May 8, 2008

Authors' Day

Today I had the great pleasure of being a part of the Toronto District School Board’s “Authors’ Day” held at historic Spadina House. The event began with a delicious lunch, which turned out to just be the beginning of good things. Participants were high school students shortlisted in a board-wide short story contest, and there were about forty of them in total. After lunch they broke into groups and attended writing workshops led by me, Gale Zoe Garnett and the lovely Jessica Westhead. My group was fantastic, and for two hours they shared their stories, criticism and ideas. It was a privilege to be there, and I enjoyed myself thoroughly. At the end of the afternoon we reassembled, and the top prizes were given. These winning stories have been published in a booklet, I was given a copy, and now I’m excited to read them.