 Keely O'Brien's Secret Ingredients, the life and legacy of Serafim 'Joe' Fortes, and Recordkeeping with Morning Star TrickeyNXNW Feb. 1/2, 2025 | Welcome to the NXNW newsletter! And happy Lunar New Year! This weekend, Keely O'Brien chats about her experimental theatre project coming to the Hold On Let Go festival, Ruby Smith Diaz sheds a new light on Vancouver legend Serafim "Joe" Fortes, and Morning Star Trickey joins us for some Recordkeeping.
Looking for something from a past show? Check out our CBC Listen page. | | | Coming up on NXNW this weekend: | | | Saturday |  | CBC's Emma Jean pays a visit to Chu Chu Chinatown, where Serena Chu is celebrating the Lunar New Year with a family-friendly art workshop for lantern making and fan decoration. | | | | | Playwright Abi Padilla and director Leslie Dos Remedios chat about Grandma. Gangsta. Guerilla., a Ruby Slippers Theatre production that follows a Filipino grandma who escapes a care home to be with her family. Grandma. Gangsta. Guerilla. runs Feb. 6-8 at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, and Feb. 13-16 at the Presentation House Theatre. | | | | | Our February Chocolate series connects us with Mimi Cheung and Nathan Mah, the owners of Gem Chocolates in Vancouver. Gem is participating in the 15th annual Hot Chocolate Festival, which runs until Feb. 14. | | | | | Honouring Black History Month, the 13th annual Songs of Freedom concert is coming to Christ Church Cathedral in Vancouver on Feb. 1. Singer and disability rights advocate Morning Star Trickey joins us to preview the show and share some music in another edition of Recordkeeping. | | | | | Sunday | | | In celebration of the Lunar New Year, In Translation columnist Anna Ling Kaye brings us another collection of great books originally written in languages other than English. (Titles listed below.) | | | | | Interdisciplinary artist Keely O'Brien explains how cake is used to explore human relationships in Secret Ingredients, a theatre project running Feb. 4 and 8 at the Russian Hall in Vancouver, as part of the Hold On Let Go festival. | | | | | Haida artist Kihl ‘Yahda Christian White takes us through the carvings, sculptures and stories of his 45-year career, as featured in his first-ever retrospective exhibition, coming to the Bill Reid Gallery on Feb. 1. | | | | | You may know Joe Fortes as Vancouver's first official lifeguard. But how much of his image is muddled in public myth? Ruby Smith Diaz dives deeper into Joe's story in her new book Searching for Serafim: The Life and Legacy of Serafim "Joe" Fortes. | | | | | | | | | | | Recordkeeping with Morning Star Trickey | | | This Saturday, Feb. 1, Vancouver's Christ Church Cathedral is hosting the 13th annual Songs of Freedom concert celebrating Black History Month. Inaugurated and hosted by Marcus Mosely, this year's concert features guests like Candus Churchill, Krystle Dos Santos, Dawn Pemberton and Minnijean Brown-Tricky of the Little Rock Nine.
Minnijean Brown Tricky's daughter, Morning Star, will also be in attendance. Morning Star joined us earlier this week to talk about the concert and share her Recordkeeping picks.
Music from from your youth?
Why Do Fools Fall in Love by Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers.
Hey Daddy by Anne Murray, from the album There's a Hippo in My Tub.
A song you keep coming back to?
Ella’s Song by Sweet Honey in the Rock.
Music you're listening to right now?
Sound & Color by Alabama Shakes, specifically the song Over My Head. | | |  | Morning Star Trickey in the NXNW studio. | | | | | | | In Translation with Anna Ling Kaye | | | Anna Ling Kaye is back for our In Translation column, where she spotlights books originally written in languages other than English. In honour of the Year of the Snake, she picked books from two cultures that celebrate the Lunar New Year.
Anna's picks are: - Jumpnauts by Hao Jinfang (translated from Mandarin by Ken Liu, published by S&S/Saga Press, 2024).
- The Dallergut Dream Department Store by Miye Lee (translated from Korean by Sandy Joosun Lee, published by HarperCollins/Hanover Square Press, 2024).
| | |  | Covers for Jumpnauts and The Dallergut Dream Department Store. | | | | | | | Carving the path forward with Kihl 'Yahda Christian White | | | Earlier this week, NXNW’s Jeremy Ratt spoke with Kihl 'Yahda Christian White at the Bill Reid Gallery in Vancouver, where his first-ever retrospective exhibit opens on Feb. 1.
Drawing from the Haida artist’s 50 years of carving, the exhibit features pieces sculpted from argillite, cedar, gold and silver — often created with the help of more than eight apprentices that Christian White has worked with.
"Kihl 'Yahda Christian White: Master Haida Artist" runs at the Bill Reid Gallery from Feb. 1, 2025 to Feb. 1, 2026. | | |  | Raven Transformation, 2014. | | |  | Some of Christian's earliest works, including Raven Copper Shield and Seal Carving. | | | | | | | In case you missed it... | | | Last week on NXNW, Louise Pang joined us to talk about her work as the co-creator of Holy Duck Chili Oil, which she runs with her partner Chris.
For Lunar New Year, Holy Duck Chili Oil is collaborating with Beaucoup Chocolate and Hype Chocolate for "Taste of Chinatown" at the Chinatown Storytelling Centre.
Stream this interview on CBC Listen.
Holy Duck Chili Oil is also the subject of a short documentary from the CBC Creator Network, which you can watch here. | | | | | Thanks for listening! | Have comments or suggestions you'd like to share? Email us!
The NXNW Team | | | | | |
