19 New Voices
Sarah Roberts and Craig Boyko in conversation with Sheryl
MacKay
The second annual New Voices event features two young writers whose
first published books are collections of short fiction. That is pretty
much where the similarity ends as each has approached the form from a
different perspective and each has staked out a different compartment
within the parameters of the short fiction genre.
Since graduating from the University of Victoria’s writing program, Sarah
Roberts, a resident of Gibsons BC, has been a regular contributor of
feature articles to numerous newspapers and magazines. Her short stories
have been published by literary journals in Canada, New Zealand, England
and the United States. With the publication of Wax Boats (Caitlin
Press), her first collection of short fiction, Sarah Roberts has served
notice that she is a writer from whom we shall be hearing much more in the
future.
Although his short stories have been published in most of Canada’s
best literary magazines, four-time Journey Prize-winner Craig Boyko
has been a bit of a well-kept secret. With Blackouts (McClelland
& Stewart), his first collection of stories, and the subject of
consistently effusive reviews, this gifted young Victoria-based writer has
quickly and deservedly come to light. Boyko’s impressive debut has been
variously described as: stunning; glorious; seriously clever; nuanced and
distinct; exuberant and elegiac; profound and delightfully droll. This new
voice will soon be very familiar.
This event will be moderated by Sheryl MacKay, host of CBC Radio’s North
By Northwest. New Voices is made possible by the Marie Steel
Memorial Endowment.
Craig Boyko photo: Amy Young
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