Write on Bowen 2011 was a great success! On opening night, locals and festival-goers from the mainland enjoyed two compelling readings from Giller prize-nominated authors Timothy Taylor and Annabel Lyon.

What a treat! On Saturday and Sunday, 13 workshops and two panel presentations gave attendees lots to think about, talk about, and most important, write about!

The Saturday evening “Write to the Island” event hosted by Elee Kraljii-Gardiner and Michael Turner at the Gallery @ Artisan Square involved participants in a series of intense community writing exercises. The buzz of creativity in the air gave new meaning to the phrase Write on Bowen!

The Festival owes its success to the tireless efforts of the Write on Bowen Committee who with grace and good humour made sure everything went smoothly!

Thank you to Ali Bate, Andrea Little, Bernice Lever, Tina Nielsen, Richard Labonte, Maureen Sawasy, April Bosshard, Lina Martin-Chan, and, of course, our amazing BIAC executive director Jacqueline Massey. Thanks also to volunteers Baiba Thomson, Kami Kanetsuka, Alvie Morrison, Pam Stimpson and Pauline LeBel.

We also tip our hats to David van Berckel, Peter Drake and Piers Hayes of the Squires, who kept us refreshed by hosting the concession.

We are also grateful to our sponsors: First Credit Union, BC Ferries, the Undercurrent, Phoenix Books, Bowen Island Properties, the Bowen Library, the Bowen Island Municipality, and Heritage Department of the Government of Canada.

Will we do it all again next year? You can write on it!

Volunteers Baiba Thomson and Kami Kanetsuka outside the Gallery at Write on Bowen 2011

Timothy Taylor relaxes outside the Gallery at Artisan Square Friday, July 8.

Annabel Lyon and Timothy Taylor at the Gallery on Bowen Island (photo: Alison Bate)

By Alison Bate

Two very thoughtful, imaginative minds kept the audience rapt on opening night at the Write on Bowen festival.

Annabel Lyon, author of The Golden Mean, started her readings discussing Ten Uses for a Philosophy Degree, one of which – naturally – led to getting an MFA in Creative Writing.

Author Annabel Lyon signs copies of her book "The Golden Mean" at Write on Bowen Festival 2011 (Photo by Julie Ferguson)

And, of course, her No.10 was: “Write a novel about Aristotle.”

In her award-winning book, Lyon presents Aristotle as bipolar, and one of the highlights was her reading of Aristotle’s own words about the link between melancholy and creativity.

What we now call bipolar disease, the Greek philosopher called too much “cold black bile” and “hot black bile”.

He wrote that too much cold black bile rendered a person “dull and stupid” whereas people with much hot black bile were “elated and brilliant or erotic or easily moved to anger and desire, while some become more loquacious. Many too are subject to fits of exaltation and ecstasy…”

Lyon also read from her children’s book about Edie, a teenage protagonist with a cousin with Down’s Syndrome. Lyon grew up with an elder brother with Down’s, and it’s a theme close to her heart. In The Golden Mean, Alexander’s half-brother is also mentally challenged.

Timothy Taylor read from his latest novel, The Blue Light Project, and showed how to write a gripping inner monologue when your dinner table colleague goes for a pee.

”He knew his nickname in the L:MN art department, the one they used behind his back,” muses Thom Pegg, a disgraced former journalist in the novel.

“They’d say: Pebialta. Like the name of a Mediterranean resort or an Italian scooter. He wondered about it for quite a while before learning it was an acronym. P-B-I-A-L-T-A. Pegg Briefly Important A Long Time Ago. “

As Pegg tries to flirt with his dinner companion, Chastity: “Oh my, blossom. I just went entirely screensaver there,”

And his ex-wife Jennifer “… not weeks before she went slack-tide on him and disappeared over the lip of the shining mudflats that had suddenly formed all around his person.”

Taylor is now busy on a new novel , which he started about a month ago. “I’m planning to write it fast. It’s a kind of mystery,” he said.

The Write on Bowen! Festival is finally upon us and I’ve checked the weather forecast- looks like it will be the perfect weather for registration and opening night! (and by that I just mean it won’t rain)

Come to the Gallery at Artisan Square if you haven’t already registered and are still interested in taking some workshops or drop by to check in for tonight!

Giller, Commonwealth, Rogers Writers Trust, Ethel Wilson, Libris, Journey, Impac Dublin, Canada Reads – and half a dozen more: the two Canadian literary luminaries kicking off Write on Bowen on Friday, July 8 have amassed a legion of honors for their writing.

That’s no surprise. Work by Annabel Lyon (Oxygen, Best Thing for You) and Timothy Taylor (Stanley Park, Story House) has garnered both critical praise and – what a writer appreciates most – loyal fan followings and great sales.

They’ll each be reading from their most recent novels, from the past and from the future. For Lyon, that’s The Golden Mean, a brilliant historical re-imagination of the teacher/student relationship between philosopher Aristotle and the boy who would grow up to be Alexander the Great—a book about ideas that encompasses earthy concerns.

For Taylor, that’s The Blue Light Project, a gripping literary thriller set in a near future where a reality show featuring children becomes the site of a tense hostage situation. A bonus: Lyon will also read from her new children’s book, Encore Edie.

The novels couldn’t be more different in terms of subject matter. What they share is a compelling literary voice. The joint appearance by Lyon and Taylor is sure to be a highlight of Write on Bowen – and of Bowen’s literary year.
Headliners Lyon and Taylor read from their work at the Gallery @ Artisan Square at 7:30 p.m. Admission is just $20, or is included as part of a full festival pass.

Taylor – also an award-winning magazine and newspaper writer – shifts from reading his writing on Friday night to teaching about writing on Saturday morning (July 9, 10.a.m.), when he facilitates the workshop “Beginnings.” Using short writing and imagination exercises, Taylor will guide participants through the early stages of writing fiction, from initial research to shaping a narrative voice.

Just a few spaces are available in Taylor’s workshop but festival-goers have lots more options to choose from. With sixteen workshops, two panel sessions, a walk in the Lieben Lands, and a special dinner and writing event—Write on Bowen has something for every writer.

You can register online. Tickets for opening night are also available at Phoenix Books.