Line Pujos sits in the basement of a centuryold stone church by Maple Lake and scribbles in a notebook.
It’s a great space to create, replete with stone walls, a stained-glass window, and light pouring in through other portals to the outside world.
St. Peter’s, Maple Lake is the gathering place for the Algonquin Highlands Writers’ Group. It’s been going for about 20 years, and Pujos wants to ensure it remains for a long time to come.
“Look at the place,” Pujos says. “It’s the ideal place to meet. It’s quiet.”
She joined about two years ago, but says there are people in the group who have been around since its inception. Brenda Peddigrew started it all, “for people to feel comfortable reading stories or poetry and not feel that they were going to get blasted,” Pujos said. “There’s no critiquing.”
She jokes she is a “lousy writer” but her peers provide positive reinforcement.
The group now has a core of seven to eight people but they would like to see that grow.
“It’s a solid group. I really want to save it,” Pujos said. While numbers are stable, it does not take much for them to dwindle; someone travelling south for the winter, illness or injury, and bad winter weather.
“I think if we can add a couple of new members; I think anyone who’d like to write would benefit a lot from joining us because you are exposed to different styles.
I wouldn’t be writing this much if it wasn’t for them. It’s forcing me to write every two weeks; a story, I’m just sitting here and writing four or five pages.”
They meet every second Saturday – the next gathering is June 28, from 9:30noon. From 9:30-10 a.m., they talk about “writerly” news, things such as Bookapalooza, and the Arts Council Haliburton Highlands, which had a poetry jam at the Dominion Hotel in Minden recently. From 10-10:40 a.m., they write if so inclined, and then from 10:40 a.m. to noon, they share their writing. Some people write by hand, others with laptops or iPad.
Pujos stressed people should not be intimidated about coming. “This is garbage,” she says of the contents of one of her notebooks. “I tell them every two weeks ‘this is what I vomited today on four pages’. It doesn’t matter. It’s for the sheer fun of writing stories. I’m not in it to write something pretty, flowery, and beautiful.” She said what she pens is humorous, so she has unintentionally become the “cut up” of the group.
It’s also a fun way to start a writing journey, “because we’re not judgemental. There’s no right or wrong in the creative process. We’re about loving life, loving nature, being accepting and having a positive attitude.”
For more information, or to register, contact Line at writewaywritetime@gmail. com
