Episode 1: Story of The Writing Circle

SPEAKERS
Alice Hsiung, Shirley Merith, Sowmya Kishore, Philip Alalibo, Jane Burpee

Alice Hsiung
In this episode, Sowmya Kishore interviews Jane Burpee, Shirley Merith, Philip Alalibo to talk about how the Writing Circle came to be and who can join. Also, you’ll learn about our inaugural publication, the Writers Unblocked e-magazine, which features short stories, poetry and blogs written by our members.

Sowmya Kishore
Alright, so here we are, this is episode one. And we are here in the room, accompanied by some lovely colleagues and friends who are all, not just part of the writing circle, but really the founders. I like to introduce Shirley and then Philip, and Jane. Shirley, take it away.

Shirley Merith
Hello, everyone. My name is Shirley Merith. I'm one of the faculty in the School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts. And like Phillip and a few others in the writers circle, we love to write, we have a passion for writing. And we plan on continuing to write. So as we go through this podcast, we'll learn a little bit more about what we like to do and how it all started. And then we can go from there.

Philip Alalibo
Hello, everyone. My name is Philip Alalibo. I am a faculty member at the School of Advancement and also a coordinator for General Education Liberal Studies. And like Shirley, I enjoyed being part of the writing circle, because writing is a huge part of me. And since I was young, I've been I've been writing and I found a home at Centennial in the writing circle with colleagues of like mind. And so I'm very, very happy that we have this platform to continue this passion. And I look forward to more of it.

Jane Burpee
Hi, everyone. I'm Jane Burpee. I'm the director of the libraries and the learning centres at Centennial College. I've been at the college now since 2017, and have been really inspired and so happy to be able to support Centennial Writes. And I'm looking forward to telling everyone a little bit more about how it all started.

Sowmya Kishore
Thank you so very much everybody. So I'd like to quickly introduce myself. I'm Sowmya Kishore, and I'm a faculty at the college and a budding writer, as I like to call myself, having said that, I came to the writing circle when I saw those broadcasts on email, word of mouth, and people nudging me, saying why don't you join the circle? And I had no idea what it was about. But this episode is exactly that. We're going to talk about how it all began. Maybe Jane can actually start us off.

Jane Burpee
Thanks, Sowmya, and I appreciate being able to start, but I wanted to say that the the inspiration for the writing circle really started with a conversation that I had with Philip, way back in 2019. Philip was super keen to promote the campus authors at Centennial. And of course, Centennial has a campus author program, the library curates and collects all of the authorships that our students, faculty and staff write and publish. So through that conversation and introductions with Shirley, we started thinking about ways to bring faculty authors together and to create a community. So that's kind of how the concept started, I think it was back in 2019. And at the initial conversation, I really had no idea where things would go. But I knew that in my former career at University of Guelph, we had these writing retreats for faculty authors. And so I pitched that as something we could do together at Centennial.

Sowmya Kishore
Sounds like an amazing start of like a journey that I think I've been part of, and that we've exposed some of our other budding writers and aspiring authors to be. So I want to hear from Philip, straight up. How did you get involved in this? And what made you think about this?

Philip Alalibo
Well, thank you. I've been a writer since a very long time and was wondering, we are in a community of intellectuals, and additional educational institution. And I know that Centennial was really blessed with very good writers. And so I thought about approaching Jane, who obviously in her role as the Director of Library Services, would be very instrumental to, you know, create a platform where writers can come together and kind of, you know, criticize themselves and, you know, share ideas, best practices, those sort of things. And she was very receptive to the idea, extremely receptive to the idea. She encouraged the process. And we had initially had meetings, you know, and I pulled in Shirley. And having heard that Shirley has published a book, or co-published a book, I pulled her in to those meetings, and the meetings were very successful. very productive, until COVID actually hit, and then we kind of put it on pause for some time. Again, I'm glad that we are back on, and we are pushing forward with this agenda to continue to explore different areas and bring in new members who are interested and passionate about writing.

