We are happy to announce two upcoming events at Fanny Bay Hall, March 23 and 24 - a Friday night reading with Yvonne Bloomer and Ron Smith and Saturday writing workshops with Bloomer, Smith and Fanny Bay’s own, Judy Leblanc.
Bloomer is Victoria’s Poet Laureate. Her recent releases include: a travel memoir, Sugar Ride: Cycling from Hanoi to Kuala Lampur; a book of poems, As if a Raven and Refugium: Poems for the Pacific.
Smith has been writing, editing and publishing books for more than 40 years. He is the founder of the publishing house Oolichan Books, author and editor of several books, and has taught in universities all over the world. Smith’s latest book, The Defiant Mind: Living Inside a Stroke, is a memoir of his recovery and dedication to writing.
Continue the excitement with three workshops starting 9 a.m., March 24.
From 9 a.m to 11 a.m.: Poetry and Ecology: Finding New Metaphor for a Changing World with Yvonne Bloomer. She invites us to reflect on the pre-Romantic era, mountains were not considered beautiful, rather they were seen as wasted space.
From 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.: Exiting the Short Story: to Plot or not to Plot, Structure and Endings with Fanny Bay’s very own Judy LeBlanc. Judy founded the Fat Oyster Reading Series and was artistic director for five years. She teaches creative writing at North Island College, and recently released her first collection of short fiction, The Promise of Water.
From 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.: Our Need to Tell a Story. A Workshop on Creative Non-Fiction and Memoir with Ron Smith. Smith’s workshop addresses the questions, ‘Why do we feel compelled to tell stories?’, ‘How do we discover these stories?’ The focus will be on crafting, structuring and polishing, from notes to a rough draft.
Each session is two hours and costs $25 or $60 for the full day.
For more information, contact: fat.oyster.fanny.bay@gmail.com or 250-802-6104.