At the County of Prince Edward Public Library, we applied for and received funding from the Government of Ontario program to host workshops and talks centered around “telling your story” – through memoir writing, oral history, and more.

We have hosted two very successful sessions with writer Andrew Binks and Roz Bound, and on March 1 you will have the opportunity to hear from members of the Circle of Six. The Circle of Six is a writer’s group that first met at a writer’s workshop in Belleville in 2017 and has continued meeting regularly since then.

As they explain, “We met at the Belleville library, at the Al Purdy A-frame cottage in Ameliasburgh, as guests of Eurithe Purdy, and took advantage of a free meeting room at a funeral home. When COVID-19 first hit, we switched to Zoom. Eventually we were able to greet each other in person again at Zwick’s Park, at a vacant store in Belleville, and at The County Emporium in Carrying Place. Once our area hit the Red zone again, we switched back to Zoom.”

The group published their first collective title, Storied: Chronicles by the Circle of Six, which won a Canada Book Award

. Eurithe Purdy said about the book, “In this collection, these six writers make a strong case for recording their life’s multitude of experiences, its joys and sorrows, and in doing so provide their readers with many moments of pleasure”.

Members of the group will speak at the Picton Branch Library on March 1 at 2 p.m. They will share their stories and explain how their group culminated in the publication of Storied. They describe their presentation as “Writers helping writers”, and if you have ever considered telling your own story, this talk is sure to leave you inspired! All are welcome to drop in. Discover more about their group on their website https://circleofsixwriters.ca. At the County of Prince Edward Public Library, we are pleased to be returning to in person programming. When possible we are also recording talks, and you can find recordings on Youtube.

Visit youtube.com and search “County of Prince Edward Public Library” to check out the talks that have been recorded, including a recent reading with J.D. Carpenter and more. If you do not have internet access or would prefer to watch from within the library, drop by any branch of the library and use a computer at the library.

MARCH BREAK: Visit peclibrary.org to discover this year’s March Break programs for children including The Great Robot Race, Discover Voice Acting and a Cosplay Workshop! You can also pick up a print copy of the schedule at any branch of the library.

-Liz Zylstra