Sowmya Kishore
Sounds amazing. So Shirley, let me ask you how this all began in person, how it has evolved since. And as you I guess, you co-chair, the writing circle with Philip and you started this initiative, how have you seen it sort of evolve? And why has it been important for you to be part of the circle?

Shirley Merith
Well, as Philip mentioned, what really happened for me was, as odd as this is going to sound, Philip and I ended up on the picket line in 2017 together, as strange as this may sound, and as we were walking up and down with our picket signs, so it's like the social chat, you know, just keep ourselves busy. And while we were chatting at that particular time, I had just been a part of publishing an actual book, and the team of writers, amongst myself, we were at the time, doing book signings throughout of several Chapters and Indigo bookstores, across the GTA. So while we started to talk about that, then I realized and learned that Philip was also writing books, and he had a, I think a book of poetry was coming out or had just been, you know, published at that moment in time. So when we found out together that we both love to do the same thing, which was writing, and as we started to walk back and forth, for a couple of weeks that we were doing this, we thought about, maybe we can bring some of this to Centennial College. And at that time, that's when Phillip approached Jane and started to get the whole process going. So once we got the process going, we, outside that, involved other people, I mean, we were initially going to be doing something on the bridge, I don't think Philip remembers this, but we're going to do a book read, we were gonna have people who publish their works, to put it out there and share it with the world and the college community. But as things went on, times change, and that just never really, really came out. But the writers circle itself with Jane did start, and we'd meet, you know, once a month, or as much as we could, let's put it that way. And we would start to write and, and go from there. And as Phillip mentioned, unfortunately, due to the whole COVID situation, we, we had to take it from in-person writing. And now we put it into the Zoom in an online format, which actually does work as well. So both formats have been in person, and online does work. And right now, it's at the stage where we are in the process of doing a publication for all of those who have been a part of the of the community and want to share their work. So that involves blogs, poetry, you know, short pieces that people have put together. And we'd like to continue with that. So just to show you how it has evolved, it started out, you know, just a conversation on a picket line. And now it's going to be an actual publication.

Sowmya Kishore
That is truly inspiring. And I think it just shows the caliber and that folks can keep things moving and take an idea from thought to paper and action. So this is truly Centennial style, if I can say so. So I guess coming back to Jane, you did mention you were part of something similar at University of Guelph and that you thought there was possibility to do this at Centennial. What made you say that, what made you see this as a possibility?

Jane Burpee
Having participated before was really helpful because what, when I was at the University of Guelph, not only was I participating as a librarian and talking to writers, faculty writers, in helping them get their works published, but I was participating in order to get myself published and I was really successful and managed to get an article out and published, having participated in that faculty retreat. I really envisioned the library supporting our campus authors and wanted to build a community, a place, a space where interested writers, campus writers could come together, not only to write individually in a shared space, but also like as Philip and Shirley mentioned, a time to discuss their works. And we could bring in speakers, guest speakers each week. So we thought the library could sort of be that space, that shared space. We, with a great help of Gosha Trzaski, who is one of our senior library technicians, she coordinate, coordinated all the meetings, and we were, we were, we've had space dedicated to them. Once we moved to COVID, she was able to coordinate all the Zoom invitations for everyone and keep those meetings taking place.

Sowmya Kishore
Sounds like a libraries definitely is a perfect fit. And I'm just curious. So what does one do with the writing circle? Phillip, Shirley, can you explain us? Do people just come on Zoom and start writing? What if I don't want to publish? Or I haven't published? How do I just sit there and open up my writing to a bunch of strangers? Is there a structure? How often am I supposed to come to these meetings? Is anybody welcome?

