Marie Steel Memorial Endowment – New Voices

Sarah Roberts and Craig Boyko in conversation with Sheryl MacKay

The second annual New Voices event at the Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts  featured two young writers whose first published books are collections of short fiction.  The event was made possible through the Marie Steel Endowment which is held by the Sunshine Coast Community Foundation.

Since graduating from the University of Victoria’s writing program, Sarah Roberts, a resident of Gibsons BC, has been a regular contributor of feature articles to numerous newspapers and magazines. Her short stories have been published by literary journals in Canada, New Zealand, England and the United States. With the publication of Wax Boats (Caitlin Press), her first collection of short fiction, Sarah Roberts has served notice that she is a writer from whom we shall be hearing much more in the future.

Although his short stories have been published in most of Canada’s best literary magazines, four-time Journey Prize-winner Craig Boyko has been a bit of a well-kept secret. With Blackouts (McClelland & Stewart), his first collection of stories, and the subject of consistently effusive reviews, this gifted young Victoria-based writer has quickly and deservedly come to light. Boyko’s impressive debut has been variously described as: stunning; glorious; seriously clever; nuanced and distinct; exuberant and elegiac; profound and delightfully droll. This new voice will soon be very familiar. 

The event was moderated by Sheryl MacKay, host of CBC Radio’s North By Northwest. New Voices is made possible by the Marie Steel Memorial Endowment.