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Newfoundland Writers’ Guild

P. O. Box 1133 – St. John’s Newfoundland and Labrador, A1C 5M5

The Page

Date: July 2014

Editorial

Finally summer! And finally our Spring / Summer edition of the Page.

This editorial is a tribute to members of the Guild for their accomplishments — firstly to those

honoured at the Brunch on April 6th and secondly to those mentioned in the Members’ News

below. Thanks also to the many unsung people who make the Guild work by listening, being

supportive and by just being present.

The diversity of writing interests amongst Guild members is amazing: writing, of course, but also

editing and the promotional work needed to take published work “out there”, attendance at the

Writers’ Union of Canada’s AGM, at storytelling sessions and the many other writing events not

itemized here plus the billeting of a poet with all the coffee fumes and poetry that would produce.

The writing itself ranges from the academic and the historical to memoir and to a variety of short

and long fiction and poetry. Successes include publication and re-publication, both in print and on

line, the creating of blogs and the winning of contests.

Continuing to write in the face of chemotherapy deserves a special tribute, so a special wish to

Kate Evans, both for a return to good health and for the completion of her book.

Congratulations to the Guild and all who sail in her.

Susan Sinnott

The Editorial committee for this issue of The Page was: Esther Brown, Lily Bursey, Susan Sinnott Sheila Sullivan and Elizabeth Tobin, with technical assistance from Georgina Queller.

We would like to recognize the leadership and outstanding efforts of Roberta Buchanan and Lillian Bouzane, members of the original 2013\2014 newsletter committee who together with Esther Brown and Georgina Queller took on the responsibility of once again getting The Page out to the membership.

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THE PAGE Committee is hoping the following column, THE ART AND BUSINESS OF WRITING, will be a permanent fixture of our newsletter; to insure it becomes so, the person who writes the last column will be responsible for securing the name of the person to write the next one. The name will be announced at the end of each column. The topic is broad enough to allow you to write about any aspect of writing. The next column could be about your tax return.

THE ART AND BUSINESS OF WRITING: Procrastination

I write for the love of writing; of creating something from nothing - so to speak. I

love taking a thought, often random, and turning it into a poem or short piece of prose. I especially love giving the mundane a completely new take, making it fresh and new.

So, if that’s true, why do I always, or mostly always, put off my writing. I can come up with more reasons not to write than to write: the mail is here; I’m waiting for a call; the Olympics are on and Kaetlyn will soon be skating; curling is on; I have a book to read for book club; I think I need to use the bathroom. I know what Stephen King says about reading - that when we read we are also writing because reading makes us better writers - but that can only be taken so far and I’ve gotten all the mileage that’s available out of that. It’s nice to think I’m also writing when I’m climbing Mount Doom with Frodo or chasing criminals around Britain with Inspector Rebus or falling in love with some impossibly handsome character in a romance novel, but, if I’m serious with myself, I will admit that reading is just another diversion that keeps me from writing.

So what to do about this penchant for procrastination? For starters, admit my problem and face it. I am a procrastinator. There. It’s in the open. Now I can’t as comfortably put off writing. When I write, I remember why I write and that is what I must keep in mind when I tell myself that reading the latest article on rare grasses in the Outer Hebrides is something I must do at this moment, or when I chase dust bunnies - who have lived happily undisturbed under my bed and bureaus for months - instead of writing the poem that is pulsing through my right brain and crying to be let out.

I should remind myself:

1) how much I love to write; 2) how much I love the challenge of finding the just-right word to express my thought; 3) that meeting this challenge can be breathtaking when everything

comes together; 4) that when I write is when I feel most in touch with the real me. More practical things I can do to avoid procrastination:

~ set a specific time to be at the keyboard and stick to it. Don’t make appointments for this time unless unavoidable.

~ make sure there is ink in the printer and paper ready for the first draft, last draft or whatever stage.

~ jot down ideas as they come and leave them by the computer before I

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go to bed so they are ready for the morning or for whatever time I have set for writing ~ don’t call it “work.” Nothing kills my urge to write as quickly as

thinking that this is work. Skilled skiers or skaters always say they do their best performances when they are having fun.

So have fun everyone. Now off to my comfortable chair to watch Patrick Chan.

