A group of writers in Wallaceburg are looking for some funding in order to publish their first book.
Chris Jenkins has taken the lead of the Sydenham Storytellers group, who have been meeting at the Adult Activity Centre in Wallaceburg for three years.
“There was an interest by some members that have always wanted to write but didn’t have a place to go,” Jenkins said. “So what we have decided we would like to do, because no one is going to have enough material to write a book of their own, we are going to do one book for everybody which is an anthology. This way they all get their stuff in print. There will be stories about Wallaceburg, poems and anything they can write.”
Jenkins said the group of eight writers in the group get their pens in motion every other Thursday at the Wallaceburg Adult Activity Centre when they meet.
“I bring items from my house, they have to chose an item and then they write a story about it,” she said. “For example, an envelope, a paper clip, a photograph, a receipt, a deck of cards, a candle, anything. They have to take that item and write a little story about it. They do really well with that. That is really getting them thinking.”
Jenkins added: “When we started out I would give them part sentences for example, in the middle of… then they would have to finish the sentence. So also improv is involved. So that would make them go, in the middle of the night, in the middle of the day, in the middle of the street, it could be anything.”
Jenkins said she tries to instill in them that there is no right or wrong.
“It’s perception,” she said. “It’s how you see it. Just because you see it one way and someone else sees it another way, it doesn’t make you wrong or them right or vice versa. So I thought it was really important that they always remember that. You know that there is nothing wrong with it unless it’s slanderous or something but I don’t need to worry about anything like that. They are a marvelous group of people.”
Jenkins said they are toying with calling the book ‘Tales from the Junk Drawer’.
“I think that kind of says it all,” she said.
This past summer, Jenkins said the Wallaceburg group teamed up with a writing group from Sarnia and ended up creating a booklet filled with stories about the community.
“So we met up with them at Mike Weir Park and we had a picnic together,” she said. “We did a booklet with them where we all wrote a poem about our town. It was great actually. It’s just a little booklet. It’s kind of neat. It was fun to do. We had them here about a year ago and we had a night where we all read. They read stuff that they had written, we read our stuff. It was great. Plus we have had a night up here where we read to our families and friends. We filled the place. It was great. It was really, really, really nice.”
Jenkins said the group is hoping to have their book ready by Christmas, but they are not certain that can happen.
“We are looking for funding for this book,” she said. “We are going to have to because you have to pay for it first. You don’t get to make payments, you have to pay it all off. I thought, well maybe the town will come through for us and help us out. If we can raise between $800 and $1,000, we have done well. I have already got almost $300 so we are not asking for a lot. We would have an acknowledgement page where we would mention the people that have contributed to our book.”
Jenkins said if people want to make a donation, you can bring it to the centre and leave your name if you want your name to go in the book.
The Wallaceburg Adult Activity Centre is located at 205 James St. in Wallaceburg.
Give them a call at 519-627-6224.
– Photo: From left, Heather Dunlop, Chris Jenkins, Dorothy Gallant and Linda Lou Classens. Absent from the photo are Dana Burrage, Ingrid Booth, Lee Brown and Fleda Southgate.
