The Thompson-Nicola Regional Library’s (TNRL) “Residence” program is back this fall, with the library system welcoming Gail Anderson-Dargatz as its third Writer in Residence and inviting residents to meet her and learn more about the art and craft of writing.
Anderson-Dargatz, who is based in the Shuswap, is an internationally-recognized author whose award-winning work has spanned multiple genres. Her first novel, The Cure for Death by Lightning, was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and won the UK’s Betty Trask Award, the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, and the Vancity Book Prize. Her second novel, A Recipe for Bees, was nominated for the International Dublin Literary Award and was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.
The Spawning Grounds was nominated for the Sunburst Award and the Ontario Library Association Evergreen Award, and was short-listed for the Canadian Authors Association Literary Award for Fiction. Her latest novel, The Almost Widow (2023), was shortlisted for the 2024 Crime Writers of Canada Howard Engel Award for Best Crime Novel Set in Canada, and is a sequel to her 2021 national bestseller The Almost Wife.
Anderson-Dargatz also has extensive experience in mentorship and workshops, and her residency — which runs from September through December 2024 — will focus on encouraging participants to explore their own voices and narratives. She will lead workshops, readings, and one-on-one sessions throughout the region, highlighting the importance of storytelling and giving people an opportunity to develop and hone their own writing. All of these events are free to attend/take part in.
The residency begins on Thursday, Sept. 5 with a Meet and Greet event at the Kamloops Library (Victoria Street) from 6 to 7 p.m. Throughout September and October, Anderson-Dargatz will be visiting communities around the TNRL to discuss The Almost Widow and answer questions about the craft of writing and the publishing industry.
Clearwater Library: Saturday, Sept. 7, 1:30–3 p.m.
Barriere Library: Saturday, Sept. 14, 12:30–2 p.m.
Ashcroft Library: Saturday, Sept. 28, 1–2:30 p.m.
Logan Lake Library: Saturday, Oct. 5, 1–2:30 p.m.
Merritt Library: Friday, Oct. 18, 1–2:30 p.m.
Chase Library: Saturday, Oct. 26, 1–2:30 p.m.
From Sept. 19 to Nov. 28, Anderson-Dargatz will be hosting Writer’s Circle events at the main Kamloops Library every other Thursday from 3 to 4:30 p.m. These sessions are for writers of all writing levels who are working on memoirs or on any type of fiction, including children’s and young adult, and will feature discussions on craft, writing exercises, and prompts to help stimulate your muse.
There will also be a Neurodivergent Writer’s Circle, where participants can meet like-minded writers who self-identify as highly sensitive, ADHD, on the spectrum, or gifted. Writers of all levels are welcome at the North Kamloops Library from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Nov. 9, 16, 23, and 30.
Are you interested in taking the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge? It’s an annual international creative writing event in which participants attempt to write a 50,000-word manuscript during the month of November. Anderson-Dargatz will be holding three NaNoWriMo Prep 101 sessions, in which participants will learn how to outline a novel in preparation for creating a draft. The sessions will be at the main Kamloops Library from 10 to 11:30 a.m. on Sept. 12, Sept. 15, and Oct. 24.
Looking for some personalized assistance and/or guidance? You can book a one-on-one consultation with Anderson-Dargatz to discuss your work and grow as a writer. You can learn more, and book a consultation, at www.tnrl.ca/residencies.
There will be a final celebration and wrap-up of this year’s residency program on Thursday, Dec. 5 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the main Kamloops Library, where Anderson-Dargatz and writers from the different workshops will read from their work.
Anderson-Dargatz is the fifth in the TNRL’s “Residence” series, which began in 2019 with Writer in Residence Deryn Collier and continued in 2021 with Screenwriter in Residence Ken Hegan. In 2022 the Musician in Residence program featured Jeremy Kneeshaw, Margit Gossage, and Tina Hebner, and in 2023 the Writer in Residence program returned with Jennifer Chrumka.
