COVID was a game changer for live event, but the wait is over. Thanks to all our supporters for their patience. It's been a long hiatus, but thanks to some very generous grants from the CRD we are moving ahead with a spanking new website and a very exciting and unique event coming in October. Galiano Island will be linked via Zoom for the first time with Aotea Great Barrier Island in New Zealand.
The working title for the event is“Island to Island.” We will be hosting a live panel discussion and reading at the Galiano Inn on October 7th at 3:30pm. Our panel will be twinned with a panel of writers in New Zealand as a part of their yearly “Small Island, Big Ideas” festival. You can find out more about Aotea Great Barrier Island and their festival here https://smallislandbigideas.co.nz/ Aotea (the Maori name for the island) has a more or less identical population to Galiano's, a very similar pre- and post-colonial history, an economy once dependant on logging, now based significantly on seasonal tourism, a vibrant arts community, three elementary schools (but no High School!), and a dedication to looking for solutions to the mitigation of the climate crisis. Indeed the environment is one of the major themes of their yearly festival.
Our live panel at the Inn will consist of Galiano's Kate Hennessy (Moderator), novelist Cedar Bowers, Indigenous Story Teller Rosemary Georgeson, poet Geoff Inverarity, and Young Adult Fantasy novelist Giselle Vriesen from Salt Spring whose debut novel will be published next year. We have a crack Tech team (Amos Hertzman, Patrick Ramsay, and Dylan Smith) who are going to help make this fabulous event possible, and we're also very grateful to the Yellow House for the use of some of their equipment.
Tickets for this event will be by donation, and they'll be available shortly online through Eventbrite and on the day at the door. Seats will be limited, but admission to the whole event will also be possible by purchasing access online. Between now and October 7th, look out for posters, the new website, and a Facebook Event Page.
Volunteers are more than welcome for set up, front of house, postering, and all those small but essential tasks that make a community event like this possible. I'm sure our audience as well as our readers will have a lot of questions for their New Zealand counterparts and there will be a Q&A session. More information to come in the October edition of the Active Page!
Geoff Inverarity
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