My first reading of Like a Child to Home…and other 3rd day events

It was a busy day. My personal highlight was the local writers reading, late in the afternoon, in the cool, breeze-wafted venue of the Seniors gym, a comfortable space draped in an honour guard of hanging quilts, cushioned by silk  sky-covers and a very receptive audience. There were 5 local writers reading this day: The lead-off writer, Lucy Dabbs, young, creative and fearless; Jane Masutani, amazingly funny and self-effacing, Lindsay Langdale Graf, new to me but a strong and original voice and Jennifer Lee, a beautifully precise and poignant poet.

After a complimentary introduction by Juan Barker from Abraxas Books, I come to the podium and delay my reading from Like a Child to Home  a moment or so to read a small poem, Three Sheep Walking, to lighten the mood. I then read a selected passage from the first part of Chapter 4 of the book. It is a description of an office visit between social worker Wally Rose, one of his teenage wards and a friend of the ward. The reading lasts about 12 minutes, the prescribed time, and seems over almost before I begin. The piece go well; it ends at a provocative point with some in the audience, I am told, seeking more, I am told.

As I read from a printout of the chapter, I am painfully amused that my boxes of novel are in the Purolator  depot in Nanaimo, my home town, 80 kilometers away. So close…

The day was also full of wonderful music, a workshop and a few moments of quiet, here and there.