Novelist and short story writer Lynn Coady will spend two weeks on the UBC Okanagan campus from March 1 to 15, 2008. Students of UBC Okanagan and writers in the Kelowna area are invited to have their work critiqued and to participate in a one-on-one meeting with Coady. Coady will also give a free public reading at the downtown Kelowna library on Wednesday, March 5.
“Having a writer in residence in a community is a huge benefit to new writers,” says Nancy Holmes, Associate Professor in Creative Studies at UBC Okanagan. “Writers can get feedback on their work, talk about agents and publishing, and the writer’s life in general with someone who’s been there. We’re incredibly lucky to have Lynn Coady from Toronto to be UBC Okanagan’s first writer in residence.”
Appointments are limited to 16, with 10 of the 16 spaces reserved for UBC Okanagan students. If fewer than 10 students request appointments, these spaces will be given to other writers in the community.
Writers who would like an appointment with Coady should, between January 15 and January 31, 2008, send an e-mail to Nancy Holmes (nancy.holmes@ubc.ca) with an attachment in Word or rich text format (RTF). The attachment should be no more than 15 double-spaced pages of fiction or creative non-fiction. In the e-mail, provide contact information (name, student number if applicable, phone number, and e-mail address) and put “Writer in Residence” in the subject line of the e-mail.
Manuscripts will be reviewed by Creative Writing faculty, who will assign the appointments and notify writers of their appointment times.
A welcome reception for Coady, sponsored by the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, will be held from 4 to 6 p.m., Monday, March 3, in the Arts Building atrium at UBC Okanagan. The public is invited to meet Coady and share some wine and food.
Coady’s public reading is at 7 p.m., Wednesday, March 5, at the downtown Kelowna branch of the Okanagan Regional Library, 1380 Ellis St. Admission is free. The reading is sponsored by the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Okanagan Regional Library.
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