Looking Back: Fall 2015 Memoir Residency in Banff


Pictured above:
Top row, left to right: Mark Mann, Ann Dowsett Johnston, Rebecca Dingwell, Leona Theis, Wiam El-Tamami. Bottom row, left to right: Karen (Kaz) Connelly, Kate Armstrong, Cameron Dueck, Alison Pick, and me. (I put together an outfit that I thought was “woodsy,” but my god brother wrote me and said, “You’re dressed like Luke Skywalker.” He’s right.)
I learned a great deal from my peers, as well, as we discussed our projects and hiked among the hills. The scenery was spectacular, and so well suited for a writing residency. After hours squinting into a computer screen, I’d emerge into the sunlight and find myself awestruck by the mountains; it was just what I needed after all that intense focus.