Yesterday was devoted to the Young Alberta Book Society AGM. The day began with a road trip to Lacombe with writer Jan Markley and illustrator Carolyn Fisher. Then an afternoon of sessions, including a walk with Nicole Luiken when we discussed what we do to become better as writers – we swapped tips on our favorite workshops, books on writing, and YA books. I did my spiel on Scrivener, and made a few converts, I suspect. The afternoon ended with cake celebrating YABS’s 30-year anniversary, complete with story-telling and awards for the best stories in 10 absurd categories. YABS exists to put writers, illustrators and storytellers into Alberta schools, and there were some wild stories. If there’d been a sniffling sneeezing coughing award I would have won, hands down. I won a better award, though, for raison-d’etre – why we do school visits – when I talked about finally connecting with a reluctant writer, on the last day of my writer-in-residency this spring. Then we dove into the annual pot-luck feast, hosted by Georgia Graham.
I feel full of comradery, after spending time with friends and newly met writers and illustrators and storytellers, inspired to keep connecting with kids through our stories.
Maureen
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