Join author and artist, Ruth Rodgers, for the launch of her latest historical fiction novel at the Gibsons Public Art Gallery as she presents this latest story about the thousands of ‘home children’ sent out from England to Canada to fulfill agricultural and domestic service roles in the 1870s to the 1930s. Joseph and Lucy, orphans from London, experience very different fates in their new homes, typical of the stories of many of those caught up in this ill-considered scheme designed to solve Canada’s labour shortage while getting children off the streets of England’s growing cities.
Saturday, August 22, 2026, 11 AM – 12:30 PM
Gibsons Public Art Gallery
Free
Explore how to write a glosa, a courtly form that steals a quatrain from another poet’s work to structure a poem of your own, in the course of which you create a glosa – or gloss on that poet’s work. Tangling with your chosen poet may allow her or his subtle influence to inform your tone and expand your expressive range.
THE GLOSA OR GLOSE is a form requiring:
a) A cabeza (or motto) – the quatrain borrowed from another poet, whose authorship must be acknowledged
b) Four 10-line stanzas, each endingwith one of the lines in sequence from the cabeza
c) A rhyme-scheme requirement that lines 6 and 9 rhyme with the final word of line 10.
Saturday, Aug. 22nd, 2026, 10:30 am – Noon
Gibsons Public Art Gallery, Joe’s Lounge
431 Marine Drive, Gibsons, BC
$25 – includes a chapbook of glosas and handouts
Register at sunshinecoastwirtersandeditors@gmail.com
Sunshine Coast poet and musician, Catherine McNeil (Cat Mac) will be reading from her award-winning poetry book, “Emily & Elspeth.” Joining her is Vancouver author, Daniela Elza, author of scar/city, poetry, and Is This an Illness or an Accident, her memoir. Both of Elza’s books are finalists for awards in this years Book Awards for BC Authors contest.
Is it nature or nurture, the promise of fame and fortune, or just a pathological compulsion to see our names in print? Could it be the hope to leave the legacy of our life’s story for our grandchildren? Maybe it’s a struggle we can’t abandon, or maybe we’re doing it for fun. Join author Elizabeth Rains and her author daughter, Jessica Raya, in exploring what draws us to the page and propels us through the writing journey. This audience-participation session aims to ramp up your writing energies no matter how or why they arise.
Marion Crook, Award-winning Author, interviews Artist and Author teams at the 5th Annual Art & Words Festival at the Gibsons Public Art Gallery, including:
Andrea Coates, Author & Ann-Marie Brown, Artist
Isabella Mori, Author & Hilary Moses, Artist
Emily Jew, Artist & Jean Stewart, Author
Rosa Reid, Author & Erika Mastig, Artist
Joyce Gwilliam, Author & Hana Rose, Artist
Felicia Mareels, Author & Manon Staiger, Artist
Michael Gurney interviews Author and Artist teams from the 5th Annual Art & Words Festival, at Gibsons Public Art Gallery, including:
Karen Webb, Artist & Paula Shadel
Marion Crook, Author & Michelle Nielsen, Artist
Margot Hallman, Artist & Peter Toews, Author
Serena J. Trinder, Artist & Rose Clarke, Artist & Author
M.J. Milne, Author & Doris Biddle, Artist
Catherine McNeil, Author and Musician & Stephen Murphy, Artist
Karen Webb, Author, Artist, Actor, and Educator interviews Artist and Author teams of the 5th Annual Art & Words Festival at the Gibsons Public Art Gallery, including:
Elaine Seepish & Michael Healey
Robin Lamarche & Paddy Meade
David Kipling & Landyn Funk
Lynda Manson & Kathleen Vance
Joan Fletcher & Lorraine Gallant
Del Lobo & Sheri Peters
Jo Forrest & Michael Gurney
Dates and times to choose from: Aug 15 & 16, 10am – 4pm. Looking for a fun way to get involved in the arts community on the coast? Join us for the Hackett park Artisan Fair Featuring 50+ vendors as well as live music. We are looking for gate attendants, vendor assistance and help with site set-up and take down. Volunteers are invited to take on multiple shifts with a minimum of 3 hours per shift. This is a great opportunity to engage with your community and enjoy the Fair while supporting the arts! We invite you to join us by filling out a brief application here.
The 44th annual Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts will take place August 13-16, 2026, featuring established literary stars and exciting new voices, with opportunities for writers and readers to mingle amidst Rockwood’s heritage gardens.
With 19 events and 3 workshops to choose from, there is an event for everyone! The festival will feature renowned Canadian authors such as Terry Fallis (The Marionette and The Best Laid Plans), Donna Morrissey (Tell It to the Water and Rage the Night), and Michelle Good (Eliza Sunshine and Five Little Indians).
Some of your favourite personalities on stage have now taken to the page; also here to present their new books are Mary Walsh (This Hour Has 22 Minutes), Charles Demers (comedian), and Christopher Gaze (actor and founder of Bard on the Beach).
The Festival is held in Sechelt, BC at the Rockwood Centre.
The open-air pavilion and surrounding garden offers a uniquely beautiful and intimate venue for the events.
The Festival venue also includes drink concession options including a pop-up from Strait Coffee and alcoholic/non-alcoholic soft drinks at our beverage booth, pre-order lunch options from Gourmet Girl, and a book tent hosted by Talewind Books. Following each event, patrons may head up to the Book Tent and have their books signed by the author. Take part in the free festival contests or purchase raffle tickets for a chance to win some amazing prizes!
Visit www.writersfestival.ca for more information, but don’t wait too long – tickets are selling fast!
Tickets can be purchased for $18-$20 (including tax). Workshops (special events) are $25-$40. Passes range from $100 for a day pass to $295 for the full festival. Purchase tickets online at https://writersfestival.tickit.ca or by phoning the Festival Office at 604-885-9631.
Join the Sunshine Coast Writers and Editors Society for their 5th Anniversary Art & Words Festival at the Gibsons Public Art Gallery, August 21-23, and the Book Awards for BC Authors Reveal at the Gibsons Heritage Playhouse, Saturday, August 22nd.
June 5-7. Please join us for our 21st Annual Pender Harbour Blues Festival. Three wonderful days of amazing music at unique venues around Pender Harbour, Secret Cove and Egmont on the beautiful Sunshine Coast. Tickets and festival info at www.phblues.ca
