In partnership with the League of Canadian Poets and Poetry*Hornby Island, Hornby Arts is pleased to present the inaugural Words on the Salish Sea Literary Festival.
Fourteen writers are invited to Hornby Island from across Canada, including participants from Ontario, Alberta, Kelowna, Vancouver, Victoria, Nanaimo, and the surrounding region. They will be joined by six Hornby writers for two days of public readings, conversations, and a shared meal.
Taking place over only two days, the festival features a packed schedule beginning with readings the afternoon of Friday, March 13 and a full day of public programming, including lunch, on Saturday, March 14.
Over the past thirteen years, Poetry* Hornby Island has brought more than 120 writers to the island to read with, and connect with, local writers.
We are proud to present the following readers to this year’s festival:
Martha Attema (BC), Michelle Barker (BC), Julie Berry (ON), Joan Crate (AB), Nancy Holmes (BC), Sonnet L’Abbe (BC), Judy LeBlanc (BC), Sadiqa de Meijer (ON), Billeh Nickerson (BC), Melanie Siebert (BC), Kelly Shepherd (AB), Matt Rader (BC), Christine Walde (BC), Clea Young (BC)
and our Hornby readers:
Gjoa Andrichuk, Pheonix Bee, Kitty Radtke, Julia Rossignol, Diane Smith, Pyx Sutherland
Program
Under the professional and dedicated guidance of Cornelia Hoogland, Artistic Director, Emma Walter, Project Coordinator, and Melissa Moore, Executive Director of Hornby Arts, Words on the Salish Sea was born.
Detailed schedule coming soon.
On Friday afternoon, six local writers will take the stage. Their presentation is based on Cosmic Bowling, a publication by Cornelia Hoogland and Ted Goodden. In the year Cornelia was unable to teach the New Horizons writing program, these six women studied one poem from Cosmic Bowling each week and created their own work in response.
A featured event on Saturday morning (9:30–10:15 a.m.) is a live criticism session, in which three poets each present a poem of their choice—either their own or another featured writer’s—and speak about how the poem works, focusing on craft, structure, and effect. The session is designed as a conversation with the audience, offering practical and accessible insights into the making of poems.