To Yellowknife for NorthWords

Writing Life: 9

In Canada, there are writers festivals from coast to coast to coast. One of the best ways I know to see the country in all its geographic glory and demographic diversity is to write a few books and then say “yes” when invited to festivals. I have fond memories of my visit to Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories back in the spring of 2018 to appear at NorthWords. Flying in to Yellowknife over Great Slave Lake at the end of May was an amazing experience. There was still plenty of ice. Then again, we were very far north.

Flying in to Yellowknife over Great Slave Lake in late May.

Shortly after arriving, I met the wonderful poet, Kim Fahner (former Poet Laureate of Sudbury) and Rebecca Hendry a novelist and editor from Gibsons, B.C. We hung out together for much of the festival.

Rebecca Hendry, Kim Fauner and yours truly just outside out hotel in Yellowknife.

One of the first events of the festival was an evening they called “Blush.” The writers appearing at the festival were asked to read the most erotically charged passage from one of our books. I’ve never been asked to do that before or since. It was, ahem, quite an evening. I decided to read the five paragraphs that have earned more comment from readers than anything else I’ve ever written. It was from my first novel, The Best Laid Plans, and it happens very early in the story—page 14 of the Prologue to be precise. In short, it’s a sex scene in a Parliament Hill office rendered in, yes, parliamentary language. I’m not sure what I was thinking when I wrote it, but I’ve always been a big fan of word play. Parliamentary language is full of word play potential.

For the curious, here are the five paragraphs I read from the stage at NorthWords in Yellowknife that night as part of “Blush”. (I likely blushed throughout my reading.)

From early on in the Prologue of my debut novel, The Best Laid Plans. I’ve lost count of how many people have mentioned this passage to me over the years.

Our days were reasonably full during the festival. In addition to my reading at the Blush evening and my more conventional talk and reading about my novel One Brother Shy, I also delivered a workshop one day for aspiring writers. One morning, poet Kim Fahner and I flew in a smallish plane south to Fort Smith on the banks of the Slave River to speak to a couple of different school groups. The kids were very enthusiastic and we had a great time.

Some shots from our visit to Fort Smith to talk to students.

Before flying back to Fort Smith, our fearless leader and former longtime CBC North reporter, Patti-Kay Hamilton, took us to the raging Slave River to see the pelicans. Yes, you read that right. Pelicans. Majestic American White Pelicans come back to Fort Smith every April to raise a new flock of offspring in and around the whitewater of the Slave River. This annual event is unique. In no other part of the world do American White Pelicans raise their young amidst a river’s rapids. It was quite thrilling to see them.

American White Pelicans on the Slave River near Fort Smith, NWT.

White American Pelicans wheeling around the sunny skies above the Slave River.

It was a wonderful festival and a memorable experience. I hope I have the chance to visit Yellowknife, Fort Smith, and other parts of the Northwest Territories again. It’s a very special part of the country.

Not your average baggage carousel in the Yellowknife airport.

Thanks for having a gander at this and I do hope you’ll subscribe if you haven’t already. More to come.