Whistler Readers and Writers Festival Blog

By Libby McKeever,
Sept. 28, 2014

“Individually we are one drop, together we are an ocean.”
– Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, 1892-1927

Whistler, it’s a place where you can make anything happen. This was one of the many reasons why my husband and I decided to stay in Whistler over 30 years ago. The town was still pretty new and locals endeavoured to flush out the offering of services. If you saw a gap, you worked to fill it. A few like-minded people who shared common goals would get together and hash out ideas in someone’s living room and make it happen.

This has been the Whistler norm since its conception. Joan Richoz, Paul and Jane Burrows and other bibliophiles began the Whistler Library Association in 1986, Linda Marshall and fellow thespians started Whistler Players back in 1989 and Stella Harvey formed the Whistler Writers Group with other wordsmiths in her living room in 2001. More recently Stephen Vogler and a diversity of other artists began The Point Artist-Run Centre in 2009. They pooled their combined strengths and collaborated.

There are many more examples of these collaborative processes. Some of these enterprises (and many more), exist under different umbrellas today, but the original goals have been met through creative partnerships, engaging like-minded folks and organizations who’ve sought opportunities and reached their objectives.

Another wonderful thing about living in Whistler is that we are removed. Slightly away from the urban hubbub, our feet set between forest and pavement. One downfall of this separation is the cost of bringing in creative talent to complement our local pool. Collaboration between the Whistler Writers Group and the Whistler Public Library began nearly 10 years ago. It was a natural synergy, the Writers Group wanted to include children and teen authors in their annLibrary Colaborationual Writers Festival, not only to engage adults interested in writing for this group, but also to connect with budding authors. This partnership was further extended to the high school, a natural three-way affiliation. Last year, senior English classes and in particular First Nations students came to hear Richard Wagamese speak and schools also received copies of his book, Indian Horse. This year some teachers have taken this collaboration further and their students are studying Joseph Boyden’s Orenda, Three Day Road or his short stories prior to their session with Boyden.

Collaborations should serve all parties equally. By bringing authors to the school and the library, the Festival was able to expand its reach, foster young writers and connect authors with their audience. The library and the school in turn were able to offer programming that was outside their budgets. It just makes sense to provide programs in a place where the audience already is. When it comes to collaboration in the writing community, The Whistler Writers Group recognizes the benefit of nurturing young bourgeoning writers. A sustainable influx of people who love to write, explore words and put their thoughts down on paper, in other words, people who come to the Festival.

In the past nine years, the Festival has partnered with the Public Library and often Whistler Secondary to bring authors up the highway. These authors have included, Mel Hurtig, Paulette Bourgeois, Sara Leach, CC Humphries, Terrance Young, Susan Juby, Meg Tilley and Jill Barber. Individually it is often hard to reach objectives and can be unsustainable, but through collaboration with like-minded parties, goals are achievable.

As part of the 2014 Whistler Readers and Writers Festival, Sara Leach will present “Writing for Young Readers” at the Fairmont Chateau on Oct. 18 at 8:30 a.m., and “Writing Workshop for Young Writers” on October 18th, at the Whistler Public Library (must be under 19 to attend). Jill Barber will present “Music is for Everyone” Oct. 17 at 4 p.m. at the Whistler Public Library. Both library events are free.

Libby McKeever is a member of the Vicious Circle. She is a keen recreational writer of youth literature and the Youth Services Librarian at the Whistler Public Library.