N Dub Rocks...Solid

I'm quite, quite sad to report that this week marked the end of my experience as a Writer in Residence at New Westminster Secondary School. I took on this gig when the amazing writer Meg Tilly moved away, and generously recommended me to teacher-librarian Sarah Wethered.

[Ed. Note: The photo of the school here is the only unaltered one of this posting -- all the others have been adjusted to obscure the kids' faces.] 






It was a sweet gig from the start -- amazing teachers to work with [Traci Cave and MJ Hunt, along with Sarah] and creative, funny, talented kids [primarily Ms. Cave's senior drama class and Ms Hunt's Creative Writing class].  Together we worked on the 'Rock Solid' project -- an anti-bullying dramatic production put on by the students of N Dub Secondary for kids in the feeder schools of the area.

I spent most of my time with MJ's creative writing teams who were putting their ideas on paper, taking the idea of bullying and letting it play out using themes including homophobia, racism, mysogeny and more.

The resulting plays were fantastic, and I was lucky enough to get to watch a couple of performances at Queensborough Middle School.

 I spent half my time with my eyes on the production and the other half watching the audience. I was blown away by the way these young men and women magically combined the power of the written word and the power of performance. The audience of young students sat spellbound. They laughed. They gasped. And yes -- they even cried.




The authors' words carried power, with conviction and clarity. The actors' skills took the ideas and philosophies expressed in the plays and gave them dimension and humanity.

The dedication and hard work of these playwrights and actors translated into something amazing to watch. The plays' inner themes of friendship, solidarity, and kid power rang through to the hearts of the audience. The messages you passed on against bullying, racism and homophobia were powerful and resonan.

I'm so proud and honoured to have had a chance to work with the teachers and students of NWSS. I spent some time with a few other classes, as well, and we shared ideas and conversation and a whole lotta gory, grotesque history, as is my wont. The whole experience has given me very fond memories of the school and the kids and teachers who give it heart.

Thanks for having me, N. Dub!

~kc

N Dubs Playwrights ROCK!

This, my friends, is Sarah Wethered.

She loves shoes.

She's a teacher.

She's a librarian.

And, as you can see from the giant yarn sceptre she's weilding -- she is a Killer Knitting Machine.

Sarah is also the person responsible for bringing me in as Writer-in-Residence at  N Dub -- aka New Westminster Secondary.

I've spent the night reading scripts produced by Ms Hunt's terrific writing class -- and they are fantastic. The kids were tasked with writing scripts for this year's Rock Solid production -- topic: bullying.

And they've done an amazing job. I'm hoping to get a few shots of Ms. Cave's drama class in rehearsal for the production later this month. Will post them here if I can.

An amazing experience -- I'm loving every minute!

~kc

This week...

Happy thanksgiving! On my SiWC blog, I put up a turkey [with alien antennae...to go with our theme this year], but here? I'm allowed to let my veggie side show. Yeah, I cooked a turkey breast for my family, but I also had Indian food -- rice and curry and pakoras and salad.

And I was thankful. Yum. Cranberry sauce goes really well with Indian cusine.

Mostly I was thankful for a fairly peaceful day, as now I dive full bore into conference prep. Mostly dealing with details and last-minute disasters, but it's a busy time. I've got Fall Book Harvest and Vancouver BookCamp on the agenda this week, too, along with another writer-in-residence visit lined up with New Westminster Secondary.

Plus, I picniked myself into red-eyed little green writer. Not sure it's a good colour for me...

~kc

Odds and Sods, This and That, Here and There

Quite a few balls in the air at the mo.

I'm currently Writer in Residence at New Westminster Secondary, and I spent some great time today brainstorming stories with Ms. Hunt's class. We'll be creating plays to be performed by Ms. Cave's drama class, and the process is a gas. More on that, and performance dates as time progresses.

The SiWC 2009 Road Show continues. No stops today, though, as I was dealing with writing contest [see annual bloody eyeballs post HERE] and plumbers and such.

Conference registrations are coming in fast and furious, which thrills me. We are hoping to make SiWC 2009 the best ever, and in light of Publisher's Weekly's view of how things are in the books & writers conference business these days, I am happy to report that SiWC 2009 is strong and healthy and rarin' to go.

For those who have very kindly inquired about the epic fail of a day yesterday; my new modem is en route, the plumber did finally show up today, but couldn't restore my water pressure, and most importantly -- my mama is resting comfortably, with her shoulder relocated to where a person's shoulder should be.

Readers in Calgary take note -- we [and by we, I mean James McCann, Lee Edward Fodi and myself] are planning our annual Fall Into Fantasy tour through your fine city in November. Check it out HERE on Facebook. If you'd like to have an incredible presentation at your school, please email our publicist Angela Crocker at angela@beachcombercommunications.com and she'll organize things for you.

Okay -- I'm sure there are a tonne of other topics I should touch on, but I've got to go read the last few entries in the SiWC 2009 writing contest!

What are YOU reading tonight? My friend Bernice Lever advises you to take a Canadian author to bed...

~kc