September Meeting: Survival, Thrival, Arrival

Kathrin Lake, author of Survival to Thrival

Kathrin Lake, author of Survival to Thrival

Who? The Shebeen Club presents independent author Kathrin Lake

What? Survival, Thrival, Arrival: work/life balance for writeaholics

When? 7-10pm (note new time) Monday, September 21st

Where? The Shebeen, behind the Irish Heather, 210 Carrall Street

Why? Because Kathrin has lived the struggling writer reality and come out on top, and it’s always a good idea to learn from the best!

How? Much? $20 new pricing reflects some new options and offerings. Cash is king, baby.

I met Kathrin something like a decade ago at the Surrey International Writer’s Conference, where we bonded over Harvey Wallbangers and Mae West quotations. Back then I knew she was smart, knew she was funny, knew she was determined, but I didn’t know just how successful she would ultimately become (or I would have let her pay for the drinks). The Shebeen Club is very pleased to invite Kathrin to speak about her journey as a writer and independently-published author of From Survival to Thrival: how to catch the boat to your successful, thriving life, and to pick up whatever tips we can about staying as sane as her while juggling professional priorites, staying true to ourselves as writers, and trying to keep the wolf (or at least the urban coyote) from the door.

Bring: a notebook, a pen, a backup pen (you should know this by now!) and a stock of your very best Mae West stories. It’s going to be a fun night as well as a learning experience.

The Summer Dream Literary Arts Festival

From the Facebook announcement:

Summer Dreams Literary Arts Festival

Summer Dreams Literary Arts Festival

Summer Dream Festival Opens Wednesday
With Special Visual Art/Poetry Collaboration
(August 19th)

Vancouver, BC – The 6th annual festival kicks off on August 19th with a special reading at the Jewish Community Centre where featured poets Natasha Boskic, Christy Hill, Daniela Elza, Maureen Eagan, Mary Duffy, Steve Duncan and Bonnie Nish will read poetry inspired by artist Linda Frimer’s powerful visual work. The audience will be given time and encouraged to write to the exhibit as well and to share their words during the open mic portion of the evening. Lyrical songstress Jess Hill also joins the night’s event.
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery
950 W.41st Ave. Vancouver, BC

Linda Dayan Frimer is an acclaimed Vancouver artist and well known community facilitator who has been intimately involved in world, Jewish, and Canadian national, cultural artistic pursuits. She creates commemorative, educational, cultural, and esthetically moving artistic works. Born in the wilderness interior of British Columbia, the forest first inspired Linda’s deep belief in the sanctity of all forms of life, while stories of her ancestors’ journey strengthened her faith in the human spirit and her deep commitment to helping others. She has been deeply involved in the ongoing intergenerational Gesher Holocaust Project as it’s artist facilitator and co-founder. An exhibit of participant’s powerful works of art resulted in a traveling exhibit across Canada under the auspices of the Montreal Holocaust Centre. Linda’s artistic vision is continuously evoked by the vital inseparable forces of nature and culture. She is currently at work on a book and paintings which express the idea of return and seek the meaning of home. Many of the paintings in this current exhibit, entitled “Returning Home” cronicles her journeys back home through artwork to her early years in the British Columbia wilderness and compares life to that of her ancestor’s home in Lithuania.
And don’t forget to join us for the main event on Saturday August 22nd – a free, all-day, large scale event at Lumberman’s Arch in Stanley Park, showcasing the talents of numerous musicians, spoken word artists and storytellers, children’s entertainers, dancers, as well as resource tables and panel discussions by writing and publishing experts.
The festival will also be holding 2 days of workshops (Aug. 23rd and 29th) designed to help writers grow professionally and creatively. Some topics and facilitators include S.R. Duncan talking about chapbook design and marketing; and Jen Currin unraveling the mysteries of the prose poem. For more information about the workshops, or to register, contact Bonnie Nish at blnish_pandoras@yahoo.ca.
Pre-registration and payment is necessary. Spaces are limited so sign-up now or be disappointed.

NEWSFLASH: Bonnie and Rhonda interviewed on Commercial Drive Live!
Check out the latest video installment of “Live On The Drive!” for an exclusive interview with the organizers of the event: http://thedriveisalive.blogspot.com/2009/08/live-on-drive-interview-with-summer.html#links

For media information and full festival details visit http://www.pandorascollective.com/sdrfestival.html

or call Steve Duncan at 604-788-8340. srduncan@shaw.ca.

