Celebration of Authors, Books and Community (CABC) – a joint initiative of the Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts and School District No. 46 – has wrapped up for another year. CABC brings together writers and students in elementary and secondary schools throughout the district to talk about books and writing and encourages students to express themselves through the written and spoken word.
CABC hosted two week-long residencies this year with Richard Van Camp in February and, most recently, Maggie de Vries in late April. De Vries spent four mornings working with the students in John Lussier’s Grade 6-7 class at Roberts Creek Elementary, and on the final morning, the class presented their work to their fellow students and parents.
Their writing showed tremendous growth and development over the week and every student in the class had the courage to stand up and present their work, much of it fictionalized accounts of “this really happened.” De Vries also met with K-5 students at Madeira Park, Halfmoon Bay and Davis Bay elementary schools.
Richard Van Camp shared insights into writing strategies at Elphinstone and Chatelech secondary schools, met with students at the Sunshine Coast Alternative School in Sechelt and read from his books for children at Kinnikinnick Elementary and the StrongStart Program in Sechelt.
Michael Christie (a favourite from the 2015 Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts) returned to the Coast and visited all three secondary schools in February. His former career as a professional skateboarder gave him a certain cred, and he engaged the students in conversations about the boarding life, writing, mental health, parenting and pursuing a career path as an artist.
Earlier in the school year, Barbara Nickel conducted a poetry workshop for Langdale Elementary School students and shared her work with students at Cedar Grove and Gibsons elementary schools. Elizabeth Stewart brought Blue Gold, a book about coltan, or blue gold, a rare mineral used in making cell phones and computers, to Elphinstone and Chatelech secondary schools. In the book, the lives of three girls in three continents are affected by the mining of coltan, the production of electronic devices and the dangers that exist in the digital world.
Adjudicators recently reviewed more than 400 submissions from K-12 students for Coastal Voices, the annual anthology of student writing. This is just one indicator that CABC authors spark creative expression.
Renowned author, storyteller and literacy advocate Sheree Fitch was one of the first CABC authors to visit the Sunshine Coast in 2008. She wrote:
“The power and magic of bringing storytellers and writers and illustrators into the community and creating opportunities and forums where the creators of work are ‘eyeball to eyeball and cheek to cheek’ with their readers and listeners is a powerful and transformative experience. Very often, the sparks of creative genius that are, indeed, in everyone, are ignited. This is real literacy in action – where each one’s story and everyone’s gifts can come forth. We often talk in terms of literacy alone – but the impact is so much bigger than that. There is much to be said about healing power of narrative art as well, how finding voice and vision and creating art breathes energy into individuals and whole communities.”
CABC was funded this year by the Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts (through its public sector funders and donations from the Festival audience), School District No. 46, the Leon and Thea Koerner Foundation and the Sunshine Coast Regional District.
– Submitted by Jane Davidson
