Writer-in-Residence BlogTag

Aanii, Boozhoo, hello, hi there and do you speak my language

Language of the day is all about decolonization or re-indigenization and I watch the conversations taking place all over the place by Nish and non-Nish alike discussing points of view on the subject. ...

National Indigenous Day!

June 21st in case you didn't know today is National Indigenous Day!WOOT WOOT!It's the day you get to celebrate Indigenous people!Celebrate our culture,our history,our languages,our dances and ceremoniesour ...

Getting Started the Long Way Around

I didn't always want to be a writer, mind you, I didn't learn to read or write until I was about 12. I have this auditory learning disability that makes learning things a challenge, most things I can ...

So I Nearly Died

So I almost died and in doing so discovered that dying has the strange effect of stealing my creativity and passion for art and writing, but not because they no longer move me, instead it was because ...

Stepping Off the Treadmill

Ten years ago, Tim and I decided to step sideways.I was Artistic Director of a theatre school for children and youth. I was dedicated to the job, but it was completely wearing me down. Tim was teaching ...

What's Beyond: Writing as an Actor, Part 2

One of the important exercises we do in theatre is called “What’s Beyond.” It’s a Viola Spolin exercise to help actors understand the full, inner life of their characters. Viola Spolin is credited ...

Writing as an Actor

I went to theatre school when I was 18. In many ways it was the worst choice I could have made. I was not temperamentally suited to the life of an actor. But the lessons I learned in theatre school have ...

Writing as a Calligrapher

The word calligraphy comes from the Greek. Kali, meaning beautiful, and Graphos, meaning writing. Beautiful writing. It’s a term that was coined after the invention of the printing press, after the ...

Waking Up My Writing with a Jolt of First Love

I don’t think you ever get over falling in love with a horse.That first love is all absorbing. It awakens every sensation. Sense of smell, taste, touch, hearing –– all vibrate. It is all consuming, ...

Writing from Pictures

I use photographs as a starting point for writing. Maybe that’s because my writing is historically based. But it’s also because I am interested in starting from a real person and spinning off into ...