On Tour Blog
April 17, 2008
After a delicious dinner of Penang curry at Mai Tai in Prince George, we took a cab back to our hotel (we walked there, though!) and the cab driver said that it’s supposed to snow tonight. This reminds me that we are far from home. You can still see big chunks of ice on the Nechako and the wind is very cold. But the schools we visited today—Kelly Road Secondary and Heather Park Middle School—were warmly welcoming. 100 kids at the former and 200 at the latter. Mary and I have learned to anticipate the important questions: “How old are you?” and “How much do you make from writing?” But seriously, they also ask the thoughtful questions: “When did you begin to write?” and “How long does it take to write a book?” And the teachers are so enthusiastic, even giving us little gifts as we leave.
Tomorrow we head back to Terrace with stops in Vanderhoof and Smithers. It’s hard to believe that our week is nearly over. I feel as though I’m part of a secret travelling society, complete with jokes and songs.
Filed under: Northern Leg 2008 |
0 Comments | Permalink
April 17, 2008
It’s alway nice to stop in beautiful Smithers. We even managed a sunny blue sky.
Filed under: Northern Leg 2008 |
0 Comments | Permalink
April 17, 2008
Liesl Jauk, Executive Director of West Coast Book Prize Society, did a lot of posing on Monday night. First, with Byron Sheardown of Quills Poetry Magazine presenting a cheque to Margaret O’Brien of Vancouver Technical Secondary School. Then, with the folks from Grandview Secondary School, whose library is being sponsored by CCEC Credit Union.
Rogers’ Chocolates is sponsoring two Vancouver area schools this year: Gladstone Secondary and Charles Dickens Elementary schools.
Adopted school libraries will receive their choice of 2008 BC Book Prize books up to a value of $500 for their libraries.
With one exception: Here’s Christine Bourassa of Hewitt Associates presenting Hastings Elementary with a cheque. The staff of Hewitt Associates actually managed to raise $580 for this school!
Filed under: Greater Vancouver Leg 2008 |
1 Comments | Permalink
April 16, 2008
How to describe the changing beauty of the Yellowhead Highway? The dense forests from Terrace to Smithers, river below rimed with snow? And Smithers itself, a gem of a community…We had lunch at Java’s—delicious wild grain pies, bright salad, casual and funky ambience. Our presentations in Smithers went very well. The class I met with, a History 11 class, was a delight. An eager and erudite teacher, good kids who asked interesting questions, a librarian who was keenly interested in books and writing. The eastward journey—now, doesn’t that sound like a travel book by Basho?—was long and a few of us slept but Bryan kept the tunes playing, the gas tank filled (courtesy of one of our sponsors, PetroCanada), and brought us safely into Prince George, through the chilly grassy fields fringed with birch near Vanderhoof, with an hour to spare! This evening’s reading was a highlight. Books and Company is a lovely store and the audience was enthusiastic.
I want to say that this is a nifty group of women—Nan, Kari-Lynn and Mary. There is such camaraderie among us. We laugh, tell stories, jokes, share apples, sandwiches, oranges, chocolate, licorice toffee. And Bryan is a perfect Honourary Boyfriend, opening doors for us, keeping us on time, on schedule in a gentle thoughtful way.
And the more I encounter teachers, librarians, and book-sellers on this Northern Tour, the more I am grateful that such people exist. They make us welcome, make us at home in their classrooms, libraries, bookstores, feed us, celebrate us, share their students and friends with us.
Filed under: Northern Leg 2008 |
0 Comments | Permalink
April 16, 2008
Tour Extras
Posted by Kari-Lynn Winters
This tour is amazing. What makes it this way? The extras of course. Let me name a few:
Bottles of water in the van.
Welcome mats. Story chats.
Performing with Sloth, controlled by Nan.
Chocolates before each presentation.
Loads of smiles. Driven for miles.
Sometimes getting a standing ovation.
Cakes and cookies, gifts galore.
Friendly walks. Engaging talks.
Audiences wanting more.
But best of all I must say,
is the kinds of people we meet each day.
As my grandma used to say,
Smallest towns—nicest people.
Smiles from Snowy Smithers.
Filed under: Northern Leg 2008 |
1 Comments | Permalink
April 16, 2008
Today we started out at Argyle Secondary and Boundary Elementary in North Vancouver. Then we headed over to Richmond for readings at Richmond Secondary and Samuel Brighouse Elementary.
Librarian Kelly Berry introduces Gillian and Shaena at Argyle Secondary
Robert and Librarian Felicity Eadon and Lisa at Boundary Elementary
Robert reads at Boundary Elementary
A quick lunch in Minaru park, Richmond
Lisa at Samuel Brighouse Elementary
Gillian and Shaena chatting with students at Richmond Secondary
Filed under: Greater Vancouver Leg 2008 |
0 Comments | Permalink
April 16, 2008
This is author Shaena Lambert reading from her novel Radiance at the Vancouver Public Library on Monday night
Lisa Cinar shows the audience how her drawings changed over the course of writing her book The Day It All Blew Away.
Gillian reads from Soft Geography. Robert tells the audience a story from his childhood.
Filed under: Greater Vancouver Leg 2008 |
0 Comments | Permalink
April 15, 2008
After visiting schools in Terrace and Kitimat, we had a great time reading at one of my favourite book stores, Book Masters.
Filed under: Northern Leg 2008 |
1 Comments | Permalink
April 15, 2008
The day began for Mary Novik and me with a visit to Caledonia Senior High in Terrace where a thoughtful class listened to us read in the library and then engaged in an interesting discussion. They have a team of intelligent and supportive teachers and librarians and both Mary and I left thinking that that was a lucky group of kids. We drove out to Kitimat through wild spruce forests, a river punctuated by fly-fishers, and a breathtaking run down into the town. Lovely group of kids at Kitimat City High, all of them listening (or pretending to!) and asking good questions and treating us with courtesy and warmth. I think Nan and Kari-Lyn had a similar experience at Kildala Elementary. Bryan got a great tip on a restaurant so we headed out to Kitamaat Village to eat at Seamasters where we sat in a bright room and looked out at Douglas Channel (I don’t have a map here and hope I’ve got that right…) where crows scavenged at the tide-line and the mountains beyond were wreathed in cloud. We ate delicious halibut, crab-cakes with mango salsa, snapper…Back to Kitimat to read at Book Masters where the wonderful team there had a table ready with cake to welcome us. It was great to see Eden Robinson’s smiling face! The book sellers for this tour are all so well-organized and keen. Misty River here in Terrace, Rainforest Books in Prince Rupert—bright places with knowledgeable owners willing to do a little extra to make our readings memorable. Now to pack for the morning’s early-ish departure for Smithers, then Prince George.
Filed under: Northern Leg 2008 |
0 Comments | Permalink
Page 12 of 15 pages « First < 10 11 12 13 14 > Last »
