After teaching elementary school for the last 33 years, the last stint of which at Central Fort George Traditional school, local educator and author Glen Sargeant retired about two years ago to find himself with enough time to start a new career that has been cultivating in his mind for the past 15 years – writing children’s books.
     Having read children’s books written by other people over the past 33 years, Sargeant said that he’s finally gathered enough inspiration and background to make his writing dream a reality.

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     A small group of eager local authors gathered January 28 at UNBC in order to hear the sage advice of accomplished Quesnel author Ed Zaruk, who recently received an IPPY award for best fiction in Western Canada for his first published novel Altar and Throne.
    Upon sending your book to agents, you’ll get one of these, Zaruk told the crowd, pointing to a PowerPoint presentation that featured one of the many rejection letters he’s received. Sometimes the rejection letter will be just that, a rejection, and sometimes it will contain constructive criticism that one can use to improve their writing. Building off of criticism he’s gotten over the years through feedback, letters, and writers’ conferences, Zaruk prepared the material for his presentation, which he intends to make more of in the future.

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     Capping off over 22 years of research, local author Paul Serup has finally unleashed his historical piece of non fiction titled Who Killed Abraham Lincoln? upon the world. Clearly enthusiastic about his accomplishment and willing to unveil his blunt theories about what caused Lincoln’s death, Serup sat down with Cutbanks in order to discuss his book.
     Who Killed Abraham Lincoln? focuses strongly on historical figure, and Quebec native Charles Chiniquy, a former Catholic Priest who spent the latter part of his career speaking out against Catholicism. It was Chiniquy who stated, and backed up with evidence, the idea that Lincoln was assassinated by the Church of Rome.

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     CNC instructor Graham Pearce made sure that his English 205 Creative Writing Poetry class has a decent chance of winning an award at this year’s upcoming Annual Barry McKinnon Chapbook Awards by having every student develop a chapbook throughout the semester.
     “Throughout the course they developed a theme of whatever’s going throughout their mind,” he explained, adding that themes have been around animals, hip hop music, Russian travels and various other things. “Everyone’s is different.”
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     Doing his part to keep the Carrier Language alive, local author William J. Poser has recently released a book through the CNC Press titled The Carrier Language: A Brief Introduction.
     A self-proclaimed “Jew from Vermont,” Poser first became interested in the Carrier language in the early 90’s. He became inclined to write a book about the language when he noticed graffiti in Fort St. John written in Carrier. Interested in translating it, and noticing that there weren’t too many books on the subject already, he made the decision to write one himself.
      “I thought it wouldn’t be that hard to do so I sat down and wrote it myself,” he said.
     Having researched American First Nations languages earlier on in his career when he was a member of the Linguistics Department at Stanford University from 1983 to 1994, Poser was already well-versed in the nuances of First Nations languages.
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     A brand new book of poetry titled Declining America was launched by local poet and UNBC professor Rob Budde during an evening poetry reading December 2 at Nancy O’s on Third Avenue downtown.
     “I have to explain, people keep asking me, is it Anti-America?” Budde told the mainly university crowd that showed up for the reading. “It is… But I’m not writing about the nation America, but the lifestyle of America.”
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     It’s been quite some time since local author Mel McConaghy was in the Navy, but he’s managed to remember it in good enough clarity to make a book of his Navy exploits in a brand new memoir titled The Stoker.
    “It’s about an 18-year-old who I guess you could call me an introvert. During a bet at a party a buddy and I joined the Navy,” McConaghy explained.
    He would go on to be a part of the navy for 10 years, from 1954 to 1964, the time period covered within The Stoker.
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     Local author Brian Smith probably knows more about fly fishing than you- but don’t worry, he’s written a guide that will help you catch up.
     Released earlier this year through Caitlin Press was Smith’s first-ever book, titled Fly Fishing BC’s Interior: A Fly Fisher’s Guide to the Central Interior and North Cariboo Waters.
     “We’re one of the untapped areas of BC” for fly fishing, Smith said during an interview with Cutbanks. While more Southern places like Kamloops receive an over-abundance of fishermen due to their proximity to the well-populated Lower Mainland, Prince George is just far enough away so that few enough people fish so that the ecosystem isn’t affected too much.
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An impressive number of First Nations authors passed along the long-standing cultural tradition of storytelling September 30 to October 3 during the fourth annual Aboriginal Writers and Storytellers Festival around the city.
Saskatchewan author Neal McLeod, who read a few selections of his poetry October 2 at the university, said that the Cree people have been true poets for much longer than there have been traditional poets as we know them today.
“They didn’t go to Starbucks and order a double-soy latte,” he said. “They weren’t that kind of poet,” McLeod said. 
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Now in its second year, The Northern Log, a free local monthly publication by UNBC student Joshua Laurin is going strong, with the first issue of the new school year released September 8.
The new issue, written entirely by Prince George residents, is complete with articles on Jack Kerouac, military history, hiking in Northern BC and an article on the solar systems, among other things.
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    A decent-sized Café Voltaire audience experienced some unique, multilingual BC poetry, August 29, during the launch of a brand new book of poetry, 4 Poets, published by Mother Tongue.
    As the title implies, the book showcases the work of four poets, of which Prince George poet Al Rempel is included. During the August 29 reading Rempel invited lower mainland poet Daniela Elza, who is also included in the book, to drive up for a reading.
    Introducing the poets was UNBC professor Rob Budde, who took time to comment on the unique nature of the 4 Poets book.
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    Local author Mike Nash, whose most recent book The Mountain Knows No Expert- George Evanoff Outdoorsman and Contemporary Hero was released earlier this year, has always had his heart set on the outdoors.
    Growing up in the UK, he said “My parents loved the outdoors. We didn’t have a car so whatever we did was done by foot and bus.” Exploring communities by foot, he argues in his first published book, Exploring Prince George, is the best way to get the feel of a community, in that one sees things they normally wouldn’t catch while driving.
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