The Story Behind the Story: a panel discussion Saturday

Tomorrow (Saturday, May 31), from 10:30-12 at the Explorer Hotel, I’ll be part of a free panel discussion with other journalists during the 20th NorthWords NWT Writers Festival. We’re being asked to talk about the intersection of Fact and Art in writing. This is something I think about a lot. Journalism is a rigorous pursuit of facts, with fairly prescripted writing forms, whether for broadcast or print. Many consumers of daily news have little idea of the constraints on a reporter.

When I lifted those constraints and began to write creative literary non-fiction, it felt like a straightjacket had been untied and my heart was free to beat loudly for everyone to hear. Looking forward to this. Please join us, other panelists include: Niigaan Sinclair, Lisa Bowes, Marie Wilson, Lee Selleck, and Nancy Vail.