Published by Communications and Public Affairs 519 824-4120, Ext. 56982 or 53338

News Release

November 27, 2006

Grad Students Seeking Stories of Guelph

A group of University of Guelph graduate students are combing the city in search of stories that affirm Guelph’s diversity and uniqueness. The stories will be published as a multimedia community anthology in the new year.

“In Guelph, as in every city, some stories are told louder and more often than others,” said Paul Danyluk, a PhD student in the School of English and Theatre Studies.

The project is called Guelph Speaks! Re-storying the City, and it aims to provide a platform for some of those not commonly heard stories and towards creating a collection of more inclusive and dynamic city narratives.

Danyluk and six other students involved in Guelph Speaks! are all enrolled in English professor Ajay Heble’s “Pedagogy, Human Rights, Critical Activism: Educating for Social Change” course. Inspired by course readings and classroom discussion, the project is based on the idea that the stories and perspectives of all the people who live in Guelph are valuable and important.

Community participation in this project is crucial, say the organizers, who want to hear from as many people as possible. The stories should be original, unpublished personal accounts centering around the themes of placement, displacement and identity in Guelph. Stories may be presented as written narratives, poetry, music, film, painting, photography, or as oral accounts. Written works should not exceed 1,000 words, and film, oral and musical submissions should be under 10 minutes in length.

The deadline for story submissions is Dec.1. Stories can be submitted via e-mail to guelphspeaks@gmail.com, by mail to “Guelph Speaks!,” c/o the School of English and Theatre Studies, MacKinnon Building, University of Guelph, N1G 2W1, or dropped off in person to the English department. More information is available online.

Stories for inclusion in the anthology will be selected by jury, and the community anthology will be released during a special event Jan. 18 at the Guelph Youth Music Centre that will include storytelling, music, art and multimedia presentations.