‘An atmosphere of trust’
New Kentville Writers Group a comfortable space to share, develop ideas
Local writers now have a comfortable space to collaborate and encourage each other to harness the power of imagination.
Kentville Writers Group organizer Dana Mills said April 7 this is the first workshop of its kind that he has facilitated. The six-member group meets in the community room in the Kentville Library on the first Saturday of the month at 1 p.m. for a two-hour class.
The plan is to work on three pieces of writing during each class and he’s currently working on putting a schedule together.
Mills said Kentville Library branch manager Julie Johnson first suggested the idea of a writers group. Mills had a book of short stories called Someone Somewhere, published by Gaspereau Press of Kentville in 2013, and he’s currently working on a novel.
Mills also works in the Annapolis Valley Regional Library’s administrative office in Berwick and delivers books to branches between Windsor and Annapolis Royal.
Mills, who has participated in writers’ groups before, said he likes having a comfortable space to share and further develop ideas. It’s beneficial to have a group of people with a similar interest in writing to collaborate with, he says.
“It’s almost like you have to build an atmosphere of trust because it can be a vulnerable thing to share something that can be quite personal to you,” Mills said.
He’s looking forward to working with the group, which is currently full. Mills said it’s important to get to know each other’s work and to respect it. He knows that they have a good group in Kentville, as it was “very comfortable right from the get-go.”
‘Incentive and stimulus’
Following the April 7 meeting, member Lynn Pulsifer said she’s always enjoyed writing and she reads a lot. She has been looking for a writing club to join for a few years.
“I have participated in them before but sometimes when life gets busy and we have other things to do, writing is not something that happens,” Pulsifer said. “Joining a writing club gives you that incentive and stimulus to get that writing going again.”
Pulsifer, the town’s deputy mayor, said she was looking forward to working on her assignment. She and two other group members will be submitting pieces of writing at next month’s class, perhaps a chapter in a book, a short story or a poem.
She said the pieces would be reviewed and critiqued by the group, a way to generate some constructive criticism. The following month, the other three group members will something for review. submit