Author Sharon Butala mesmerized the packed audience at historic Joy Kogawa House on Friday night. The Order of Canada author talked how she helped
established a writer in residence program at Wallace Stegner's childhood home in
Eastend, Saskatchewan.
Butala is giving a weekend writing workshop about memoir writing at Kogawa House, marking the start of turning the historic literary landmark into a true writers-in-residence program for the City of Vancouver and the Canadian literary and writing community.
Butala read from her Governor General award nominated memoir book, The Perfection of the Morning: An Apprenticeship in Nature, and her new book Lilac Moon: Dreaming of the Real West
She also talked about the CBC Fifth Estate documentary she inspired and was a part of: CBC: The fifth estate - Death of A Beauty Queen - which investigated the unsolved 1963 murder of Butala's former high school friend.
She answered a few questions, some about her writing, and some about how she helped create a writers-in-residence program in Eastend SK. Then afterwards, she signed copies of her books and chatted with the audience members.
For this past month, Butala has been living as a guest at Joy Kogawa's Vancouver appartment, while Kogawa lives in her primary residence in Toronto. On Feb 3rd, Butala attended the Vancouver opera production "Voices of the Pacific Rim" with members of the Joy Kogawa House Society, and was introduced to some of the singers who had performed the Naomi's Road opera, based on the children's novel by Joy Kogawa.
Sharon Butala and Historic Joy Kogawa House seem like a perfect fit. This house where the 6 year old Joy Kogawa grew up in, and remembered through years of internment during WW2, and for years afterwards became realized in a memoir of sorts, the award winning novel Obasan. Butala and her husband Peter, are also nationally recognized conservationists. In 1996, they donated their 13,100-acre (5,300 ha) ranch near Eastend
to the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) to establish The Old Man on
His Back Prairie and Heritage Preserve (OMB). It was in 2006, that Joy Kogawa House was purchased by The Land Conservancy of BC, to become Vancouver's first literary and historical landmark.
As a member of the Joy Kogawa House Society, I know that we are deeply appreciative of Sharon's work to help us develop a writer's-in-residence program for Historic Joy Kogawa house. We thank Sharon for her wonderful spirit and commitment to our project.
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Welcome to GungHaggisFatChoy.com
Home to my passions for my inter-cultural adventures, Gung Haggis Fat Choy: Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner event. Save Kogawa House campaign, Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dragon Boat team, Find what you are looking for by 1) scroll the topics links, 2) use the search function ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Join the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dragon Boat team for lots of summer fun, fitness and friendship. We are a social team full of cultural vigor, that likes to eat. We have been featured on television, local, national and international. We have a unique and internationally famous fundraiser dinner event. We practice Sunday 1:30 pm -3:30 pm Tuesday 6pm-7:45pm Wednesday 6pm - 7:45 pm We meet at Dragon Zone clubhouse - just south of Science World in Creekside Park above the Aquabus and dragon boat docks. Our coach Todd Wong has 15+ years of experience including novice, recreational and competitive levels, and both community and corporate teams. Our 2005 Season brought us the David Lam Award for being the team that best represented the multicultural spirit of the Alcan Dragon Boat Festival, and Bronze medals at the Vancouver International Taiwanese Dragon Boat Race. In 2007, we won Gold in B Division at Vernon Races. For more information: Click on Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dragon Boat team information phone: 604-987-7124- e-mail: gunghaggis at yahoo dot ca ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2009 TICKETS Available in October 2008 WHAT: GUNG HAGGIS FAT CHOY: Toddish McWong's Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner - 12th Annual Dinner, celebrating 250th Anniversary of Robert Burns' birth + Chinese New Year's Eve. WHEN: 6PM January 25 2009, SUNDAY doors open 5pm WHERE: Floata Chinese Restaurant, #400-180 Keefer St. CULTURE: Our Performers create something special for us every year with traditional and contemporary performances featuring everything in-between and beyond! FOOD: A quirky fusion/mix/buffet of Scottish Canadian and Chinese Canadian culture 10 course Chinese banguet dinner 2004 - The debut of Gung Haggis Won-Ton 2005 - Haggis lettuce wrap! 2007 - Haggis dim sum appetizer buffet 2008 - Scotch tastings! Watch for more surprises in 2008! Description of 2006 Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dinner featuring performers: Rick Scott & Harry Wong, The Shirleys, Joe McDonald & Brave Waves, Sean Gunn, author Joy Kogawa, with co-host Prem Gill . Media Inquiries Call Gung Haggis Productions 604-987-7124 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sponsors
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Sunday, February 24
Sharon Butala packs Kogawa House for reading, and a workshop on memoir writing
by
Todd
on Sun 24 Feb 2008 12:14 AM PST
Friday, February 22
Author Sharon Butala reads at Joy Kogawa House Friday Feb 22, and hosts writing workshop
by
Todd
on Fri 22 Feb 2008 03:51 PM PST
Sharon Butala is helping the Historic Joy Kogawa House Society with our goal to establish a writers in residence programs at the former childhood home of author Joy Kogawa.
Tonight, Sharon Butala gives a 7:30pm reading at 1450 West 64th Ave. On Saturday and Sunday, she conducts a writing workshop workshop about memoir writing. This is the house that the then 6 year old Joy and her family left behind their wonderful home in 1942, when they were sent to internment camps because they were Japanese-Canadian. A writing workshop and public reading with Sharon ButalaWriting the Memoir Location: Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver Date: Reading on Friday, February 22, 7:30 to 9 p.m.; writing workshop on Saturday, February 23, and Sunday, February 24, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Cost: To be determined. Space is limited. To secure a seat, please register by emailing ametten at telus dot net. Many writers have demonstrated that even the most glamorous lives--of celebrities, war heroes, or politicians--can make for dull reading. Yet the most ordinary lives can make thrilling reading. How does the storyteller capture the essence of the story and develop a reader's interest? What are memoirs really about, and why write them? Through discussion, question and answer, exercises, and examining successful memoirs, this workshop will endeavour to answer such questions, as well as to show how memoirs might be structured, and how a writer decides what to put in and what to leave out. Memoirs are therapy for both writer and reader, but they are also good stories: at their best, they are art. Sharon Butala is an award-winning author of both fiction and non-fiction. Her memoir, The Perfection of the Morning, was a Canadian bestseller and a finalist for the Governor General's Award. Ms Butala has been called one of Canada's true visionaries. In 2002 she was honoured as an Officer of the Order of Canada. Her newest work, The Girl in Saskatoon: A Meditation on Memory and Murder (HarperCollins Canada), will be in bookstores in March. Watch this website over the next few days for more information |
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