The Chemainus Writers - Monday Meetings

~ News Release, March 2008

We meet, we eat, we hold oh so meaningful literary discussions, and drift to the mundane and unnecessary minutiae. At some point, we remind ourselves why we are here and drag our precious bits of writing from bags or iBooks. The remaining hours fly by as we lose ourselves in the diverse writings of the group. Our membership is deliberately small to allow each of us time to read, present a writing challenge and to receive constructive feedback.

Food is a big part of our meetings—so much so we once considered publishing a writer’s snack book. At that time, we were riding high on the heady success of the launch of our book, "The Oyster Speaks." (Four of us, founding members of the Chemainus Writers, published an anthology of our short stories and poetry.) Fortunately, we came to our senses, recalled the amount of work that went into writing, editing and publishing and decided to save that energy for our individual literary endeavours.

Some of us write novels and poetry, have published magazine and newspaper articles and non-fiction books—we are all working to improve our skills and explore new directions in writing. We have within our midst, the next J.K. Rowling, Bernice Ramsdin-Firth, who has already attracted the attention of a publisher. Connie Kurtenbach and Tom Masters are preparing to send their books out to the publishing world. Bruce Whittington has three non-fiction books published and is working on a fourth. Heather Croil, Sylvia Holt and Liz Forbes are in the creative process of writing their "masterpieces".

We take our writing seriously but do manage to have fun. On special occasions, we meet for a pub lunch or in a café—we throw a summer party, invite our spouses and try not to bore them with too much writerly talk. Our group’s strength lies in gathering every two weeks, actively participating in the meetings with new work, sharing writing tips and embracing our different personalities.

Chemainus Writers began in April 2001 in a Chemainus coffee shop; three of the four founding members continue to attend regularly. We meet in our homes on a rotating basis with the host of the day setting the agenda, keeping us on track and providing the food.

"The Oyster Speaks" is available through each of us, at local bookstores or from the public library. Our website is www.chemainuswriters.ca.