Sunday, June 22, 2014

Yay for the beer barge!

The beer barge has arrived in Yellowknife, heralding the start of summer.

Back in the old timey days, the first barge that made its way across Great Slave Lake to Yellowknife, right after spring break up, carried a supply of beer. Given a lack of roads and the fact beer is heavy (so expensive to fly in), the little mining camp on the edge of the big lake would run dry towards the end of winter. The arrival of the beer barge was an occasion of great joy.

And it still is. We now have a road in, but the re-enactment of the arrival of the barge is a great way to remember Yellowknife's heritage, and as well as acting as a fund raiser for good work of the NWT Mining Heritage Society. We go down to Max Ward's dock in the Old Town, try to guess what time the barge will come in, have a barbecue and drink of (you guessed it) beer. A lovely way to kick off summer.

(Photo: the 2014 beer barge just about to reach shore at Max Ward's dock in Yellowknife's Old Town.)

Friday, June 13, 2014

NorthWords 9: A Brave New North

Last weekend's NorthWords Writers Festival was the usual blur of activity. As we've come to expect, the events were incredibly well organized, the visiting writers were friendly and approachable, and we all had a chance to hear from some really great local talent.

I sometimes blog about NorthWords here, but this time around I provided an article to the NWT Literacy Council's blog.

If you'd like to read about this year's NorthWords, please click on the link above.

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Come see us at NorthWords!

The NorthWords Festival is almost here!

This year's festival theme is Brave New North, so it has a speculative fiction feel to it. Yellowknife events will be held from June 5 to 8, with Canada’s Premier Sci Fi Author Robert J. Sawyer as the headliner. Other guest authors include Hayden Trenholm, Liz Westbrook-Trenholm, Dave Bidini, Todd Babiak and Billeh Nickerson.

I will be reading twice during the festival:

Thursday, June 5 - A Touch of Fiction Brown Bag Lunch, 12 noon – 1 pm, Yellowknife Book Cellar

Thursday, June 5 - FLASH: Your 3 Minutes of Fame (Open Mike), 8 – 10 pm, Baker Community Centre (complimentary beverages & dessert)

I've written a new piece of speculative fiction for FLASH, so come on out. We'd love to see you!