Whistler’s Writer in Residence goes zen – “Writing is writing. Thinking is thinking.”

    Early this summer, the Vicious Circle (Whistler’s Writers Group) announced that Candas Jane Dorsey would serve as the 2008 Whistler Writer in Residence.

   Dorsey will be installed at the heritage Alta Lake House in Whistler for a month from September 1st through to September 30th and will meet weekly with ten writers in one-on-one sessions and weekly workshops.

   The Vicious Circle had the chance to check in with Dorsey and discovered that strangers have tattooed her poetry on their body parts, that she bids on thesaurauses at auctions, and she thinks the reason for bad writing making it into print is more attributable to cock-ups than conspiracies.

   Q: Are you superstitious? Do you knock on wood, refuse to talk about a work in progress for fear of stalling it, have weird little rituals or worry about jinxing yourself?

   I’m not so superstitious, but I have learned one or two things over the years. Refusing to talk about a work in progress, for instance, is not a superstition but a safeguard. As Dorothea Brande wrote in 1934 in Being a Writer, the subconscious doesn’t care what form the creativity is expressed in, only that it gets expressed. For many writers, talking about it is a surefire way of not writing it. If a person is a writer like that, it’s better to be silent.

 

  Also, I know enough now not to show my work to anyone else until it passes a certain point, because unless it has passed that point, showing it dissipates the creative energy the same way talking about it does.

 

  That doesn’t mean that people should be shy about joining this writer-in-residence programme — that delicate point is very early in the process for most of us.

  Just remember that you need 20 pages ON PAPER. As Natalie Goldberg’s Zen roshi said to her, “Thinking is thinking. Writing is writing.”

 

 

  Read the entire interview here… http://www.theviciouscircle.ca/retreat/index.php?id=51 

Pique partners with Writers Group to present writing awards

Presenting Whistler, by pen

By Holly Fraughton

 

The Whistler Writers Group, better known to most as the Vicious Circle, is launching a new series of writing awards with $2,500 in cash prizes.

The Whistler Select Writing Awards debuts this year, with three categories of awards: Whistler Features, Whistler Untold, and the Postcard Jam. Respectively, the three categories recognize the best published journalism that features Whistler, the best telling of an untold local story, and the best undiscovered work of fiction from the Whistler region.

“We’re launching this awards series to celebrate craft, community, place and perspective, which we believe are the key ingredients required to cook up a great story,” said Lisa Richardson, coordinator of the awards. “And we’re thrilled to have the support of local businesses like Whistler-Blackcomb, Watermark Communications, and Pique Newsmagazine. It’s really exciting to launch this recognition of great writing through a partnership between the tourism, arts and business communities in Whistler.”

With a total of $2,500 to be awarded, the new Whistler Select Writing Awards boast one of the largest cash prizes ever offered in the field of travel writing.

The winner of the Whistler Features category will receive $1,000 for their piece of published journalism featuring Whistler that has appeared in a print magazine or newspaper between Aug. 15, 2007 and Aug. 15, 2008.

The best piece of non-fiction writing under 2,000 words that presents a new tale, twist or character from Whistler to the rest of the world, or provides a new and creative take on a Whistler story, will receive $1,000, as well.

Finally, $500 in cash prizes will be awarded to the top three submissions in the Postcard Jam category. These stories must be no longer than 300 words and should not have appeared in print before. The top three stories will be published in Pique Newsmagazine and the winner will be invited to read their piece alongside guest writers at the Whistler Writers and Readers Festival, Sept. 12-13.

Submissions should be sent via www.theviciouscircle.ca by Monday, Aug. 25.

 

Writer in residence

 In addition to their generous new writing awards, the Vicious Circle will also be holding their Writer in Residence program during the month of September.

Canadian author, Candas Jane Dorsey, will be meeting with a group of 10 writers from Sept. 1 to 30, offering up advice and guidance through one-on-one sessions and weekly group workshops.

Stella Harvey, Director of the Writer in Residence program, explained that they look for a well-rounded writer to help participants expand and improve their abilities.

“We’re always looking for different kinds of writers,” Harvey said. “People who are experimenting in different genres and who have a broad base of experience with various genres.”

They accept 10 participants at different levels of abilities, and the enrolment fee is $250.

This year’s program is almost full already, but those interested in participating should contact Stella Harvey at stella25@telus.net.

 

Why a Writers’ Retreat in Whistler?

“…the first value of a writers’ workshop is that it makes the young writer feel not only not abnormal but virtuous. In a writers’ community, nearly all the talk is about writing. Even if you don’t agree with most of what is said, you come to take for granted that no other talk is quite so important… Talk about writing is exciting. It fills you with nervous energy, makes you want to leave the party and go home and write. And it’s the sheer act of writing, more than anything else, that makes a writer.”  On Becoming A Novelist, John Gardner