Professional Writers Bring their Craft and Inspiration to Rockway
Writing isn’t only an academic skill, but a life skill, a job qualification, an art, and possibly a future career for a few of Rockway’s recent grads! Our grade twelve Writer’s Craft class was incredibly fortunate to host fantastic guest speakers this term, all of whom came brimming with stories, tips, and insights into their professional worlds.
Singer-songwriter (and Rockway 2010 grad) Anna Wiebe explained her writing process and sang some gorgeous songs. Playwright and actor Johnny Wideman told us about his work as an artist with Theatre of The Beat, a socially relevant theatre company based in Stouffeville. Screenwriter/producer/actor Ken Ogasawara and director Jonathan Steckley of Rosco Films shared with us PIT, a funny and bizarre short film which takes place in a deodorant-testing facility, and the first of their very moving refugee sponsorship films for Mennonite Central Committee, Leaving Syria. Dick Benner, journalist and editor of the Canadian Mennonite, taught us the elements of a good news story and got us rewriting the lead for a recent article he published.
Our final guest was Dr. Hildi Froese Tiessen, Mennonite Literature scholar and professor emerita of Conrad Grebel University College, who told us that “literature follows immigration”! She traced the development of MennoLit through immigration–a major shaper of CanLit–to its role today as a significant literature in our country.
Generally, writers toil away on their own, pulling words together piece by piece. It was a real privilege to be able to meet together as a writing community and be visited by true masters of the craft.
-Kristen Mathies
