New Mar 09
Do you have a great story about a BC woman pioneer? We want to hear
about it.
We are also collecting stories about women travelling alone for an upcoming anthology. If you have an adventure story of "Going Alone" please share it.
Women Writers of Northern and North-Central BC!
On going call for submissions.
Details
Caitlin Press is always looking for new stories.
We continue to search for great stories from BC's Central Interior, but we are also on the lookout for stories about and by BC women.
See our Writer's info page for more information.
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Luanne
Armstrong Armstrong lives
in the small community of Boswell BC, where she farms land with her
parents and siblings. She has worked as a feminist researcher, a freelance
journalist and a writing instructor. She teaches Creative Writing at
the College of the Rockies. Peter Austen, originally
from England, has lived in Canada now for more than twenty years. He
has a Ph.d in Motivational / business management. However, he lives
and breathes mountain climbing, having climbed in almost every country
in the world from Austria to China where he led a team to tackle the
highest peak in the world-Everest. Everest Canada is the story of that
heart-breaking climb. Born in New Zealand,
Baldwin immigrated to Canada at the age of 22, and travelled extensively
until she began an organic farm in Steelhead, near Vancouver. Years
later, Jackie raised her three children on a farm in Loos, in the Robson
Valley. She can now be found enjoying her garden 'Studio Dacha' in Prince
George, BC. Kathy Bedard is
originally from Vancouver Island. She now lives in Burns Lake, but she
has lived in Calgary and has been painting, mostly water colours, since
1974. Her work has won many awards. Kate Braid worked as a receptionist, secretary, teacher’s aide, lumber piler, construction labourer, apprentice and journey-carpenter before finally “settling down” as a teacher. She has taught construction and creative writing, the latter in workshops and also at SFU, UBC and for ten years at Vancouver Island University (previously Malaspina University-College). She is the author of A Well-Mannered Storm: The Glenn Gould Poems, Covering Rough Ground, To This Cedar Fountain and Inward to the Bones: Georgia O'Keeffe's Journey with Emily Carr. In 2005 she co-edited with Sandy Shreve, In Fine Form: The Canadian Book of Form Poetry. Braid's second book of poems about her carpentry experiences Turning Left to the Ladies will be published by Palimpsest Press in Fall 2009. She lives in Burnaby, BC with her partner.
Rob Budde teaches
Creative Writing and Critical Theory at the University of Northern BC
in Prince George. He has previously published five books (two poetry
collections—Catch as Catch and traffick, two novels—Misshapen and The
Dying Poem, and most recently short fiction—Flicker). In 2002, Rob facilitated
a collection of interviews, In Muddy Water: Conversations with 11 Poets. Lily Chow was born
in Malaysia, but has lived in Canada since the mid-sixties. She has
taught in the Prince George School District and at the University of
Northern British Columbia. She now devotes her time to researching and
writing. Her previous book, Sojourners in the North, won the
Jeanne Clarke history award and is used in many colleges and universities
as a reference text. Ken Coates is a
well known C canadian historian, specializing in the history of the
Yukon and Northern Canada in general. While he was Vice President at
the University of Northern British Columbia, he had the opportunity
to travel throughout northern BC. A Traveller's Guide to Northern
British Columbia is the result of these travels.It is co-authored
by his wife Carin Holroyd, a university Researcher. Marita Dachsel was
born and raised in Williams Lake, BC, and has lived in Kamloops, Dawson
City, Auckland and Montpellier, France. She has an MFA in creative writing
from UBC and has been published widely in Canadian literary journals.
She currently lives in Vancouver. Twila ranches near
Williams Lake, BC with husband Steve and their three children. Born
at Big Lake, she returned to the ranch in 1982. She is often found operating
a haybaler and other heavy equipment, but finds time between ranching
chores to work with pen and brush. More recently, she broadened the
scope of her art work to design and market children's greeting cards. Ben Dlin, author
of Country Doctor - A Memoir, born of European Jewish refugees,
has led an unusual life. His was the only Jewish family in the town
of Bruderheim in northern Alberta. An indifferent student with an attitude
problem in high school, he became a leading psychiatrist in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. He now splits his time between Pender Harbour BC and Philadelphia. Lorne Dufour has
worked as a teacher, a counsellor, a logger, a travelling showman and
a poet. In 1985 he played the alcoholic priest in the film The Honor
of All, the story of the Alkali Lake Reserve's battle with alcoholism.
