My writing group, the Sooke Writers’ Collective, has been working toward a 2015 anthology since last fall. It is a professionally designed and printed book – one hundred and fourteen pages this year with nineteen participants, five of which are high school students. The five are winners of our annual student writing contest we host at a local high school, Edward Milne Community School.
Why do we do all this?
The anthology is a way to share our writing within our community locally and outwards into the larger community/world. It helps us by creating a goal to work towards and it also gives us common ground. We meet to help and support each other – to give feedback to strengthen our writing, to support ideas and experiments, to pass on information. Though we meet formally only once a month, this collective of writers of many genres and styles has an energy that stays with me. I feel them when I am writing – it’s a kind of community of spirit, the “I’ve got your back” kind of thing. These people are important to me and I am thankful for their sharing and trust.
By hosting a student writing contest we are reaching out into the community to inspire and encourage. The participating students wrote some incredible stories and poems in a two-hour time period.
This year’s anthology will soon be arriving from the printers but we are short of the funds to cover all our expenses – hosting the contest (cash prices), advertising and printing. A pre-purchase and/or a donation of $2 would be a great boost for the collective. Visit us here.
Our anthology: Words & Imaginings – now in production
