Travelling Back Home
Originally published, Saturday, October 10, 2009
A long time since I’ve made an entry!
September I spent in England and Ireland. England featured some great theatre, marvellous river trips on the Thames, and many museums and galleries, but Ireland was the best. With a good friend, I did a 10-day walking tour in the southwest, round the Dingle peninsula — The Dingle Way. We walked on spectacular strands (beaches even more beautiful, yes, than Long Beach), along tiny country roads and boreens, on the flanks of what the Irish call mountains (steep hills), on sheeptracks and across rivers and over brilliant green fields dotted with (a) sheep and (b) standing stones and (c) beehive-shaped stone structures that are maybe Christian but maybe from much longer ago. Throughout, the weather was great. Also featured were the Blasket Islands, the All-Ireland Gaelic Football Final, much traditional music, many interesting fellow-walkers including an 82-year-old doctor still hiking solitarily, Guinness of course, and wonderful food. The smoked salmon — amazing. And nowhere in Canada is such good bread commercially available.
Back in Vancouver the weather’s still wonderful. I’m back to writing and/or revising short stories, and am looking forward to a round of appearances in the next month or so. As follows:
Friday 23 October, 10 – 11:30 am, Vancouver International Writers’ Festival, Granville Island, in the Revue Theatre — “Coming of Age,” with Lisa Foad and Cordelia Strube, moderated by Shaena Lambert
Saturday 24 October, 8 pm, Vancouver International Writers’ Festival, Granville Island, Waterfront Theatre, “Polyphony,” with John Bemrose, Andrea De Carlo, Karen McLaughlin, Maile Meloy, Anik See, Thomas Trofimu, and moderated by Paul Grant
Monday 26 October, 7 pm, Vertigo Reading Series, Aegean Coast Coffee and Tea, 1901 Hamilton Street, Regina, with Myrna Kostash and Elizabeth Philips
Wednesday 28 October, McNally Robinson Books, 3130 8th Street East, Saskatoon, solo reading
Tuesday 10 November, 11:30 am, at Keith Harrison’s creative writing class, Vancouver Island University, Nanaimo, solo reading
Monday 16 November, 7 pm, Peter Kaye Room, Main Branch, Vancouver Public Library, solo reading and talk
Hope to see friends and neighbours at one or other of the above!
