News/Upcoming Events
EVENTS
For a schedule of my 2010 SoulCollage workshops, please see www.sunshinecoastsoulcollage.ca/workshops/
For a list of photography shows, please see Photography
2010
OCTOBER 3
Prose on the Road: The Art of Travel Writing
1 to 5 p.m., Capilano University, Sechelt campus
Do you spin tales of your global adventures but never write them down? This fun workshop helps you move your passion for travel from the road to the page. Through in-class exercises and lively discussion, you learn techniques of top writers in this field and read published samples of what works and what does not. Discover the different types of travel writing and gain helpful tips and resources on potential markets
Please click here to register online.
SEPTEMBER 23 - NOVEMBER 11
Photography and Writing for the Digital Age
A comprehensive eight-week course designed for emerging writers and digital photographers. It’s co-facilitated by writer Heather Conn and photographer Adam Myhill.
Learn to take compelling photos and create short non-fiction narratives to promote your passionate cause or personal journey. Ideal for writers who want to improve their photography skills and photographers who want to complement their photos with creative prose.
Location: Pull Focus Film School, Vancouver
Click here for more information and to register
JULY 17
Reading Think globally. Read locally! Gumboot Cafe, Roberts Creek, BC
Nine writers based in Roberts Creek, including me, will share an evening of readings in many genres.
Time: Saturday, 7 to 11 p.m.
Click here to read my blog account of the event (”Nine Creeker readers”)
MARCH 11 - APRIL 19
Exhibition Words and Image, Gibsons Public Art Gallery, Gibsons, BC
“Writers who’ve inspired me: a SoulCollage homage”
My entry in a juried art exhibition, titled: “Writers who’ve inspired me: a SoulCollage® homage,” features six of my SoulCollage images and accompanying dialogue that I wrote to each writer (Mark Twain; Anne Frank; Maya Angelou; Helen Keller; Opal Whiteley; and Deena Metzger).
The heading included on the piece is “Bring a voice to what lies hidden.” In my view, each of these writers has shared wisdom and addressed aspects of life, from social and political hypocrisy (Twain) to sexual abuse (Angelou), that would often otherwise remain unarticulated. This theme has appeared in a variety of my creative work, including my current memoir-in-progress The Goose Girl: Twenty Years Chasing a Family Secret.
MARCH 18
Front-page photo and coverage of my Author Reading in weekly newspaper The Local, Sechelt, BC
Click here to view the photo and article
MARCH 13
Author Reading
As part of the Words and Image exhibition at Gibsons Public Art Gallery (GPAG) in Gibsons, BC, I will read from my memoir-in-progress and other short writing excerpts and give a brief presentation of slides from India.
Time: Saturday, 2 p.m.
Place: GPAG, 287 Gower Point Road, Gibsons, BC
Contact gpag@dccnet.com or phone 604-886-0531
FEBRUARY 20
Author’s Book Signing
2 p.m., Sunnycrest Mall, Gibsons, BC
FEBRUARY 17
Live radio interview
5:30 p.m. PST
On-air Interview, by telephone, with host Jamie Dean of Toronto’s radio station Indie Love
Discussed the Olympics, its impact on Vancouver and the Downtown Eastside, and my blog coverage
JANUARY 16
Introduction to MEMOIR WRITING: Share Your Story
Do you feel compelled to write about your life, but don’t know where to begin? Does the idea seem both overwhelming and exciting? Maybe you’ve already got pages of material, but they seem to have no direction.
This fun workshop will inspire you to start or restart your nonfiction narrative, whether it’s book length or an essay. You’ll learn about themes, story structure, point of view, characters, and how to create a chronology and timeline. Explore different approaches through writing exercises and lively discussion. Handouts and a bibliography will give you plenty of examples of successful published memoirs. This workshop is open to writers of all abilities.
Time: Saturday, 2 to 6 p.m.
Place: Arts Building, 464 South Fletcher (old library), Gibsons, BC
Class size Limit: 12; minimum 4 people
Fee: $55
To register: Visit www.artsbuilding.org or call Ann-Marie at 604-886-7062 604-886-7062
JANUARY 30
Prose on the Road: The Art of Travel Writing
1 to 5 p.m., Capilano University, Sechelt campus
Do you spin tales of your global adventures but never write them down? This fun workshop helps you move your passion for travel from the road to the page. Through in-class exercises and lively discussion, you learn techniques of top writers in this field and read published samples of what works and what does not. Discover the different types of travel writing and gain helpful tips and resources on potential markets
Please register online at www.capilanou.ca/ce/registration-information.html#sunshine-coast. Course #10157
2009
Saturday, November 21
Author’s Book Signing
1 to 3 p.m., Sunnycrest Mall, Gibsons, BC
Saturday, October 3
Prose on the Road: The Art of Travel Writing
1 to 5 p.m., Capilano University, Sechelt campus
Please register online at www.capilanou.ca/ce/registration-information.html#sunshine-coast.
