We braved Vancouver Canucks territory during the playoffs and had some good turnouts. It was wonderful to meet Cowichan knitting enthusiasts carrying their old treasured sweaters and to hear their stories.

Thanks to Meredith and Grant for their readings—what could be better? I got to spend four evenings listening to the best story tellers in the province.

Our last two days were spent in Deep Cove, North Van, and White Rock.  We had wonderful receptions in all of these communities, and our public events were very well-attended.  The audiences certainly enjoyed both author presentations and chatting with Sylvia and Grant about their books.

Thanks everyone for coming out!

Sylvia and Grant had a great time visiting the schools in these communities as well.  The kids at Dorothy Lynas Elementary were certainly excited when Sylvia handed out a piece of wool to everyone:

Meanwhile, the secondary students were captivated by Grant’s hilarious anecdotes:

You can read about Grant’s experience here.

This tour has been amazing.  In addition to meeting a number of wonderful people, we also explored some new places that some of us had never been to.  We definitely discovered some great places to eat, including Uli’s Restaurant in White Rock.  Here’s Sylvia enjoying the Uli’s experience:

Alas, all good things must come to an end, and so our tour has.  You can check out all our tour photos on our Flickr Photostream.

A sign that we’re nearing the end of the tour: can’t remember where we were when I blogged last, or where we were the day before yesterday for that matter.

Yesterday we were in Vernon at the Vernon Secondary School where no kids got thrown out—a first—and then at Gallery Vertigo for, once again, a small but enthusiastic crowd.

Today, we’re paying for our relaxed weekend with schools in Kelowna and Penticton (the name of which George insists on mispronouncing) as well as an evening event at Hooked On Books.

George continues to amaze me (we appear together) with his jazzy improvisations and funny-as-hell riffs. I’m his warm-up act. Bryan the Boss must be tour-drunk because his mental state appears to be deteriorating quite badly to the point where we’ve noticed people on the street staring at him in alarm. Julie continues to be the stable and sensible centre—holding for now.

Tomorrow we go to Oliver (the “wine capital of BC” which George insists is actually an official part of the town’s name). No doubt, he will make hay of this accidental connection in his irresponsible attempts to claim to rooms full of impressionable young people that poets make lots of money. Then, dear Blog, it’s back to Vancouver so we can collect our winning prizes.

Always on top of the day’s plans, Kristie steered us expertly to our destinations. Sylvia and Kristie were awesome travel buddies. We discussed everything from religion to when to have babies.

Best of all I had a wonderful time talking to the students at New Westminster Secondary (the earliest reading I’d ever done at 8:45 am), Robert A McMath Secondary, and R.E. Mountain Secondary.

We visited two libraries as well – Richmond Brighouse Library, where I discovered that independent bookstores like Black Bond are alive and well outside Vancouver – and FVRL, Clearbrook Library which has a thriving poets’ group. Thank you to everyone at BC Book Prizes.

I’d like to praise BC Book Prizes and its organization which has been flawless and friendly. Bryan the boss is unfailingly helpful, drives extremely well, and maintains his composure in the face of writerly eccentricities, unreasonable demands and invariably faulty, unsolicited driving directions. (Note to self and George: the GPS is always right.) 

Yesterday, we had a good reading / talk at the Salmon Arm library with a modest but lively crowd. I’ve just looked out my window to discover that it is snowing!

Today Sylvia took part in Lit Fest New West alongside Morris Bates and Steven Galloway.  All three gave fabulous presentations to a wonderful audience.  Thank you to the Arts Council of New Westminster for inviting us to participate!

Sylvia and I have the next two days off from touring, but will be back on the road on Tuesday with Grant Lawrence.  I’m looking forward to it!

A good day at South Kamloops Secondary School where the kids asked good questions and only one got marched off to the vice-principal’s office for undisclosed crimes, and the library with an excellent turnout and discussion.

We were at a school in New Westminster that has no funds or opportunities to have author visits. The kids’ attention and participation and the staff’s appreciation was wonderful to experience. The Prizes tour gave those children an important gift.

The people in Abbotsford had to make a choice Friday evening—an exciting BC Book Prize reading or the Canucks’ game. Tough decision. 

Kristie, Meredith and I were always in the right place at the right time thanks to Kristie’s remarkable planning skills and to the help of the trusty little Englishman who resides mysteriously in her GPS. It was like flying—I had to suspend my muddled effort to understand and give way to the magic of what, to me, is incomprehensible. Amazing!

We read at two schools and the Library. It was great to see such a large and interested group turn out. One lady even skipped work to come.

This was an unforgettable experience for a guy that would never have predicted that there would be a published book based on my fishing career. Life includes many wonderful shifts and changes and it seems that saying “yes” is very much part of the equation. So many many thanks to Bryan and Rebus Creative for this opportunity to spend a week with some wonderful people.

Thanks to Sam Robinson (64 years carving—what an example of dedication to one’s art), to Dave Durrant, English teacher at Mount Elizabeth (we went to elementary school together in Victoria), to Al Fleishman at Caledonia (in Terrace—I taught his son Al at SFU), to everyone at the Kitimat Public Library, the Haisla Nation, and all the kids in the high schools.

This has been a great week.

Last of all, thanks to Bryan Pike for making it all possible—driver, handler, roadie, raconteur and bon vivant. I’m going to go home and sleep now. So long.

