Watermelon, Dickinson's coconut cake, #TenThingsNotToSayToAWriter, Slovenian novel, American paintings: Cultural digest for July 31

Can you spot the differences?

• This 17th century painting by Giovanni Stanchi shows the extent to which selective breeding has transformed the watermelon. This apparently isn't a novel approach: horticulturists often look at Renaissance-era paintings of fruit or veg to determine the precise ways that breeding has changed them.
• Want to cook a favorite recipe of Emily Dickinson's? This hand-written recipe for coconut cake (it looks quite simple to bake) contains starting lines to the poem "The things that can never come back, are several - " on the other side. It seems Dickinson used cooking to find inspiration.
• CBC Books picks up a Twitter hashtag trend on the things writers hate hearing people say about their chosen profession. "That's a cool hobby."?? Seriously?! Other gems include "I'm not really interested in books but I like your work on Twitter" and "Have you met J.K. Rowling?" #TenThingsNotToSayToAWriter
• Really enjoying this Dalkey Archive book Minuet for Guitar by Slovenian writer Vitomil Zupan. Written and published in 1975, the book recounts the experience of Slovenian guerillas fighting against the Germans and Italians in WWII. The semi-autobiographical novel is moving, funny and, at times, terrifying. "War was cruel and innocent at the same time...It is a dance, accompanied by a 25-shot guitar."
• Gorgeous paintings by American painter Charmagne Coe. That's it.

Minuet for Guitar by Vitomil Zupan

CBC and Blue Met

This year, as every year, CBC plays a major part in our Festival. Some of Canada's best-loved broadcasters and literary/cultural journalists come and record their shows live at the Festival. Here are some CBC events to consider adding to your list of Blue Met activities:

Mark Lavorato and Serafim & Claire

Paul Kennedy and Historical Montreal: this year in Montreal, three local writers have all published books set in a Montreal of the past. Mark Lavorato (Serafim & Claire), Elaine Kalman Naves (Portrait of a Scandal), and Susan Doherty (Hannaford) will be on-stage to talk to Paul Kennedy about the history of our city and what it's like to research and write a book set in the past. Lavarato's book is a novel and explores a Montreal of the 1920s through the dual lenses of class and love. Naves' book considers a shocking 19th century trial which had the city mesmerized. And Doherty's novel considers a young boy who finds refuge in his music. This event is on Saturday, May 3 at 1:00pm at Hotel 10. It will be recorded and then used as part of Kennedy's immensely popular Ideas series. $10. Get your tickets here.

Paul Kennedy is back again with one of Africa's writing stars, Ondjaki. Granta

Angola's Ondjaki, one of Africa's Top Five Writers

called Ondjaki one of Africa's Top Five writers and his books have been widely translated into many languages. Ondjaki is here to promote his new novel, Granma Nineteen and the Soviet's Secret which is a comic romp set in Luanda, Angola's capital city (translated by Stephen Henighan and published by Biblioasis, one of Canada's funkiest and most innovative publishing houses). Kennedy speaks to Ondjaki at Hotel 10 on Saturday, May 3 at 8:00 pm. Get your tickets here.

Jeanette Kelly talks to three women writer who all have books that explore how women survive trauma. From Ann Charney's war refugee and migrant in Life Class to Elise Moser's young protagonist who's witnessed a horrific murder in Lily & Taylor to US writer Koethi Zan whose book, The Never List, was a publishing sensation and best-seller in Europe. Kelly talks to the three writers in an event called Women Writing Trauma, Writing Survival at Hotel 10 on Saturday, May 3 at 5:00 pm. Tickets are here.

American Koethi Zan

Of course, our two big CBC events at the Grande Bibliotheque continue to sell very well: Eleanor Wachtel and Luis Alberto Urrea (winner of the 2014 Metropolis Azul prize) on Saturday, May 3 at 6pm. Tickets here. And Michael Enright at the Grand Bibliotheque with 2014 Literary Prize winner Richard Ford (4pm). Tickets available here.

Blue Met 2014: Not to miss events!

Here are a few not to be missed events as part of Blue Met 2014: sales are moving briskly along one week after our official press conference.Yes, some events are already sold out! But before we announce those, here are a few events that are selling well and will certainly sell out in the next week or so.

Luis Alberto Urrea: the winner of our 2014 Metropolis Azul prize will appear on-stage at the Grand Bibliotheque, 475 De Maisonneuve East on Saturday, May 2 at 6:00 pm. CBC's Writers & Company's Eleanor Wachtel, discussing Urrea's award-winning novel, Queen of America, and his non-fiction which explores the fraught & highly complex relationship between Mexico and the United States.

Urrea's book, Queen of America, is fascinating. Set in Mexico and US of the late 19th century, Urrea tells the tale of a young woman with one foot in the mystical world ("the most dangerous woman in Mexico," she is reputed to be) who sets out on a dangerous journey (avoiding would-be captors and murderers) to define who she is.

A highly lyrical writer, Urrea is an original voice though one can certainly hear vestiges of classic Latin writers in his approach, straddling as he does the world of the rational with the world of the mystical. This event will definitely sell out so don't hesitate! Tickets are $15 (and there are still a few days left to take advantage of the reduced rate promotion!)

