2011 Powell River Writers Conference Presenters
2011 Powell River Writers Conference will take your writing to the next level with a star-studded line-up of presenters:
Grant Lawrence has long been a leading voice in Canadian arts and entertainment.
For years, the gregarious and encyclopedic Lawrence has hosted the top-rated CBC Radio 3 Podcast with Grant Lawrence, a weekly showcase of Canadian independent music. Grant also hosts Grant Lawrence Live, a live and interactive daily program on CBC Radio 3?s popular web radio station, also airing on Sirius 86. Grant can be heard throughout the week on various CBC Radio One programs such as DNTO, Spark, All Points West, On The Coast, and various afternoon programs across the country, and has been a frequent past contributor to Q and Sounds Like Canada. Grant also hosts many major music events, such as the Polaris Music Prize Gala, the Western Canadian Music Awards and various festivals around North America, and conducts music industry seminars and keynote addresses on music and media related topics.
Prior to his work at CBC, Grant was the lead singer of the internationally acclaimed Vancouver band The Smugglers. Grant co-founded the band in high school and the group went on to release 8 albums on independent record labels from around the world, including Mint Records in Canada and Lookout! Records in the USA. Over the course of the band’s sordid 15 year history, they played throughout Canada, the USA, Europe, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.
Grant recently published his first book, Adventures in Solitude, a memoir of his experiences spending his summers growing up in the coastal wilderness of Desolation Sound, BC, which went to #1 on the BC Bestsellers List and #2 on the National Bestsellers List. Grant still spends much of each summer at his cabin in the Sound between MC gigs at summer festivals.
Grant is also the goalie of the Vancouver arts-based amateur hockey team the Vancouver Flying Vees.
Grant is married to Canadian singer Jill Barber and they live together in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Grant’s April 16 workshop: “THE END”: A Writer’s Seminar on Reaching the Finish Line
Bestselling local author Grant Lawrence conducts this energizing seminar on
how to find the motivation, drive, and inspiration to finish what you
started, and when to type those ever-satisfying words “the end”. Based on
Grant’s personal experience with writing and publishing “Adventures in
Solitude“, Grant will detail the methods he employed to block out the
distractions, naysayers, and roadblocks, to focus on the positive, including
self-imposed deadlines, timelines, and getting the job done.
Hannah Main-van der Kamp:
Hannah leads Poetry Workshops in various locations including schools, libraries and churches. In the summer of 2011, she will again be leading the one week poetry workshop at the Sorrento, BC, Conference Centre (Anglican Church of Canada).
April 16 Hannah’s workshop “Ten Elements of Poetry Useful to Writers of Other Genres” is sure to benefit writers of all genres. Does your short fiction feel flat? Is your script stalled? Consider using poetry techinques to enliven your writing. This workshop will cover poetics including use of silence, space on the page, oddness and particularity. The two hour session will be a combination of lecture, writing exercises and discussions with examples of the work of contemporary Canadian poets. It’s perfectly okay for a writers to have “a bag of tricks.” Let poetry smarts take your writing to the next level.
Publications: Books, Poetry and Prose
*THE PARABLE BOAT, Wolsak and Wynn, 1999
*WITH AVERTED VISION, St Thomas Press, Toronto, 2000 (Out of Print)
*ACCORDING TO LOON BAY, St Thomas Press, Toronto, 2004.
*BRIGHT AT BLACK POINT, Arkwark Press, 2011
*AURELIA, tba
Hannah is a Contributing Editor at BC Bookworld and also review regularly for Pacific Rim Review of Books.
Hannah’s poetry has been appearing in journals and anthologies since the seventies. Her poems have been heard on the CBC and have been featured in some of Canada’s foremost literary journals including The Malahat Review, Canadian Literature, Grain, The Fiddlehead, Arc and A room of One’s Own.
With her musician husband and two yellow Labradors, Hannah spends part of the year in relative seclusion in BC’s coastal Desolation Sound. Her manuscript-in-process is At Home In The Ark, a book-length poem in the voice of Noah’s wife.
