Monday, June 25, 2007
The Writers' Show - Writers’ Show - 25 - Andrea MacPherson
Andrea MacPherson has written four books: two novels, When She Was Electric (Raincoast, 2003) and Beyond the Blue (Random House, 2007) and two poetry collections, Natural Disasters (Palimpsest Press, 2007) and Away (Signature Editions, 2008). When She Was Electric was listed No. 6 on CBC Canada Reads: People's Choice. She is the reviews editor for Event, the literary magazine and teaches creative writing and English with the University College of the Fraser Valley and Douglas College.
Topics: inspiration from ancestors; character voice; the role of the manuscript editor & the lightbulb moment that may have saved the book; adding layers and complexity to characters; Quill & Quire, Canada's magazine of book news and reviews.
Download MP3 of this EpisodeMonday, June 18, 2007
The Writers' Show - Writers’ Show - 24 - Bill Schermbrucker
Fiction writer and consummate book reviewer Bill Schermbrucker was born in Kenya and is the winner of an Ethel Wilson Fiction Award here in B.C. Frequent jurist - Canada Council grants to artists and writers and this year's B.C. Book Prizes fiction jurist - he has fascinating information about how juries are selected and prizes decided. Bill Schermbrucker will run a Memoir Writing workshop in Banff in 2008.
Topics: jurying for book awards and prizes; Canada Council & BC grants to artists and writers; the process of reviewing books versus jurying them; the number of book awards in Canada; about Canadian writer Matt Cohen, obituary remarks by Margaret Atwood in Maclean's, through The Canadian Encyclopedia Matt Cohen; writing for Event, the literary magazine, published from Douglas College, New Westminster; resource site about how to write a thoughtful book review Dalhousie University Libraries. (The "how to" fiction reviewing starts on the second page).
Monday, June 11, 2007
The Writers' Show - Writers’ Show - 23 - Lynne Van Luven
Associate professor at the University of Victoria, teaching creative non-fiction, Lynne Van Luven is also an editor and anthologist. Her latest project was Nobody's Mother: Life without kids, so popular it was nominated for the B.C. Booksellers' Choice Award, about which she says, "The fun was plotting it out, making a proposal that would get someone's attention." She started in journalism, has worked as a books editor, commentator, critic for CBC radio.
Topics: the art and craft of writing creative non-fiction (also called literary journalism), the role of the editor, what makes a memoir work, the generic review, literature as product, following through on ideas for books, writing proposals, payment for book reviews, mistakes writers make, Myrnah Kostash, Truman Capote, Leon Rooke, the role of one of Canada's most prestigious literary journals The Malahat Review in the development of writers, Rita Moir, Show #6, author of The Windshift Line and Buffalo Jump,) Rita Moir's show.
Monday, June 04, 2007
The Writers' Show - Writers’ Show - 22 - Terence Young
About writing short stories: "To me, the short story is the poem of fiction." His poetry and prose have been widely nominated, including the recent BC Book Prize nomination for his poetry collection Moving Day. He reads from his collection of stories Rhymes with Useless, nominated for the Danuta Gleed Award, and talks about the international success of The Claremont Review, a journal for writers aged 13-19 that he co-founded. Orca Book Publishers is bringing out the best of The Claremont Review this fall.
Topics: defeating the internal critic; where inspiration comes from; The Claremont Review; the value of imitating favourite writers; American writer Joy Williams; writing about what you don't know; the BC Book Prize party; William Deverell, crime writer & host of the BC Book Prizes; story beginnings; dialogue; the connection between AbeBooks.com and The Claremont Review. To learn more about Orca Book Publishers, Victoria, go to Outstanding books for young people. To learn more about one of Canada's most respected poets, go to P.K. Page. Learn more about poet Patricia Young
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