Friday, June 5
Memoir Writing Workshop
Gabriels on Gambier Retreat, Gambier Island, BC, 1 to 5 p.m.
March 16 - April 27, 2009 (six Saturdays; no class April 13)
Creative Nonfiction Writing
7 - 9 p.m., Capilano University, Sechelt Campus
March 28 (Saturday)
Writing Erotica: The Language of Desire
1 to 5 p.m., Capilano University, Sechelt campus
April 18 (Saturday)
Prose on the Road: The Art of Travel Writing
1 to 5 p.m., Capilano University, Sechelt campus
For more details on my writing workshops, please see Teaching. For writing coaching or to request a workshop not listed, please contact me directly at 604-886-6520 or by email at hconn@dccnet.com.
2008
NEWS
MAY 2008
The American Immigration Law Foundation, which acted as my sponsor while I worked in the U.S. in 2008, profiled me in its newsletter:
http://www.ailf.org/exchange/tom.shtml
Heather Conn Explores the Art of Being an American through Cinema
Heather Conn (British Columbia, Canada) says movies help people understand other nations and their cultures.
The Exchange Visitor Program is pleased to announce Heather Conn as May’s Exchange Visitor of the Month. Each month, we select an exchange visitor who has made an effort to get involved in his/her community and explore American Culture.
If there’s one person who has thoroughly explored American culture through cinema, it’s Heather Conn.
Conn, a native of British Columbia, is a trainee at Sierra Magazine in San Francisco. A veteran movie buff, Conn has attended dozens of film festivals and has been a movie fan all her life. From Vancouver International film festivals, which she has faithfully attended for 20 years, to film festivals in Toronto, Conn knows the ins and outs of movie magic.
Here in the U.S., Conn has attended independent film festivals, the Asian film festival, Buddhist film festival, Tiburon film festival and the San Francisco International film festival. And she doesn’t just screen films, she occasionally reviews. “Since being in San Francisco, I have reviewed the environmental DVD Garbage Warrior for the website of my host company, Sierra Magazine.”
One of the wonderful things about movies is that its value, beauty and significance all lie in the eye of the beholder. For Conn, movies not only are made to be enjoyed, but also to be appreciated in a cultural context. Movies bring people together and help us understand certain cultural nuances and values of the country in which they were filmed.
“I think that the kinship of movie fans and filmmakers overrides nationality,” Conn said. “Watching U.S. films-documentaries, in particular-enables me to see how Americans view their nation, culture, and leaders. It enriches my viewpoint on issues from the Iraqi war to presidential candidates. I have met lots of interesting people at film festivals and have enjoyed hearing the U.S. filmmakers speak at screenings. I particularly enjoyed the San Francisco film festival screening of the documentary 1,000 Journals. A San Francisco graphic designer sent blank journals around the world and invited people to write, draw, and add whatever they liked within them, then return them to him. The designer spoke after the screening and invited the audience to leaf through two of the original journals that had been in many countries. I really enjoyed that and the sharing of creativity.”
Much like food, art speaks its own universal language through sound, action and imagery. And although watching a movie may be an independent activity, talking about the movie afterward is not. Conn connects to her community through the cinema. If you have a hobby or passion, share it with your coworkers and ask them to participate. You might be surprised by the friends you make along the way and the people who share your interests.
2007
FEBRUARY 21 - MARCH 25
Sunshine Coast Arts Centre, Sechelt, BC
Maya on the Playa: Burning Man — “Local photographer Heather Conn displays images from the last two Burning Man Festivals on the Playa of the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. She documents this eight-day annual Festival which is held as an experiment in community, radical self-expression, and radical self-reliance; the attendance has grown from 20 participants in its first year (1986) to an estimated 39,100 in 2006.2005″
DECEMBER 2005
I gave a luncheon talk on A Spiritual Workplace: Reality or Utopia in downtown Vancouver for the Workplace Centre for Spiritual and Ethical Development. I am now a member of the Centre’s board.
http://www.workplacecentre.org/page133.htm
2003
DECEMBER 18
Following publication of my book Vancouver’s Glory Years (co-written with Henry Ewert), the West Ender ran a front-page interview in its Urban Legends section (Dec. 18-23, 2003): “A historian and author recreates Vancouver’s boom, and early fascination with transit.”
Book reviews of Vancouver’s Glory Years appeared in the following publications (see Books for excerpts):
- Coast Reporter, June 12, 2004
- WestWorld magazine, summer 2004
- Victoria Times Colonist, Dec. 21, 2003
- TREK Magazine, winter 2003