On Thursday, October 11, 2012, a large crowd of students and staff from across Faculties and Departments gathered in HC L-3 for the inaugural readings kickstarting the 37th consecutive year of the University of Alberta Writer-in-Residence Program.
Professor Julie Rak recently unearthed an autographed typescript by Marian Engel, so the gathering invoked the long continuity of the Residency Program with the voice of our third Writer-in-Residence from 1977. Then, last year's Writer-in-Residence, Richard Van Camp, took the floor to mesmerize the audience with a stellar reading of the short story "Devotion," from his brand-new collection, Godless But Loyal to Heaven. This hot-off-the-press book will be launched at Audrey's on October 28, 2012, so plan to get your copies then.
Professor Julie Rak recently unearthed an autographed typescript by Marian Engel, so the gathering invoked the long continuity of the Residency Program with the voice of our third Writer-in-Residence from 1977. Then, last year's Writer-in-Residence, Richard Van Camp, took the floor to mesmerize the audience with a stellar reading of the short story "Devotion," from his brand-new collection, Godless But Loyal to Heaven. This hot-off-the-press book will be launched at Audrey's on October 28, 2012, so plan to get your copies then.
Jetlagged but as engaging as ever, our new Writer-in-Residence, Marina Endicott, then delighted the audience with a reading from one of the saucier bits of her Governor-General's nominated novel, The Little Shadows, before reading an excerpt from the fiction manuscript she will be working on during her tenure, a novel tentatively titled Hughtopia (unless Peter Endicott has anything to say about it, apparently.) The readings were a wonderful showcase of work at various stages of the creative process, and were followed by a lovely reception, organized by Roberta Zopf. Everyone enjoyed the refreshments, and the chance for one-on-one conversations with our featured writers, and friends, old and new.