A spring in my step?

After a dark winter, there’s a spring in my step, and I have you to thank for it. Writing is a solitary affair that requires withdrawing from the world for long stretches of time. I’m so grateful that I have a community of readers to which I can return. 

Your continued attention and your engagement mean a lot to us here at The Indy. We appreciate all the responses we get from the stories we publish and the newsletters we send. We love learning about what resonates (and what doesn’t!). 

I’m feeling gracious for other reasons too. I just received a Newfoundland and Labrador Arts and Letters award in the senior non-fiction category. It’s for a piece I wrote about a dilapidated stable that stood in the background of my grandmother’s house in Calvert for decades. My grandfather built it, but he died long before I was born. Nevertheless, I feel like I encountered an enduring aspect of him by tending to the old structure he made.

I am fascinated by the things people make. I aim to support them as best as I can, especially in the local arts and culture coverage we offer here at The Indy. My piece The Weight of Words is a testament to this, as it was shortlisted for an Atlantic Journalism Award, one of four nominations The Indy received. I’ll be in Dartmouth this weekend for the ceremony, alongside some of my nominated colleagues: Justin Brake, Jenn Thornhill-Verma, and Leila Beaudoin. 

Whatever the outcome, I’m really proud of the piece I wrote. It’s about RIG, the play based on the oral history of the Ocean Ranger disaster. One of the worst Canadian tragedies at sea since WWII, it claimed the lives of 84 men on one of the darkest days in our province’s history.

What I appreciate most about it, is that it represents the sort of arts and culture writing I love doing: the kind that serves the artists and their audiences, elevating both the artwork, the efforts that went into it, and the human experiences it’s trying to articulate. I feel like it provides a good indication of the role art can play in affirming the significance of human lives, and cultivating an appreciation for the many ways they matter to the world.

“It is a beautiful thing for a group of people to get together and make something for everyone,” playwright Megan Gail Coles said when I interviewed her last week. Indeed it feels good to share things we’ve made, and it also feels good to have people respond to them in kind. It’s through these connections we create common ground, build a sense of community, and clarify the values we believe in, and wish to sustain.  

Art is a force of good in the world and arts coverage is a way to encourage those efforts and extend their impact. It’s in times of scarcity and hardship that we lean on the arts the most, but when it comes to the business of news, local arts coverage is often the first to go.

Help us safeguard it. If you enjoy the work I do for The Indy, appreciate the value of thoughtful arts and culture commentary and analysis, please consider donating monthly. Little bits add up to a lot. I could get used to keeping this spring in my step.

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