BIO
THE FREE PRESS STYLE OPINION FEBRUARY 10, 2002
We will suffer a dearth of writers no more, says Sarah de Leeuw.
When poetic inspiration strikes
Perhaps the inspiration drifted down from a coastal mountain peak shining silver and red in an early northern evening. Maybe it was caught after appearing quickly like the flash of a spawning salmon’s back in a full summer creek. —
However Tt occurred, poetic inspiration struck five-year-old Madeleine Dafoe with force and fervour. She captured that creativity in a short and creakily misspelled poem entitled "Bluebird Song”. What the lines might lack in sophisticated craft, they make up for in raw emotion. The short piece reads, “I just want to fly across the town and over the roof tops and swoop down in the fresh.”
With sparse and well-honed imagery coming at such a young age, it is possible Madeleine Dafoe has a future in poetry and creative writing, a future with the literary arts. Unfortunately for the young and budding poet, interaction opportunities with Canada’s literary elite are limited. Madeleine is, after all, a writer in British Columbia’s northern hinterlands, a region not always renowned for its proliferation of poets and authors.
This dearth will soon be addressed through a writing festival unlike any other Prince George, or northern British Columbia for that matter, has ever seen. Between March 13 and 23, Prince George will be transformed into a writing mecca, and all those interested in the literary arts (young and old alike) will be offered the opportunity to sample works by some of Canada's finest poets, dramatists, novelists and performers.
Organized by UNBC professor Rob Budde and funded by the Canada Council, 20 writers will be featured in the Prince George literary festival
aptly named Just West of Unruly. The wild and boisterous writers who will converge on a variety of venues in the community represent a broad spectrum of Canadian talent.
— Featured will
be everyone from local
Sarah de Leeuw
talent Jacqueline Baldwin, whose book Threadbare Like Lace is a recognized jewel to all northerners acquainted with their bookstore’s poetry shelves, to Jeannette Armstrong, one of the Enowkin School of International Writing
founders and author of several volumes of
poetry.
The nooks and crannies of Prince George will be filled with Canadian nar-
rative. The 20 authors arriving in the city represent, between them,
dozens of the most prestigious literary awards in the country and even more acclaimed books. Eden Robinson is reading, along with bill bisset, Ashok Mathur, Uma Para-
meswaran, Aritha van Herk and Dennis Coley.
Eden Robinson’s book Traplines was awarded the 1996 Winifred Holtby Prize for the best work of fiction
in the Commonwealth and her first novel Monkey Beach was a finalist for both the Governor General’s and the Giller Prizes.
Aritha van Herk’s work has also been nominated for the Governor General’s Award for fiction, and Uma Parameswaran was awarded the New Muse Award for her first book of fiction in 1999.
These prestigious writers are not to be missed -and because every reading in the Just West of Unruly literary festival is free, there is no excuse for not attending. All too often northerners grumble
about the lack of artistic or literary options available in the rural landscape: those protests will not resonate quite so loudly after March 23.
After a long and lonely winter, it is now time to come out and play. It is now time to frolic with fantastic writers, and as one young poet puts it, “to swoop down in the fresh.”
For more information regarding exact times and locations of the upcoming literary festival, watch for promotional materials. If you have further questions, contact Rob Budde at (250) 960 6693.
bcrail. PUBLIC NOTICE
B.C. Rail’s Cariboo Prospector Passenger Train New schedule effective February 1st, 2002
BC Rail Cariboo Prospector
Effective February 1, 2002
SOUTHBOUND NO. 2 MILE TIME FREQUEN'
BOARD
