Five Things to Remember from October
For several months, I've been keeping track of five things I'd like to remember from that month. Here's what came up in August.
The award was created especially for the 2025 ceremony
by artists Callen Retter and Robin Gathercole,
drawing inspiration from Thunder Bay’s unique cultural
and natural landscape, blending contemporary style
with a strong sense of place. The layers are amazing.
One. It takes a village. Not very original, I know. Earlier this year, a local writing buddy nominated me for an award, based on MAKING UP THE GODS. The award wasn’t even on my radar, and her gesture was so kind. In those occasional 3 AMs when sleep is elusive and your writing projects all seem stupid, I remembered the kind act of this nomination.
Two. I can do my part. The awards program let me know how to proceed if I wanted to. And I decided I wanted to. Sometimes my mother was right when she’d say, “you have to put yourself out there.” There’s room between being passive and being pushy to believe in your work and do what's necessary to support it.
Three. It was an honour to be one of the five nominees. For decades, I’ve heard people say that about all types of awards, but I’ve never known whether they were telling the truth. In my experience, they were! Because it was! Is there anything as nice as feeling seen?
Four. Celebrations are important—and sometimes even fun. The award in the Literature category was presented as part of an evening of celebration of all kinds of arts and artists. We were encouraged to dress up. The evening included performances by musical groups and a dance troupe. Photography! Snack food! A DJ! What’s not to love? (OK it was a little loud for this old lady, but fun to see others enjoying the hubbub.)
Five. Winning something can bring mixed feelings. If you haven’t seen me on social media lately, you may not have heard. Last week, the City of Thunder Bay presented me and MAKING UP THE GODS the 2025 Arts and Heritage award in the Literature category. Technically, that makes me “a winner,” according to the social media posts provided for us to share.
However (soapbox alert). "Winner" is a term I dislike because it implies losers, and that's not true. All the nominees are writers with unique voices and perspective. They have much to share with the world, and I'm glad their work was also recognized.
That said, of course I’m so very grateful for the award. Thank you to GG-award winning writer Jean E. Pendziwol for the nomination, to the City of Thunder Bay for recognizing the importance and excellence of its arts and heritage sector, and to everyone who worked behind the scenes. Thank you to The Walleye arts and culture magazine for sponsoring the Literature category, and to the other sponsors.
Most of all, thank you to readers--and those who go to the theatre and film and musical performances, dance at events, attend Drag Queen Storytime with little ones, and make the arts part of their daily lives in other ways.
I'm guessing many artists create mostly in response to an inner impulse, but as I said above, sharing with others is important to artists also, and it's awfully nice to be seen.
I occasionally post on Instagram about books I read. This past month I have been working on other projects, but I managed to post (along with a photo of an adorable fox)
- A reel about the Literature Award nominees (books!)
- Thoughts about LURCH, by Don McKay