Find out more about my memoir No Letter in Your Pocket
For people in the Toronto area, don’t miss Guernica Editions‘ group book launch on Sunday, May 28. I’ll be one of eight authors introducing my memoir No Letter in Your Pocket to the public in central Canada. The event will start at 3:30 pm at Supermarket in the Kensington area. I’m hoping to include a…
I look forward to introducing my memoir No Letter in Your Pocket to my local Sunshine Coast, BC community on Saturday, April 15. My informal book launch (not the official one in Toronto on May 28) will be held at 7 pm at the Sunshine Coast Cultural Centre in Sechelt. I’ll discuss the book, its…
I enjoyed my recent chat with Nelia Hutt, host of the Apple podcast Giving Starts With You, based in Barrie, Ont. Under the topic Writing As a Transformational Tool, I discussed how I help others find their voice when writing about traumatic events. I shared my experiences writing the incest memoir No Letter in Your…
Artesia Coffeehouse attendees will get a sneak preview of my memoir No Letter in Your Pocket on April 7 at the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre in Sechelt, BC. I’ll be giving a seven-minute reading from my memoir about my visit to the erotic sandstone temples in Khajuraho, India in 1991. This will be from chapter…
Listen to the podcast here. I enjoyed my chat with Abby Ayoola, host of the Toronto podcast How to Survive Society. We discussed my incest memoir No Letter in Your Pocket and my work coaching authors of trauma memoirs. We talked about how to stay resilient, and find the courage to share your…
A snowstorm didn’t stop our Feb. 25 Heritage Week literary event, held at the Sunshine Coast Museum and Archives in Gibsons. I enjoyed giving a presentation about Muriel Wylie Blanchet, author of the classic West Coast boating tale The Curve of Time. Many thanks to Michael Gurney of The Coast Reporter for his coverage of the…
As part of BC Heritage Week, I enjoyed sharing readings from The Curve of Time on Feb. 25 and telling a Gibsons, BC audience about some of the eccentricities of author Muriel Wylie Blanchet. For instance, she had emphysema and defied her doctor, who wanted her to move out of her cold, drafty house near…
I’m delighted that I’ll be joining seven other authors from publisher Guernica Editions on Sunday, May 28 to launch my new memoir in Toronto. Join us at Supermarket Bar in the city’s Kensington area at 3:30 pm. You’ll hear me read short excerpts from No Letter in Your Pocket: How a daughter…
I really enjoyed being interviewed on Om By the Beach, a European podcast hosted by Josef Schinwald. Our one-hour discussion about Being on a Spiritual Path covered many areas, from Buddhist concepts of compassion, forgiveness, and no-self to writing about trauma, coaching others about writing about their trauma, and my memoir No Letter in Your…
Before xwu’p’a’lich Barbara Higgins was born in 1933, members of the shíshálh Nation were waiting for her to take on the role of Rememberer or Knowledge-keeper (her ancestral name means “she weaves”). Since then, she has voiced the importance of preserving Nature, her people’s land, language, and culture through her stories, poems, and activism….
What influence did university journalism and the UBC student newspaper The Ubyssey have on my life and career? I explain, and reminisce, in a new online series of Q&As, part of the Hundred Year Trek project. (The Great Trek was a huge event in Vancouver, BC in 1922, whereby hundreds of students, supported by many…
I was one of eight writers who read as part of the Oct. 21 event “Good Stories Live Here” in Sechelt, BC. This free presentation of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, sponsored by the Sunshine Coast Writers and Editors Society (SCWES), kicked off the Sunshine Coast Arts Crawl. I read my creative nonfiction piece “Navigating the…
I’m delighted to be offering the webinar “Trauma and truth-telling in memoir: the risks and rewards of revealing secrets” on Nov. 16 from 2:00 to 3:15 PST. I’m doing it through the U.S. foundation and magazine Creative Nonfiction. I’ll be drawing on first-hand experiences from writing my memoir No Letter in Your Pocket and will include…
Pre-sales have already started for my incest memoir No Letter in Your Pocket, which will be published in May 2023 by Guernica Editions of Toronto. See sales links below. Price: $25 CDN OVERVIEW: Incest denial and sexual assaults disrupt a young woman’s solo spiritual quest and her two romantic adventures in India in 1990-91. Two…
The new Art & Words anthology features fiction, poetry, and nonfiction by more than a dozen BC Sunshine Coast writers, along with accompanying artists. Writers and artists were paired at random to collaborate on an exhibited piece: either the writer wrote something inspired by the artist’s creation or vice-versa. The book contains my poem “The…
