Journalist and author Sarah Hampson reviews Off the Record
Here’s another great review for Off the Record, this one from noted journalist and author Sarah Hampson in The Literary Review of Canada:
“For her part, Shaena Lambert describes a wonderful childhood memory of a huge red cedar tree in the forest near the family home in West Vancouver. ‘This tree was my first love,’ she writes. Named Monkey Business, it had perfect notches for climbing and boughs that made a comfortable seat, thirty feet in the air. She could see across the woods and watch her mother from afar. The reader immediately understands that voyeuristic habit of a wordsmith and can imagine Lambert up there, with scraped knees, not knowing what she would later become…” READ FULL REVIEW →
—Sarah Hampson, The Literary Review of Canada
Tapping the Stream open for registration
Last year’s writing retreat, Tapping the Stream, at the lush, restorative and deeply creative space Hollyhock, on Cortes Island, was a huge success. Here are some photos of the 7-day retreat, where writers write deeply into their works-in-progress — often making huge creative leaps — host a salon, talk deeply about craft, nurture their creativity and build community. All while letting their hair down, paddling in the bioluminescence, and spending time in the garden. Poets, memoirists, visual artists and musicians (if engaged in a writing project), and novelists. I co-host this annual retreat with renowned teacher and writer Betsy Warland, winner of the Vancouver City arts award and founding artistic director of SFU’s Writers’ Studio.
2024’s Tapping the Stream is now open for registration. It will take place June 21-28. See photos from last year’s edition below, then follow this link to find out more and/or to register.
Off the Record: “A dazzling collection”
“Metcalf’s latest project, the anthology OFF THE RECORD brings together six of the writers with whom Metcalf has worked, in what becomes a dazzling collection of memoir and fiction. If Caroline Adderson, Kristyn Dunnion, Cynthia Flood, Shaena Lambert, Elise Levine, and Kathy Page aren’t quite household names, OFF THE RECORD is a powerful argument for just what a mistake that oversight is.” —Robert Wiersema, The Toronto Star
Interview on How I Wrote This
I’ll be interviewed February 8th on the podcast series, How I Wrote This, with writer and host Pamela Hensley. Other authors in the series include: Heather O’Neill, Anita Rau Badami, Mikhail Iossel, Sean Michaels, Baharan Baniahmadi, Kim Thúy, Neil Smith, H. Nigel Thomas, and Michelle Syba. Details at the How I Wrote This website.
Launch of Breathing the Page
I was honoured to participate in the launch of Betsy Warland’s Breathing the Page, a seminal book on writing, along with authors Darrel McLeod and Wayde Compton. If you haven’t read Breathing the Page, it’s a fascinating exploration of the craft of writing. You can watch the launch here:
Interview at The Artisanal Writer
Read an April 2023 interview with me conducted by Sabyasachi Nag at The Artisanal Writer website, where I discuss my books and my process. Please note: this website requires you to sign up for a free account to read content.
Looking forward to 2023…
Recently got word that The Walrus will publish my new short story, “Antonius Snorp” in 2023. “Antonius Snorp” was one of those stories that just landed one morning – and which I wrote quickly (for me), though the editing went on for months.
Editing 101. January 25th, 7:00-8:30 pm PT. By Zoom. Danielle Geller, Cadence Mandybura and I will give mini-lectures and then have a rousing conversation on various aspects of editing. There will be a Q and A. We’ll explore substantive editing, line editing, copy editing, proofing.
Fernie Reading Series – BOOKED! So delighted to be part of Fernie, BC’s, reading series, where from 7:00 to 8:30 renowned author Angie Abdou and I will talk about writing, publishing, my most recent novel, Petra, and what is coming next from both her and me. Hope you can join us. I’ve read so much about Fernie in Angie’s fascinating memoirs.
Tapping the Stream – May 21-28 at Hollyhock on Cortes Island. This is a unique seven-day retreat that allows writers to work in a sustained way on their manuscript-in-progress, free from interruption, but meeting regularly with other writers by fireside, to discuss craft, publishing, and other key aspects of the writing life. I am co-facilitating with Betsy Warland, who created the Writers’ Studio at SFU and the Vancouver Manuscript Intensive, and won the mayor’s arts award for literary excellence.
Tapping the Stream, May 2022
Amazing writers, rich conversations, bonfires, swims and hot tubs, and deep and passionate discussions about fiction and character. Old work got burnt and new plans got planned. What a cornucopia. Sign up for the 2023 event here.
Writer in Residence, Nelson’s Elephant Mountain Literary Festival, June 2022
So delighted to be Writer in Residence at Nelson’s Elephant Mountain Literary Festival. Blue pencil sessions with writers, a lecture on fiction, and hearing and appearing on stage with authors I deeply admire, including Suzanne Simard – who wrote Finding the Mother Tree – daring and thoughtful author Angie Abdou, iconic poet Tom Wayman, Magpie Ulysses, performer and playwright Lucas Myers, and others. Many thanks to Anne De Grace for inviting me to come to Nelson and be Writer in Res. This is a wonderful festival…
The Mascot, shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, July 2022
My story, The Mascot, was shortlisted for the Bridgport Prize for Fiction.
Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts, August 2022
2022 was Jane Davidson’s final year as Artistic Director for the Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts. I was so delighted to be part of this event. Readings were held in the huge outdoor log amphitheatre. This is one of the best festivals in Canada, and I was very honoured to be there to salute Jane Davidson’s work.
Writer in Residence at Whistler, Sept-Oct 2022
September saw me and faithful dog Augie driving the Sea to Sky Highway for a two-month stint as Whistler’s Writer in Residence. I was given a small, quiet cabin on the south side of Alta Lake. I’d wake at 5 am and take a cup of coffee to the dock (only meeting the occasional bear), write all morning, then meet with six thoughtful and engaged writers – some working in fiction, some memoir.
In October was the Whistler Writers’ Festival, organized by volunteers and overseen by Artistic Director Rebecca Wood Barnett. Taking over from Stella Harvey, whose work was honoured at the Fest. Thanks so much to Rebecca, Stella and to Stephen Vogler, who runs the Point Artists Centre, which supports the annual WIR program.
In the thick of this residency, I managed to write 60,000 words of my new novel.
