River Meets Wolf
Yukon authors Kay Deborah Linley and Kathryn Couture wrote books about a kayaking tour, as well as a fantasy series about wolves.
Authors
A dystopian life near the Blackstone River
The Wolves of Winter is Tyrell Johnson’s first published novel. It’s set in the Yukon, but he hadn’t actually been here until he came to Whitehorse for last month’s Yukon Writers’ Festival.
Herbal passions
When Beverley Gray started her business, over 20 years ago, it began with filling a need for her own family.
When the Land Has a Character
Bestselling Canadian author Lawrence Hill pursues a lifelong interest in African diaspora narratives. As a part of the research for a book he’s writing about the contribution of African American soldiers to the construction of the Alaska Highway, Hill is travelling the Highway from northern B.C. through the Yukon. His first Yukon stop was in …
Using Stories to Make People Think
This is the second of a five part series by Dan Davidson about the professional authors participating in the Yukon Writers’ Festival and the Young Authors Conference during the first week of May. Whitehorse based writer and filmmaker Kelly Milner grew up in the Yukon. She cut her writing teeth doing feature articles for a local …
So, Is Our Planet Round, or Flat?
Until a couple of years ago, there was a wonderfully entertaining fantasy writer by the name of Terry Pratchett. Perhaps there still is, somewhere on an alternate plane of reality, since Sir Terry Pratchett succumbed to Alzheimer’s disease in the Earth year of 2015 at the tender age of 66. Let me be clear: I …
How to Choose a Library Book
Libraries are the most thrilling silent spaces to walk into; to me, they’re goldmines of intrigue. But when going in blind, the variety and selection can seem a bit overwhelming. With so many titles how do you make sure you’re choosing the right one? First off, that’s the magic of libraries: you’re only committed to …
Learning how to Live Joyfully
Ever since she was a little girl, Teva Harrison drew. She studied art after high school. But, as it often goes, “needing to make a living, I digressed.” After the explanation, Harrison laughs. A joyful, full, belly laugh. To make a living, she worked as the director of marketing for the Nature Conservancy of Canada. …
Stories for Gold
Each year the Klondike Visitors Association works with the Writers’ Trust of Canada, Parks Canada, and the Dawson Community Library to put on the Authors on Eighth Walking Tour during the week before Discovery Days. Connected to that event is the annual Authors on Eighth Writing Contest, which challenges would-be authors to emulate the work …
Nurturing Good Writing
Unlike many a published author, Saskatoon writer Sandy Bonny didn’t study to become one. It just happened. “I haven’t got an English degree,” she says, “and didn’t train or apprentice purposefully with literary mentors before my first publications, but I did always enjoy writing and continued writing recreationally long after it was required for school. …
The Encounter
The following story was my submission for the 1994 Yukon Young Authors’ Conference. There, I got to work with acclaimed Canadian playwright Guillermo Verdeccia, who first sparked my interest in dramatic writing. Happily, 21 years later, this important conference is still going strong. The 35th annual version is being held from April 23-24 at F.H. …
Winnowing Word in the Windy City
In windy Skagway, the boat people make their way from the cruise ships into town several times a day, clogging the streets and shops. I meet them or walk among them on the seven-minute stroll from my trailer to the Arctic Brotherhood Hall, where I have been attending my fourth edition of the annual North …
A Conversation with Astrid Zoer: Local Psychic, Barber and Author
You might know Astrid Zoer from Hendrik’s Barber Shop in Whitehorse, or as the psychic medium at Lifepath Readings, but she recently added “author” to her resume. Zoer self-published her first novel in July, The Ladybug Ring. This novel is set in her native Holland during the Second World War, and tells the story of …
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Simon says, Put your writing first
If you asked your spouse if you could take five years off work in order to devote your time to writing, what would they say? Jessica Simon’s husband not only said yes, he threw in another two years and gave her seven. His faith in her has paid off. It’s only Year 5 and she’s …
Launch into winter with local writers
“We’re a productive bunch!” said Claire Eamer when she was asked to attend the Yukon Authors book-signing bash at Mac’s Fireweed Books this Saturday, Dec. 5, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Eamer, who had Super Crocs & Monster Wings and Spiked Scorpions & Walking Whales released by Annick Press, this year, was the featured …
World of Words: Adventures in YA territory
Young Adult (YA) readers love adventure, and a look at work by Northern authors Joanne Bell, Keith Halliday and Anita Daher shows why. YA stories can teach life skills and bush skills, as Dawson writer Joanne Bell demonstrates. Her first book, Breaking Trail (Groundwood Press), is the story of a young girl mushing her own …
All I ever need …
Sometimes the muse doesn’t just find you; sometimes she follows you, haunts you, tracks your every move and invades your quiet moments, ticking away inside that clockwork brain until you know it’s just no use—she’ll never leave—not until you’ve written that story, that song, that poem … and so it goes. So here it is, …
Ode to ‘Of’
How do I love thee, Of … There are so many ways … gee, let me count them I love thee about as deep and wide and high (Higher than I can reach whilst standing on my tippy toes) Indeed, you are the one my heart’s been dreaming of Of this, I am sure In …
508 Wood Street: The Tale of Two Arthurs
Arthur #1 lived in Atlin, B.C. when he first encountered Arthur #2. Arthur #1 noticed a withdrawal from his bank account he did not authorize. After checking with the bank, it was discovered Arthur #2 owed the money. The bank had confused accounts. A few years later, Arthur #1—then living in Whitehorse—was attending the birth …
World of Words: Readings in parking lot country
With the simple tools of a canopy, lectern and public announcement system, six authors have banded together to create a Friday night reading program where none exists – in two parking slots outside the Whitehorse Coles on Chilkoot Way. The eight-week series is aimed at giving campers in the surrounding big box parking lot a …
