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Public welcome!

How to Sustain Characters in a Series and Keep the Spark Alive

with

Debra Purdy Kong

Sat., October 5th 2024

1:30-4PM

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Whether you’re thinking about writing several novels featuring the same character(s) or have already written several books in a series, sustaining your characters—and the series itself—can be overwhelming. This workshop offers strategies to plan, plot, and organize your work without losing your momentum, or your mind.

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Debra Purdy Kong has written eleven novels and novellas, including the 7-book Casey Holland mystery series set in Metro Vancouver. For the past twelve years, she’s been a facilitator for the Creative Writing Workshops through Port Moody;s Recreation Program. She’s also a blogger, avid reader and reviewer, and a board member of the Delta Literary Arts Society.

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Writers Meeting Writers Since 2013

 Our Mission

To increase knowledge and skill in the literary arts

To provide support and encouragement

To exchange ideas

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Our regular workshops or presentations are available to the public for FREE

On ZOOM or IN-PERSON: Program Room,

Terry Fox Library,

2150 Wilson Ave.,

Port Coquitlam, BC V3C 6J5

 

To attend, please send an e-mail - STATING Zoom or In person to: 

tri.city.wordsmiths@gmail.com 

**More Events/Dates:**

Public welcome!

Effectively creating and representing diverse characters

with

Colleen van Niekirk

Sat., December 7th 2024

1:30-4PM

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Effectively creating and representing diverse characters: characters of colour, of other genders or differing sexual orientations is necessary work that, to (greatly) paraphrase Toni Morrison, 'permits intimacy with the Other'. But how does a writer achieve this in our current landscape, where action and reaction to some works representing these characters, particularly when published by white writers, can quickly become incendiary. By focusing on the three parties who are critical to the act of reading: the writer, the reader and the characters themselves, Colleen will shed some light on how to tread down this road when creating Black characters specifically, by offering both insights and actions that writers keen to do this well, may consider.​

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​Colleen van Niekerk is the South African-Canadian author of 'A Conspiracy of Mothers'. This debut literary novel is set in South Africa in 1994 at the brink of democracy for that country. It grapples with the fallout of apartheid as an exiled woman tries to find her way back to her home and family. Colleen's second novel - still in pre-publication - deals with the question of what it means to be Black for a mixed-race family in a modern North American context. Originally from Cape Town, South Africa, she lives in Vancouver, BC.

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Healing through Writing, Storytelling, and Art

with

Carmy Stubbs

February 2025 **Date TBD**

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The presentation will show how we can use writing, storytelling, and art to heal and/or transform our lives (no specific "talent needed in any of these areas)

 

I'll share my own healing process with grief where I used poetry, short story writing and video (digital storytelling), and also how drawing became a tool for healing and transformation as I wrote The Six Knowings of ASAIRA. 

We'll have interactive exercises for people to do in the workshop. 

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Carmy is a Tri-City writer whose first book is The Six Knowings of ASAIRA.

Due to improving COVID-19 conditions, we now offer in-person presentations. We also continue to offer ZOOM as an alternate way to attend. Contact us for details at tri.city.wordsmiths@gmail.com 

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