ad % 8 y @& | « Community Peninsula scribes turning presses by Valorie Lennox The Review The flow of ink from the Penin- sula to the press this year included two new writers. Joining the line-up of local authors who have had books pub- lished this fall are Marion Farrant, whose first collection of short Stories was published by Thistle- down Press of Saskatoon, and Bea Bond, who has compiled a history of James Island, published by Porthole Press of Sidney. Both authors will be autogra- phing their books at Tanners Book Store in Sidney on Saturday start- ing at 2 p.m. Farrant’s book, Sick Pigeon, tells 11 stones of people living on the fringes of society: a teenage mother on welfare, a luckless drif- ter, a man sliding into mental illness, an abandoned child, a drug addict, a newly-poor housewife serving macaroni from a silver tray. “I’m speaking for the ones who don’t have the words for them- selves,” Farrant said. Some of her sympathy for those on the edge of society developed -during her years as a social worker. Sybilla, the heroine of three of the stories, reflects some of the children Farrant knew while work- ing at a residential home for emotionally disturbed children. She wondered what those chil- dren would become as they grew older. Sybilla — 19, on welfare, with two children fathered by two different men and still searching for her own father — is a fictional answer. Farrant gives Sybilla the words to describe her world of social workers and Strays, hungry chil- dren and cats waiting for the next welfare cheque. It just ain’t fair. Why can’t they leave us alone? Just because !'m a single mother. Just because I'm only 19. Just because my kids got different fathers. I don’t even want to. think about those jerks. Farrant says she has always wanted to write, even while work- . ing full-time and having children. Finally, in 1985, she decided to attempt writing full-time after tak- ing an advanced fiction workshop with Leon Rooke. Within a year she had published her first short story and has since had stories published throughout Canada and Australia. Congratulations Kelly Gallins The province of British Columbia congratulates Kelly Gallins of Parkland Secondary School in Sidney for achieving excellence in science and for representing British Columbia at the 1991 Canada Wide Science Fair held in Vancouver, British Columbia. Editor: Valorie Lennox 656-1151 AT HER TYPEWRITER, Sidney author Bea Bond pre- served memories of life on James Island. Farrant also received a grant from the Ontario Arts Council in 1989 and has published three - chapbooks with Silver Rill Press in Vancouver. Her second collection of short stories, Swing, is completed and will hopefully be published in 1993, she said. “This is a first collection,” she says of Sick Pigeon. “If this book gets favorable reviews, I’m hopeful theyll take the second collec- tion.” So far, the reviews for Farrant’s unique writing style have been favorable. Especially notable is her innovative free-flowing prose poem style, which she uses in Macaroni and Cheese to convey the desperation of a middle-class housewife after her engineer hus- band becomes unemployed. Farrant’s devotion to writing has meant some sacrifices for her family — husband Terry, son Bill, Continued on Page All TheReview Wednesday, October 23,1991 — A9 DEBORAH GRAY CONDO RESALES TOWNHOUSES NEW PROJECTS Be one step ahead and get on my list for up to date info. on these rare properties. 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Farris Chairman of the Science Council of British Columbia jc Province of British Columbia Foster Care British Columbia —~ 4 Province of British Columbia = Ministry of Social Services and Housing ‘A Picture’s Worth... a Thousand Thanks Foster Parent Week October 20-26 In British Columbia there are more than 3000 foster families providing caring, stable homes for children temporarily in need. This year, 10 of those families received the Lieutenant- Governor's Foster Families Award, in recognition of their outstanding contributions. : For the rest, the rewards are less public — a smile here, a hug there. But this is Foster Parent Week, and we're going public now with a heartfelt thank you to all the foster families in British Columbia. Most people already have the basic knowledge and skills to be a foster parent. It also takes patience and commitment to meet the challenge. If you've got what it takes... 1-800-663-9999 please call us.