Kit Pearson’s imagination intensifies Words on the Water

Campbell River bookies (those who read, not those who take bets) congregated in droves at the Maritime Heritage Centre on the weekend for the ninth annual Words on the Water literary festival.

The line up, as usual, was stellar: Andreas Schroeder (thanks for signing Renovating Heaven, which I’ve started reading, and Shaking it Rough, which I haven’t), Annabel Lyon, Susan Musgrave, Gabor Mate, Ronald Wright, Colin Angus, Kit Pearson, and current Haig-Brown writer in residence Harry Thurston, whose poetry left me breathless.

Every year there’s at least one author who I particularly look forward to seeing. This year it was Kit Pearson. Her talk on Saturday afternoon focused on imagination, something I got an extra dose of when it was being doled out. For Kit, playing pretend was a huge part of her after school life, especially the Knights of the Round Table, a theme that made its way into her book A Perfect Gentle Knight.

She also spoke about the positive aspects of imagination – how it can fuel characters and plot in later life – but also how it can overshadow your life if taken to an extreme. This is shown in clear relief in Gentle Knight, particularly in the character of 14 year old Sebastian…

The world of make believe is one Kit knows first hand. When she was 12, the family returned to Kit’s birth place of Edmonton after several years in Vancouver. Leaving her friends and a city she loved was tough on the young girl. Her way of coping with the changes was to retreat into a world of fantasy and reading even more – an escape from reality when the real world was too overwhelming.

I was enchanted to hear Kit read from her Guests of War trilogy. It’s a perfect example of high quality kid’s lit. Set throughout WW II, the books trace the experiences of brother and sister Gavin (and his elephant friend, Creature, who my sock monkies now want to meet) and Norah as they are sent from their home in Kent, England, to live with the well-to-do Ogilive sisters in Toronto. They are beautifully developed characters set against an era I’ve always been interested in. I first read the series some years ago when I borrowed them from the library. I’m now the owner of all three – The Sky is Falling, Looking at the Moon, and The Lights Go On Again – and only two days after the end of this year’s event, they’ve all been read again. But not for the last time.

Scope out Kit’s website at www.kitpearson.com.

“I write because I like to make things up”. What a wonderful reason, Kit. I know the feeling.

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Words on the Water offers wealth of words

The days are longer, bulbs are beginning to poke their green heads through the cool soil in some lucky gardens, and Christmas is off the radar for another year. For this avid reader, that combination means only one thing: it’s soon Words on the Water time again. This year’s event is Friday, March 19 and Saturday, March 20 at the Maritime Heritage Centre.

This year’s lineup  promises to be another winner. Campbell River is fortunate to welcome the following authors:

* Annabel Lyon,  author of The Golden Mean, which was a finalist for the 2009 Rogers Writers’  Trust Fiction Prize, the 2009  Scotiabank Giller Prize, and also in 2009, the Governor General’s Literary Awards – Fiction. The interview I heard on CBC Radio in the fall was compelling and I’m so looking forward to hearing about Aristotle and Alexanders the Great from the writer who brought them to life. Oh yeah – The Golden Mean won the Rogers Writers’  Trust for fiction.

* Gabor Mate, author of In the Realm of the Hungry Ghost – Close Encounters with Addiction. It was published in 2008.  He’s a doctor at a harm reduction facility in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

* Children’s author Kit Pearson, who wrote the brilliant Awake and Dreaming as well as the Guests of War trilogy that tells the story of Nora and Gavin, a brother and sister pair who are sent from England to live in Canada during WW2. I can’t wait to meet her.

* Andreas Schroeder has been a freelance writer for more than 40 years. He’s published poetry, literary critcism, and and and. His most recent book is Renovating Heaven.

* Current Haig-Brown Writer-in-Residence Harry Thurston, whose most recent book is A Place between the Tides, A Naturalist’s Reflections on the Salt Marsh.

* Ronald Wright is the author of What is Amerca, a BC Book Prize finalist. He’s published in more tan 15 langueas. His first novel, A Scientific Romance, was a Globe and Mail Book of the Year.

This ninth annual event gets underway on Friday night. Throughout Saturday, enjoy readings by all the authors and ask questions. Books will be available for sale and you can have them signed too! (I love that).  Saturday night is always tons of fun – it’s the literary cabaret, featuring  the guest writers, music by local musicians, laughter, and gourmet appies.

Be sure to get your Early Bird Pass quickly – they’re bound to sell out. At $65, it gets you into all events and is a terrific deal. They go on sale at the Tidemark theatre Tuesday, February 2. Find out more at www.wordsonthewater.ca . Get ready for a literary bounty that Campbell River hasn’t seen since last year’s Words on the Water!

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