The Sooke Writers’ Collective is hosting a live reading and book launch featuring established and emerging authors on May 27.
Winners of the annual Edward Milne Community School (EMCS) student writing contest will be announced and the book Sooke All Sorts – Sooke Writers’ Collective Anthology Five will be launched at Sooke Region Museum on Sunday, May 27, from 2 to 4 p.m.
There are six winning entries from five students in poetry and short fiction included in the new book, along with submissions from Sooke Writers’ Collective members.
“Sooke All Sorts is an exciting collection of local works and we invite the public to enjoy the launch and offer their congratulations to the student winners,” said Deb Clay, who coordinated the anthology’s production and contributed to the book design.
The annual writing contest is a tradition started by the Sooke Scribblers – the predecessor of the Sooke Writers’ Collective. Student winners receive cash prizes and publication in the annual anthology.
“The name Sooke All Sorts was chosen to reflect our collective location, eclectic story-telling and unique voices,” Clay said. “We have a great group of emerging and established writers in all genres – we’re all sorts of people doing all sorts of writing. All are welcome to join us at the launch and bring along work to read.”
In addition to the winning student entries, 18 local authors contributed poetry, memoir, short stories, song and more and many of them will be reading at the event. Author and artist P. Pallot designed the cover art.