“If the local public library doesn’t support local authors, who will?”
Whenever I travel, I like to read books by authors who are from wherever I’m going.
While preparing for a trip to Nigeria, I stumbled across one of my favourite books of all time — with the unforgettable title, The Palm-Wine Drinkard and his Dead Palm-Wine Tapster in the Dead’s Town — by Nigerian writer Amos Tutuola.
I picked up another favourite, Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children, in a small used bookstore in Pushkar, Rajasthan.
While holidaying just across the river from North Korea in Tumen, China, I read through Andrei Lankov’s fascinating and insightful North of the DMZ: Essays on Daily Life in North Korea.
Reading stories about the places we live and travel infuses those places with greater depth and meaning, and connects us more closely to the symbols and myths of the places we inhabit.
So when I arrived in Creston last year, I naturally sought out books by authors who live in and write about this little pocket of the world.
I started out with Deryn Collier’s Confined Space, which takes place, for the most part, right across the tracks from the library.
After meeting Tanna Patterson in the library stacks one day, I started on her Butterflies In Bucaramanga.
Around that time, I met Luanne Armstrong for the first time. I’d heard of her, but hadn’t read any of her books or realized that she lived in this area. I read through Pete’s Gold and Bordering before finally getting my hands on I’ll Be Home Soon. I spent a few years working at Carnegie Library in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, and could recognize some of the sights and scenes in this last book.
We are blessed to have such a quantity and quality of writers living in our midst, and I’m honoured to be hosting several of them at the library over the next few months.
Sometime this summer, the inimitable Dave Perrin will be sharing stories from his country vet series of books. You may also know Dave from his controversial exposé Keep Sweet: Children of Polygamy, about Debbie Palmer’s experiences growing up in Bountiful.
As part of the One Book One Kootenay (OBOK) series, we will also be hosting Nelson’s Antonia Banyard and Collier, a former Creston resident.
Banyard’s OBOK shortlisted book Never Going Back, set in a small town in the B.C. Interior, is a fictional exploration of how tragedy affects our lives and relationships.
Collier’s Confined Space, written while she was a member of a Creston-based writing group under Luanne Armstrong’s mentorship, is a whodunit murder mystery set in the made-up town of Kootenay Landing. (It’s really Creston — why do authors feel the need to change names like this?) A second book in the series is reportedly underway — I’m hoping for a sneak peak during her visit!
While not really local, we are also expecting a visit from Victoria-based Carolyn Herriot, author of the Zero-Mile Diet series and A Year on the Garden Path. Her approach to organic growing and homegrown food fits right into Creston’s commitment to sustainable food production.
We are still solidifying dates for each of these authors. Please check our Facebook page for updates as they come in.
In the meantime, you can help support local authors by participating in OBOK 2013. The challenge is to read the three shortlisted books (the library has two copies of each) and vote for the one you like best. The winner will be touring all of the Kootenay Library Federation libraries sometime in the fall.
The three shortlisted books are Collier’s Confined Space, Banyard’s Never Going Back, and Kimberley-based “extreme” travel writer Bruce Kirkby’s Dolphin’s Tooth. Voting ballots are available at the library.
Our mission as a library is to enhance the economic, social and cultural vitality of the community we serve. Supporting locally based authors is an important part of this goal. We invite you to help us fulfill this mission by taking part in One Book One Kootenay and joining us in our upcoming author visits.
One final note: You may know that April 13-16 marks the Burmese new year, which is the most important public holiday in Burma. Happy new year to all of Creston’s Burmese residents!
Aaron Francis is the chief librarian at the Creston and District Public Library.