Spreading the Word Accolades
"Alan Cumyn was unknown to my class until the Festival, but after seeing him in an event, he has become one of their favourite writers. This experience really struck me and emphasized the importance of having students engage with authors, particularly because it does spark a desire in children to seek out the books written by the authors they saw at the Festival and to read. This year, my class does not have as many keen readers, but their experience at the Writers Festival has really kick started their desire to read."
Meredyth Kezar
Teacher, Trudeau Elementary
"Sheri-D was well-received by two English 11 classes here at Gladstone Secondary this afternoon. She used a combination of workshopping and lively presentation. Students were engaged, encouraged to participate and asked some very thoughtful questions. She was wonderful!"
Pat Parungao
Teacher-Librarian, Gladstone Secondary
"We thank the Vancouver International Writers Festival and the sponsors who have made it possible to bring Maggie de Vries into our community for a week-long residency. The opportunity to have a writer like Maggie in our classrooms is such a privilege. We cannot overstate how grateful we are. This is a small community and I know that Maggie's work will have a rippling effect and touch many. School District No. 46 (Sunshine Coast) works with a number of community partners to develop and deliver programming in schools to promote literacy and encourage students' development as writers, readers and storytellers. This residency feels like the best possible kind of reward and we are looking forward to a week of stories and writing, inspiration and creativity. We thank everyone who has made this possible."
Bev Craig
Literacy Resource Teacher, Celebration of Author, Books and Children Committee Representative
"Édith Bourget was animated and had the students very involved in making sounds, words and gestures for a few of her poems. My students found her very receptive, friendly and funny. Thank you so much for including us. The small class setting was also very personal and allowed for a high level of interaction."
Gloria Nystrom
Teacher, Hastings Elementary
"It was a fabulous week! Alan’s readings from The Secret Life of Owen Skye brought chuckles and knowing smiles from staff and students. His passion for writing was contagious and even the imaginations of reluctant writers were ignited. Stories filled with drama and humour filled page after page as ideas poured from the students. A week of writing and reading with Alan was truly inspirational and so motivating."
Gail Henderson
Teacher, Sea View School
"I loved my experience at the VIWF! It was my first literary festival appearance ever, and what a great way to start. Just this past week I got to do the workshop with the Youthwrites contest winners, another great experience that helped me learn and grow [while] I shared my knowledge with the participants."
Sarah Leavitt
2010 Festival Author and Youthwrites mentor
"The students at Florence Nightingale Elementary were enthralled with Richard Newsome's visit . . . we have very limited funds for authors to come to our school. Programs like Reading with Writers which allow schools to share in such experiences are truly valuable. The students of Nightingale were very fortunate."
Maryann Sutherland
Florence Nightingale Elementary, Vancouver, BC
"From a teacher's point of view I can assure you that getting and keeping high school students' interest for any length of time can be a huge challenge. [However,] it wasn't long before all eyes and ears were riveted to this wonderful storyteller. The only noise I heard throughout the whole hour was laughter and sighs of compassion for Ivan's cousin. How often does an adult reach a skeptical audience like teenagers with such force and success? Not very often, that's for sure. The humour in each story caught the students' attention and the underlying message got through to them. After the presentation, I had a chance to talk with a lot of them and they were full of praise for Ivan. During one of the stories skillfully delivered by Ivan, I noticed a few teary eyes in the room, not to mention my own. Her talent for storytelling, the poignancy of some of the underlying issues really provoked some further thinking on the part of many students. Please come back again Ivan!
Johanne Sauve
Hope Secondary School, Hope, BC
"Shauntay provided exposure to an outside world beyond the mountain ranges that we live between. This is the number one sports town in BC. It is also an industrial blue-collar town, the arts come second at best. We work hard to ensure students have the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of a 'good' read and to encourage their written skills. Shauntay allowed students to look outside the academic constructs of writing and rigid rule-ridden formats, and write from what they know . . . Shauntay built the conficence in them to trust their voices. The fact that students feel they can now write from their hearts, hear their own voices and be able to share ideas, is more than we could have expected in such a short period of time."
Marilyn Lunde
teacher librarian at J.L. Crowe Secondary School, Trail, BC
"One of the hugest gifts for me is being able to work with youth . . . to go into schools with my own curriculum and what I want to share, and get them to trust their voices and to trust that they can create poetry."
Shauntay Grant
2010 Festival author and fall 2010 Writer in Residence
