Smithers Readings
Posted by Elise Partridge
Today we left Terrace early, afloat on Bach played by Glenn Gould, and barreled (comfortably, in our rental car) toward Smithers. Many snowy mountain peaks later, we piled out at this charming town, where several tour members revived themselves immediately at a toasty cafe called Java (Bryan has discovered many good spots to stop on these tours—he particularly recommends the pie here). Katarina and Robin did a sequence of presentations at the elementary school, all enthusiastically received, and Margaret Horsfield and I went off to Smithers Secondary, where we discovered we each had our own class to speak to. Margaret was able to project pictures from her book to a grade-11 social-studies group, while I visited Jack Law’s English class. Jack Law had shown me the terrific list of poems he’d recently discussed with his students, work ranging from John Donne to Robert Hayden and beyond. I had a wonderful time talking to the class about what they were reading and what they liked to read, whether they’d tried writing verse themselves, whether they wrote songs; they asked me questions in return, all stimulating and thoughtful. I only wish I had had even more time there, including a chance to see how they’d carried out a recent poetry assignment. Many thanks to Jack Law for letting me borrow his class for the day, and to librarian Teresa Monkman for helping arrange a very happy visit.
The indefatigable Bryan then drove us through tawny rolling hills all the way to Prince George. Shortly after we debarked at the Coast Hotel here, we segued, through a pair of purple doors, to the large and well-stocked Books and Company bookstore. There we all read briefly; afterward we had a lively discussion with several audience members, including Gillian Wigmore, who was on the BC Book Prizes tour last year; a performance poet; and a student of both poetry and forestry at UNBC.
All in all, another exciting day with this sympathetic group, still turning to each other after each school visit to talk about how much we’re enjoying what we’re doing on this tour.
Fernanda
Apr 17, 2009 at 09:04 AM
Yes, Bryan knows his coffee! We’re drinking tea here at the office—nobody can brew a pot as well as Bryan. Glad to hear you and the other touring authors are enjoying your time in Northern BC. I’ve read everyone’s blog and feel a little like I’ve been on tour too—I have especially enjoyed reading about the classrooms and the scenery. Northern BC sounds stunning. My daughter’s cat was born in Hazelton—maybe we should take her on a road trip and track down her ancestors…