Get your tickets to see Luis Alberto Urrea and Eleanor Wachtel here.

Carolina De Robertis will talk to Shelley Pomerance on Friday, May 2 at 7:00 pm at Hotel 10, 10 Sherbrooke Street West. De Robertis is a writer who has written two amazing novels blending history and women's lives in very moving ways. A big fan of her first book, The Invisible Mountain, I am personally very excited that she will be here meeting our Festivaliers. Each year we're thrilled to bring some big stars to our public, but in some ways I get even more excited about writers who I want our audience to love, writers they may not yet know.

The Invisible Mountain tells the story of three generations of women, again straddling the mystical, and in the process, tells the history of the tiny and beautiful country of Uruguay. It's through Uruguay, in fact, that I discovered De Robertis: a visit there a number of years ago put that land on my radar and I have been very interested in it ever since.

Her latest book, Perla, gives us a glimpse into a young woman's possible breakdown and/or interaction with a ghost from Argentina's Dirty War. I can't give away too much, but the book shows us what happens when a country (when a family, when a person) goes over "to the dark side" and how those scars linger for years and years to come. Tickets are $10 (another few days take advantage of the reduced rate promotion!)

Get your tickets to see Carolina de Robertis and Shelley Pomerance here.

Both of the above events are part of our series on Latin America at the 2014 Festival. Check out the entire programme for more details (Latin America programming is on page 23 of the attached PDF).

Finally, History and Family Lore are on the docket when Urrea, local writing sensation, David Homel, and African novelist and poet Ondjaki get together to consider the stories we're told growing up. Urrea's Queen of America is loosely based on his own family's histories and the life story of his great-aunt, Teresita (read about her real life story here). Homel chronicles Chicago bootleggers of the 1920s in his new novel, The Fledglings (stories which were based on his grandmother's tales growing up). And Ondjaki's novel, too, Grandma Nineteen and the Soviet's Secret, is based on stories from and about his grandmother in Angola's capital, Luanda. This event is on Saturday, May 3 at 3:30pm at Las Americas, 2075 St-Laurent (just one block away from our venue hotel, Hotel 10). Tickets are $10 and the promotional rate (which offers a discount from this price) expires early next week!

Hosted by Anne Lagace Dowson, you can get your tickets to see Urrea, Homel and Ondjaki here.

Finally, I have to announce that the Slate Culture Gabfest event is sold out! But you still have a chance to be part of the Slate experience as there are still a handful of tickets left for the Slate We Love Montreal Happy Hour at Bily Kun, 354 du Mont-Royal Est on Saturday, May 3 at 5:00 pm. They're going to go fast, though! Tickets are $20 and include a free drink.

Get your tickets to Slate's We Love Montreal Happy Hour here.

Interview with Gore Vidal

Recorded on stage at the Blue Met 2011.

As part of Michael Enright's program, The Sunday Edition, Enright talks to Vidal about his long career, his who's who of friends and associates, and what it means to have outlived so many others...

Interview here.

Starts at 25:25.

Celebration of Indian Writing...

One event that we are really looking forward to having at our Festival is called Voices From India and the Diaspora, part of the 2011 Blue Metropolis Celebration of Indian Writing.

Picture it: CBC Writers and Company host Eleanor Wachtel on stage with Amitav Ghosh, Bharati Mukherjee, and K. Satchidanandan, talking about what Indian literature today MEANS and where it's going. What does it mean to be an "Indian writer" today, particularly since two of the three writers named above live (at least part of the year) in the US?

Amitav Ghosh

Amitav Ghosh is one of North America's most well-respected modern novelists. His 2008 book Sea of Poppies is a powerful story set just before the onset of the Opium Wars in India and contains a motley cast of characters: from a poor uneducated rural housewife on the run and her simple peasant lover, to a French orphan, to an English upstart and sailor.   The first book of a planned trilogy (the second installment, River of Smoke, is due to be released by Penguin-Canada in the summer), Ghosh's writing is full of beauty, skill, and a pure and simple love of language. Indeed, Ghosh's play with words makes it clear that he is, even more than most writers, a wordsmith with a stunning amount of knowledge about the history of various languages. Yet in the end, despite his skill, Sea of Poppies is simply a good story, something many writers' works could benefit from. Short-listed for the Booker Prize, it is one of the most memorable novels I read in preparation for this Festival and I am already planning to read it again...

Bharati Mukherjee

Bharati Mukherjee has lived in North America for much of her career, in Montreal and Toronto and now in Berkeley, California. She has written several novels, three collections of short stories, and a number of journalistic pieces and books. Her latest work, Miss New India (set for release in May), traces the life of a modern young woman in India's new technologically oriented society. In a starred review, Booklist said of Miss New India, "Each character fascinates, and every detail glints with irony and intent, as Mukherjee brilliantly choreographs her compelling protagonist's struggles against betrayal, violence, and corruption in a dazzling plot."

K. Satchidanandan is one of India's most well-respected and prolific poets and editors. His new work, While I Write, is a stunning collection of pieces which demonstrate his accute and sharp view of human nature.

With CBC's Eleanor Wachtel, one of North America's most well-respected arts journalists (and literary interviewers), the conversation is sure to be a fascinating and enlightening one. Don't miss it--tickets for this one are selling fast.

Eleanor Wachtel