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Greater Victoria writers come together while working apart

15 local authors launch Shifting Landscapes: Wandering Words, Vol. II
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Writers gather June 30 at the 5th Street Bar and Grill in Victoria to launch Shifting Landscapes: Wandering Words, Vol. II. (Photo by Laura Foubister)

While group activities were banned across the province, and much of the globe, a group of local writers bucked the trend – crafting solo works to come together under one anthology.

The group of 15 released the book of prose and poetry, Shifting Landscapes: Wandering Words, Vol. II, late last month.

Members of the Victoria Independent Authors and Publishers Association produced the first volume three years ago. With a year working from home offices during the COVID-19 restrictions, they pooled their stories again.

The group received funds from the Neighbourhood Small Grants program through the Victoria Foundation, to assist creators collaborating from afar during the pandemic.

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Contributions cover themes around changing landscapes both natural and urban, and time shifts in the lives of individuals and cultures.

The collection includes a wide range of realist, historical and fantasy fiction, memoir, creative non-fiction and poetry; a quonset house tells its own life story, a set of keys wonder where their lost doors went, tea is taken at the Empress Hotel in 1927, characters glide through time in a 1920 Chambers red roadster and a 1968 Mustang, and a photosynthesizing rabbit flies into space.

As pandemic restrictions eased, the group gathered at the end of June to celebrate and launch the anthology.

Shifting Landscapes: Wandering Words, Vol. II is available at local book shops and libraries, through writing organizations and authors’ websites. Watch for upcoming readings over the summer and fall.

c.vanreeuwyk@blackpress.ca

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