Bobbie Brennan

Hilda Murray will be writing the next article in this series.

Profiles of the new board members (continued)

Joan Scott- Communications How did you become involved in the Guild? I got involved in the Guild through the encouragement of Roberta Buchanan. I expect quite a few of us would say that. This is my second stint on the Board, having been President and Treasurer. Tell us something about yourself. I am a mother and grandmother. On the May 24th weekend, with some Guild members up the shore, I had the great good fortune to share in preserving the life of a baby otter who, sadly, was separated from Mama. A makeshift formula and delivery system was used from Saturday morning until Monday lunchtime, when the human-hand sized babe could be passed over to the generous Melanie Whelan of Animal Care at Salmonier Nature Park, who will care for him/her at home, or work, 24 hours a day. I can’t wait to talk to Melanie when she next returns to her work. If all goes well the babe, who we named Fortunata/us, will be part of the display there this summer. Admission is free. What are you currently reading? Often I am reading The Times Literary Supplement, a weekly published in the UK and the US. It is a collection of mainly reviews of books and performances of the arts. I am also browsing in a volume of biography about the fascinating George Bernard Shaw. I enjoyed reading the Shaw plays my Dad brought home from the public library for himself, when I was young. Then there are two books I bought at talks given by some young activists, sponsored by the Arts Faculty of MUN; Jaggi Singh,and Leanne Simpson. Jaggi does not have a book yet but Leanne has written Islands of De-colonial Love. It includes many short pieces of poetry and prose, which she calls, Stories and Songs. Many are musical collaborations which can be downloaded. They record her growth of awareness about her identity as a Missasagua Nishnaabe through experiences with her family and beyond. For me it is a real learning experience. At the same talks I also picked up The Winter We Danced by The Kino-nda- niimi Collective. The Idle No More Movement seems to be the heart of this one, although I have yet to read it. Also, as a member of The Book Group I have recently read The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout, The Orenda by Joseph Boyden, and J.K. Rowling's The Casual Vacancy.

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Grace Bavington- Member-at-Large

How did you become involved in the Guild? I was invited a number of years ago to visit the Guild and I did so when we met in people's houses. I waited a number of years and Roberta Buchanan suggested that I join so I did. Tell us something about yourself. What I would like to say about myself is that I am still in awe of anyone who has the determination, discipline and creativity to write a book and to share their work by putting it 'out there'. What are you currently reading? Right now I am reading The Shell of the Tortoise by Don McKay. It is a challenging, learned book so I am reading it slowly. Don is a well-known poet but this is a book of essays on a broad range of subjects. I first became acquainted with McKay when he came to speak to the Guild at the Sunshine camp fun day a few years ago. I have just started reading a novel called The Stonehenge Letters by Harry Karlinsky. I read Karlingsky's first novel, The Evolution of Inanimate Objects - The Life and collected Works of Thomas Darwin. Compiled by Sheila Sullivan

Honours & Awards Brunch The Newfoundland Writers’ Guild Annual Honours & Awards Brunch was held April 6, 2014, in the beautiful Outport Room of the Sheraton Hotel. A total of thirty-four members and guests joined in our celebration of this year's Honourees. In keeping with the venue a marvelous Newfoundland style breakfast was served - with the exception of fried bologna. The staff graciously changed our choice to bacon to accommodate those who needed a gluten free diet. However we were served the best baked beans on the island and of course what would our breakfast be without our famous toutons and molasses. These were just some of the many ways the staff went out of their way to ensure we had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.

Our Honourees

Laura Morry Williams: Over the Fence: Stories From Outport Newfoundland, DRC Publishing.

Bernice Morgan: Random Passage (new edition), Breakwater Books.

Jennifer Morgan : Almost Home: The Sinking of the S.S. Caribou, Breakwater Books ; “Inshallah” (essay), one of three winners - EVENT Magazine, 2013 Creative Non- Fiction Contest.

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Honourable Mention

Laura Jackson, Editor: Some Days I Feel Like a Fox: Works of Short Non- Fiction by Lawrence Jackson. E-Book, Lulu.com.

Jo Shawyer: “Why Did Sarah Kelly Change Her Mind?” a Short story on CBC Canada Writes website; also Article (3) AgriView, vol.7, issues 2 and 3.

