Islanders get opportunity to write from the heart

A new initiative on P.E.I. aims to teach aspiring writers how to write from the heart.

He(art) Stories, a project of the Kings Playhouse and the P.E.I. Writers Guild, is designed to help Island students and others develop meaningful writing skills.

"Everyone has a story and so it's really exciting to think that we can bring it from all different ages and help people nurture those skills to tell their stories," said Haley Zavo, executive director of the Kings Playhouse.

3 stages

There are three stages to the project. The first, launched recently, helps people develop themselves as writers. The second, scheduled for spring, fine tunes the writing. The final stage helps writers turn their stories into plays that can be performed on stage at the Kings Playhouse in the summer.

He(art) Stories is a fitting name for the project, Zavo said.

These stories that we want to help people foster and nurture come from their heart. Haley Zavo

"These stories that we want to help people foster and nurture come from their heart but also because the Kings Playhouse is an arts centre that there's an art to storytelling, to writing, and how do we sort of bringthat from people and celebrate it."

Zavo said she's looking for writers to lead workshops for adults as well as students in Georgetown and Cardigan schools.

She said Kings County has a rich tradition of storytelling.

'Tradition of storytelling'

"We really wanted to touch on that and to sort of be inspired by that tradition of storytelling in our place but use that as a springboard for showing that that can develop you as a writer and it can make you stronger in your literary skills."

Writers are asked to submit proposals for workshops by the end of December.

"The opportunity to sort of let people experience what it means to write a story, to bring it from their heart, put it on the page and then share it with the world is an incredible privilege," Zavo said.

Anyone interested in participating can contact the Kings Playhouse.

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