For the first time in its history, the Writers' Union of Canada will hold a regional meeting in Prince George.
The organization exists to advocate for the professional writers of books in this country. They exert pressure, some positive and some punitive, on the companies and agencies who purchase writing talents and also on levels of government to ensure a policy structure that favours professional writers as they inscribe Canada's culture line by line.
"There was a belief within the union that more outreach should be happening, so the B.C.-Yukon branch made a decision to do this in Prince George," said local author Vivien Lougheed. "This meeting is for writers who are aspiring to be members of the union, which means to be eligible you are published in book form. It's talking shop with a group of peers, is what it really is. That, for writers is very powerful. So much of what we do is alone."
The meeting is also centred on a main public event. Two of the union's members will headline a reading at Books and Company that same day. Gary Geddes is one of Canada's best loved poets while his wife Ann Eriksson is a novelist with several titles under her literary belt.
The two are on tour, with Eriksson promoting her new novel High Clear Bell of Morning while Geddes is promoting What Does a House Want?, a collection of his best work.
"Normally we would do these readings on our own but this is the first time we've had books out at the same time," said Geddes. "Instead of being off on our own, passing occasionally like ships in the night, we thought we would try to do it travelling together and it has worked out well."
"We flip a coin to see who goes first," said Eriksson. "Mostly we do about a half hour each and then take questions from the audience. It's all very casual and low key."
"I've memorized almost all of Ann's reading selections, and if I dropped dead in the middle of mine she could carry on and finish mine up from memory," Geddes said.
With Lougheed and her husband, the writer John Harris, based in Prince George, plus several other members of the union, and the Geddes-Ericksson team in town for their double-bill, it gave the union officials the motivation to use that date for the meeting.
Lougheed said the union has been helpful to her directly in the past, like when she had disputes over proper compensation for her services, and when her recent book Sidetracked inspired some legal saber-rattling, she was aided by the group with some professional advice. It is a practical and helpful organization, she said, and a great safety net for people like her and Harris who make their living from the craft of writing.
Another item on the agenda will be the changing world of publishing. Instead of just the printed book, writers have digital media to work with these days, so how does that affect their livelihoods? Especially in an age when, in order to get published by a major publishing company in Canada, a writer needs an agent. There are three available across the nation, none of them prone to accept clients who lack a track record of publications. Even Lougheed and Harris, each with a list of past works, are disinclined from pursuing major publishing companies for their latest works.
"We're having a blast. We're doing all our own publishing," Lougheed said. "Carol [Fairhurst, graphic designer] was over last night teaching us new ways of working with [publishing software] InDesign. I wake up each morning and go right away to our website to see what new hits I got from out in the world while I slept."
The union meeting happens at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, including a pot-luck dinner for all who participate, then the Geddes-Ericksson event for the public at 7 p.m. at Books and Company's coffeeshop.
For more information contact Lougheed via the "contact" feature on her website: http://www.chickenbustales.com.
