Write Out Loud highlighted local talent

Four talented local writers took to the stage last Thursday evening to share their work during the Write Out Loud evening at the Lyric Theatre.
Phyllis Nakonechny, Bonnie Dunlop, Peggy Worrell and Kelsey Chabot entertained those in attendance with their writings.
Nakonechny was excited to be on stage at the Write Out Loud event and felt having local writers close out this season's series was great.
"I think it is a wonderful way to close off the Write Out Loud series to have local writers. All through the year they invite professional writers in and now this is the last one of the season and they have gone with the local writers and I think it is a good way to finish it off."
Nakonechny read from her piece "Stones", a story written last winter inspired by an emotional news item.
"I had read a small little news article about a young girl in Somalia who had been stoned to death as a punishment and it just got me thinking about that and how awful it was just to read about it. That is the sort of basis for the piece of work I am doing. It is not only about that but that is definitely the core of it."
Worrell is a social worker by profession, but she has really only focused on her writing for about seven years. She says her life experiences are the motivation for writing.
"When looking towards retirement one realizes that they have a wealth of experience to draw on and maybe it is time to explore my creative side."
Worrell's reading was from a manuscript that she is working on called "Proudflesh".
"It is a story about a woman named Joy who choses to live alone in a cabin in Northern Saskatchewan at a time in her life when there is a crisis."
This year, Worrell was chosen to be one of five emerging writers to be paired with an established writer in the Saskatchewan Writer's Guild Mentorship Program. She admits she looks forward to readings like this one at the Lyric.
"Writing, of course, is a very solitary activity and so when one gets to read and there is an audience and get feedback. I like the public speaking aspect of writing. It is like telling a story to people your are just putting it on a page."
Dunlop grew up on a farm near Cantuar and she says her roots lie "deep in the soil". Over the past nine years most of her novels have dealt strictly with facts, but she is presently working on a fictional piece.
Dunlop's reading for the evening came from a yet to be finished project.
"It is fictional letters that are paired to landscape photography. They are pictures from Southwest Saskatchewan. I wander the countryside taking pictures - taking pictures of empty farm yards and abandoned houses. I like to try and imagine the lives of the people that lived there. I don't like 'dry' history but I love that."
Also reading was Kelsey Chabot, a young upcoming writer who has already won awards for her writing while still in high school.