Brant Writes

Place Settings

In 2017 Writer-in-Residence Krista Foss oversaw the creation of Place Settings: Collected Works Celebrating the County of Brant. This anthology showcases 16 unique non-fiction pieces by local writers about their personal connections to the County of Brant’s geography and history. The anthology includes stories that range from the singularity of a park or street to the drama of a storm or the tragedy of buried history. Stories in the work were selected by a jury of seven members that included librarians, historians, an editor and designer in addition to Writer-in-Residence, Krista Foss. Giller Prize-nominated author John Bemrose provides the book's foreword. Audio recordings of the authors reading their works can be heard at the Library's archival website too. Place Settings was made possible by the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

Generations of Writers

In 2012 the County of Brant Public Library, Kids Can Fly and the Brantford Expositor partnered on the Generations of Writers Project facilitated by author Lauren Kirshner. The goal of the Generations of Writers Project was to bring youth and seniors together to record and celebrate the stories of the elder generation. Twelve teenagers received extensive training before being paired with a dozen residents of Telfer Place, a local retirement community in Paris, Ontario. Through successive meetings, the youth "story collectors" encouraged their partner "storytellers" to share memories and impressions of some of their key life experiences. With the assistance of Lauren and the storytellers themselves, this material formed the basis of a series of short narratives which are shared in a magazine, through public exhibition in the community, and through an online museum of digital, textual and photographic narratives.

22 Pairs of Shoes

In 2010-2011 the County of Brant Public Library, Kids Can Fly and the Brantford Expositor partnered on the Youth Writer's Project. The goal was to engage youth in a writing initiative that produced a print and online magazine of teen writing. A young emerging author based out of Toronto, Lauren Kirshner, facilitated the workshops. She worked with the teens both in a group environment and also one-on-one and via email communication. The print magazine was written, designed and published by the teen participants. The teens were involved in every aspect of the publication process from writing to editing to choosing art for the cover of the magazine. Workshops strove to enhance teen's skills: literacy, critical thinking, teamwork, communication, artistic/design and experience in marketing. By working with a published author, students were also able to view careers in the arts as a viable option. 22 Pairs of Shoes is the result of this project.