At our first school, Uplands Elementary in Terrace, the staff were so appreciative and the kids attentive and respectful. I could tell when we walked through the front door that things were going to go well when two students graciously introduced themselves and led us to our presentation rooms.

After a wonderful morning we drove down to Kitimat, a town with the most amazing views of forests and inlet. We presented to another very appreciative group of teachers and students at Roy Wilcox Elementary. I even got a hug from the librarian, Lucy, on my way out. On top of that, the school presented Gary and me with lovely travel mugs with First Nations motifs.

But that wasn’t all. We then had time to check out the town. Over at Kitimaat Village I had no idea we were going to meet Sam Robinson, a highly respected and accomplished artist and Chief of Chiefs. He generously took time out of his work to invite us into his workroom where we saw some silver and gold jewelery he’s in the midst of creating. As beautiful as they were, it was the amazing wood carvings that blew me away. The pieces on his wall were mostly yellow cedar and these dramatic images were inlaid with colourful shell (might have been mother of pearl, mussels or some other kind of shell)—whatever it was, it was beautiful set into the eyes and mouths of the stunning creatures.

We finished the day at the Kitimat Library. We were so warmly welcomed by the staff, who provided an amazing spread of goodies for us and the attendees. It was also a great turn out from members of the public. There was even one young girl who had sat through my presentation at the school earlier, who came to listen again and buy my book. Thank you Terrace and Kitimat for a completely enjoyable and memorable final day of our tour of the North.

I have been reading about the adventures of the authors up North and can’t wait to get on the road with Meredith Quartermain and Sylvia Olsen tomorrow.  We will be visiting the communities of New Westminster, Richmond, Langley, and Abbotsford over the next two days.  On Saturday, Sylvia will be joined by Morris Bates and Steven Galloway at Lit Fest New West.

Next week Grant Lawrence will join Sylvia and me to wrap up the tour with readings in Deep Cove, North Vancouver, South Surrey, and White Rock. Come out and meet our authors at one of the five public events!

For all the work this tour has been it was made completely delightful by the three gentlemen I’ve been traveling with. They’re all great story tellers, passionate about music, very considerate (me being the only female on the trip) and they all have great humour and we’re laughing almost all the time.

We’re here in Terrace and it’s our last day for presentations. We have schools here to do this morning and then down to Kitimat for afternoon school presentations and the library. This is my first efforts and being a blogger and I don’t know if I’m hooked on it, but I’m glad I’ve now tried it and know how! Here’s to one last good day.

I’m enjoying the schools most of all. The kids have been amazing, listening to all the noise and chaos I’m offering, the cranky poems about the death-grip we have on this planet, and asking great questions. Two at least have identified themselves as poets (they wore fedoras, like me—was there a memo? Is this the uniform now?), and I read one of their poems—Nick, at Quesnel Secondary—aloud to the class. It cooked. I hope they stay in touch.

Some of the highlights for me so far include our presentation at the museum in Prince Rupert Friday evening, stopping at ‘Ksan village on Saturday, and getting a great turn out of teachers and students at the Books & Company reading last night.

The museum is styled like a longhouse and the first thing I noticed upon entering was the scent of cedar. It was serene and beautiful inside. But the best part was the room where we held our reading. It overlooked the bay and had an unusual three piece totem. As for ‘Ksan, I’ve wanted to visit this place ever since I first read about it nearly twenty years ago. Unfortunately it was closed, but we were still able to walk around the outside and admire all the buildings and totems.

Today was a nice slow day here in Prince George and I even got to sleep in…or rather I thought I was sleeping in. After what felt like a really long and self-indulgent sleep I got up to discover it was only 8:00 a.m. Tomorrow we’ve got two schools and an evening presentation in Quesnel.

Three days later I haven’t been flogged yet but after a 6 hour drive from Terrace a mix of exhaustion and anxiety set in before our presentation at Books and Company. However as always the anxiety was a poignant signal that all would be well and that Stephen, Gina and I would sparkle away in front of about 30 folks of all ages who were there to accept anything we gave them.

Stephan was a touch worried that his ‘weird’ poetry might send the children into an altered state and Gina was a wee bit concerned that Ruby’s plight at Woodlands Elementary might be excessively heartrending. I was in a perfect spot to watch the children and they and everyone else were totally immersed in the proceedings. Ruby’s story (I have only heard part of the first chapter or so) is evocative on many levels and Gina’s reading is terrific. I can’t get enough of Stephan’s poetry and superb reading.

There is a groupie or two wherever we go and yes Gub and Puss have a nice little following as well. When I asked whether I should have left Gubby’s pants off during the basking shark incident one little risk averse fellow said a resounding ‘no’. I suspect that he is a spy for the BC Ferries nudity patrol.

What sticks in my mind at this point is something that happened in Prince Rupert. I read a poem called “The End of Flight,” which tells the (true!) story of a strange incident: while building a playhouse in my back yard (with fellow poet Jordan Scott), an eagle fell from the sky and landed dead at our feet (omen, anyone?). In Rupert, at the Museum of the North, I was reading this poem with my back to large windows overlooking the harbour. I’m told that as I did so, an eagle flew into view behind me, circled, and then, catching a thermal, spiralled up out of sight. So I guess that eagle is back. Thanks Prince Rupert.

I’m blogging for the first time on this trip. Not sure about this! My wife, however, is the real blogger: check her out (shameless plug, I know, but how else to make up for being away for a week!).