Dufour has published two books of poetry, Spit on Wishes and
Starting From Promise, which won the Poets' Corner Award from
Broken Jaw Press in 2000. He is a handlogger and lives off the grid
in McLeese Lake, BC, with his wife Diana. Edwards has worked as a journalist in radio, television and newspapers, and as a freelance writers for various magazines. She has co-written three published books: Exploring the Purcell Wilderness, Cranbrook 1905-2005, and The Purcell Suite: Upholding the Wild. She instructed and managed at the College of the Rockies for a decade and represented Kootenay constituency for 10 years as MLA. Edwards retired from politics and the working world in 1996, and now lives in Moyie, BC.
Effie Fahey was
raised by her grandparents in Wing's Point, one of Newfoundlands outports.
She now lives with her family - on Canada's opposite coast - in Victoria,
British Columbia. Tor Forsberg is a writer based in Watson Lake, Yukon. She is a columnist for the Yukon News and has also published in Yukon, North of Ordinary magazine. Her prize-winning short stories have appeared in subTerrain and in two recent anthologies, Bannockology and Under the Canopy. An accomplished visual artist, she has also raised ostriches on Vancouver Island and worked in a funeral home. North of Iskut is her first book.
Earle Frood , now
in his nineties and living in Nanaimo BC, grew up in Northern Alberta.
His book, Wabasca Adventure, is a fictionalized account of one
of his more dangerous adventures as a young adult.
Heather Harris is
a professor in Native Studies at the University of Northern British
Columbia. Never one to be idle, she creates clothing and jewelry in
the Northwest coast style. As well she and her daughters dance with
the Rainbow Dancers. She says, " I'm not happy unless I'm busy...if
I don't create something every day, it is not a happy day." Born and raised
in Alberni Valley on Vancouver Island, Rose has lived in Canada, Germany
and is now a resident of California. Her sense of adventure and travel
reflect the spirit of her pioneering parents, Paul and Grete Hertel.
Raised in Alberta, Sterling Haynes received his medical degree from the University of Alberta. He served as a Colonial Officer in Nigeria, practised medicine in the Cariboo, Alberta and Alabama. Now retired, he lives in Westbank and travels extensively in Central America. His articles and poetry have been published in journals including The Canadian Journal of Rural Medicine and the Harvard Alumini Review.
Rex Holmes and his
wife live in Osoyoos British Columbia. He is retired but has homesteaded,
worked in the Army Signal Corps and then with BC Telephone. He says,
"If I had it all to do over again, I would go with joy back to
the homestead and stay there forever." He is author of one other
book, The Last Summer, now out of print. Matt
Hughes Paul Jones lives
in Vernon, BC and is active in the arts and sports scene there. He has
produced several award-winning paintings as well as writing poetry and
short stories. Pembina Country is his first full-length book. Betty Keller, author,
playwright, and editor, lives on the beautiful Sunshine Coast in BC.
An instrumental figure in the organization of the Festival of the Written
Arts in Sechelt, BC, she also found the time to collaborate on and edit
Eileen Williston's biography of her husband Ray Williston, Forest,
Power, & Policy, one of the most influential politicians in
BC during the 1950s and 60s. Dan is a popular
columnist with the Cariboo Observer. He lives with his wife Linda
in Nazko, a small community 75 miles west of Quesnel and 75 miles south
of Prince George, on the northern fringe of the historic BC Cariboo. Fiona
Tinwei Lam Fiona Tinwei Lam is a Scottish-born, Vancouver-based
writer whose Judith
Lapadat Raised in Smithers, Judith Lapadat has lived in Saskatoon and in Vancouver. She now lives with her two children in Prince George where she teaches at the University of Northern Britihs Columbia. As well as a scholar and a poet, she is an accomplished painter. Suzanne
LeBlanc Suzanne was born
in the Gaspe[accent over Gaspe] region of Quebec and was raised in Montreal.
She has also lived in Ontario and Saskatchewan. Having lived in Prince
George since 1995, she is an instructor at the University of Northern
British Columbia.
