FFWD Weekly
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Bookends by Harry Vandervlist It must be hard for parents to find time to read or write much, once their kids are off school for the summer. One measly new Harry Potter book isn't gonna hold ’em until September, unless they read very, very slowly. And despite recent articles on the virtues of "underparenting," it's probably unlikely that many parents feel OK just shooing the kids out into the world every morning, to "make their own fun" at the local e-coli-contaminated swimmin' hole, the 7-11, or an ultra-violent video arcade. Fortunately, there are some local resources to help you out. To start with, the Writer's Guild of Alberta offers a writing, drawing and acting camp for kids at Bragg Creek later this month. In its fifth year, WordPlay 2000 is designed for 15 to 18 year olds and takes place at Camp Kiwanis from July 23 to 28. Young adult author Don Trembath plus a large group of actors and artists will be involved. Details and registration info are available at 1-800-665-5354. Indigo has a bunch of kids' programs and events, starting with their summer reading club. You can register your little heirs at Indigo Kids. Then there's also storytime every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m., and on Sunday at noon. On Wednesday mornings at 10:30 there's the Magic Circle, which involves stories and crafts. The Calgary Public Library has all kinds of kids' programs: call your local branch for storytimes. If your offspring are confirmed pale, indoor types, all is not lost – partly because they're likely to do well when they get to law school, but also because if you have a computer, they can sit in the basement and play the library's on-line reading game, "spacestation@cpl." The startup URL is http://public-library.calgary.ab.ca/services/gamespl.htm. So now your offspring are reading and writing away, leaving hours of quiet and solitude in which you can work on your own projects. You could always start by preparing a manuscript to be workshopped at this fall's Waterton Glacier International Writers Workshop. The workshop's focus is nature, travel, environment and outdoor writing. The writers present will include Wayne Grady (the editor of Equinox magazine), Kevin Van Tighem, and Handbook of the Canadian Rockies author Ben Gadd. Editors and publishers will include Marlene Blessing (editor in chief, Fulcrum Publishing), John Rimel (publisher, Mountain Press Publishing) and David Stalling (editor, Bugle magazine). If you register by August 15, the fee is reduced. Only 65 people will be accepted. There's more info at http://www.telusplanet.net/public/bgrinder, or call 626-3658.

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