Writers on Campus at VIU Cowichan presents an exciting week of guest writers visiting the Cowichan Valley to share their wisdom and their words. From as far away as Whitehorse, we will be joined by eight internationally respected authors. All readings are free and open to the public.
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Tuesday, February 12th 7pm Room 135
(This reading will also be available via Video Conference to VIU Powell River)
Yvonne Blomer envisages a world restored by poetry. Her first book, a broken mirror, fallen leaf, poems based on her experiences in Japan, was shortlisted for the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award in 2007. Landscapes and Home, ghazals drawn from memories of Zimbabwe and BC’s coast, were published by Leaf Press in 2011. The Book of Places is her new book with Black Moss Press in 2012, as is Bicycle Brand Journey with Jack Pine Press. Her work has won awards and been published in Canada, the UK and Japan. Her reading at the Cowichan Campus will be the launch of her new books.
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Patrick Friesen, a resident of Winnipeg for 30 years and Vancouver for a dozen years, now lives in Brentwood Bay, Vancouver Island. He has published numerous books of poetry and has written several stage and radio plays. Friesen has also collaborated with choreographers, dancers, musicians and composers. He tours on a regular basis, giving readings and workshops all over the country. His book, A Broken Bowl, was a finalist for the 1997 Governor-General’s Award.
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Wednesday, February 13th 9am Room 225
Patricia Young, born in Victoria, BC where she still lives, is the author of nine collections of poetry and one of short fiction. She has two grown children and is married to the writer, Terence Young. She has taught at the University of Victoria, served as Editorial Assistant of the Malahat Review, on the board of the Victoria School of Writing, and also as writer in residence at various universities, most recently in 2008 where she was the WIR at the University of New Brunswick. She received the Arc Poem of the Year Award in 2009 and 2010. Selections of her poetry were also short-listed for the CBC Literary Competition in 2009 and 2010.And
Eve Joseph was born in 1953 and raised in North Vancouver. She worked on freighters as a young woman and traveled extensively before moving to Victoria. She has her M.A. in Counseling Psychology. Her work has been published in numerous Canadian and American Journals and in a number of anthologies, including "The Contemporary Northwest Coast Anthology" published in 2006. Her book The Startled Heart was nominated for the Dorothy Livesay Award. The Secret Signature of Things was shortlisted for the 2010 City of Victoria Butler Book Prize and the 2011 Dorothy Livesay Award.
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Alison Watt's poems have appeared in a number of Canadian literary journals. She has placed second in Prairie Fire's Poem of the year and won SubTerrain Magazine's Lush Triumphant poetry prize. Her book of poetry, Circadia, was published by Pedlar Press. Her non-fiction book, The Last Island – a Naturalist’s Sojourn on Triangle Island, won the Edna Staebler Award. She is also a visual artist who works and teaches out of her studio on Protection Island, near Nanaimo. Her painting and her writing reflect her background as a biologist and her ongoing preoccupation with the natural world.And
Carol Matthews is the author of several books (essays, memoirs and short stories) including Questions for Ariadne, Incidental Music, and Dog Days. Her short stories have appeared in many literary journals, e.g. The New Quarterly, Room of One's Own, The Canadian Journal of Fiction, Border Crossings, and in anthologies such as The BCFed Anthology.
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Monday, February 18th 9am Room 225
Patricia Robertson grew up in British Columbia and received her MA in Creative Writing from Boston University. A poet and essayist as well as a fiction writer, her most recent book is The Goldfish Dancer: Stories and Novellas. Her first collection of fiction, City of Orphans, was shortlisted for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. Her work has been chosen for the Journey Prize Anthology and has been nominated for the CBC Literary Awards, the Pushcart Prize, and the National Magazine Awards (three times). She has been writer-in-residence at Green College, University of B.C., and last winter was writer-in-residence at Haig-Brown House in Campbell River, BC. Currently she is a creative writing instructor at Yukon College in Whitehorse, a freelance writer/editor, and a contributing editor for CNQ: Canadian Notes and Queries.
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Erling Friis-Baastad grew up in the United States, emigrated to Toronto in 1969, and moved to the Yukon in 1974. His collection, The Exile House, was published by Ireland’s Salmon Publishing in 2001 and Wood Spoken: New and Selected Poems was published by Harbour. His poems have appeared in a number of chapbooks as well as in many literary journals and anthologies, including The Malahat Review, Grain, Poetry Canada and Canadian Forum. A longtime book reviewer and journalist, he currently works as an editor with the Yukon News in Whitehorse.
