Caleb Nickerson
PORTAGE DU FORT
Oct. 29, 2017
On Oct. 29, several aspiring wordsmiths gathered at the Stone School Gallery in Portage du Fort for an evening of short fiction and poetry readings.
The event was organized by Sean Kerr, who started the Pontiac and Ottawa Valley Writers’ Circle (POVWC) in January of this year. The group meets twice a month to work on their stories, learn techniques and critique each other’s work.

He explained that the event was a way to showcase all the hard work that the group has been putting in all year.
“We really wanted to show people what we do and maybe encourage other people to join,” he said, adding that six writers from the group participated, along with six local poets who were invited.
Kerr said that the stories written for the evening were all inspired by an exhibition by local artists Glen Hartle and Valerie Bridgeman entitled “Layers of Legacy” that that had been on display at the Stone School in August.
Each participant picked different “glyphs” from the exhibit corresponded to emotions or traits, such as humanity or fear. Three of those, along with a photo, provided a frame for each artist to work within.
“We were all really inspired by it,” Kerr said. “We were having a writing night so we went and picked our prompts from the glyphs and image blocks.”
He added that the diversity and open-endedness of the cues made for an interesting mix of pieces and performances.
“That’s the fun part about a writing prompt, even if everyone has the same photo or the same [prop], we would all write different stories,” he said. “It was a wide range, some were sad, some were funny. One of our writers dressed up, she had done hers as a bitter opera singer.”
Kerr concluded by saying that the POVWC meets at the Stone School on the first and third Thursday of every month and new members are always welcome. They will be hosting a workshop with screenwriter Jennifer Mulligan from 7 – 9 p.m. on Nov. 16.
More information can be found at povwc.ca.