The honoured members were presented with their certificates and given very fine introductions by: Alison Melvin (Laura); Lillian Bouzane (Bernice); Trudy Morgan Cole (Jennifer); Georgina Queller (Laura J.) and Carol Mitchell (Jo).

Acknowledgements

Other Guild members present who had recently published works, including poems, short stories and articles, were also acknowledged: Sheliah Roberts, Kathy Knowles, Joan Macintosh, Gerry Chafe Rubia, Ellen Reid and Lillian Bouzane.

Life Membership

In recognition of their significant contribution and many years of dedication to the Guild, Lily Bursey and Roberta Buchanan were inducted as Life Members. Hilda Chaulk Murray (Lily), Helen Fogwill Porter and Joan Scott (Roberta) gave lovely citations for the new Life Members.

One of the highlights of the afternoon was Gerry Rubia’s recitation of her poem “I am Maimed”. With introduction and encouragement from Jennifer Morgan, our beloved Gerry regaled us as only she can. Special thanks to our organizers: Sheila Sullivan, Susan Sinnott, Lily Bursey, Elizabeth Tobin and Emcee Carol Mitchell. Thank you also to Georgina Queller who prepared the Awards Certificates and Ellen Reid who provided us with photographs of the event. Esther Brown

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Members’ News

Mike Martin and Baico Publishing are pleased to announce the release of the third book in the Sgt. Windflower Mystery Series, Beneath the Surface. In the third installment of the Sgt. Windflower Mystery series, Sgt. Windflower is back on the scene of the crime. He is joined again by his trusted ally Eddie Tizzard, his rock-steady girl, Sheila, and a wide cast of supporters. Together they face down an international crime syndicate operating on the East Coast, and help Windflower deal with the modern challenges of sexual harassment and corruption while re-discovering his roots and inner strength.

(Beneath the Surface is available from Chapters/Indigo/Coles and through the Downhomer network in Newfoundland and Labrador. It is also available as an e-book through Amazon.com)

Mike Martin Author of the Sgt. Windflower Mystery Series www.beneaththesurface.co You can follow Sgt. Windflower on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheWalkerOnTheCapeReviewsAndMore

Ellen Reid: I have had numerous poems in the Senior newsletter. This is a publication that is distributed by Senior's Outreach. Any Guild members who might wish to contribute may do so by contacting Jan Lily jlynnlilly@hotmail.com. I've also been continuing my walkabout blog...http://towniegirl100walks.blogspot.ca/. Hoping to have this blog finished by the beginning of July. Sheilah Roberts: My new book Rain, Drizzle, and Fog published by Boulder Press with foreword by CBC Meteorologist Ryan Snoddon, will be coming out, hopefully, end of June. It goes to the Designer for the final layout next week. Yay! The book is an historical look at weather and weather events in Newfoundland and Labrador from 1600s onwards. It contains weather trivia, folklore, stories of storms and lots of archival pictures.

Susan Sinnott: I was delighted to receive the Percy Janes First Novel Award for an unpublished manuscript Just Like Always. This took place at the Arts and Letters Awards ceremony in The Rooms on May 3rd 2014. Cathy Daley: My poem “Birding” placed second in the Sparks Literary Festival poetry competition at MUN in January , and I was honoured with an invitation to read it at the festival. Elizabeth Tobin: I attended the Poetry Month Celebration organized by the A.C. Hunter Library in cooperation with the Writers’ Alliance on April 24 th. A fun evening. (I was, however, somewhat surprised to discover a photograph of my reading in the Spring Edition of WORD!) On a different note - during a brief visit to Tennessee in mid-May, I learned that Knoxville, TN has quite an active Writers’ Guild that meets on the first Thursday of every month. Esther Brown, Lily Bursey, Susan Sinnott and Sheila Sullivan have volunteered to

