The music is playing, the goodies have been served, and the crowd has gathered.
Welcome to the Greater Victoria Public Library’s Emerging Local Authors Collection.
Rina Hadziev, Collections and Technical Services at GVPL explains that “three years ago we decided that we really wanted to do more – to work with, support, and promote our local authors.
“We realized that we have a really creative community, and that people were creating amazing things, and they were getting lost in our collection because they didn’t have a big marketing machine behind them.”
And this supportive model is catching on.
“So not only are doing it now, “explains GVPL Board Chair Rob Martin, “but Greater Vancouver is looking at doing a collection very similar to us, so it’s allowing us to now have that opportunity for authors throughout BC to start getting their works recognized, and appreciated by other readers.”
This third year of the event, one-hundred forty-seven books are unveiled.
It’s a great boost to these hard-working local writers.
“I think it’s wonderful that the library gives local authors, and people who’ve self-published, a venue to put their books out so the public can find them, because it’s hard to get them out there” says Audrey Driscoll, author of Hunting the Phoenix.
Hadziev points out that there’s a huge variety of subjects, everything from stories for “really little kids up to adults, fiction, non-fiction, books for teens, memoirs, funny books, very deep serious books, so there’s really something for everyone, and all written by our neighbours.”
At eight years old, Blakelee Schnurch is the event’s youngest published author, and she is delighted to explain the plot of her paperback children’s book, Boo the Monster.
“It’s about a monster” says Schnurch “a friendly monster, that’s blue, and his name’s Boo, and he gets lost in the forest, and then he finds his way home.”
Originally published in 2005, Judith’s Berman’s novel, Bear Daughter, is being offered as an e-book.
“It went out of print” says Berman, “as so many books do, and I acquired the rights back, and I’m really happy to be able to re-issue it.”
So, what does it take to become an published author? Audrey Driscoll fields that question.
“Become obsessed with something, some situation, or a person, or just some sort of theme, and if it really is really, really important to you, and you can’t stop thinking about it, then it’s probably a good thing to inspire a book!”
Visit your local Greater Victoria Public Library to sign out one of these locally-written books.
Veronica Cooper
