternalist: Anna Jameson and Sir Francis Bond Head among the First Nations of Canada.” The article, which will be published in the journal Romanticism, may come as a bit of a shock to fans of Jameson’s writing, because it deals with a surprising and previously unknown allegation: Bond Head accuses Jameson of having “very cooly” stolen a skull from an indigenous burial site during her summer rambles through the interior of Upper Canada in 1837. Did she really do it? Although it’s impossible to know for certain given the passage of time and the hearsay nature of Bond Head’s evidence, we weigh the pros and cons of the allegation carefully and decide that it’s not beyond the realm of possibility. Look for the essay to be published sometime in the new year. Perhaps it will change the way modern readers think of Anna Jameson, a brilliant writer who is often regarded as one of the earliest pioneering voices in Canadian literary history.

A press release for my new book

Kevin — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 21:34:39 +0000

Today UNBC issued a press release for my new book, Transatlantic Literary Exchanges, which I co-edited with Julia Wright. Featuring chapters by ten different authors, the book took us just over three years to complete, so it feels good to see it in print at last. Check out the press release, along with a picture of my smiling face, at http://www.unbc.ca/releases/2011_/11_29literaryexachanges.html.

In Memoriam Dick Hutchings

Kevin — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 00:12:03 +0000

My beloved father passed away peacefully last Sunday after a difficult two-month struggle with cancer. Although it was hard to watch him suffer, I was fortunate to spend much time during the past five weeks by his bedside with my family, where we all did what we could to assist and comfort him. Dad’s memorial service will be held at 11:00AM on Thursday, November 10, at St. Christopher’s Anglican Church in Burlington, Ontario. To honour him, my brother Mike will deliver the eulogy, and Sahra Featherstone and I will perform one of his favourite hymns, “In the Garden.”

The harvest is in/ Clouds gather above, / We reap what you’ve sewn, / An abundance of love.

Dick Hutchings–my father, my hero

Kevin — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 20:55:12 +0000

I’ve spent the last several weeks by my father’s bedside surrounded by family and close friends at the Carpenter Hospice in Burlington. Having been diagnosed with terminal cancer in August, Dad has gone downhill too quickly, and he could leave us at any time. But he isn’t going down without a fight, for he seems to have taken a page from Dylan Thomas: ”Do not go gently into that good night / Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” And yet, rage isn’t the proper word to describe his battle, for in the midst of enormous pain and discomfort he stills finds the strength to comfort us, his bewildered survivors, with a rare and wonderful smile. My Dad is my hero.

From Manitoulin Island to the Reid Lake Fall Fair

Kevin — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 23:23:04 +0000

My visit last week to the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation (OCF) on Manitoulin Island was inspiring. The OCF’s executive director, Alan Corbiere, gave me a tour of the museum display, shared books and articles with me, and took me to Manitowaning, where Sir Francis Bond Head signed a treaty with the Anishinaabe people in 1836. My guest lecture on Bond Head’s visit to Manitoulin was well-received, and afterwards I was presented with a wonderful book entitled Stories of Our Elders (published by the OCF) and a braided sweetgrass placemat featuring an image of a turtle embroidered on birch bark. Very nice. Mere minutes after I got home on Friday afternoon (after a long drive from Manitoulin to Toronto followed by flights to Vancouver and Prince George), I heard my song “Sentimental Movies” on CBC Radio’s “All Points West,” which was quite a thrill given that I’m not exactly a radio regular! The next evening I was on stage at the Reid Lake Fall Fair, where I played a one-hour set to open for The Bone Spurs, who really rocked the place. All in all, a busy week.

Onward to Manitoulin Island

Kevin — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 00:20:13 +0000

Today I finished writing the guest lecture I’ve been invited to present next Wednesday evening at the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation (OCF) on Manitoulin Island in Ontario (for details of the talk, see my July 21st news post). As an added benefit, I’ll be in Ontario for my Dad’s 80th birthday, and I’ll be able to sing him a few songs. Immediately after my return home, I’ll be performing at the Reid Lake Fall Fair. Should be fun!

Summer Music

Kevin — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 16:32:30 +0000

I’ve just returned home from a trip to the Yukon, where, among other things, I found myself entertaining a group of Australian river-rafters at Antoinette’s Restaurant in Whitehorse. These Aussie “raftafarians” had just returned from a 12-day trip down the Tatshenshini River. They were up for some boisterous musical fun, so we sang with gusto until the wee hours. A few days later, after a spectacular drive through the coastal mountains and a 15-hour ferry ride down the Inside Passage from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy (where we saw Orcas), I found myself on the banks of Vancouver Island’s Cowichan River where, between dips in the river pools, I jammed with my good friend Ric Munro, the former leader of reggae bands Azad and the Cultivators. Too much fun! On September 17th I’ll be opening for Pat Harris’s band The Bonespurs at the Reid Lake Fall Fair, where I’ll have a chance to try out some of my new songs (more details to come)…

A Visit to Manitoulin Island

Kevin — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 03:51:22 +0000

I was honoured this week to accept an invitation to speak on September 14 at the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation Gallery (OCF) on Manitoulin Island’s M’Chigeeng First Nation. Manitoulin’s Anishinaabe people are marking the 175th anniversary of the signing of the “Bond Head Treaty” on August 9. As it happens, I’ve been working on a book about Sir Francis Bond Head, a nineteenth-century adventurer, rebel-rouser, and man of letters who was Upper Canada’s lieutenant governor from 1836-1838. The OCF’s Alan Corbiere has invited me to talk about Bond Head at the gallery, where, for the first time, I’ll get to see the treaty document, which will be on display there. I’ve wanted to visit Manitoulin ever since I was a young boy, when I spent my summers at my grandfather’s cabin on Georgian Bay. I’m humbled by the thought of sharing my stories about Bond Head with people at the OCF, because although I’ve read most of Bond Head’s books and existing letters, the Anishinaabe communities on Manitoulin Island are there today because of the treaty their ancestors negotiated with him–so their knowledge of him is more profound than mine can ever be. I will learn much during my visit. Check out the OCF’s website at http://www.ojibweculture.ca/.