Small communities are pretty great. That's my conclusion after getting the news that my application to the Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance (CKCA) for touring funding was accepted. Yahoo! The funding is to cover a 5-day reading tour of the East Kootenays in September.
Where did this good fortune come from? Apart from the CKCA, the Columbia Basin Trust who provide the funding, and the Kootenay Library Federation, who helped me with the application.
When I was growing up in Nelson, the term "Columbia Basin" didn't mean much to me. Now I'm aware that I live in a region defined by a river, not by the usually arbitrary lines we draw on the map. The Trust serves the people affected by the Columbia River Treaty, and by the dams along the Columbia River. I can't explain why, but this all seems significant to me. I hope to get a better sense of this region, and the people in it, while on tour.
The photo is of Slocan Lake. What a beautiful area this is!
But first, I'll have to book some readings! Will keep this blog posted.
Congratulations on the grant! That's exciting news!
ReplyDeleteI followed the link to the Columbia River Treaty, and thought you might be interested to know my father's family was affected by the building of the dams. The house he grew up in was on the Arrow Lakes. My grandparents still lived there when the dams were negotiated and they were forced to move. That's when they bought the house in South Slocan where my granny lived while I was growing up.
As an adult, I accompanied my dad to the Arrow Lakes. We stood on the shore of the lake and he told me that his childhood home was "right down there," pointing down into the water. The entire community of his youth was flooded away, and his childhood home gone.
I'm not entirely clear on how the Treaty relates to your grant, but I'm very happy to know you've got a grant!
Hugs,
Valerie
That is fantastic, Toni! Congratulations.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to hearing where you'll be reading.
The Columbia Basin Trust is the envy of every arts council region in BC. I was at a conference in April where the trust was mentioned with great respect more than once.
Love, Becca
Hey Becca and Val:
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments. Valerie, as far as I know, the money in the Columbia Basin Trust comes from the profits made by the dams, a way of paying back to the communities. There's some kind of irony, (or is it just discomfort?), in benefitting from the flooding of these communities. Regardless of my feelings about the dams, I'm very happy for the chance to tour.
Interesting to hear about your father. I never knew that! Anne DeGrace wrote about Renata, the community that disappeared after the lake was flooded, in her book, Treading Water. Can't remember the name of the lake though.
Becca, yes, I am not surprised that this Trust fund is rare. It surprises me still.
I'll keep you all updated. Take care ---
Toni