Jan DeGrass, Author, interviews Artist and Author teams from the Art & Words Festival, including:
Tracy Hall & Janice Rafael
Karen Taylor & Lianne Kirilenko
Rizz Fischer & Bruce Edwards
Leslie MacFarlane & Karis Gauthier
Richard Feehan & Roger Handling
Pammila Ruth & Lorena Ruth
Kathaleen Quinn & Matt Thomson
Rachel Amina & Denise Olson
Doris Good & Ellen Heale
Atma Frans & Michael Healey
Tag: literary
Heritage Playhouse: Showcase of Sunshine Coast New Books
Enjoy readings from Sunshine Coast Authors of their new books, including:
Ken Blosser
Joan Fletcher
Doris Good
Robin Lamarche
M.J. Milne
Jan DeGrass
Marion McKinnon Crook
Ruth Rodgers
Free. Reserve your seat by emailing: sunshinecoastwritersandeditors@gmail.com
GPAG: Book Binding 101 with Stephen Murphy
Learn the essentials of bookbinding including: paper grain and folding, sewing, and forming signatures to create a basic pamphlet book suitable for journaling or art projects.
Sunday, August 23, 10:30-Noon
Gibsons Public Art Gallery
$10 to cover provided materials.
Register by emailing sunshinecoastwritersandeditors@gmail.com
Far From Home – Book Launch with Ruth Rodgers
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
Intro to Glosa Poetry with Bonnie Quan Symons
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
GPAG: Poetry & Memoir Reading – Catherine McNeil & Daniela Elza
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.
GPAG: Why Do We Write: A Conversation with Elizabeth Rains & Jessica Raya
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.
GPAG: Marion Crook Interviews Artists and Authors at Art & Words Festival
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
GPAG: Michael Gurney Interviews Authors & Artists
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
GPAG: Karen Webb Interviews Artists & Authors at Art & Words Festival
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
GPAG: Book Launch and Conversation
Join former Gibsons resident and Edmonton author Theresa Shea to celebrate the launch of her new novel, Dog Days of Planet Earth. Shea is the bestselling author of The Unfinished Child, and the Alberta Book Award and Guernica Prize winning novel The Shade Tree. Her new book weaves together major environmental and political issues of the mid- to late-20th century that remain urgent today, and asks what we’re willing to risk for our personal convictions in a world where powerful and unjust forces often oppose them. Animal lovers, earth lovers, justice lovers, and story lovers alike won’t want to miss this event. Open to the public.
Books will be available to purchase.
GPAG: Intro to Glosa Poetry
Explore how to write a glosa, a courtly form that steals a quatrail 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. Workshop includes a copy of instructor Bonnie Quan Symon’s beautiful chapbook of glosas and handouts.
GPAG: Tarot for Writers
Use Tarot cards to write your next story with Tarot Cards tapping into your intuition to create:
– Characters
– Conflict
– Plot
A technique used by Stephen King, Italo Calvino, John Steinbeck and others.
No previous experience with Tarot Required. Beginner decks with the meanings written on them to save time, Tarot journal pages and stickers provided.
Bring your own decks with booklets if you wish.
Gibsons Library: Word Whips
Writing Workshop with Fran Bourassa
Practice “free writing” short pieces from “word whip” prompts that elicit memories, emotions, and powerful ideas for poetry and stories. This method is quick, powerful, and everyone can enjoy it.
Fran Bourassa is an award-winning poet and contributing writer to numerous anthologies, including Breaking the Surface, Pacific Poetry Anthology, Force Field: 77 BC Poets.
Free but space is limited (in person only).
Registration opens on the 1st of the month here.
Opportunity: Literary Judges Wanted for Book Contest
to Mar 31st. Literary Judges Wanted for the Sunshine Coast Book Awards for BC Authors Contest. Genres include Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction, Childrens/YA, and Youth books.
Award ceremony is Saturday, August 23rd, afternoon, Gibsons Public Market, Coastal Room.
Living with Grief: Writing Group Series with David Roche
Grief can be a challenging companion. Whether you have recently started experiencing grief or it’s been many years, this series can be helpful. No writing experience is necessary, just an open mind and an open heart. This weekly series on six Tuesdays gives you a way to engage with grief on a daily basis, helping you find and listen your own story. The writing activities also help you connect with one another; helping people who truly understand what it’s like to live within life-changing loss share and support one another. No platitudes, no advice, just a community of fellow grievers, writing alone, together. Offered in partnership with Sunshine Coast Hospice Society, with support from the Town of Gibsons. Free, but space is limited: advance registration for all 6 sessions required.
Living with Grief: Writing Group Series with David Roche
Grief can be a challenging companion. Whether you have recently started experiencing grief or it’s been many years, this series can be helpful. No writing experience is necessary, just an open mind and an open heart. This weekly series on six Tuesdays gives you a way to engage with grief on a daily basis, helping you find and listen your own story. The writing activities also help you connect with one another; helping people who truly understand what it’s like to live within life-changing loss share and support one another. No platitudes, no advice, just a community of fellow grievers, writing alone, together. Offered in partnership with Sunshine Coast Hospice Society, with support from the Town of Gibsons. Free, but space is limited: advance registration for all 6 sessions required.
Living with Grief: Writing Group Series with David Roche
Grief can be a challenging companion. Whether you have recently started experiencing grief or it’s been many years, this series can be helpful. No writing experience is necessary, just an open mind and an open heart. This weekly series on six Tuesdays gives you a way to engage with grief on a daily basis, helping you find and listen your own story. The writing activities also help you connect with one another; helping people who truly understand what it’s like to live within life-changing loss share and support one another. No platitudes, no advice, just a community of fellow grievers, writing alone, together. Offered in partnership with Sunshine Coast Hospice Society, with support from the Town of Gibsons. Free, but space is limited: advance registration for all 6 sessions required.