WordsThaw literary festival notes by Leanne Dyck

On Saturday, February 22nd I woke at 5:20 a.m. to catch the 7:05 a.m. ferry. I would be travelling with my friend and fellow writing group member, Amber Harvey and her husband.

We spent an enjoyable day at the University of Victoria attending...

 My only suggestion, and it's a suggestion often made by visitors to Mayne Island, more signage please. Amber and I weren't familiar with the campus. We'd been told that it would be in the Human and Social Development Building. We found the building. But finding an open door proved to be a lot harder. As we waited, doubt crept up and stabbed us in the gut: It's 9:30 a.m. Why are we the only people here? Had Words Thaw been cancelled? Finally, I walked around the entire building and found an open door. A few well placed signs would have arrested our concerns.
Any way, the rest of the day more than made up for that small oversight. Volunteers were cheerful and helpful--a winning combination.

Author as Avator:  Social Media and blogging (10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.)

Panelists:  Will Johnson, Sarah Petrescu, and Emily Shorthouse

Moderator:  John Threlfall

Writers, journalists and publishers increasingly appreciate the importance of social media and blogging to their processional aspirations. The panelists will talk about how to develop a following and sense of community through social media and what best practices apply to this increasingly more visible arena of writerly activity.

I'd like to thank the panelists and moderator, I gained tons of helpful information. Here's what I learnt...

most valuable social networking tools:  twitter, blogging, facebook and YouTube

All authors should have a website. Building an on-line presence is very important for authors. But be ever aware of how you are representing yourself. You want to come across as a person but avoid appearing negative in anyway.

Think about why you want to be on social media--who you want to follow and who you want to be followed by. How much time do you want to spend? (rule of thumb:  1 per day twitter/ 1 to 2 per day on facebook). Invest time in planning before you interact. And spend time maintaining your social media. (i.e. unfollow on Twitter, etc.)

Social media is about sharing and building community. So 30% should be about you--70% should be about supporting other people. Remember social media means that you're in the public. And think about what you're audience wants.

If you receive a negative review don't call attention to it on-line. Instead the best method is to briefly mention that you were reviewed and the publication.

You can post published articles/stories on your blog. [I do this and link back to the publisher's website.]

Plan your blog posts and incorporate visuals.

Maximum word counts for blog articles should be around 700 words. [My articles have been getting a little long, as of late. I'm going to work on shortening them.]

I asked for useful twitter hash tags. I received:  #librarian; #canlit, #bookblogger

Twitter:  if you want to connect with someone through twitter and have the public see it use:  .(dot) name

if you want to send something directly to someone through twitter and keep it private us:  @name

Twitter is an especially effective tool when promoting events and books.

Blogs to check out:  

What If I Don't Have A Pretty Face

Cabin Goddess

The Inner Life of our Words:  Writing and the Human Spirit (1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.)

Panelists:  Marita Dachsel, Tim Liburn and Jane Munro

Moderator:  Andrew Rippin

Is there a relationship between poetry and the inner life? And if there is, what form or direction--or directions--does it take? Does writing and reading probe the spiritual life (or lives) of the self, another person, a community, or even an age? Can poetry be a catalyst to discovering and expressing not only "what we know" but "what we want to know"?

This was a thought-provoking, mindful discussion. So mostly I just sat there captivated and mesmerized. Here's what I heard...focused on...

Something you've read knows you deeply; through this experience, you've been made stronger.

Anything truly attended to is a spiritual practice.

The act of making art is key.

Something is growing inside me
Occupying my body
I don't know what it is 
It absorbs me
Between me and it--there is commonality but difference

General discussion about the muse and general agreement--amongst the panellists--that she/he/it doesn't exist. 
Instead...
writing is hard work
writing is the courage to waste time

Poetry is how she figures out life and a way to answer questions that she has

Poetry makes a life that is identifiable out in the world that is close to her inner life.

Writers and poets are making sense of things not recording things

Not everything I write needs to be read by another

From a member of the audience:  I need to be centred so that life flows through me. Life flows through me onto the page. Our gift is to listen to the soul. A surprise of the writing process. The whole purpose of writing is connecting soul to soul.
Asked panelists to comment on soul.
Panelists replied by saying that her words were beautiful but that they had problems with the terminology she used--namely, 'soul'. One panelist said that she equated 'soul' to 'creativity'. 

***
Sharing my author journey...

Victoria Festival of Authors reviewed by Leanne Dyck

on my way to the Victoria Writers Festival

Gibson Auditorium, Young Building, Camosun College, Lansdowne Campus

Victoria Festival of Authors is a three-day event (October 17 to 19). Due to logistics and finances, I was only able to attend one panel discussion.

Love Familiar:  Our Families, Ourselves

Panelists:  Israeli-Canadian short story writer Ayelet Tsabari (The Best Place on Earth)

Poet Matt Rader (A Doctor Pedalled Her Bicycle Over the River Arno)

Novelist Dede Crane 

Short story writer Shaena Lambert (Oh, My Darling)

Host:  Times Colonist columnist Jack Knox

This event commenced with the authors taking the podium to read from their work.

Dede Crane shared a scene from her novel between a daughter and her aging mother.

Ayelet Tsabari’s story focused on an ethnically diverse family and their differing views on raising sons.

Matt Rader read two poems.

Shaena Lambert’s story focused on a wife’s open marriage and tension-ridden relationship with her husband.

After each reading, Jack Knox asked thought-provoking, weighty questions that left this island gal wishing she’d paid more attention in dictation class.

Some of what I heard and my pen was able to capture…

Ayelet spoke of how her view of ethnic diversity has changed now that she’s a mother. She was raised in Israel—she’s raising her son in T.O. His experiences will be different than hers and this will no doubt create a gap between them.

She said that she wanted to show a different side of Israel, a more personal one. That’s why she wrote about family.

Matt said that it has been his experience that people read themselves into your writing but miss the actual references.

Shaena’s cast of characters have vastly different backgrounds from hers. When asked how she builds characters that are so far away, she answered by saying that the characters come to her in snippets; they grow to live on the page. Once they begin to talk she sees them clearly.

The panel discussion concluded with questions from the audience—from their lips to my ear and down to my pen. Things may have been lost or gained in translation…

Question:  Is it possible to write about simpatico?

Answers:  -It’s important, for the sake of the story, to show contrast.

-It’s important to grow to simpatico.

-Simpatico is what the characters are seeking but they must journey to find it.

-Similarity already exists, that’s why I am drawn to write about them.

Question:  Do you have a right to impose your truth on your family by writing about them?

Answer:  -You have a right to express your point of view

-Be brave, honest storytellers

-Tell your small ‘t’ truth

-Try to take risks as a writer

-By telling your truth it may lead to healing

Panelists:  Shaena Lambert, Dede Crane, Ayelet Tsabari, Matt Rader