Migratory Words Volume 5: An Anthology of Bow Valley Writers offers readers a mix of raw talent and professionals who have built careers on crafting the hard line.
“It’s a selection from people who have participated in the Migratory Words writing circle in the last year,” said member and writer Tim Murphy. “So anyone that comes to Migratory Words can submit work to the anthology and then we make selections. We usually ask people to submit five or six pieces. Then, depending on the length, some people have several poems in and others might have one story.
“There are people from Calgary who come out to participate in Migratory Words. We have some well known writers – Charles Noble, who’s from Banff, he got the Alberta Writer’s Guild Award. Sid Marty, he’s in there ... he’s been to Migratory Words – he was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award for the book he wrote, Black Grizzly of Whiskey Creek,” said Murphy.
“And there’s a guy named Waylon Chan out of Calgary who comes quite often and he was shortlisted too for the Governor General’s Award for his second book, so we’ve got some big hitters.
“Jerry Auld is also in the anthology; he’s a local writer and now has his own publishing company. Those are the ones who really jump out at me.”
What really struck Murphy was the quality being presented by the up-and-comers. “That’s who I get really excited about. We’ve got a young guy in there named Sasha Semenoff, he’s about 18, 19-years-old and he’s got some really powerful stuff in there. There’s another young woman named Rebecca Hanson ... never really written any poetry before, she actually sent me stuff that were actually letters that she sort of transformed into poetry and I’m really impressed with her stuff.”
This is the first time Migratory Words has gone to a book form. “Previously we were always in a kind of magazine form,” Murphy said. “The decision was it was our fifth year and we’re all pretty impressed that we made it this far and that we’re still going.
“We’ve got a fifth anthology and we see that as a landmark and frankly it looks better. I think it’s quite professional looking and brings authenticity to the group.”
The book launch/reading will take place at the Georgetown Inn in Canmore at 8 p.m. Tuesday (Dec. 17), in the main dining room with books on sale for $15.
