WORD IN THE VILLAGE – PRESS RELEASE

WORD IN THE VILLAGE – PRESS RELEASE

A festival of literature and literacy in Great Village, N.S.,
to honour and celebrate the poet Elizabeth Bishop
(Some events are fund-raisers for local groups.)

Friday, 26 September & Saturday, 27 September 2008

Friday, 26 September 2008

7:00 – 8:30 p.m. Truro author Paul Zann reading from and talking about his children’s book series The Aussie Six.
Location: Basement of St. James United Church, Great Village, N.S.
This event is for children, families and the young at heart!! All welcome.
No admission.

Saturday, 27 September 2008

10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. – Family Reading Tent.
Location: parking lot of St. James United Church.
Halifax author Judith Meyrick reading from and talking about her children’s book Gracie, The Public Gardens Duck.
Reading of Elizabeth Bishop’s story “Primer Class” by Harold Cooke, with puppet-show re-enactment.
Plus fun activities, including a “Primer Class” orienteering game.
These events are for children, families and the young at heart!! All welcome.
No admission.

10:30 – 11:30 a.m. – Walking Tour of Elizabeth Bishop’s Great Village
Location: Tour participants will gather at St. James United Church for start time.
Elizabeth Bishop’s childhood home will be open to the public during this time and through lunch.

11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. – Lunch
Provided by and fund-raiser for the Great Village Community Association.
Location: basement of St. James United Church

2:00 – 4:00 p.m. – Reading of Elizabeth Bishop’s story “In the Village”
Location: sanctuary of St. James United Church
Hosted by CBC Radio Mainstreet Host Carmen Klassen. Featuring: Brian Bartlett, Susan Crowe, Lisa Lindo, Alexander MacLeod, Anne Simpson, Harry Thurston, Agnes Walsh and Tim Wilson. There will be conversation following the reading.
See separate press release for more details of this event.
Fund-raiser for St. James United Church and the Great Village Pergola Historical Display. Cost: $10.00. Tickets available from Nancy Corrigan and Sandra Barry (see contact information below) or at the door.

4:30 – 6:30 p.m. – Feast of Food and Word
Traditional Nova Scotia Saturday night supper with guest speaker, novelist and playwright Donna Smyth.
See separate press release for more details of this event.
Location: Great Village Legion
Come for home-made baked beans, brown bread, potato scallop, ham, and mouth-watering seasonal desserts and for Donna Smyth’s insights about life and art.
Fund-raiser for St. James United Church. Cost: $10.00. Tickets must be purchased in advance as seating is limited. No tickets at the door. Tickets are available from Nancy Corrigan and Sandra Barry (see information below).

7:00 – 8:30 p.m. – “Gather around the radio”
Wind down the busy day by gathering to listen to the BBC Radio 3 documentary about Elizabeth Bishop and Great Village, “As Big As Life,” originally broadcast in November 2007.
Location: Home of poet and scholar Deborah Stiles, 33 Lornevale Road (Scrabble Hill Rd.), Great Village, N.S.
No admission.

For more information and tickets contact: Nancy Corrigan at nancy.corrigan@gmail.com, Great Village Pastoral Charge, 47 Lornevale Road, RR #1, Great Village, N.S., B0M 1L0, 902-668-2001; or Sandra Barry at slbarry@ns.sympatico.ca, 1323 Dresden Row, # 3, Halifax, N.S., B3J 2J9, 902-429-6385.

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A quick heads up on another reading event – On Friday evening, 3 October 2008, at 7:30 p.m., Newfoundland poet, playwright and storyteller Agnes Walsh will read from and talk about her work at the Joy Laking Gallery in Portapique, N.S.
No admission.

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Authors/Readers

Harold Cooke from Great Village, N.S., is the son of Patricia and Terry Cooke. He is 14 years old and started Grade Nine this year. Harold’s favourite subject is English. In his spare time he likes to read history books, write short stories with his friends, and hopes to join the swim team at school this year.

Judith Meyrick has lived and worked in Nova Scotia for many years. She was born in Aotearoa, or New Zealand as it is more commonly called, and left to “see the world.” However, unlike most Kiwis, she never returned permanently. She settled in Halifax, where the sea air reminds her of home. She is a freelance writer, editor and reviewer and is currently working on a novel for 7-11 year olds, and several other shorter works for children. Her first published children’s book, Gracie, The Public Gardens Duck was published by Nimbus in 2007.

Paul Zann was born in Australia and emigrated to Canada with his wife and daughter in 1968. After teaching at the University of Saskatchewan, he moved to Truro. He was a writer in community for the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia in 1984. His work has appeared in The Antigonish Review, The Atlantic Advocate, Grain, Poetry Canada Review, and many other journals and anthologies. His most recent book of poetry Crouching at the Keyhole was published by Borealis Press in 2007. His most recent children’s book in the continuing series The Aussie Six was published also by Borealis in 2008.


Organizations involved:

Built in 1883, St. James United Church, stands at the intersection of Highway 2 and the Lornevale Road in the pretty village of Great Village on the shores of Cobequid Bay. Originally a Presbyterian Church, it is one of four provincially registered historic buildings in the community. The church was designed by noted Nova Scotia architect James C. DuMaresq and features a high ceiling shaped like the inverted keel of a ship, a testament to the community’s shipbuilding heritage. A plaque commemorating the life of the Pulitzer-Prize winning poet Elizabeth Bishop adorns the front of the building.

Elizabeth Bishop Society of Nova Scotia (EBSNS) was formed in 1994 to celebrate the life and work of the poet Elizabeth Bishop. It publishes an annual newsletter and in 1996 published Elizabeth Bishop: An Archival Guide to Her Life in Nova Scotia, by Sandra Barry. The EBSNS contributed to the purchase of an extensive family archive, which documents Bishop’s Nova Scotia childhood and which is housed at Acadia University Archives in Wolfville, N.S. The EBSNS holds its AGM in Great Village in June. The EBSNS seeks through its various activities to reclaim Elizabeth Bishop as a Nova Scotia writer, thus enriching our literary and cultural heritage.

The Great Village Community Association, formed in 2003, has as its motto “Bringing a Community Together by Building Ideas.” This dynamic group meets the third Monday of each month in the donated former Seniors’ Hall in the centre of the village. Several associated groups have been formed under the sponsorship of the Community Association: Fitness Program, Emergency Co-ordination, and Community Learning Network. Living up to its mission statement, “to develop a more close-knit sense of community among residents,” the Association sponsors many important projects, including Body and Mind Youth Group, computer classes, the weekly Farmers’ Market, Canada Day festivities, a Library/book exchange, employment fair, Community Kitchen, adult education classes and student summer employment. More information about this group and a calendar of community events can be found at its website: www.greatvillage.cobequid.net.

The Great Village Historical Society was formed in 1993 and through the years has worked hard to preserve the history and heritage of Great Village, having gathered photographs and background history on most of the houses in the village and interviewed senior community members, recording their knowledge of Great Village history. At present the society is working with the Elizabeth Bishop Society of Nova Scotia to create panels for the heritage pergola which will portray the history of area in a prominent place in the centre of the village.