Join us for an upcoming Reading and Art Exhibit
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- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
Forest City Gallery
Friday, September 12
6 - 8pm
Two Canadian authors and an artist—CBC Literary Awards prizewinning writer Joanna Cockerline, author of the new novel Still, Kevin Andrew Heslop, author of The Writing on the Wind's Wall: Dialogues about ‘Medical Assistance in Dying’, and international multidisciplinary artist Leslie Putnam—are offering a free public reading and art exhibit at Forest City Gallery on Friday September 12th, 6-8pm.
Cockerline and Heslop—both releasing their books in September with the Canadian indie press The Porcupine’s Quill, which has enjoyed decades of award-winning success—are touring across Canada to connect with audiences about issues close to their hearts and homes. The authors will be joined in Ontario and Québec by artist Leslie Putnam, whose interactive sculptural, tactile, sound- and vibration-infused art—with new pieces inspired by Heslop and Cockerline’s writing—will be there for audiences to interact with.
Cockerline’s novel Still is set amid the vibrancy and precarity of unhoused and street-level sex work communities, and follows the story of a woman who lives and works on the streets of Kelowna, BC, who is looking for a fellow sex worker who has gone missing. The novel explores survival, friendship, and what it means to find a home—especially within one’s self. Ultimately, Still is a story of resiliency, community, and hope. The novel is informed by Cockerline’s own experiences as a long-time street outreach volunteer and co-founder of a non-profit street outreach organization.
A doctor killing a patient at the patient’s request was a crime in Canada on February 5th, 2015. But the next day, the Supreme Court directed Parliament to amend the Criminal Code to allow for what came to be called medical assistance in dying—which 1 in 20 Canadians who die each year receive, more than any other country in the world. Now with medical assistance in dying for the mentally ill on the table, The Writing on the Wind’s Wall presents an atonal, hometown chorus: a disability-studies scholar, an ethicist, doctors, a death-doula, a reverend, a medium, a Member of Parliament, a psychiatrist, relatives of people who have died with medical assistance, and someone who intends to.
Leslie Putnam, whose multidisciplinary work brings an immersive way for people to interact with sculpture on multiple sensory levels, has exhibited in Canada and Europe. Putnam’s art is premised on the idea that sculpture can and should include access through multiple senses while removing the institutional “do not touch” barrier.
Joanna Cockerline is a CBC Literary Awards prizewinner, nominee for the international Pushcart Prize, and author of works in publications ranging from Room to En Route to International Human Rights Arts. She teaches literature and creative writing at the University of British Columbia Okanagan.
Kevin Andrew Heslop (b. 1992, London, Canada) is the author of works for the page, stage, and screen.
Leslie Putnam is an arts educator and artist who engages the audience through multi-sensorial sculptural and installation works. She has a lengthy exhibition resume and currently works from her studio in southern Ontario.
The trio and an array of local authors and artists look forward to connecting with people at these free events, celebrations of creativity and connection open to all.
