Many people attend Word Vancouver looking to find a community to enrich their writing and reading lives.
In this panel, the people behind three literary organizations built around fostering community talk about the importance of other people in the creative process and offer insights they’ve gathered over decades in the industry to help you find, build, and sustain a literary community of your own.
Location: Gallery (Sunroom), UBC Robson Square
Sponsored by: The Federation of BC Writers · SFU Writers Studio
Moderator: Christina Myers
Readers: Bryan Mortensen, The Federation of BC Writers | Laura Farina, SFU Writers Studio | Bonnie Nish, Word Vancouver
About The Moderator
Christina Myers
Christina Myers is a writer, freelance editor, and former journalist. She is the author of Halfway Home: Thoughts from Midlife (House of Anansi, 2024) and The List of Last Chances (Caitlin Press, 2021). She has also been the editor of two non-fiction anthologies, the second one forthcoming in fall 2025. She has been longlisted for the Leacock Medal, shortlisted for the Fred Kerner book prize, and won the 2023 Canadian Book Club Award in the fiction category. She is a member of Da’naxda’xw First Nation, grew up all over Canada, and lives in Surrey, BC, with her family: one spouse, two kids, and at present count, four cats. She is represented by Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists; find her online at https://linktr.ee/christinamyers.
About The Readers
Bryan Mortensen
Bryan Mortensen is a writer, travel enthusiast, and arts administrator. He is the Executive Director of the Federation of BC Writers and holds a degree in English from the University of Alberta with a minor in Philosophy. His novella, ‘Ambition’, was long-listed in the 2023 International Three-Day Novel Writing contest. Bryan has held numerous leadership roles in non-profits and post secondary institutions and is a passionate advocate for the arts, arts funding, and equity-seeking communities. When not working, Bryan enjoys tending to his rose garden with his husband Drew. Surveys indicate that nine out of ten of Bryan’s friends describe him as fun and/or exhausting.
Laura Fairna
Laura Farina is the author of two books of poetry and a picture book. A new book of poems is forthcoming from Coach House Books. She's the the recipient of the Archibald Lampman Prize and has appeared on the longlist for both the ReLit Award and the CBC Poetry Prize. She's also the program manager for The Writer's Studio, SFU's year-long creative writing mentorship program.
Bonnie Nish
Dr. Bonnie Nish is Executive Director of Word Vancouver and Pandora’s Collective Outreach Society. She holds a Master’s in Arts Education from Simon Fraser University and a PhD in Language and Literacy Education from the University of British Columbia, where she currently teaches. A certified Expressive Arts Therapist and faculty member at the Vancouver Expressive Arts Therapy School, Bonnie has led workshops across North America for over 20 years. She is the author of Love and Bones, co-editor of Concussion and Mild TBI: Not Just Another Headline, and co-author of Cantata in Two Voices with Jude Neale. Bonnie lives in Vancouver and is working on a new book.