Pandora’s Collective would like to thank the following sponsors for making this event possible: Giest, Vancouver Review, Subterrain, Event, Room With A View, 3 Day Novel Contest, Prism, Dutch Girl Chocolates, Theatre in the Raw, Capilano Review, One Cool Word, Vancouver Story Tellers, Vancouver Public Library, Quills, Nestor’s Market, Graphic design by CWCLCOGY with Wera, Vancouver Parks Board, 2008 Celebrations Grant c/o The City of Vancouver and The Office of Cultural Affairs, CBS Outdoor, Starbucks, VanCity, Christianne’s Lyceum, Coast Capital Savings, The Federation of BC Writers, Burnaby Writers Society, Industrial Alliance Pacific Life Insurance Company, BC Poetry, Jaffer Speech and Language Services, Irene Livingston, Don Simpson, Joyce Statton, Randy Jacobs, Bernice Lever, Andrea Winterbottom and Robin Susanto.

Come be a part of Vancouver’s best-kept summer secret!

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Julie and Julia: the sequel!

It makes SO much sense! After all, everyone knows how desperate publishers are to maximize profits on a potential series.

Jewel and Julia

Jewel and Julia the sure-to-be-a-hit followup to the smash bestseller Julie and Julia

Reserve your copy NOW!

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Federation of BC Writers: Lower Mainland Regional Rep volunteer position

Charles Dickens breaks through writer's block

Charles Dickens breaks through writer's block

Yes, I’m stepping down, not that my slightly insane schedule ever let me do a proper job of this. It’s a great position for someone who’s organized and community-minded, who likes to support and promote events, groups, and individual writers around Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. It’s highly social, and great exposure. I’d say the job takes four or five hours a week to do properly, since the Lower Mainland is so active and there’s so much to keep track of. Here’s the official posting:

CALL FOR LOWER MAINLAND SUNSHINE COAST REGIONAL REP

The Federation of BC Writers is looking for a member to serve as the LowerMainland/

Sunshine Coast Regional Representative. As a regional representative, your responsibilities

include:

• participating as a member of the Federation board of directors

• helping to organize Federation-sponsored regional events

• representing the Federation at regional literary events

• writing quarterly regional reports for WordWorks magazine and e-newsletters

• communicating regularly with regional members

• acting as a resource for member queries

• maintaining a regional email list

If you’re interested in serving a two-year term for this position, please send an email to

bcwriters at shaw.ca that includes your resume (attached as a Word document) with a succinct cover letter that tells us 1) why you’re interested in the position, 2) how much time you’re able to commit on a monthly basis, 3) a bit about your writing background, and 4) your skills and interests by Friday, July 30. Please put Regional Rep in the subject line.

This is as good a spot as any to mention that this Saturday I’ll be participating in Blogathon, a 24-hour, 48 blog post postathon, to raise money for the Fed. You can sponsor me by selecting “raincoaster.com” from the list of available blogs to sponsor. All the posts will be going up over there. After Blogathon, you just tote up your donation and send the cheque straight to the Fed, which will put it to good use on behalf of British Columbia’s home-grown literary talent.

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3 Day Novel Contest Writer’s Retreat

3 Day Novel Contest Writer's Retreat on Beautiful Bowen Island

From a bright-eyed Friday, September 4th through to a groggy, shaken Tuesday the 8th morning, we’ll be closeting ourselves away in a secluded resort doing nothing but writing. The goal: to create a novel from start to finish in three straight days.

Every year the 3 Day Novel Contest comes around, and every year, something gets in the way. The purpose of this retreat is to ensure that over those three caffeine and stress-packed days, you have nothing else to do but write. And maybe slam some energy drinks.

You can also join this event on Facebook and you can join the Shebeen Club itself there as well.

Host:
Start Time:
Friday, 04 September 2009 at 17:00
End Time:
Tuesday, 08 September 2009 at 11:00
Location:
a resort within an easy ferry ride/drive of Vancouver
Town/City:
Beautiful BC
Phone: 778-235-0592 but email instead, PLEASE
Email:
lorraine.murphy at gmail.com

Reflections on Bowen Island, by Kris Krug

Reflections on Bowen Island, by Kris Krug

Meals, shelter, companionship and isolation as you choose: all are included in the price. We’re still in negotiations, but at this point it looks like the four days (checkout 11am Tuesday) will run us about $800, including your 3 Day Novel Contest registration fee of $50.

There is an absolute maximum of 20 attendees, so express your interest sooner rather than later.

Obviously, we’ve yet to lock all the deets down, so consider this a preliminary announcement and we’ll consider your ATTENDING/MAYBE/NOPE RSVP to be equally tentative until everything is ready for launch. We’ll contact everyone then with the official registration link, where you’ll be able to make your reservation via debit, paypal, or credit card. For now, just drop a comment or email to let us know you’re interested and we’ll keep you informed.

Oh, and by the way, we’re not officially affiliated with the 3 Day Novel Contest, although they have given us their blessing; we’re just big fans who’ve been thinking about doing this for years.

Bowen Bay by KK

Bowen Bay by KK

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