Author and former Courtenay resident Elizabeth Reimer Bartel will visit the Courtenay Library to read from her new novel By Whatever Name this Thursday at 2 p.m.
“Reading has been my greatest joy all my life. I had to read enough before I was ready to write,” states the 87-year-old, whose third novel was launched in September.
By Whatever Name is the tale of a destructive spiritual upheaval in a small village in Manitoba that resonates through the following generations. After 30 years on Vancouver Island, Bartel has not forgotten the Prairie soil and sky of her childhood.
Bartel’s first novel Even Such is Time appeared in 2002.
“A compelling family saga lays bare the conflicts, successes and failures of the young protagonist. No one is allowed
sainthood,” wrote Armin Wiebe, a noted author.
Bartel went on to found a poetry co-op called The Mostly Poets. This group of eight diverse women jointly published A Murder of Crones. Sheila Munroe in her review said, “The small epiphanies and meditations, all are represented here in these distinctive
voices.”
About Those Reimers, Bartel’s memoir, which includes details of her sojourn on Vancouver Island during the Second World War, appeared in 2010. “It is an appealing voice that turns the
pages of this memoir, revealing heritage for the mixed blessing and burden it is,” commented Dora Dueck in a review for the Canadian Mennonite.
For more information, drop by the library at 300 Sixth St., call 250-334-3369, ext. 2 or visit www.virl.bc.ca. This is a free program and all are welcome.
— Courtenay Library