Born on the sprawling
Vernon Indian Reserve at the head of Okanagan Lake, Mary is plucked
from her friendly carefree environment and placed in a cold, regimented
residential school. Later she and her siblings are taken from her dysfuntional
but loving family and placed in a series of dysfuntional and not-so-loving
foster homes. It is a recipie for disaster, affecting her life for the
next twenty-odd years. Eldon has been a
rancher, fighter pilot, and doctor. Now retired, he is delighted to
study classical Latin and Greek, as well as to pilot ultralight planes. Todd Lee grew up
on a Cariboo cattle ranch from which comes the inspiration for many
of his children's stories. In his life, he was a minister, probation
officer and human rights advocate. Vivien Lougheed
is a travel writer and author of several other books, including Central
America by Chicken Bus. She is a passionate traveller and loves
nothing better than adversities which would make you and I vow never
to leave the comfort of our living rooms again--where, of course, we'd
read of her daring adventures. June Cruickshank
Lunny was born in Edmonton. She is a graduate of the University of British
Columbia, and an honours graduate from the British Columbia Provincial
Normal School. She is married, and is the mother of four sons. Ian MacDonald is a journalist in Vancouver. He has collaborated on ten popular history books with Betty O'Keefe including The Mulligan Affair: Top Cop on the Take and The Final Voyage of the Princess Sophia.
Bernice Medbury Martin was born in 1882 in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin. She and her husband Leslie lived in northern BC during the final two years of construction of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. In 1914, after the completion of the railway, Bernice and Leslie returned home to Wisconsin but finally settled in Los Angeles, California. Bernice gave birth to a daughter in 1919 and a son in 1922. She died in 1973 at 91 years of age. Eva MacLean left
her settled, Presbyterian Ontario life behind in 1911to follow her young
minister/veterinarian husband to the 'wilds' of northwestern British
Columbia (Hazelton). It was during the days of the mining rush and railroad
building boom in the early years of this country. Her book The Far Land,
originally written as a family history, is now part of BC history. Born during the
depths of the Great Depression to illiterate parents on a reserve in
the then remote Okanagan Valley of BC, Len pursued education with single-minded
determination. His love of learning earned him a Masters Degree in Forestry
and he was on his way to a Ph.D and a satisfying career as a teacher
and a research scientist. But a growing involvement in the North American
Indian Brotherhood's fight for full citizenship for his people led into
what should have been merely a two-year side-trip into politics. The
NAIB prevailed on him to go to Ottawa as the first status Indian special
assistant to federal minister responsible for Indian Affairsa temporary
job that segued into more than three decades in public life. Barry McKinnon was
born in Calgary, Alberta. He received his BA from Sir George Williams
University, where he studied with Irving Layton, and his MA from the
University of British Columbia. He currently is an English instructor
at the College of New Caledonia in Prince George, BC. He has been widely
published. The Centre. was short-listed for the Governor Generals
Award for poetry and Pulp Log won the Dorothy Livesay Prize (BC
Book Awards) for 1991. Active in Valemount, Margaret McKirdy has written for the local newspaper and has played an active part in writers groups. Out of personal interest, she researched the local history and discovered letters regardin Eleanor
Millard Rasied in Quesnel,
BC, Elanor Millard moved to the Yukon where she has worked extensively
with First Nations people, first as a social worker, a teacher and then
as a member of the Legislative Assembly. She now works as a consultant
based in Carcross, Yukon. g the death of Alex
MacCauly. She was intrigued and began research, and subsequently completed
The Colour of Gold.
Nelson Miller was
born in Quebec but has lived in many places in Canada, as well as overseas.
Life, he says, is the best education. His interest in the natural world
comes from living in Ft. St. James, a small town in Central British
Columbia. Barbara Munk was
born in Prince George, BC and raised in Quesnel, BC. Her maternal grandparents
were the Hubles, a pioneering family in the Prince George area. Munk
grew up with the CBC and read everything she could get her hand s on.
She wrote secretly, hiding what she wrote. She credits Barry McKinnon
and George Stanley for encouraging her to get her work into print. Raised as an "army
brat", Tim finished high school in Alberta. He then spent 16 years
as a cowboy working on the big ranches in Alberta, British Columbia
and the western United States. He now lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with
his wife Chris and their son Mark. Betty O'Keefe is a journalist in Vancouver. She has collaborated on ten popular history books with Ian MacDonald including The Mulligan Affair: Top Cop on the Take and The Final Voyage of the Princess Sophia.
Born in Saskatchewan,
Gary Pearson has earned a Masters Degree from the University of Saskatchewan
and is currently a professor with the Fine Arts Department of Okanagan
University College. He is an artist in his own right and he has received
many grants and awards. He has had solo and group exhibitions throughout
Canada, Europe, USA and Australia. Don Precosky is
presently the Dean of Arts and Social Services at the College of New
Caledonia in Prince George. He is a nationally recognized literary critic
and has written many articles for such journals as Canadian Literature
in Review, Canadian Poetry, and the Web Journal of Contemporary
Canadian Poetry and Poetics. He edited and wrote the introduction
to Four Realities, an anthology of four northern writers-Barry
McKinnion, Barbara Munk, Ken Belford, and George Stanley. Doris Ray, a mother
of four and a grandmother of five, lives in Fraser Lake in west-central
British Columbia where she writes a column for the local newspaper.