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serve on the Guild’s social committee (2013-2014) and the newsletter committee for the Spring\ Summer edition. Marilyn Porter and Linda Cullum have co-edited a book of essays on women, family and class in St John’s 1900-1950. Creating this Place was recently published by McGill Queen’s University Press. The book offers some of the many ways in which women influenced how Newfoundland developed in the crucial years between the two World Wars. While not strictly chronological, Creating This Place shows us vibrant culture and activities of women, especially women in St John’s. Marilyn Porter contributed one essay in the collection – on how the denominational schools in St John’s educated middle and upper class girls to their place in society. Linda Cullum’s two essays focus on the Jubilee Guilds and their contribution to nation building, and on the lives of domestic servants in the large St John’s homes. Other essays include one by Helen Woodrow on Judith Salter Earle; by Margot Duley on Armine Nutting Gosling; by Sonja Boon on women’s letters to Smallwood; by Bonnie Morgan on women organizing in church congregations; by Vicki Hallett on Phebe Florence Miller and by Karen Stanbridge on the Junior Thrift Clubs. Judy Gibson reports that she has been attending the Storytelling Circle at the Crow’s Nest held on the second Tuesday night of every month, 7-9:30; fee, three dollars per session. The stories people tell can be from their own lives, or made up, or from other storytellers past and present. The only stipulation is that one must not ‘read’ one’s story, but rely on one’s memory. There is a wide range of subjects and styles and all are most enjoyable. Roberta Buchanan billeted poet Susan McMaster for TWUC (The Writers' Union of Canada) AGM. Great talks about poetry, and especially about Susan's moving book of poems, Crossing Arcs: Alzheimer's, My Mother, and Me. Highly recommended. Hilda Chaulk Murray: Several things happened in May that were closely tied to Flanker’s reprinting of their publication of More Than 50 %: For the Mother’s Day edition of the Newfoundland Herald there was an article called “Girl for the 20th Century”; on May 7th I had a brief conversation with Jonathan Richler on “Nightline” about More Than 50%; on May 9th I had a signing at Costco from 2-4 p.m. and later that afternoon the interview I had done earlier with Jamie Baker was on the “Fisheries Broadcast.” From May 12-17, I was in Ottawa because I had been invited to give a training session on root cellars by the curator of the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum exhibit titled “Food Preservation: The Science You Eat.” This exhibit will be in place for five years. All the different ways food has been preserved over the years are shown for across Canada. They have built an Elliston Root Cellar to show how vegetables were preserved in NL. In addition to my training talk I had 48 slides showing root cellars from different parts of Newfoundland– all different. I went to Bay Roberts to Eastlink studio there on May 20th. Marc Warren interviewed me for the show he hosts. Told me it would air a week from that Thursday but I don’t have access to

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Eastlink so I don’t know what happened after my interview. On Monday, May 26, I gave a talk to the Women’s Institute of St. John’s based on Cows Don’t Know It’s Sunday. Every seat in the room was taken. A great audience. I am working with renewed vigour on the second go at placing the farms on the landscape. Research never ends! Doreen Ayre says “Hello” to everyone. She continues to follow the Guild’s news on her iPod.

Kate Evans:

Dear Guilders: It has been a while since I've seen you all but as some of you know my winter came with surprises. A routine check turned up a cancer in my uterus. As luck would have it the cancer was early but sadly the type was (is) aggressive. I had surgery followed by a holiday to recuperate followed by chemotherapy. Needless to say I was shocked but I'm now happy to say that I have finished two of six treatments and am tolerating side effects well. I consider myself to be very lucky to have had an early diagnosis, to be receiving wonderful care, to have family and so many good friends, including yourselves who are so thoughtful and concerned for my well-being. Thank you all. It truly means a lot to me. The book is on hold right now but I am dabbling from time to time trying to work out how far I can push the chemo brain syndrome before it begins to babble and blunder! My concentration is poor and memory worse than usual!! But, it is almost finished and hopefully will be ready to go to Breakwater in the early fall. That is the goal. Hope you are all doing well and that you enjoy the Eastport Retreat. Write away! Kate Helen Porter: Helen attended the Annual General Meeting of The Writers Union of Canada held in St John’s in May. Her report is below.

TWUC AGM in St John’s

This spring The Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC) held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) in St. John’s for the first time ever. Since its beginning in the mid-1970s, TWUC has been a vital force in the lives of Canadian Writers. The AGM drew a record number of members, many of whom had never visited our province before. As a TWUC member since the 1980s, I had attended AGMs across Canada but hadn’t been to any since 2006. I looked forward to meeting old friends and colleagues at the Delta Hotel in my home town.

