Just up the road, in Campbell River, the Roderick Haig-Brown House has been hosting visiting writers since 2004.
The Haig-Brown House residency is administered by the Museum at Campbell River, and is intended to serve the area surrounding Campbell River, which means that Comox Valley writers are often out of luck when they attempt to schedule a consultation.
This year, however, the writing community in the Comox Valley will have access to a writer-in-residence of their very own.
Nova Scotia poet and writer Anne Simpson will be the inaugural artist of a Creative Residency at the McLoughlin Gardens in Merville, starting in this month.
While the Brian and Sarah McLoughlin Gardens Regional Park is not yet open to the public (transfer to the Regional District takes place in September), the residency begins this spring and summer.
As is usually the case with writers-in-residence, Simpson will divide her time between her own creative work and community engagement. She will offer a five-week poetry class at the Courtenay Library, as well as two fiction workshops. She will also be available for consultation. Details for how to register for the workshops and classes and how to submit one’s work is now available at local libraries.
The Creative Residency will begin Saturday, May 7 with an open house and reception at the McLoughlin Gardens on Tasman Road in Merville, from 1 – 4 p.m. For directions and more information, please visit margostoryteller.net. To RSVP, please e-mail Margo McLoughlin at margostoryteller@gmail.com or call Carol Neufeld at 250-339-6799.