PRINCE GEORGE • DEPOT S.T 462.5 0700 SAT, MON
PRINCE GEORGE - END OF MAIN TRACK 456.5 0725 SAT, MON
HIX0N F 424.5 0810 SAT, MON
QUESNEL (ARRIVE) F 384.9 0907 SAT, MON
QUESNEL (DEPART) F 384.9 0910 SAT. MON
SODA CREEK S 335.5 1020 SAT. MON
SPRING FIELD RANCH S 327.7 1032 SAT. MON
WILLIAMS LAKE - DEPOT (ARRIVE) s 313.9 1058 SAT, MON
WILLIAMS LAKE - DEPOT (DEPART) s 313.9 1110 SAT, MON
LACLAHACHE F 273.4 1211 SAT. MON
EXETER /100 MILE HOUSE (ARRIVE) F 259.5 1235 SAT, MON
EXETER /100 MILE HOUSE (DEPART) S 259.5 1245 SAT, MON
LONE BUTE S 246.2 1305 SAT. MON
FLYING U F 236.3 1323 SAT. MON
GRVL. PIN - N GRN. / WATCH LAKES F 232.5 1333 SAT. MON
CLINTON (ARRIVE) F 202.8 1416 SAT. MON
CLINTON (DEPART) F 202.8 1421 SAT, MON
KELLY LAKE F 192.6 1435 SAT. MON
PAVILION F 177.9 1505 SAT, MON
LILL00ET - END OF MAIN TRACK 158.5 1555 SAT, MON
LILL00ET - DEPOT (ARRIVE) F 157.8 1600 DAILY
LILLOOET - DEPOT (DEPART) S.T 157.8 1615 DAILY
LILL00ET-END OF MAIN TRACK 155.5 1622 DAILY
SHALALTH S.T 142.4 1645 DAILY
SET0N PORTAGE F 139.5 1656 DAILY
CURRIES F 134.1 1712 DAILY
MARNE F 139.5 1718 DAILY
MCGILLVRAY FALLS F 129.1 1722 DAILY
P0NDER0SA F 128.0 1725 DAILY
DARCY F 122.9 1735 DAILY
GATES F 118.0 1744 DAILY
BIRKEN F 112.6 1754 DAILY
GRAMS0NS (10 DOWNING STREET) F 109.6 1800 DAILY
MT. CURRIE F 99.4 1817 DAILY
PEMBERTON (ARRIVE) F 95 1824 DAILY
PEMBERTON (DEPART) F 95 1829 DAILY
NICKLAUS NORTH S, T 78.1 1859 DAILY
CANADIAN HOSTEL S.T 75.3 1905 DAILY
WHISTLER (ARRIVE) F 73.7 1909 DAILY
WHISTLER (DEPART) S 73.7 1920 DAILY
CHEAKAMUS S 50 2013 DAILY
SQUAMISH (ARRIVE) F 40.4 2027 DAILY
SQUAMISH (DEPART) F 40.4 2033 DAILY
BRITANNIA S 31.3 2047 DAILY
LIONS BAY S 18.3 2114 DAILY
SUNSET BEACH F 14.4 2123 DAILY
NORTH VANCOUVER - END OF MAIN TRACK 3.5 2148 DAILY
NORTH VANCOUVER S. T 1.4 2155 DAILY
Weather and other factors may affect operating conditions, therefore scheduled times cannot be guaranteed.
BC Rail Cariboo Prospector
Effective February 1, 2002
NORTHBOUND NO. 1 MILE TIME FREQUENCY
BOARD
NORTH VANCOUVER S, T 1.4 0700 DAILY
NORTH VANCOUVER - END OF MAIN TRACK 2.1 0707 DAILY
SUNSET BEACH F 14.4 0732 DAILY
LIONS BAY F 18.3 0741 DAILY
BRITANNIA F 31.3 0808 DAILY
SQUAMISH (ARRIVE) S 40.4 0822 DAILY
SQUAMISH (DEPART) S 40.4 0828 DAILY
CHEAKAMUS F 50.0 0842 DAILY
WHISTLER (ARRIVE) S 73.7 0935 DAILY
WHISTLER (DEPART) S 73.7 0945 DAILY
CANADIAN HOSTEL F 75.3 0949 DAILY
NICKLAUS NORTH F 78.1 0955 DAILY
PEMBERTON (ARRIVE) S 95.0 1025 DAILY
PEMBERTON (DEPART) S 95.0 1030 DAILY
MT. CURRIE F 99.4 1037 DAILY
GRAMSONS (10 DOWNING ST.) F 109.6 1054 DAILY
BIRKEN F 112.6 1100 DAILY
GATES F 118.0 1110 DAILY
D'ARCY F 122.9 1119 DAILY
PONDEROSA F 128.0 1130 DAILY
MCGILLVRAY FALLS F 129.1 1133 DAILY
MARNE F 130.6 1139 DAILY
CURRIES F 134.1 1143 DAILY
SETON PORTAGE F 139.5 1159 DAILY
SHALALTH F 142.4 1210 DAILY
LILLOOET-END OF MAIN TRACK 155.5 1233 DAILY
LILLOOET (ARRIVE) S.T 157.6 1240 DAILY
LILLOOET (DEPART) S,T 157.6 1310 SUN, FRI
LILLOOET-END OF MAIN TRACK 158.5 1315 SUN. FRI
PAVILION F 177.9 1355 SUN, FRI
KELLY LAKE F 192.6 1425 SUN, FRI
CLINTON (ARRIVE) F 202.8 1439 SUN, FRI
CLINTON (DEPART) F 202.8 1444 SUN, FRI
GRN. LAKE CROSSING/70 MILE F 223.2 1515 SUN. FRI
GRVL. PIT • N GRN. / WATCH LAKES F 232.5 1527 SUN, FRI
FLYING U F 236.3 1537 SUN, FRI
LONE BUTE F 2462 1553 SUN, FRI
EXETER 1100 MILE HOUSE (ARRIVE) S.T 259.5 1613 SUN, FRI
EXETER /100 MILE HOUSE (DEPART) S,T 259.5 1625 SUN, FRI
LAC LA HACHE F 273.4 1651 SUN, FRI
WILLIAMS LAKE (ARRIVE) S 313.9 1752 SUN, FRI
WILLIAMS LAKE (DEPART) S 313.9 1805 SUN, FRI
SPRING FIELD RANCH F 327.7 1831 SUN, FRI
SODA CREEK F 335.5 1843 SUN, FRI
QUESNEL (ARRIVE) S 384.9 1953 SUN, FRI
QUESNEL (DEPART) s 384.9 1958 SUN. FRI
HIXON F 424.5 2055 SUN, FRI
PRINCE GEORGE - END OF MAIN TRACK 456.5 2140 SUN, FRI
PRINCE GEORGE S,T 462.4 2205 SUN, FRI
T Denotes ticket sales F Denotes (lag stop
S Denotes station stop
FOR BC RAIL PASSENGER RESERVATIONS CALL:
North Vancouver: 604-984-5246
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