A big opportunity for writers across the region was presented at city hall this week.
Two members of the Silverleaf Writers Guild, Chair Veronique Ginglo-Robert and Treasurer Jessica Trudel, told council that they didn't have their figurative hands out.
"We'd like to stress that this is a delegation. An opportunity to advise council and the community of our activities. We're not here to ask for any financial assistance from the City of Timmins or its taxpayers," said Ginglo-Robert.
They stated that they asked to present at council primarily to bring awareness to their group, which was founded in December 2015.
It was originally known as the Timmins Writers Guild, but they decided to expand their reach throughout all of Northern Ontario.
"As there are many writers in communities even smaller than ours that don't have a support system in place," said Ginglo-Robert.
The guild meets weekly on Wednesdays at the Timmins Public Library.
"The purpose of the weekly guild gatherings is to provide each other with support and accountability. We have members at varying levels of experience. We have professional writers down to first time, beginner writers. Our group includes novelists, poets, short story writers, non-fiction writers, so its a really good place to get a lot of different perspectives from a lot of different writers," said Trudel.
Writers who live in other parts of Northern Ontario can 'attend' the meetings through the popular video chat service Skype.
The group has also hosted several writing workshops over the past two years, and are planning more in the future.
It was announced that the Northern Ontario Book Fair will be taking place at Gillies Lake during the upcoming Stars and Thunder festival, from June 24 through Canada Day on July 1.
"Authors from all over Northern Ontario will be able to sell copies of their books at the fair. We chose to run it at the Stars and Thunder festival in order to take advantage of the additional traffic that will be in town, in the hopes that these authors will be able to reach a wider audience," said Ginglo-Robert.
The group is currently collecting sponsorships to assist with covering the costs of running the fair, and are recruiting writers who want to sell copies of their work.
"We encourage anyone who wants to help out to contact us," said Ginglo-Robert.
"Even if you can't come out, we hope you help support it by spreading the word to writers you know here in Timmins, as well as across Northern Ontario," added Trudel.
Councillor Andrew Marks praised the efforts.
"I just want to commend both of you and your Board of Directors on this. This is Northerners seeing a Northern need, and creating a Northern solution. So you've really done something that is inclusive, also that goes outside of the city of Timmins borders. Very good job," he said.
The Silverleaf Writers Guild can be contacted at their Facebook page, by E-mail - [email protected], or by phone at 705-262-3268.
