What an incredible weekend! I’m back from the Galiano Literary Festival feeling refreshed and inspired. I enjoyed attending readings by Elizabeth May, Andrew Nikiforuk, the great George Bowering and many others. It was also great to meet fellow BC Book Prize nominee Arno Kopecky, poet Gillian Wigmore and authors Suzanne Fournier, Sandra Djwa, Cea Sunrise Person, Christine Smart, M. H. Callway, John Vaillant and many others. I also got to meet master carver Luke Marston, whose “Shore to Shore” sculpture is a permanent installation in Stanley Park. Meeting these people and chatting about writing, and comparing methods and challenges, was a valuable learning experience. I'm sure I walked off the ferry at the Tsawassen terminal a better writer...or at least with a longer reading list!
My reading went well, too. It was fun speaking more about voice and technique this time, rather than just politics. People asked informed and insightful questions, and I continue to be thrilled at the reception the book has received. It’s wonderful to know that the work has meant so much to people.
Of course, it’s always great to spend time with family and friends in BC, too (including Svend, in a cameo appearance!). My parents were able to attend the festival as well, which helped make it all even more special. When we got back to their place in North Delta afterward, with Galiano as our muse, my mom and I immediately dove into her manuscript for her biography of E.M. Delafield. The all-important first draft is done, and I have to say, it’s shaping up very nicely!
Thanks to Jim Schmidt, Lee Trentadue and Mary Trentadue and everyone involved with the festival for the invitation and for putting on such a great event. It will be a treasured memory for me.
What a journey all this has been...
My reading went well, too. It was fun speaking more about voice and technique this time, rather than just politics. People asked informed and insightful questions, and I continue to be thrilled at the reception the book has received. It’s wonderful to know that the work has meant so much to people.
Of course, it’s always great to spend time with family and friends in BC, too (including Svend, in a cameo appearance!). My parents were able to attend the festival as well, which helped make it all even more special. When we got back to their place in North Delta afterward, with Galiano as our muse, my mom and I immediately dove into her manuscript for her biography of E.M. Delafield. The all-important first draft is done, and I have to say, it’s shaping up very nicely!
Thanks to Jim Schmidt, Lee Trentadue and Mary Trentadue and everyone involved with the festival for the invitation and for putting on such a great event. It will be a treasured memory for me.
What a journey all this has been...