The EBSNS needs your help ~ Be part of the action and help make a difference
Dear EBSNS members and friends:
February 8, 2011, is the centenary of Elizabeth Bishop’s birth. The EBSNS is committed to marking this important event and will be involved in a series of projects and activities intended to celebrate and honour Elizabeth Bishop’s life, art and continuing influence in the world.
Elizabeth Bishop’s connections with the Maritimes, Nova Scotia, Great Village and her maternal family were strong and abiding – seen most clearly in the many poems and stories she wrote about her childhood home. Her continuing influence among writers and artists of all disciplines, and readers in general, demonstrates the power of her art. In keeping with this idea of influence, one of the over-arching goals of the centenary celebrations in Nova Scotia is to inspire creative activity and new work.
Many artists and arts groups in Nova Scotia will be involved in what will be a year-long Elizabeth Bishop Centenary Festival. The EBSNS will act as a central point for information about all these events – stay tuned to our website: www.elizabethbishopns.org where information will be posted over the next year and a half, announcing the many activities which will take place in Nova Scotia and around the world in 2011.
The EBSNS is also organizing its own project to mark and celebrate the Bishop centenary. In keeping with our mandate of raising awareness about Bishop’s connection to Nova Scotia and honouring her continuing influence in the literary world, the EBSNS and various partners will sponsor “‘In the Village’: The Elizabeth Bishop Centenary Writing Competition and Writers’ Festival.” The competition will open in September 2010 and close March 2011. The Writers’ Festival, at which winners of the competition will be awarded prizes, will take place in August 2011.
HELPING HANDS AND MINDS ARE WELCOME!!
The EBSNS is looking for support from our membership and supporters for these projects. If you are interested in volunteering or helping in any way with the planning and implementing of the competition, writers’ festival or the overall centenary events, or if you would like to make a donation towards these projects (a tax receipt can be issued for donations), please contact the EBSNS Board members listed below. We welcome all help, whether you want to be involved in shaping the events themselves, or whether you want to help on the day of any of the activities. Please contact: Joy Laking at laking.joy@gmail.com or 902-647-2816; Laurie Gunn at laurieegunn@ns.sympatico.ca or 902-893-7164.
The planning committees for “In the Village”: The Elizabeth Bishop Centenary Writing Competition and Writers’ Festival include:
Overseeing Committee
Writing Competition Committee
Writing Workshop Committee
Writers’ Festival Committee Day 1 (children’s day)
Writers’ Festival Committee Day 2
Writers’ Festival Committee Day 3
Financial Committee
Resources Committee
Marketing and Publicity Committee
Please consider becoming involved – a centenary comes only once in a lifetime and the EBSNS wants to make Elizabeth Bishop’s Centenary a year to remember! Thank you for your support.
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