I’m delighted to be part of the anthology honouring the Beachcombers 50th Anniversary. This collection, officially released on Oct. 1, 2022, marks a half-century after the iconic Canadian TV show, The Beachcombers, started. It contains poetry, fiction, and nonfiction from BC Sunshine Coast writers and a tribute to the show’s actor, the late Pat John,…
kway?imin Andy Johnson, the shishalh Nation’s cultural ambassador, drummed and sang one of his original songs, plus told a sasquatch story at my book launch in December 2019 at the Sechelt Library. I profiled him in the fall issue of Coast Life magazine. In the photo to the right, he holds a copy of my…
Along with puppets and fun props, I’ll be reading Six Stinky Feet and a Sasquatch at Gibsons Public Library on Saturday, Oct. 15. Bring the kids for this free 10:30 am event, and they can draw and colour their own Bigfoot character, with a show and tell and Q&A. I’ll have books available for sale…
I’ll be offering a short webinar on Sunday, Sept. 11 for the creative nonfiction group of the Federation of BC Writers (FBCW). From 10:30 to 11:00 am, I’ll be sharing tips about revealing family secrets and will provide first-hand anecdotes regarding the challenges of writing my incest memoir No Letter in Your Pocket. A short…
I’m delighted to present new literary material, inspired by a painting by Gibsons artist Paula O’Brien, at the inaugural Arts & Words event in Davis Bay on Aug. 12 and 13. My Aug. 12 reading, in the 10:30 to noon time slot, is generously sponsored by Canada Council through the Writers’ Union of Canada. The…
I’m happy to be back as an in-person instructor at the City of Port Moody, BC, facilitating creative writing classes again. After a two-year hiatus due to COVID, it’s great to see some of our regular students again and to meet new faces. It’s a joy to workshop high-quality content in multi-genres from poetry and…
I’ll be facilitating the March 27 session of the Sunshine Coast Writers and Editors Society. We’ll meet at Mission Point Lodge by Davis Bay, BC from 4 to 6 pm. Participants are asked to bring a donation to go towards the facilities rental. Thank you. Writers of all levels and genres are welcome.
I am teaching an 8-week, online creative nonfiction class Writing From Pain to Power in the spring of 2022 through the University of King’s College in Halifax. My students are from across the country, writing about real-life traumas in their lives. Most are hoping to publish a memoir or essays. Using a trauma-informed approach, we…
I profiled and photographed Candace Campo, co-founder of Talaysay Tours and a shishalh Nation member, for the winter 2022 issue of Sunshine Coast Life Magazine. Each year, her First Nations ecotour company hosts visitors from around the globe, introducing them to Pacific Northwest Indigenous culture, history, ancestors, local flora and fauna, and the spiritual significance…
It was a joy to be back in person teaching at Powell River Digital Film School in early February. Spent two days with the grade 12 students analyzing and discussing short documentaries and learning how to write and conceptualize them. Also did a day of hands-on SoulCollage(R) exercises and learning. Thoroughly enjoyed the students’ level…
Rocket launchers blast through a night sky as clashing rebel groups exchange fire in India’s contentious Kashmir region. My then-partner and I huddle on the bow of a cozy houseboat on Dal Lake. Find out what it was like to be there under curfew in my travel essay Two Realities. It appears in the debut…
It was a delight to profile Jessica Silvey, who’s shíshálh and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) with the ancestral name Kwahama Kwatleematt, and has been weaving cedar baskets, hats, and décor for more than 30 years. I profiled her, the owner of Red Cedar Woman studio, as the cover story for the winter 2021 issue of…
Guess what? Kids can interact and learn in a fun, new way with my picture book Six Stinky Feet and a Sasquatch. By using the Simbi web platform, they can see and hear me read the book and follow along, page by page. Then, they can record themselves reading aloud, at their own pace, and…
I’ll be at the Roberts Creek Legion Dec. 1, selling my popular picture book Six Stinky Feet and a Sasquatch, anthologies, and my nonfiction Vancouver’s Glory Years, which is now out of print. Only limited copies left. Will also have kermode bear photo cards, postcards, and fun sasquatch Christmas tree ornaments. Come and support local…
Once again, I had a great time signing and selling Six Stinky Feet and a Sasquatch and my other books Nov. 20-21 at Sunnycrest Mall in Gibsons, BC. Bought a crocheted crown from Ruby, the vendor beside me, and wore it both days. For people who prefer to buy online, Six Stinky Feet is available…