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Readings from Cynthia French’s Barachois

Date:
Time:
-
Location:
St. John's Anglican Church Hall, 64 Townsend Street, Lunenburg, NS, Canada
Link:
https://askancepublishing.wordpress.com/barachois/
Calendar:
Member-organized event

Readings from Cynthia French’s debut book of poems, Barachois, will take place on Saturday, Oct. 10, at 4-5:30pm at the St. John’s Anglican Church Hall, 64 Townsend Street, Lunenburg.

Many poets find it difficult to get their work published in a lifetime of trying, and it is next to impossible for a poet to be published posthumously, especially if it is her début book.
Cynthia French is that rare poet. She died suddenly of cancer in mid-2023, aged 70, still seeking a publisher for her collection. Her family and friends stepped in to continue her quest, and were successful in finding Askance Publishing of Annapolis Royal, NS.

Titled Barachois for a natural land formation separating a favourite freshwater pond from the saltwater bay in her native Newfoundland, the book begins with sharply-drawn vignettes from French’s childhood and teen years in St. John’s. She describes meeting and marrying the love of her life, beginning their family, moving to Nova Scotia, and eventually settling on a lake in Lunenburg County. This could be the story of anyone, but few could distill the keen moments as French has done, using only the right words and none of the wrong to tell her story. This is the appeal of these poems: they are personal but any reader can relate to the ebb and flow of the author’s life. Cynthia, always a keen student, returned to full-time university studies in her 40s, at the same time as her three children, and graduated BA (Honours) from Mount St. Vincent in 1995. No surprise then that to hone her writing skills she attended writing workshops in places as diverse as Tatamagouche, Fredericton, Sable River, Lockeport, Banff, Sage Hill, Halifax, Mahone Bay, Swift Current (NL), Chile, and Greece.

The book is illustrated with a number of crisp pen-and-ink drawings by award-winning Nova Scotia artist Don Pentz, RCA – an elected member of the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts, who is also listed on the Honour Roll of Visual Arts Nova Scotia.

In the foreword, acclaimed Canadian poet and professor, Don McKay, CM, claims that Cynthia French is “one hell of a fine poet.”

Copies are available at the reading, from the publisher, and on Amazon.

Multiple readings—also unusual for books of poetry—are scheduled in Halifax and Lunenburg, NS; in Kingston and Ottawa, ON; and St. John’s, NL – all hosted by the poet’s husband, Les French.

All events feature readings by award-winning, established poets who knew and admired the author. The public is welcome to attend the Lunenburg event where guest readers will include Carole Glasser Langille, E. Alex Pierce, Janet Barkhouse and Veryan Haysom.

Light refreshments served.

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Experience Levels

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) uses the following terms to describe writers’ experience levels:

  • New writers: those with less than two years’ creative writing experience and/or no short-form publications (e.g., short stories, personal essays, or poems in literary magazines, journals, anthologies, or chapbooks).
  • Emerging writers: those with more than two years’ creative writing experience and/or numerous short-form publications.
  • Early-career authors: those with 1 or 2 book-length publications or the equivalent in book-length and short-form publications.
  • Established authors: those with 3 or 4 book-length publications.
  • Professional authors: those with 5 or more book-length publications.

Please keep in mind that each form of creative writing (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, writing for children, writing for young adults, and others) provides you with a unique set of experiences and skills, so you might consider yourself an ‘established author’ in one form but a ‘new writer’ in another.

Occasionally, WFNS uses the phrase “emerging and established writers/authors” to mean ‘writers and authors of all experience levels.’

The “Recommended experience level” section of each workshop description refers to the above definitions. A workshop’s participants should usually have similar levels of creative writing and / or publication experience. This ensures that each participant gets value from the workshop⁠ and is presented with info, strategies, and skills that suit their experience. 

For “intensive” and “masterclass” workshops, which provide more opportunities for peer-to-peer feedback, the recommended experience level should be followed closely.

For all other workshops, the recommended experience level is just that—a recommendation—and we encourage potential participants to follow their own judgment when registering.

If uncertain about your experience level with respect to any particular workshop, please feel free to contact us at communications@writers.ns.ca