The Greater Victoria Public Library has featured Hannah as “Poet of the Month.” Hannah leads poetry workshops in various locations including schools, conference centres, libraries and churches.
An avid bird watcher and an amateur water-colouist,Hanna
Contact Hannah: C-60, RR 3, Donkersley Rd.
Powell River, BC, Canada, V8A 5C1
Late Breaking Addition: Melody Poirier
DESCRIPTION: This 45 min. workshop will provide you with the insight needed to maintain ownership and control of your book; understand the digital printing process; determine what areas are best left to a graphic designer; what areas you can handle yourself, and how to avoid extra costs and unnecessary delays along the way.
ABOUT THE FACILITATOR: With an understanding of the writing process, and a strong background in software support, Melody Poirier clarifies the progression of getting your work from your word processing software to “print ready format” and beyond. Upon completion of this workshop you will be able to make an informed decision about the options available to you and the best avenues to take for your own book printing project.
Following a bit more detailed description of “the Facilitator”
After 8 years with her own consulting practice as a software analyst in Vancouver, and a term at UBC in their Multi Media Studies program, Melody Poirier moved to Vancouver Island in 1999 and studied at Victoria College of Art through their extension program. Melody came to work for Island Blue Print in 2006 and has been with their Printorium Bookworks division since 2007. She has also written a series of short stories based on her adventures during the 70’s as a groom and apprentice animal trainer for a lion and tiger act with an American circus.
With an understanding of the writing process, and a strong background in software support, Melody clarifies the progression of getting your work from your word processing software to “print ready format” and beyond. Upon completion of this workshop you will be able to make an informed decision about the options available to you and the best avenues to take for your own book printing project.
She is a member of the Victoria Writer’s Society, also a member of PEAVI (Professional Editors Association of Vancouver Island) and does copy editing and research for writers, independent of Island Blue Print and Printorium Bookworks.
###########################################
Sylvia Taylor is an award-winning writer, editor, consultant, journalist, and educator with a passionate commitment to communication. As an entrepreneur and Executive Director of the Federation of BC Writers she brings what needs to be said into the world through sublime balance of the “Art and Engineering of Creativity.”
Whether supporting others in their self-expression, collaborating in commissioned work or creating insightful commentary and reportage, she draws from her education, administrative, health-care and professional background.
Sylvia is an inspiring public speaker and adult educator, teaching creative and non-fiction writing at conferences and writing programs as well as judging numerous writing competitions. Her devotion to the arts and women’s wellness led to a 2002 nomination for the Women of Excellence Award.
Master Class: “The A-Z of Self-Editing” From seed to harvest. Editing and rewriting is like pruning – too much and your wonderful inspiration withers on the branch; too little and it’s a tangle of thoughts; just right and it bears a basket of publications. Learn what to snip away, what to nurture and how to harvest.
Anthony Dalton once again brings to the Master Classes a timely and practical subject, “Freelance for Profit.”
Canadian Authors Association National President, an adventurer and author who has led expeditions across the Sahara, through the deserts of the Middle East and into the mountainous terrain of Afghanistan to mention a few. An accomplished public speaker, Anthony has written eleven non-fiction books, the latest being Adventures With Camera and Pen. His illustrated articles have been published in magazines and newspapers in twenty countries and nine languages.
As one of the presenters to our 2009 conference he fell in love with the area and our conference and stepped forward with Sylvia Taylor as one of the PRWC patrons.
Becoming successful as a freelance writer doesn’t happen by luck, you have to work at it. If you want to profit from your freelance writing you must learn what kinds of stories editors are looking for; then you have to write for that editor’s readership. Learn how to choose saleable stories, from travel to science; from pets to pastimes. Learn how to write tight to capture your intended audience.
Attendees should be prepared to send a sample of their writing to the class presenter two weeks before the event – no more than one article with a maximum of 2,000 words.
Note: Master Classes are sold separately. Master Classes registration: Click here.
April 15-16, 2011: All activities are held at Dwight Hall
Register for the conference, or purchase additional dinner tickets: Click here.
