A diverse and exciting line-up of Canadian writers will be reading at The Lake: A Reading Series, presented by the Department of Creative Studies at UBC Okanagan from February to early April.
Most of the readings will take place on the UBC Okanagan campus, with one at the downtown Kelowna branch of the Okanagan Regional Library. On campus, the following writers will read from their work and participate in workshops and classes:
Wednesday, Feb. 11, 12 noon, Arts Building Atrium
Michael V. Smith, Creative Writing faculty member, will be launching his third book, Body of Text. His first novel, Cumberland (Cormorant Books), was nominated for the Amazon/Books in Canada First Novel Award. His book What You Can’t Have (Signature Editions) is a collection of poetry and was nominated for the ReLit Prize.Wednesday, Feb. 25, 7:30 p.m., Student Services Centre theatre SSC 026
Sheri-D Wilson, poet, playwright, performer, has seven collections poetry: She has published video poems and audio recordings and performed in festivals across North America, Europe and Africa. She is Artistic Director of The Calgary International Spoken Word Festival and Director of The Spoken Word Program at The Banff Centre.Wednesday, Mar. 18, 7:30 p.m., Student Services Centre theatre SSC 026
Warren Cariou’s memoir, Lake of the Prairies: A Story of Belonging won the Drainie-Taylor biography prize, was named a Globe and Mail Notable Book of the Year in 2002 and was nominated for the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction. His novel, The Exalted Company of Roadside Martyrs, was published by Coteau Books in 1999. A new novel, Exhaust, is forthcoming.Wednesday, Apr. 1, 7:30 p.m., Location to be announced (visit the What’s Happening at UBC Okanagan for more details: www.ubc.ca/okanagan/events)
Brian Bartlett and Alix Hawley will read together as a double bill. Bartlett has published five collections of poems, most recently The Watchmaker’s Table, as well as Wanting the Day: Selected Poems. He teaches at St. Mary’s University in Halifax. Hawley completed a Doctor of Philosophy degree at Oxford University. She also received an M.A. in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. Her first book,The Old Familiar, was published in 2008. She teaches at Okanagan College and lives in Kelowna.
The Okanagan Regional Library’s downtown Kelowna branch, 1380 Ellis St., will host a special reading with UBC Okanagan’s Writer in Residence Fred Stenson on Wednesday, Mar. 4, at 7:30 p.m. Stenson is the author of eight fiction and seven non-fiction books. His most recent work is The Great Karoo, which received a Governor General’s Award nomination for Fiction in 2008. Stenson is the director of the Wired Writing Studio at The Banff Centre. He lives in Cochrane, Alberta and this spring is the Writer in Residence at UBC Okanagan.
The readings are supported by the Department of Creative Studies at UBC Okanagan, the Canada Council for the Arts, UBC Okanagan Bookstore, the Okanagan Institute, Okanagan Regional Library, UBC Okanagan’s Equity Office, and the League of Canadian Poets.
Please contact Nancy Holmes at 250-807-9369 for more information.
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