Coming home as WRITER IN RESIDENCE!

Hello all!

Some fabulous news to share today. I have the honour of serving as the 2022-2023 Writer in Residence at the Regina Public Library.

THIS IS HUGE!

I’ve been dancing for days waiting until the official announcement was made so that I can sing this from the roofters!

Can you tell that I’m OVER THE MOON about this? Mansel and I will be returning to Saskatchewan for nine months and will, once again, be immersed in the fabulous writing community of my home province.

I will be working on a collection of short stories and providing one-on-one mentorships to writers as well as visiting schools and libraries, offering workshops, writing circles, readings and hopefully collaborating with local groups on a raft of amazing things.

The core of the work will be reading and responding to the work of other writers and meeting with them one-on-one to discuss their work and the writing life.

This also means that I will be putting most of my Soul Stories work aside for a time. But I will return—better, stronger, and wiser after this grand adventure.

Here’s the skinny….

For immediate release: August 23, 2021

Regina Public Library selects new Writer in Residence

Regina Public Library (RPL) is pleased to announce the selection of Pam Bustin as its 2022- 2023 Writer in Residence.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Pam Bustin to the library. Her work embodies the curious, collaborative expertise that our Writer in Residence program is known for,” said Millicent Mabi, Director, Community Engagement and Programming at Regina Public Library. “We very much look forward to this chance for her to reconnect with the Saskatchewan writing community.”

Born in Regina, Bustin is an editor, performer, dramaturg, and the award-winning author of the novel Mostly Happy, the stage plays Saddles in the Rain, The Passage of Georgia O’Keefe and barefoot, and the CBC Radio dramas Coffee in Lloyd, The White Car Project, and Talking with the Dead. She served as the Saskatoon Programs coordinator for the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild, sat on the board and dramaturgical committee of the Saskatchewan Playwrights’ Centre. Bustin also regularly provides mentoring for writers through her business Soul Stories.

“My desire is to honour and support the genius of each writer I meet,” Bustin said. “Whether you yearn to take the first step towards developing a writing practice, are starting a new story, or find yourself lost in the woods with a book that you fear you will never finish, I would love to accompany you for a time on your journey.”

Regina Public Library was the first public library in Canada to offer a Writer in Residence program in 1978. Since then, it has welcomed 33 additional residencies to help local writers with personal guidance from an established author.

Pam begins her residency at RPL on September 12. Regina writers can book appointments with her by emailing wir@reginalibrary.ca.

Writer in Residence Launch

September 15, 7:00pm
George Bothwell branch, and online

Find out more about how the Writer in Residence can help your writing grow and what Pam
Bustin is looking forward to during her term at the library, through an interview conducted
by previous Writer in Residence Neil Aitken.

For more information, visit www.reginalibrary.ca/writerinresidence

So looking forward to connecting with Regina writers!

Keep scribbling!
~p