A Poet’s Nanaimo
If You Are Reading This
If You are Reading This is Sheila Norgate’s a/mem.oir/ish, a book of personal essays published under her own imprint: LIP (Ladies Institute Press). As Sheila told me in a phone conversation, she’s a “one girl band” having written the book, designed it (including the...
Death at the Savoy
I’m a fan of mysteries particularly detective fiction by the likes of Elizabeth George, Peter Robinson, Val McDermid, Michael Connelly, Jonathan Kellerman, David Baldacci, Louise Penny, Kate Atkinson and so many more going back to P. D. James and Agatha Christie....
Memoir as Medicine
Nancy Slonim Aronie is the founder of the Chilmark Writing Workshop on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts where she lives. She’s been facilitating Writing from the Heart workshops for forty-five years at various venues such as Kripalu, Omega and Esalen. In her new...
Artists in Residence
Artists in Residence (Chronicle Books, 2021) is a book that features the homes of seventeen artists "and their living spaces, from Giverny to Casa Azul." I really appreciate Melissa Wyse’s writing with her enthusiasm for and fresh approach to her subjects. And the...
The Quiet in Me
Patrick Lane often greeted poets in the reception area of Honeymoon Bay Lodge on Lake Cowichan, Vancouver Island, when he led poetry retreats there. He’d also help carry our luggage to our rooms. I was remembering that about Patrick, who died in March 2019, when I...
The Happy Writing Book
“I feel unmoored when I’m not writing. Incomplete. Not quite myself.” Those are the words of Elise Valmorbida, author of The Happy Writing Book: Discovering the Positive Power of Creative Writing (Laurence King, 2021). I definitely relate to what Valmorbida says...