Philip Alalibo
Yes, everyone is welcomed. And that is the purpose of this, of this meeting. We want to encourage everyone, both new and seasoned writers to be part of this process. And to take advantage of the, of the expertise and the, the knowledge and leverage that in their own writing. Now, people can come and they don't have to write, as long as they're interested in writing, they are welcome. And perhaps seeing people write may encourage them to do the same, we do have time, sometimes we meet for an hour and a half. And we have, during, within that hour and half, we have time for writing, to go away for about 45 minutes to an hour, and write. And then they'll come back to the general platform and then share what they've written. Again, it's not obligatory for them to share, if they want to, want to share,
that, that is fine. And then they get feedback from the group, and insights and so forth. Now, this is very, very, very, very instructive and very helpful to a lot of writers to get feedback from people of like mind on what you're doing. So yeah, so everyone is welcome, it's an open forum. There is no obligation, it's a freestyle type meeting. And, and we want to keep it that way, to be flexible, and to be all inclusive,

Sowmya Kishore
Shirley, would you like to tell us more about any specific programming or structure to the writing circle that you seen happen, and also successfully implemented over the past few years, especially now that we've moved online?

Shirley Merith
So as Phillip mentioned, we usually try to meet once a month. And usually we pick a day that works best and time that works best for everyone. Then as he mentioned, we bring everybody together, we talk about what we'd like to do with the writer circle, where we'd like to see it going. As Jane had mentioned before, with guest speakers, we know we do bring guest speakers in from time to time. And we will continue to do so. We also talk about what other aspects of the writers circle we can get out to an audience, like I said about the publication we'll be doing, as we're doing now, a podcast. And we'd like to make sure that everybody is aware that you don't have to be a professional writer to join the writers circle, you can be just starting because I'm not averse. And I'm, I'm guilty of this, have started to write years ago, we have things that we've thrown in our drawers or in our cabinets or wherever we've had little pieces of paper and, and we now and then we pick it up, we look at it, we do something with it, then we put it back in the drawer, this might now be the time for you to take that out of the drawer, that cabinet or wherever you have it and start to work with it. Even if it's something old, you can make it current, you can update it, or you can start something new. So you don't have to be a great writer, you can be somebody that's just interested in the concept of writing, or getting your message out. And as I had mentioned prior, it might not just in that might not be in a book, it might just be a blog, it might just be a little article, something that you won't mind sharing with an audience. And don't be afraid if the audience isn't always liking material. That's why they have things called genres. So you can pick a genre that works for you. And some people will, will love that genre, and others might want something different. So don't be afraid to try is what I'm trying to say. And that's what, what the writers circle helps you with, is telling you that you don't have to worry about that.

Sowmya Kishore
Sounds amazing. And I can vouch for that. This is a forgiving group of people. I think we're all in it together. And that's what really builds community and it has taken people places. And if not anything, opened up the avenues for a lot of budding writers like myself. And for one, I know that I need a motivation. And so I think Writers Unblocked was really born out of that. We're going to talk a little bit about that right now, what Writers Unblocked is, and maybe the goal of this group and where we see these kinds of initiatives going. Jane, if I can start with you, how do you see Writers Unblocked? And how has this sort of come about for the writing circle?

Jane Burpee
Oh, I wish I could comment on that. I was very distance for the Writers Unblocked publication. All I, all I can say is I just felt so incredibly proud and excited that the libraries was able to support all of this great work that's happening across the campus. As you know, Centennial, as we've all just said, Centennial has a lot of amazing, creative individuals who are writing and this opportunity to share some of those creative works is going to be really, I think, fantastic. And I'm so excited to see us launch that inaugural issue soon.

Sowmya Kishore
I remember Jane, you did mention something about our former president who had sort of inspired you to get some of these pieces going? And did you want to comment on that?

Jane Burpee
In case you're not aware, the libraries has a program called Centennial Writes. And that program was started back in 2014 by Ann Buller, which she felt the libraries could start tracking, and curating and collecting all of the publications that come out of our community. So the library has been collecting those publications since she began the program in 2014. When I began, we did a website revamp, and I encourage everyone to have a look, to go to the library website and have a look at Centennial Writes, you'll have an opportunity to see all of those creative works. More recently, we added more than just book publications. So we're now collecting chapters, book chapters, poetry, we will, we will put those into the database, so that you can search not only do you get to see the title, you can link to the library collection and borrow that item and you can read about the author. We'll have a bio of each of the authors.

Sowmya Kishore
Thank you, that sounds like a great start for anybody who is looking to be published and get a start on their writing. So Philip, can I ask you, what can we expect to see in Writers Unblocked? Is there anything that you've contributed to in this maiden publication of the writing circle? 

