The latest literary offering from the Sooke Writers' Collective, titled Elevenses, serves up a delightful blend of stories and poetry, capturing the essence of a mid-morning snack break for the mind.
Coordinator of the collective, Deb Clay, said the word elevenses means a snack break around 11 a.m. and was chosen as the title of the 11th anthology because it represents how the collective nurtures the storyteller in its members and feeds imaginations.
Adorned by artist P. Pallot, the anthology's cover art depicts a scene of tea, treats, and books nestled within a forest setting.
The collective's biggest anthology ever boasts contributions from thirty-two local writers, including Rena Young, an accomplished student from Edward Milne Community School who won the Emerging Young Writers Contest 2024.
Award-winning authors Jim Bottomley, Nancy Davies, D K Eve, David Reichheld, and C.E.W. Winstanley grace the pages, along with local novelists Denelda Bendsen, Terry Groves, V. Knox, and D. Lambert. There’s poetry from Linda M. Green Abraham, dl clay, Tatjana Darling, Angie Dorsey, Jen Ebersohn, Kathryn Guthrie, W.M. Herring, Lynda Moore, Madelaine Roig, Lorraine Sinclair, and Mark Smith.
Contributors include longtime SWC members René Low, Andrew Moore, P.Pallot, and Ina Shah, and newer members Leslie Ann Bent, Kathrine Brown, Valerie Couture, A.M. Home, Laura Lee, Frank Stanford, and Stevi Stephens.
Elevenses – Sooke Writers’ Collective Anthology Eleven is available for purchase at the Sooke Region Museum gift shop, Sooke Arts Council Gallery, and online via SookeWriters.com.
It's part of the Sooke Writers' Collective mission, since 2014, to nurture a supportive writing environment for individuals across the Sooke region, encompassing East Sooke, Sooke, Otter Point, and Shirley.
For those eager to engage with the local literary scene, opportunities to meet the authors at the Sooke Night Market are hosted at the Sooke Region Museum on June 27, July 18, and Aug. 22, with further live reading events slated for the Fall.