I soon found my old friend and fiction writer, Veronica Ross and her husband, Bob Green.

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Veronica’s skillful and perceptive short fiction had touched me deeply before I ever met her. She and Bob, also a fine writer, live in southern Ontario. Soon I ran into Susan Crean, Heather Menzies, Betty Jane Wylie, Harry Thurston, and many other old friends, distinguished writers all! They all looked trim and feisty as ever. It was heartening that Marian Hebb, the union’s long time legal adviser recognized me immediately. Maybe I haven’t aged as much as I thought.

Long time TWUC member Nellie Strowbridge and Jean Young were there, of course. I don’t think they’ve ever missed an AGM. They both live on Newfoundland’s west coast now. Before Nellie and her husband Clarence moved to Pasadena several years ago, Nellie was a long time member of the Newfoundland Writers’ Guild. Nellie’s best known book is The Newfoundland Tongue. She and Jean are hard-working members of the Deer Lake Writers’ organization.

It was great to see so many Newfoundland writers present: Joan Clark, Bernice Morgan, Hilda Chaulk Murray, Paul Bowdring, Marjorie Doyle, Janet McNaughton, Anne Hart, Trudy Morgan Cole and others. Paul and Marjorie had a large, involved audience for their presentation on writing from place. Later that day Janet McNaughton and Trudy Morgan Cole presented their perceptive views on writers and social media.

The business sessions all dealt with TWUC activities and introduced several motions, including one of particular interest to Newfoundland and Labrador members: that our province should have its own regional rep rather than share a rep with the three Maritime provinces. After a lively discussion, mostly affirmative, the motion was set aside for further study.

The annual Margaret Lawrence Lecture was delivered by long time TWUC member and illustrious writer, Guy Vanderhaeghe to a standing- room only audience at the Masonic Hall. Unfortunately I missed it but was told that it was witty and illuminating.

The annual banquet and dance at the Delta delighted mainlanders and Newfoundlanders alike. After a brief presentation on the year’s highlights, Joan Clark, a gifted and prolific writer herself, accepted a TWUC Life Membership on behalf of Nobel Laureate and TWUC charter member, Alice Munroe, who was unable to be present. This year’s entertainment featured Newfoundlanders: Frank Maher and The Maher’s Bars, emceed by musician Jean Hewson. The focus was on Newfoundland’s traditional Round and Square dancing, especially the old favourite, Running the Goat. Harpist, Gayle Tapper was on hand to provide instruction. Wonderful stuff!

A note for Guild members wishing to join TWUC: membership is open to writers who have published at least one full-length book of fiction or creative non-fiction. More information can be obtained from Valerie Laws, The Writers’ Union of Canada, Toronto, ON, phone (416) 703 8982. Sorry I have no website or email address. I’m a complete Luddite. (Editors’ note: TWUC’s website: www.writersunion.ca)

Helen Fogwill Porter

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Cathy Daley’s award winning poem from the MUN Sparks Festival Poetry Competition Birding ECDaley

The first expression of morning — light, tentative and dove-grey — feathers black spruce while awaiting a flourish of whistles to ignite a quatrain of winter.

Beneath the feeder's vernacular harsh consonants of crows already command this page of written and re-written snow

smudged with seed taunting adjectives of jays

in tones junco-ed and crowded with verbs punctuated in scratches frenzied with hunger

while lower case nouns —

and finches

and chickadees — meter a eulogy to the drum of a season

sparrows and warblers

silent amid the noise of its poem.

Perched above all of this is a sun-yellow quill, inked red and ready,

the spell of her incantation to turn the tension of winter

into a thrush of spring.

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The following short story by Jo Shawyer was published on the CBC Canada Writes website in 2013.

WHY DID SARAH KELLY CHANGE HER MIND?

My favourite treasure is a china cream and sugar set. The white pieces are square in shape and decorated with an intricate gold leaf pattern. The gold should be clue enough. But to make sure I remember, I keep a tiny piece of paper inside the sugar bowl: “Given to William and Sarah Greer on the occasion of their fiftieth wedding anniversary, 1914.”

That marriage of my great grandparents, pioneers long ago in Canada West, was a very near thing.

