There’s a lot of literary talent that Marty Chan brings to the table but he also has a wealth of advice and encouragement to offer too.
Chan, the well-known Morinville-born author of kids’ books in the sci-fi, mystery and adorable cat genres, has officially taken up his station and started hanging his ‘regional writer in residence’ hat in the St. Albert Public Library. His first day on the job was Monday and he was already inundated with some eager manuscript requests from local budding writers.
“Four submissions. First morning,” he drolly noted in an interview, later tweeting, “Running back & forth from printer to computer because of all the ms. submissions I have to print. Love my WiR job.”
He will be on site in his second floor office until December. During these next few months, he will offer his wisdom to those who seek it out. For now, he will hold regular office hours a few days every week until he gets into a bit of a routine. After a month or so, he expects to change his hours to make things a little more flexible for people who can’t schedule appointments during the day “just so that everyone has a chance to see me. It’s a nice way to open up spots for people to come in.”
He will also be offering a series of literary programs through the library and throughout the community as well. Those, he pledged, would get off to a roaring start during Alberta Culture Days during the Sept. 30 weekend. These offerings include programs about the business of comic book writing, where he’ll be assisted by some local experts.
The following month, he has plans for a ghost story camp for kids followed by an adult program to help older writers kickstart their novels. In November, he’ll have a series of NaNoWriMo (National November Writing Month)-inspired public write-ins and a special meet and greet with a variety of publishers in December to wrap up his term.
Until things really get going, he’s already meeting with local writers and writers groups.
Chan’s counterpart within the Edmonton Public Library system is Wayne Arthurson, a crime and mystery writer who will be bringing his new Leo Desroches novel, The Traitors of Camp 133, to the St. Albert Public Library on Sept. 16.
Arthurson has his own office hours in the Stanley A. Milner Library and his own slate of programs on offer. All of their combined programs and services are offered free of charge, courtesy of the Metro Edmonton Federation of Libraries.
You can check out everything that Chan has lined up by visiting www.metrowir.com. He can be reached by email at [email protected].
