Clem Martini

Olivier Martini

In 1976, Ben Martini was diagnosed with schizophrenia. A decade later, his brother Olivier was told he had the same disease. For the past thirty years the Martini family has struggled to comprehend and cope with a devastating illness, frustrated by a health care system lacking in resources and empathy, the imperfect science of medication, and the strain of mental illness on familial relationships. Throughout it all, Olivier, an accomplished visual artist, drew. His sketches, comic strips, and portraits document his experience with, and capture the essence of, this all too frequently misunderstood disease. In Bitter Medicine, Olivier’s poignant graphic narrative runs alongside and communicates with a written account of the past three decades by his younger brother, award-winning author and playwright Clem Martini. The result is a layered family memoir that faces head-on the stigma attached to mental illness. Shot through with wry humour and unapologetic in its politics, Bitter Medicine is the story of the Martini family, a polemical and poetic portrait of illness, and a vital and timely call for action.

A Graphic Memoir of Mental Illness

Bitter Medicine

The annual Gathering of crows is disrupted by both an impulsive young crow named Kyp and an unexpected blizzard.

The mob

Judgment, The (Feather and Bone: The Crow Chronicles)

Four by Four by Four

Malin Lindroth

In "Too Late," Greg deals with the consequences of an assault on his stepsister in a teen sex offenders' facility; and in "Train Wreck," Johnny and his friends play a cruel joke on misfit Susie that goes horribly wrong.

Too Late

Train Wreck

For 100 years, Wood’s Homes has offered a lifeline to children and their families who have nowhere else to turn. A multiservice, non-profit children’s mental health organization based in Calgary, Wood’s Homes serves communities throughout Alberta and in the Northwest Territories. In honour of the 100th anniversary of Wood’s Homes in 2014, this collection of 100 stories celebrates the deep and lasting impact the organization has had on those who have lived and worked there. The stories—sometimes quirky, sometimes raw, but always coming from the heart—also reveal the dramatic changes in the needs of young people and their communities over the last century.

A History of Wood's Homes as Told by the People Who Lived and Worked There

One Hundred Stories for One Hundred Years

Nominee, Governor General's Literary Award for Drama, 2001 Well-known playwright Clem Martini whets the appetite for three one-act plays. In "Conversations with My Neighbor's Pit Bull," Robert Teller tries to get along with his neighbor via his pit bull. In "House of Glass" 12-year-old Ellen must make amends with her neighbor for stealing condoms from her store. In "Up on the Roof" three characters are stranded on a rooftop and must comes to terms with their disintegrating lives and an uncertain future. A Three Martini Lunch takes you on a culinary tour of urban angst. Reviews "In these three interrelated plays, Clem Martini's characters struggle with public and private dilemmas on lawns, bakyards and rooftops. Hilarious and poignant, the writing crackles with irony and wisdom" -- Governor General's Award Committee

A Three Martini Lunch

Follows a crow family, the Kinaars, who, while attending the annual Gathering, find their lives plunged into danger and chaos when violence ensues, leading to a tribunal judgement that divides them.

Clem Martini

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