Latest news with #WordstockSudbury
CBC
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- CBC
Board chair 'relieved' after members reject call to dissolve Wordstock Sudbury Literary Festival
Wordstock's board chair has expressed relief after members voted to keep the Wordstock Sudbury Literary Festival going, rejecting calls to dissolve the organization. Kyla Heyming said on Wednesday, the entire membership of Wordstock Sudbury met to discuss a board recommendation to dissolve the organization due to financial problems. "After a long, almost two-and-a-half-hour meeting, discussion and brainstorming, the membership expressed their desire to keep the festival," Heyming told CBC News "I am both relieved and exhausted, if I'm being honest. This has been a really difficult time." Established in 2013 to support and promote the love of reading and writing in northern Ontario, Wordstock Sudbury Literary Festival is a three-day celebration of the literary arts. The festival features some of Canada's most celebrated authors, poets, playwrights, and songwriters. Heyming said the board had arrived at the decision to dissolve the organization after years of inadequate funding as well as other obstacles and challenges. She said they had also found it difficult to get volunteers. "It was almost unanimous," she said of Wednesday's vote. "The great majority of the membership voted to decline the recommendation of the board and to keep the organization going." She said a lot of members have also offered to step up to either join the board or to volunteer in some capacity to help keep the organization going. 'We still need funds' On the issue of funding, Heyming said one of the challenges the organization faced was not having someone to work on applying for grants, but that has now been resolved as many people have offered to volunteer. "We still need funds … but we didn't necessarily have the human resources [to look for funding]," she said. Last year, Heyming said it cost around $100,000 to put on the festival. Meanwhile, Heyming said they still have to decide whether or not a festival would be held this year. "That's still up for discussion. There's going to be a lot of work and discussion within the next month to see exactly how many members will want to join the board and to see what they're able to do in that time," she said.
CTV News
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Sudbury children invited to learn from famed graphic novelist
Award-winning graphic novel author J. Torres has been invited to the Greater Sudbury Public Library for children's workshops during March Break. (Supplied/Wordstock Sudbury Literary Festival) Award-winning graphic novel author J. Torres has been invited to the Greater Sudbury Public Library for children's workshops during March Break. Torres is a Filipino Canadian comic book writer whose credits include Teen Titans Go, Batman: Knightwatch and Adventure Comics for the DC Kids channel on YouTube. Families can join Torres for free at the Valley East Public Library on Elmview Drive in the Greater Sudbury community of Hanmer on Thursday from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. and the Lively Public Library on Kin Drive on Friday between 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The event, geared for children between the ages of eight to 12, will teach how a graphic novel is created from writing to drawing and finally to book form. 'Participants will take part in engaging activities related to creating comics, sharing story ideas and a chat with the author,' said officials with Wordstock Sudbury Literary Festival in a news release. 'His (Torres) award-winning graphic novels for younger readers include Brobots, How to Spot a Sasquatch, Lola: A Ghost Story, Planet Hockey and Stealing Home.' Torres has also written comics for the Archies, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Degrassi, Rick & Morty, Scooby-Doo, The Simpsons and X-Men along with several other notable franchises. Planet Hockey J. Torres has several award-winning graphic novels for younger readers -- including 'Planet Hockey.' (Supplied/Wordstock Sudbury Literary Festival) Registration is required for this event, with the first 10 registrants to receive a free copy of J. Torres' book 'Planet Hockey.' To register, contact Quinn Van Essen at 705-673-1155 by email. Download the CTV News app now Get local breaking news alerts Daily newsletter with the top local stories emailed to your inbox Wordstock Sudbury Literary Festival's youth program Nickel City Literacy League is helping to address the need for activities centered around literacy for children who have struggled to connect to reading and writing during and following the pandemic. The program offers targeted reading and writing activities to engage children in school, at the library and in after-school program environments and activities are offered at no cost with the financial support of the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