Philip Alalibo
Thank you. Yes, Writers Unblocked just generally is a collection of writings of, you know, the members of the group. And in their you see, it can have all kinds of writing styles, and all kinds of topics and experiences. And so for writers are putting in experiences in writing and sharing with the community. Specifically, myself, I have two poems in that publication, upcoming publication that have been published already, my book of poetry, which is titled, A Sahara Voice: Poems from the Heart of Africa. And, essentially, the first poem is about my experience, traveling and it talks about Mount Kilimanjaro. And Mount Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain in Africa, and is of cultural and religious and traditional value to people around it. And so the first poem is talking about that experience of going up the mountain, and, and seeing the continent from from that height. And when you see the continent from that height, you have a different perspective. And you are, you're thinking about a myriad of things in terms of colonization, for example, you're thinking about interaction, imperialism, interaction with continent, with the other regions, and so forth. And you're talking about the continent that is so great and endowed with natural resources, and how it can move forward. The second poem has to do with
Mandela, Nelson Mandela, who was and will remain one of my heroes, for his resilience and resolve to fight injustice. And it talks about his beginning and his ending and the poem is titled Mandela from Qunu to Qunu. He was born in Qunu, and was buried in Qunu, and in between of the other things he's done for humanity. And at the discretion is giving most of us, now he is one of my inspiration, just writing about issues of social justice, issues of race, interaction, and so forth and so that poem is dedicated to him. And, and it's one of my favourite poem I really love and I hope it really inspires people to see the walks that he's done, and more importantly, to see how he was able to bring the races together. He did not have vengeance on his mind after spending 27 years in prison unjustly. He brought the races together. And that's where we want to be as a people, to walk as one accord towards a common goal.

Sowmya Kishore
Well, thank you Phillip. Just listening to you talk about your contributions has taken me to one of those mountaintops. So I can't wait to read the Writers Unblocked and as some of our listeners are tuning in, I guess this is what it is, just transporting to you the, you know, to the world of, the writer's imagination and their aspirations. Shirley, can you share with us what your contributions are and how you see Writers Unblocked, you know, that has evolved and what others may have also pitched in?

Shirley Merith
Mine is a blog post and I decided to do it because I'm an avid traveler. And mine is about reasons to travel post-pandemic. So like most I can't wait to get on a plane. Some of you have traveled already. I know that and I just haven't done much since the pandemic has started. So it was just things that you could think about as to why you would like to travel and we know most people would like to visit their family and friends. That's, that's quite obvious, but there's a few other reasons that some of you might not have thought about as to why you would like to travel, such as using your reward points. And as simple as that sounds, if it's like me, you've got reward points piled up on your credit card or whatever card you have and you want to use those to get rid of them. And part of the reason why I put that in is because, unfortunately for me, I hadn't used my reward points before the pandemic started. And now that the pandemic is lifting and I want to travel, I go into use the reward points, only to find out that a lot of them have now gone, and the ones that are left, I have to get more points in order to travel to the place that I could have traveled to, for less before the pandemic. So things have changed. So it's just talking a little bit about that. So just a little bit of a fun piece, mine is not a serious piece, it's a little bit of a fun piece. And you'll find throughout the Writers Unblocked that you'll find again, poetry, you'll find, you know, as I mentioned before, blogs and some, some great articles. So it's just a matter of whatever your passion is at that moment in time is something that I chose to write about. And mine again, as I mentioned, is travel and tourism, not just because I'm in the program, but I've been traveling for years, and just enough to share my experiences.

Sowmya Kishore
Thank you. Sounds great. Well, do you enjoy writing? And would you like to be part of our writing circle? I mean, there's places to go. And I just want to sort of close this by asking all our interviewees at this point. What is the goal of this group? Are there any exciting plans, anything else in the pipeline that you'd like to share with us? Let me start with Jane.

