Convergence Writers’ Weekend 2020: Story as Resistance

This link will take you to a chronology of the Convergence Writers’ Weekend since its inception in 2012: Convergence Chronology (PDF)

The Convergence Series brought together widely varied streams of intellectual and spiritual knowledge within the context of open-heartedness. As converging creeks create a mighty river, this integration of different ways of knowing yielded something stronger, deeper, and more complex than any single watercourse. Convergence wisdom is creative, rooted in relationship, and designed to change individuals, inspire communities, and help heal the world.

With the vast and rapid changes in the world as we know it, the 7^th annual Convergence Writers’ Weekend was postponed. But now more than ever, stories need to be told. We invite you to read and reflect on the questions posed, and stay tuned for our featured artists who will share with us their take on our 2020 theme, “Story as Resistance.”

In preparation for this event, the Convergence committee wrestled with questions about resistance and stories. We read and reflected on Julia Esquivel’s poem Threatened with Resurrection (http://www.how-matters.org/2012/08/31/julia-esquivel/).

In these times of major social change, stories matter more than ever. We invite you to read Julia Esquivel’s poem and engage these questions:

What stories or poems most changed or impacted you?
What made a story/poem so powerful to you?
How does story affect our view of resistance?
What are the different ways resistance manifests in writing?
How does resistance clarify the world that we want?
What is the story of resistance that you want to tell in this time of COVID 19?

Here are the presentations from this year’s featured poet/singer/songwriter Sid Marty, essayist/teacher/poet/carpenter Kate Braid, and poet/teacher/activist Nancy Holmes.

The Presenters

Sid Marty’s writing is strongly associated with the Rocky Mountains, where he previously worked as a park warden in the mountain national parks. Since l978, he has earned his living as a freelancer, writing about culture, conservation and history topics for national magazines. The author of five non-fiction titles and five collections of poetry, he is also a musician with two CDs of original songs. His poems have appeared in a long list of school textbooks, literary magazines and poetry anthologies such as The Oxford Book of Canadian Verse, 12 Prairie Poets and Colombo’s Poets of Canada. Sid performs on guitar, mandolin and harmonica. For more info check out www.sidmarty.com.

Sid Marty

Listen to Sid’s musical expression of the 2020 Convergence theme:

Arrows of Pity

Banjo Song 4

Read the lyrics and more here: Story as Resistance.Sid Marty

Kate Braid

Read Kate’s reflection on the 2020 Convergence theme, Writing as Resistance: You Never Know!

Kate Braid has written, co-written, edited and co-edited 14 books and chapbooks of non-fiction and prize-winning poetry. Her memoir, Journeywoman: Swinging a Hammer in a Man’s World, was based on her fifteen years as one of the first women carpenters in Canada, and she has co-edited with Sandy Shreve the anthology In Fine Form of Canadian form poetry. Her most recent book of poems, Elemental is based on the five elements. Her work has been translated into French, Italian and Japanese, and her poetry has been acknowledged with national, provincial and local prizes. She is currently working on a book of essays about her experience in the trades, tentatively titled Hammer and Nail: Notes from a Journeywoman, to be published in 2020. She lives with her partner in Victoria, BC and on Pender Island.

Nancy Holmes

Read Nancy’s take on the 2020 Convergence theme: All About Us.

Or listen to Nancy read “All About Us” here:

Nancy Holmes has published five collections of poetry, most recently The Flicker Tree: Okanagan Poems. She is the editor of Open Wide a Wilderness: Canadian Nature Poems. She is Associate Professor in Creative Writing at The University of British Columbia in Kelowna, British Columbia. Place, community, and artistic collaboration are among her main interests, joining her commitment to the writing and teaching of poetry and fiction. She also collaborates on an eco art project about native pollinators called Border Free Bees http://borderfreebees.com/. Nancy won the 2015 Robert Kroetsch National Teaching Award in Creative Writing for her innovative student project, Dig Your Neighbourhood and she is working on a new book of poetry and a book of essays.

This year’s Convergence Writers’ Weekend and associated events are the result of support from a Regional District of Central Kootenay’s Area H Rec 6 grant, as well as a grant from the BC Arts Council.

Recreation Commission, Area 6

Our past sponsors include the Regional District of the Central Kootenays, Columbia Basin Trust, the Villages of New Denver and Silverton, the Columbia Kootenay Arts Council, Oso Negro, Mir Centre for Peace, and HeartsRest Retreats.

The Village of New Denver

Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance

Coffee donated by Oso Negro

READ COMMENTS FROM PAST PARTICIPANTS

“Convergence 2018 sparked completion of my long-abandoned book project. Publication bound!”
~ Susan Dunnigan, Convergence 2018 participant

“Here’s the heart of what I want from any workshop, and what I got in this one. I want a chance to meet good words written or spoken by others, and to take away something—large or small—that will help me live my own life more fully.”
~ Anne Voegtlen, Convergence 2016 participant

“The Convergence 2016 Writers’ Workshop in Silverton has been a high point in a year of many memorable occasions for me. The theme, The Spirit in the Landscape, was a draw for me to the workshop. It is a theme that has pleasantly haunted me for a long while… I will return for more of the way of the Convergence next year.”
~ Richard Peppinck, Convergence 2016 participant

“I didn’t know what to expect, but this has exceeded any expectations I might have had. Excellent all the way round.”
~ Verna Relkoff, Convergence 2012 instructor