Join former journalist and debut novelist Heather Ramsay and poet Tina Biello for an afternoon of stories and poetry honouring place.
Heather’s novel, A Room in the Forest, is a coming of age story about a young woman from Alberta who takes a job in the old growth forest. It has been called “a profound journey of self-discovery set against the breathtaking backdrop of Haida Gwaii’s ancient landscapes.”
Tina, Nanaimo’s Poet Laureate from 2017-2020, writes about identity, queerness and belonging in her latest book of poetry, The Weight of Survival. “Chronicling her family’s journey from their ancestral home in sun-drenched Casacalenda to the cloud-covered region of Cowichan complete with curses as companions and proverbs as memory portals… Biello’s writing brims with love, honours grief, and thrums with an enduring heartbeat…”
Tina Biello was born to immigrant parents from Southern Italy and currently lives on the traditional territory of the Snaw-naw-as people. She is an actor, poet and playwright and has 4 books of poetry published. She loves to collaborate and has worked with composers, singers, painters, and dancers and has recently collaborated with the Vancouver Island Symphony with new symphonic works set to her poetry.
Heather Ramsay lives and writes in unceded Ts’elxwéyeqw territory (otherwise known as Chilliwack, BC) and is heavily influenced by place, including the 10 years she lived on Haida Gwaii. She has worked as a community reporter, freelance journalist and communications professional and has co-written two other books for the Haida Gwaii Museum: Gina ‘Waadluxan Tluu: The Everything Canoe and gyaaGang.ngaay – The Monumental Poles of Skidegate.
