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Janis Campbell
Jen Landels & Mel Anastasiou
Shannon Rayne
Janis Campbell
1/14
Island Voices;West Coast Words
Showcasing an evening of author and poet readings, storytelling & performances, at the Bowen Island Public Library Annex.
Friday, September 12: 7:30 pm; Admission by donation
Join us for a lively evening to kick-off the 5th Annual Write on Bowen Festival. Enjoy an evening of writers of the written and spoken word, alongside performers and other artists. This special evening will be MC'd by David Cameron.
FEATURING
David Cameron
David Cameron is well known on Bowen Island as an actor, playwright, storyteller and renovator of houses. With his wife, actress Jackie Minns and their company, Kingbaby Productions, David has created a body of work that includes plays such as Mad Mabel's Christmas, The View and La Vita Grande that resonate well with their Bowen fans and with audiences that they have toured to across Canada. David is our MC for Island Voices; West Coast Words on Friday, September 12, at 7:30 PM at the Library Annex, plus he will be sharing one of his own stories.
Susan Alexander
Susan Alexander’s poems have appeared in Canadian and international anthologies and literary magazines, such as The Southern Review, Pangyrus, Arc and Grain. Her most recent publication is a limited edition, handbound chapbook titled Berberitzen (2024) with Raven Chapbooks. She is the author of two full collections, Nothing You Can Carry (2020) and The Dance Floor Tilts (2017) with Thistledown Press. Her poetry has won multiple awards, including the 2022 Vancouver’s City Poem Prize and The Mitchell Prize for Poetry and Faith. She has hosted poetry readings and panels for the Federation of BC Writers and Victoria’s Festival of Writers. Susan lives on Nexwlélexm/Bowen Island, the traditional and unceded territory of the Squamish people.
Lorraine Ashdown
Lorraine Ashdown is a writer, photographer, Spiritual Companion, End of Life Educator, a wedding officiant and the Minister at Bowen Island United Church. For the past 22 years, she has called Bowen Island home, weaving herself into the heart of the community through spiritual gatherings, musical collaborations, and enduring friendships.
Her creative spirit finds expression in both images and words, capturing the beauty of the natural world and the quiet depth of human connection. The sacred rhythms of nature shape her daily life. Whether tending to a congregation, making music, or exploring the trails with a canine companion, Lorraine is very grateful to call Bowen home.
Her creative spirit finds expression in both images and words, capturing the beauty of the natural world and the quiet depth of human connection. The sacred rhythms of nature shape her daily life. Whether tending to a congregation, making music, or exploring the trails with a canine companion, Lorraine is very grateful to call Bowen home.
Daniel Cowper
Daniel Cowper's poetry and critical writing has appeared in numerous publications in Canada, the US, Ireland, and the UK. His poems have been collected in The God of Doors (winner of the Frog Hollow Press Chapbook contest) and Grotesque Tenderness (MQUP, 2019). His latest work is Kingdom of the Clock, a novel in verse about urban life. He is a contributing editor with New Verse Review, and lives on Bowen Island.
Tara McGuire
Tara McGuire is a former broadcaster turned writer. Her book, Holden After and Before - Love Letter for a Son Lost to Overdose, a hybrid work in memoir and fiction, was shortlisted for the 2023 City of Vancouver Book Award and one of The Walrus’ best books of 2022. Her essays have been published widely in The Globe and Mail, Chatelaine, Geist, Room, The ex-Puritain, The Tyee, and CBC Radio, among others. She is a new resident of Bowen Island.
Jane Munro
Jane Munro is an acclaimed Canadian poet, writer and educator. Her sixth poetry collection, Blue Sonoma won the 2015 Griffin Poetry Prize. Her newest poetry collection is False Creek (Harbour Publishing, 2022). Recent books include Open Every Window: A Memoir (Douglas & McIntyre, 2021) and Glass Float (Brick Books, 2020). She is a member of the collaborative poetry group Yoko’s Dogs who have published Whisk, Rhinoceros and Caution Tape.
Paola Qualizza
As a social geographer, Paola has always paid attention to the relationship between places and people. Her background as a descendant of French-Canadian settlers and Slavic-Italian immigrants, living on the ancestral, unceded lands of Sḵwx̱wú7mesh and other Coast Salish nations, grounds and informs how Paola lives. She loves to nerd out with ethnobotany texts, and is a new fan of sci-fi. In midlife, Paola started exploring theatre and performance art with childlike wonder—the potential of play, movement, and story for learning and change fires her up. On Bowen, you’ll find Paola nibbling yarrow leaves on Mt. Collins or organizing the Fix-it Fair.
Caroline Walker
Caroline grew up in England’s Peak District, visiting much of the British Isles and Europe with her family. From this, her love of travel was born. She began writing in 2021 and by 2023 had completed several novels. The Unforgettable Year, (set in Thailand), was published in 2024, and was quickly followed by Stolen (Italy, England, Canada). The most recent is Elijah Moon, which takes readers to England’s south coast. She writes travel adventure, thought-provoking emotional drama, historical fiction, and soon to be released, a time travel trilogy. Caroline’s novels have been well received by book clubs in Europe and North America, with all three books reaching Best Seller status within their genre online.
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