She is an active member in the Historical Society, the Writing Group
and Library Board. She has published articles on mental health, travel
and local history. She has published two chapbooks of poetry. Al Rempel graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Science in Physics and a Bachelor of Education. In 2000 he attended the Victoria School of Writing where he began submitting poetry. He has since been published in The Malahat Review, Grain, and stonestone and anthologized in 4 Poets, Rocksalt, Half in the Sun, The Forestry Diversity Project and Down in the Valley. He has built a cabin, chopped his own firewood and grown a garden in the bush, but now prefers to write in coffee shops and watch his daughter grow up. Murdoch Robertson
practised law in rural BC for almost 50 years. In his spare time, he
can be found fly-fishing and perfecting the skill of making wine using
birch sap base. Murdoch is the father of two and lives with his wife
of fifty years in Terrace BC. Bal Sethi was born,
raised and educated in India. He lived most of his life in the hills
of the Himalayan mountain range. Love of nature became ingrained ingrained
in him starting in his childhood.
Roy Sinclair now
lives in Grasmere in the Kootenay region of British Columbia but grew
up in the small but amazing community of Penny, BC. He has been, in
his words, "bossing a logging crew for most of 45 years." A former newspaper
editor and publisher, Gord Smedley earned a Journalistic Principles
scholarship to Vancouver College (Langara), an Excellence in Outdoor
Writing award from the BC & Yukon Community Newspaper Association, and
an Honourable Mention at the BC Law Society awards in 1989. He now makes
his living as a freelance writer and has written many newspaper articles
including a feature interview with Noam Chomsky and a five-part series
on spousal assault. Smedley also enjoys reading, fishing, cooking and
politics. Brian Smith is a
freelance outdoor writer and photographer. His work has appeared in
BCWF Outdoor Edge, The Canadian Fly Fisher magazine, The Art of BC Fly
Fishing 2005 Calendar and Fly Fishing and Tying Journal. Smith has been
fishing the waters of the BC's Central Interior, Cariboo, Kootenays
and the Okanagan for more than twenty-five years. In his search for
the perfect catch, Smith also targets steelhead and salmon in northwest
British Columbia, but readily admits his love is for trout that come
freely to the dry fly. Smith is an avid fly fisher, and an accomplished
fly tier and rod builder. He was recognized as Contributor of the Year
in 1997 for articles published in the BC Wildlife Federation's Outdoor
Edge magazine. In 2008, Brian was awarded the Jack Shaw Fly Tying Award
by the BC Federation of Fly Fishers. He credits his lifelong passion
for fly tying to the pioneer work of the late master angler Jack Shaw,
who was his friend and mentor during his formative fly fishing years
in Kamloops. Smith has four children and lives with his wife Lois in
Prince George, BC. Fly Fishing BC's Interior is his first book. Dave Speck lives
in Sidney BC. A retired English teacher, he was one of the three major
participants in the reformation of Caitlin Press after it moved to Prince
George in 1991. As well as serving as chief editor and reader, he compiled
and edited North Coast Collected, an anthology of the best writing
from the NorthWest of BC. The author of several
other books, Steele has received several international awards for his
book on Arctic explorations. Peter Steele and his family have lived
in Whitehorse since 1975. A British-born and trained plastic surgeon
and opthamologist, Steele has lived, travelled and worked throughout
the world, including such places as Bhutan, the Sahara and Katmandu.
He was chief medical officer of the Grenfell Medical Service in Labrador.
He served as team doctor to the international 1971 Everest expedition.
Jane Stevenson holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Victoria, majoring in Anthropology and Environmental Studies. She was curator of the Bulkley Valley Museum in Smithers and has been published in Geist, Connections Magazine, The Western Producer and Acreage Life. She is the regular historical writer for Northword magazine. She lives in Telkwa, BC.
Jeremy Stewart is
a UNBC graduate of English Literature and a past winner of the Barry
McKinnon Chapbook Prize. The manuscript of (flood basement was
shortlisted for the 2008 Robert Kroetsch Award for Innovative Poetry.
