Three award-winning West Kootenay authors — Jane Byers, Leesa Dean, and Rayya Liebich — will be at the Fernie Heritage Library May 30 (6:30 pm) and the Cranbrook Public Library May 31 (1 pm). Each event will offer an author reading as well as interactive activities, including poetry mad libs and writing prompts.
“We are looking forward to sharing our love of poetry with readers and writers in the East Kootenay, my home region” says Leesa Dean, who was raised in Cranbrook and graduated from Mount Baker Senior Secondary in 1999.
“To be clear, we aren’t coming to the library to simply read our work. We design our events to be more interactive because we want to be in community with our audience.”
Both events are free and open to everyone. Established poets and the “poetry-curious” are encouraged to attend and connect with others in a fun, inclusive space.
Jane Byers, winner of the 2017 Goldie Award for lesbian poetry, lives with her wife and teenagers in Nelson. She is the author of two poetry collections, one memoir, and a poetry chapbook. She has had poems and essays published in anthologies and literary journals in Canada, the U.S. and England, including Best Canadian Poetry 2014.
Leesa Dean is a creative writing instructor at Selkirk College. Her first book, Waiting for the Cyclone, was a finalist for the 2017 Trillium and Relit Awards. She is also the author of a novella in verse and two poetry chapbooks. Her poetry has been nominated for numerous awards, and she was runner-up for the international 2022 Pacific Spirit Prize.
Rayya Liebich is a writer and educator of Lebanese and Polish descent. She is the author of an award-winning chapbook and full-length poetry collection, Min Hayati. A finalist in 7 CNF contests in the past two years including the CBC Nonfiction Prize, she is the 2022 winner of the international Amy MacRae Award for Memoir and The Federation of BC Writers Literary Contest.
The authors are grateful to the Columbia Basin Trust and Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance for tour funding and to the Fernie and Cranbrook Libraries for hosting the events.