Olympic reading
Heather Moyse will be the featured reader.
Olympic gold medalist and author, Heather Moyse, will be the featured reader at the P.E.I. Writers’ Guild Open Mic on Thursday, May 24, at Receiver Coffee Co. in Charlottetown.
All are welcome to this free event that gets underway at 7 p.m. at the 128 Richmond St. coffee shop location.
The first 10 writers to sign up may read from their work – poetry or prose – for up to five minutes. Following a short break, Moyse will read and answer any questions the audience may have.
Moyse first captured the nation’s attention while standing atop the Olympic podium with Calgary-native Kaillie Humphries, having made Canadian history on home soil by bombing down the track to Canada’s first-ever gold medal in bobsleigh at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. After overcoming personal challenges and returning to bobsleigh six months before the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Moyse and her partner successfully defended their title as Olympic champions after a thrilling come-from-behind victory – a feat accomplished only twice before by a Canadian athlete. She also represented Canada in track cycling at the 2012 Pan-American Cycling Championships in Argentina and competed on the National Senior Women’s Rugby team in 22 international rugby games and four international rugby sevens tournaments, including the 2013 Rugby Sevens World Cup in Moscow.
She was the leading tryscorer in both the 2006 and 2010 Women’s Rugby World Cups, and was selected as one of only two females in the world to become International Rugby Anti-Doping Ambassadors. She was the first Canadian female, and second Canadian ever, to be inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame recognizing her contribution to the sport.
In 2016 she summited the highest mountain in Antarctica to raise awareness for PTSD and to raise money to help veterans and soon-to-be-retired members of the Canadian Armed Forces, transition back to civilian life after finishing their time in the military.
In September 2017, Moyse returned to the sport of bobsleigh with the purpose of empowering younger, less-experienced athletes by helping them navigate the high-pressure Olympic season. She helped qualify three Canadian women’s sleds for the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Games, pushing one of the Olympic rookies to a sixth-place finish at the Games.
As a lifelong humanitarian and proud Islander, she donates her time and talent to many community events and national charities, earning her the inaugural Randy Starkman Olympian Humanitarian Award, the Queen’s Jubilee Medal, and the Order of P.E.I.
The P.E.I. Writers’ Guild Open Mic Series will continue to run on the second Thursday of each month.