Photo: Contributed
The Kamloops Library is located at 465 Victoria St.
The Thompson-Nicola Regional Library will welcome its third Writer in Residence, Gail Anderson-Dargatz, this fall.
She is an internationally recognized author from Shuswap with a diverse body of work spanning multiple genres and receiving numerous awards.
Her latest book, The Almost Widow (2023), was nominated for the Crime Writers of Canada’s 2024 Howard Engel Award for Best Crime Novel Set in Canada and is the sequel to The Almost Wife (2021).
From September to December 2024, Anderson-Dargatz’s residency will focus on encouraging participants to explore their own voices and narratives, a TNRL press release said.
Anderson-Dargatz will lead workshops, readings and one-on-one sessions, encouraging a lively exchange of ideas that highlights the importance of storytelling.
She will begin her residency on Thursday, September 5, with a meet and greet event at the Kamloops Library downtown from 6-7 p.m.
She will also visit six other libraries in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District to talk about her manuscript and her best-selling book, “The Almost Widow.”
Those dates and times are: Saturday, September 7, 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Clearwater Library, Saturday, September 14, 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Barriere Library, Saturday, September 28, 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Ashcroft Library, Saturday, October 5, 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Logan Lake Library, Friday, October 18, 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Merritt Library, and Saturday, October 26, 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Chase Library.
As part of the residency, the TNRL will also host discussions on writing craft, writing exercises and inspiration for writers writing memoirs or other fiction genres, including children’s and young adult literature, at the downtown Kamloops Library. Writers of all levels are welcome. Sessions will be held on Thursdays (biweekly) from September 19 to November 28 between 3:00 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
The Kamloops Library is also hosting NaNoWriMo Prep 101, where participants can learn how to create an outline to prepare for writing a discovery draft during NaNoWriMo. These sessions will be held on September 12, 26, and October 24 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Neurodivergent Writer’s Circles will be held on November 9, 16, 23 and 30 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the North Kamloops Library, where participants can meet like-minded writers who identify as highly sensitive, with ADHD, on the autism spectrum or gifted.
To book one-on-one consultations with Anderson-Dargatz to discuss your work and develop as a writer, visit tnrl.ca/residencies.
A closing ceremony with Anderson-Dargatz will be held at the Kamloops Library on Thursday, December 5, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., where authors from the workshops will read from their works.