Jane Burpee
My own commitments really took over and I really slipped away from the Friday delights or the or the writing circles. I do hope to be able to come back again and start writing again, with everyone. I am so inspired by the outcomes, what has happened, the community that is being built, and I I think, I hope that it continues for a long time and way into the future. And that my goal would be that we get to do it in person again soon. That would be great.

Sowmya Kishore
Yes, writing circle back in person, right? Sounds like a, an impossible task when all of us are so comfortable in our couches at this point. And that Zoom has actually managed to, I guess, you know, overcome the challenges of different folks from different campuses come together for the set time and the shared goal of writing. But having said that, Phillip, where do you see the writing circle going? And do you have any goal or objective for this group?

Philip Alalibo
Yes, I see it's really going strong, and plenty new members were interested to join the group, and we intend on, you know, going on a publicity place. And to let members, community members know that we're here, we've been here. And if they want to join us, they're quite welcome. Because we do have a very strong core group of committed writers. And that's what has been getting this, this group going, and they are there every meeting, they're contributing, they're sharing their work, they're encouraging, etc. Now, these group's about encouragement. It's about making sure that we follow the passion. And everyone in this group is passionate about writing. And that's what gets us going and that's what will get us through, you know, the tough times. And hopefully moving forward then, we'll pull in more members, and the group will be, you know, stronger and fulfill this objective of writing and publication as well.

Sowmya Kishore
Sounds great. Shirley, did you have anything that you envisioned? And you know, you, have you've seen this change since the time you started this club, and that you were a founding member? And where do you see it going?

Shirley Merith
Yeah, I see it, like Phillip said, growing, I see, I see it as a group that anybody, and we mentioned before, we did it in person, but somebody did, you did mention something about, it being in Zoom and being able to bring people in from all different areas, which is something we couldn't do successfully as much in person. But now that everybody can come onto a Zoom session from different campuses, it is a great opportunity to create more dynamics in the group, which is what I love, and I want to see it grow a bit more, we want to see more people excited about writing. We want to see more people looking forward to publications, whether that's articles or books or anything like that, we want to see more of that. We'd like to, you know, involve people in different, let's say contests or anything that we might want to put together. And I think that will be great for the Centennial College community. So we can all work together to make this successful, because I know that budding writers everywhere, we know that you're there. We just want to help you get your message out. And you don't have to publish, and you've come to the writing circle, you don't have to publish anything. You just can come just to be a part of, of the circle in the group. And that's what we really want, what we're all about is, and we'd like to have even former published writers come as guest speakers so you can see how successful they've been and how they've navigated their way through the writing process. Because it is a process. Don't kid yourself, folks, writing is a process. Most of us, we start writing something and you can edit it a lot of times. So it's something that we can help you through that as well.

Philip Alalibo
And just to add to what Shirley has said, it's not just about writing, it's about capacity building as well. And to that end, we have invited, as Shirley said, you know, seasoned writers, I remember inviting, I remember we've invited a publisher, I think somebody who was with the college, to tell us about the logistics, and the you know how to go about publishing our work, which is very instrumental to publish into the writing process, because many of the writers want to get published. Recently, we invited a, a
retired professor to tell us about his work, has published five books. Most of us know him, John Alton, who has been with us for a long time, recently retired, and was very, very helpful in terms of sharing information with us. So it's about capacity building, it's about, you know, encouraging, it's about making sure that we know the ropes, you know, as we move on in this journey of writing.

Sowmya Kishore
Sounds fabulous. Well, contests, more publication, maybe even a hybrid or high flex version of the writing circle, you never know. So, I want to thank everybody here, Philip, for your passion, and for all the commitment that you bring to the circle, Jane for having sort of steered us and supported us through, you know, pandemic and hopefully the post pandemic season as well. Shirley, for all the structure and the enthusiasm you bring to the writing circle members as well. And for all three of you to come here
and share your journey and inspire future writers to become part of the writing circle. Thank you all very, very much.

Alice Hsiung
Thank you for joining us today. Don’t forget to tune in next time when we put a Spotlight on Published Authors about their writing success stories. Get informed and get inspired. Make sure to listen and subscribe to the Centennial College podcast on SoundCloud, Apple podcast, Google podcast, and Spotify.