A benefit reading will be held for Kootenay Lake East Shore author Luanne Armstrong on Oct. 4 at 7.30 p.m. at the Oxygen Art Centre in Nelson, located at 320 Vernon St. (alley entrance).
Many local writers have been students of Armstrong as, with a master of fine arts degree and a PhD in creative writing, she is well qualified to teach. She has a profound ability to draw out the best in the writers she teaches, as so many will attest.
Armstrong is a woman of considerable talents: writer, farmer, teacher, mother, friend and supreme advocate for local writers. And she is a prolific author. With over 15 books in print, she is known for the diversity of her work, from award-winning young adult novels to creative non-fiction, from poetry to adult novels.
In June, Armstrong was injured in a car accident, leaving her in constant pain and disheartened with her slow recovery, which is why a group of writers have organized this benefit. They want to honour her for her work and to give her a boost up the healing ladder so that she can continue to teach and inspire them all.
The writers will read from their own work and from Armstrong’s work, and auction off precious signed copies of their own books. The silent auction will also include gifts from others.
Participating writers are Jane Byers, Deryn Collier, Jennifer Craig, Anne DeGrace, Randi Jensen, K.Linda Kivi, Rose Nielson, Eileen Delehanty Pearkes, Kristene Perron and Patricia Rawson.
This event will also be the launch for Armstrong’s newest collection of essays, The Light Through the Trees, recently published by Caitlin Press.
--SUBMITTED