Jeremy Stewart lives in Prince George, BC. (flood basement is
his first book. Bruce is well-known
on the northern BC scene. He has been, in his own words, "a bar-room
piano player, a tire salesman, an education administrator and a provincial
politician." In his monst recent reincarnation, he writes two columns,
one on the political scene and one on cars for The Prince George
Citizen. He also hosts a weekly radio show. Wim Tewinkel Born in the Netherlands,
Wim Tewinkel studied forestry in Holland, spent three years in Kenya
and then immigrated to Canada. As well as a forester, he is a notable
photographer. He has spent the last twenty years working with the First
Nations people of the Lilleoot-Pemberton area of British Columbia. From
his friendships with the native elders and his interest in photpgraphy
came the book, Salish Elders. Born in England,
Margaret Thompson immigrated to Canada in the mid '60s. Since then,
she has lived in various parts of BC and is now settled into the tiny
historic village of Fort St. James, BC. She has three grown children
and has spent most of her working life teaching English. Her first book,
Squaring the Circle was published in 1992. On October 8, 1977,
Richard Thompson and Margaret Spicer were married in the small town
of New Totem on the western edge of the Vast Northern Prairie. The next
day they hitched a ride to Prince George on Cindy-Lou Pratt's tour bus.
They've been there ever since. Richard now earns his living creating
and telling talesshort ones and tall ones. Well-known as the news reporter for CBC North, Trumpener is also a writer, and radio documentary producer. Her non-fiction and fiction writing have been published in the Guardian, the Globe and Mail, This Magazine, NOW Magazine, Monday Magazine, the Malahat Review, Event Magazine, the Queen Street Quarterly, Northword Magazine, and filling station. She was the first annual Writer in Residence for the CBC weekend arts show, North By Northwest, and she has been awarded a Western Magazine Award for her column, North of Unreal, a Jack Webster Award for Best Radio Feature, and a Jack Webster Africa Journalism Fellowship. The Butcher of Penetang is her first book.
Born in 1904 at
Gravesend, Kent in England T. A. (Tommy) Walker emigrated to the Bella
Coola Valley in British Columbia in 1929. He was instrumental in establishing
Tweedsmuir Park in 1937. In 1948 Mr. Walker and his wife Marion established
a big game hunting outfit at Cold Fish Lake. The Walkers sold their
outfit and property at Cold Fish Lake in 1968, but retained their trading
post and sawmill at Tatogga Lake on the Stewart-Cassiar Highway. Now
retired, they live in Smithers, British Columbia. Born in Montreal,
brought up in Vancouver Sue Ward has enjoyed a varied career—a
singer with her own radio show by the time she was twenty-one, sales
clerk, newspaper reporter and editoryou name it, she's done it. She
now lives in Granisle. Swiss-born, Ferdi
Wenger is a best-selling author/researcher of several travel guides
written in French, German and English. He has also written articles
about his expeditions along some of the world's most impressive rivers
for prominent publications such as BC Outdoors, The Canadian
Geographic and The Globe and Mail. The late Jan-Udo
Wenzel was born in Berlin, Germany and grew up on the North Sea island
of Amrum. He came to Canada as a young man where he worked as a newspaper
reporter and editor in Vancouver, Edmonton and Kamloops. He also worked
in Oregon and Washington, in Europe and the Far East before settling
in Prince George, BC. For more than a decade he worked for the Prince
George Citizen, before publishing his own newspaper. He wrote for
various European publications on Canadian subjects. Gillian Wigmore
grew up in Vanderhoof, BC, graduated from the University of Victoria
in 1999, and currently lives in Prince George. She has been published
in Geist , CV2, filling station, and the Inner Harbour Review,among
others. Her first chapbook, home when it moves you, was published by
Creekstone Press in 2005.
Eileen Williston,
the late wife of Ray Williston, was the main author and power behind
Forest, Power, and Policy, the biography of her husband, who
himself was responsible for changing the lives of the people in BC during
his tenure as the Minister of Education, Lands and Forests. He oversaw
the building of the Peace River Dam as well as negotiating the Columbia
River Treaty. Alice Wolczuk, a long time resident of Prince George, had several careers including running a sawmill, and building and running Prince George's first greenhouse operation, Wolczuk's Nursery. Her first love was always been gardening and through her weekly column for the Prince George Citizen, was considered the foremost authority on gardening in the Central Interior of BC. Her book, Discovering Sauerkraut, is a result of both her Ukrainian background and her frustration about not being able to find any recipes for cooking with sauerkraut. It has become almost a cult book for people of Eastern European backgrounds and other sauerkraut devotees. |
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