Warland, Nuttall-Smith, Bolen & Gardner on poetry and multi-media

By Bernice Lever

Betsy Warland is the author or the must-read book “Breathing the Line - Reading the Act of Writing”

Helping writers to write and then to perform their words effectively to the public is the focus of some of the workshops and the special lunch panel at Write on Bowen 2011.

On Sunday, July 10, Betsy Warland, multi-genre writer and the director of SFU’s Writer’s Studio Program, will teach poets how to create with a focus on what is not said and then save what they exclude for the next poem.

Warland has published a must-read book for all writers: “Breathing the Line – Reading the Act of Writing”. Come and be inspired by the Growing the Poem workshop that encourages writers to expand their talents.

Warland’s message will be clear when she reads in the noon-hour panel on the Spoken Word. Choosing the best word arrangements on the page guides the reader to give the best reading.

Ben Nuttall-Smith will demonstrate how to claim an audience’s attention

The panel also includes Ben Nuttall-Smith, a poet, novelist and actor, who has taught theatre and voice to all ages. He will demonstrate how to claim an audience’s attention by giving a dramatic reading of his novel.

Finally, the Spoken Word panel features a duo multi-media performance by Dennis E. Bolen and Soressa Gardner.

Bolen is a novelist, editor, and teacher, and Gardner is a vocalist, improviser and electronic music composer who collaborates with authors, visual artists and other musicians and performs her cross-discipline pieces internationally. After these three lively contrasting uses of voice, this panel will be open for Questions and Answers.

On Sunday afternoon, Ben Nuttall-Smith presents an interactive voice workshop that will help all writers recognize and then develop their speaking skills. His guided exercises help writers to relax, to develop their voice range, and to learn how to project. Participants are asked to bring along a page of their own writing to share aloud in this fun class.