I have a faded letter written by Sarah and handed down in the family. The writing is careful and even. The message is thoughtfully composed. Let me read it to you.

Brooke, Nov 12th 1862

Mr Wm Greer ... it is with painful feelings and much reluctance that I now address you the subject may be unpleasing to you but when I express my feelings I have no doubt of your forgiveness. After long and careful consideration I have come to the conclusion that it will be to my advantage to break off correspondence so far as love maters are concerned. It is not that I have any disrepect for you I shall ever hold you in highest estime and look on you with favour it would give me much pleasure to see you at christmass but I write you to understand that I will by no meanes consent to marry Yours, Sarah Kelly

This letter, written one hundred and fifty years ago, threatened my very existence! What made Sarah hesitate? What made her change her mind? I am glad that she did. William, his parents, and four sisters had come from Ireland in 1860 and had settled temporarily near Lake Erie. William was sent farther west, toward Lake Huron, to secure land to establish a homestead for the family. I know from other letters that William's father was losing patience with his son. By 1862, two years had gone by and young William was no nearer to achieving a farm. How was he spending his time? Was he dallying with Sarah? And what did Sarah's father think of William? Did the lad have no get up and go? Did he advise Sarah not to marry him? Was Sarah writing to William sensibly with her head but with longing in her heart?

Yet, in 1864, William and Sarah married. William took on the Kelly farm. He and Sarah raised nine children one of whom, Annie, became my grandmother. How did this change

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of heart come about?

Sarah's father died in 1863. It was a tragic death. He was hauling a threshing machine when a bridge collapsed, pinning him underneath. He was survived by his widow and nine children. Did William step into the breach, help Sarah's unfortunate family, prove his worth, and win himself a place in their hearts? Especially Sarah's heart.

Or - did Sarah never send that letter?

Jo Shawyer

Coming Events

The July retreat will be held at the Rotary Sunshine Park on Sunday, July 27 (12 noon to 8 pm.) The retreat will include an afternoon workshop with Bernice Morgan (A Sense of Place in Writing), as well as after supper recitations by Helen Fogwill Porter and Hubert Furey. Our August workshop will be held at The Organic Farm in Portugal Cove on Sunday, August 17th. Melba Rabinowitz has once again graciously offered to host the workshop day. The tentative date for our Fall Retreat in Eastport is September 19-21, 2014.

Guild website The Guild’s website is being updated. Sheilah Roberts, with editorial assistance from Sheila Sullivan, (and a little help from Elizabeth Tobin) has found time in her very busy schedule to work on the site during the past few months. Recent editions of The Page, as well as a number of past editions, are available on-line. Sheilah and Sheila are continuing with the updating as time permits. The Newfoundland Writers Guild is most grateful and happy to acknowledge the generous donations of the following publishers to our annual Christmas celebration and writing competitions.

Creative Publishers: In the Chambers of the Sea Hearts Larry Broke Alcock & Brown and the Boy in the Middle (by George Morgan, illus. Jennifer Morgan) VOWR: The Unfolding Dream Castles in the Sea: All About Icebergs (by Lawrence Jackson, Illus. Diana Dabinett)

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Stranger Things Have Happened Hoist Your Sails and Run Magpie in the Tower

Flanker Press:

The Badger Redemption (by J.A. Ricketts) Thursday’s Storm: The August Gale of 1927 (by Darrell Duke) Camp 13: Working in the Lumber Woods (by Byron White) My Fight for Newfoundland (by Peter Cashin) The Wonderful Dogfish Racket (by Tom Dawe, illus. by Anne Macleod) The Premiers Joey and Frank: Greed, Power and Lust ( by Bill Rowe)

Boulder Press:

Dear Everybody (by Anne Budgell) The Boy Who Walked (by Michael Johansen) Hallow Hour (by Caighlan Smith)

A Doyle Reader (by Marjorie Doyle)

Breakwater Books: Random Passage (by Bernice Morgan; new edition w intro by Michael Crummey) Master Shipbuilders of Newfoundland and Labrador (by Calvin Evans) Last Witness (by Glen Carter)

Robert C. Parsons: Rock and Tempest, Fire and Foe (by Robert C. Parsons) Compiled by Laura Jackson