Jewishbookfestivalandaworkshopforplaywrights

A Tri-City author is part of this year’s Jewish Book Festival

Karen McKinlay

Kurnaedy will appear at the annual event, which runs from Feb 11 to 16 in Vancouver

Kurnaedy will be at Literary Quickie on Feb 12, where eight writers have five minutes to pitch their books

Her work, titled Our Love Affair with Dance, is a biography about early modern dance in Vancouver and describes the lives of Jewish dance artists Magda and Gertrud Hahn, two sisters who opened a school in the 1950s. She'll be joined by the following authors:

• Leo Burstyn (You May Call Me Lance: A Tale of Lancelot the Most Noble Cat)

• Laura Duhan-Kaplan (Mouth of the Donkey: ReImagining Biblical Animals)

• George Halpern (From School To Sky: Joseph’s Tale of War)

• Helga Hatvany (Dreams, Nightmares and Reality)

• Gloria Levi (The

Hotelkeeper’s Daughter)

• Eliana Tobias (When We Return)

• Marjie Zacks (It All Ends Up in a Parfait Glass: A Tribute to My Mother’s Wisdom)

The 38th annual JCC Jewish Book Festival opens on Feb. 11 with a presentation from Gabor Maté, who recently came out with The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness & Healing in a Toxic Culture, at the JCC (950 West 41st St., Vancouver).

Visit www.jccgv.com/jewish-book-festival for more details. You can also get tickets by calling 604-257-5111.

Playwrights

If you’ve wanted to write a screen play or a short skit, but never had the chance, the Tri-City Wordsmiths has a workshop to help you get the creative juices flowing.

On Saturday (Feb. 4), playwright, journalist, historical novelist, poet and writing instructor Ruth

Kozak will be at the Terry Fox Library (2150 Wilson Ave , Port Coquitlam) for an in-person session called “The Play’s the Thing: How to Create One” Registrants can also tune in online for the presentation, which includes Jay Hamburger, the artistic director of Theatre in the Raw, a Vancouver-based company. And, at the end of the workshop, participants will be invited to pen a oneact play.

A prolific travel writer, Kozak started her writing career at the Vancouver Sun Her writing credits, as well as her blog links, can be viewed via ruthkozak com

Spokesperson Pandora

Ballard said it’s the first time the Tri-City Wordsmiths has hosted a playwrighting event

To register, email tri city wordsmiths@gmail.com.

Festival Cash

Coquitlam council has a goal to reignite community spirit, and believes local community events can be the catalyst.

In a release, the city said it's providing $200,000 for organized gatherings this year.

Darryl Lal, Coquitlam's policy and business services manager, said the money will be allocated through the sponsorship reserve, which supports 14 events on the city's 2023 calendar, and will pay for entertainment, activities and prizes

This includes programs like July 1/Canada Day celebrations, the Kaleidoscope Arts Festival and the Lights at Lafarge kick-off party Lal said, since 2014, the city's corporate partners program has allocated more than $1 million to enhance local events in the community. Visit the city website for more details.