Adventures in Prince George

My post-Iceland life has found me ensconced in continued travel, classroom visits, and Mercurial fall book season. Jordan Scott and I spent an awesome couple of days in Prince George, BC, where we read for series at both the University of Northern British Columbia and College of New Caledonia.

Prince George reminds me, superficially, of Sault Ste. Marie. It's a Northern city, population just shy of 80,000, reliant on pulp and paper industry, major city centre 8 hours to PG's south, a river running through the city. PG's had a rough go with air quality, and there are surprising and sizeable problems with homelessness and addiction. Both were apparent during a wander in the city's core. PG was chilly when we were there (snowed two days), though we were warmed by local reports of moose and bear activity, as well as the generosity and awesomeness of resident writers.

Jordan and I instantly hit it off with Graham Pearce, our Caledonia host. We enjoyed dinner and conversation with Ken Belford, who's lead one of the most fascinating lives I've ever heard recounted. I could spend months listening to him! Barry McKinnon shared drinks and fire, laughter and cameraderie -- such a gem. Rob Budde, our UNBC host, was gracious and did a hell of a job organizing our stay; I really look forward to visiting more with him in future. I wish I could go for a long hike with Gillian Wigmore, and then cuddle up with hot chocolates afterwards; she's my kinda people. And GP Lainsbury and Tanya Clary proved the icing on a wonderful stay, with easy yet deep conversation on our final evening.

And I think that expresses it well for all of the PG writers we met -- my kinda people. There was no pretense, no bullshit; everyone was more than willing to swap stories, share chapbooks, dinners, anything. No ageism, just straight-ahead respect and enthusiasm. Loveliness.