I’m thrilled to announce the 2019 faculty of the Writing Studio at the Banff Centre: Kevin Chong, Eden Robinson, Michelle de Kretser, Bill Gaston, Aisha Sasha John and Eduardo C. Corral join me and Associate Directors Shyam Selvadurai and Karen Solie. APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN!

So fun to take part in CBC Books’ Q&A where I answer 8 probing questions from 8 Canadian authors.  Read it here.

The Vancouver cohort of the Shoe Project will be performing their at the Museum of Vancouver. It was an honour to be the writing coach for this amazing group of women from Syria, Tibet, Eritrea, Colombia, Somalia, Indonesia, Iraq, Bangladesh, and El Salvador.

Date: Friday, June 22

Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm

Admission: $14 Early Bird, $19 General Admission, Free to MOV Members & individuals who self-identify as Indigenous

**Early Bird ticket sales end June 21st at 5pm.

Click here for tickets and more information.

A huge thanks to the amazing faculty — Karen Solie, Shyam Selvadurai, Kathy Page, Pasha Malla, Yasuko Thanh, Hoa Nguen, David O’Meara and Romesh Gunesekera — and the wonderful participants of the 2018 Writing Studio at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.  Planning has already started for the 2019 Studio.  Stay tuned!

 

 

 

I feel incredibly fortunate to have been involved in The Shoe Project, a writing and performance program for immigrant and refugee women.  Over the last ten-weeks I’ve been guiding this group of women from Eritrea, Somalia, Columbia, Peru, Bangladesh, Tibet, Syria, Indonesia and Kurdistan to write the stories of their journey here.  They move on now to work with voice coaches and will perform their stories on Friday June 22 at the Museum of Vancouver.  Details are here.

 

 

 

Without a doubt the Banff Centre was been the most formative institution in my writing life.  I first went as a participant in the Writing Studio in 1986 under the directorship of the late, great Adele Wiseman.  I returned in 1991 when Rachel Wyatt was director.  Friends I made have remained in my life.  In later years I returned many times as faculty at both Wired Writing and the Writing Studio.  It is such an honour to have been named Greg Hollingshead‘s successor as program director.  Click here for more information, including how to apply to the Writing Studio.

How I loved Olive Kitteridge!  What an honour to have a book compared to it.  A huge thank you to Angie Abdou for talking up Ellen in Pieces  alongside Olive Kitteridge on CBC’s The Next Chapter.  You can read and listen to Angie here.

 

It’s a real thrill when something you create inspires another creation.  “Solo Collective tackles the ever challenging Vancouver housing landscape with its play inspired by author Caroline Adderson’s book Vancouver Vanishes.”  Information about and tickets for Aaron Bushkowsky’s play Satellite(s) can be found here.  For more about Vancouver Vanishes click here.

 

I’m delighted to be taking up residence on Alta Lake as the 2018 Writer in Residence for the Whistler Writers Festival.  In addition to working one-on-one with local authors, I’ll hosting events at the festival itself.  See the the full festival line-up here.

 

I’m so pleased to be returning to the wonderful Denman Island Readers and Writers Festival, this time as Writer in Residence.  Click here for the full festival schedule.