Circle of Writers

Six years ago, my sister sent me a newspaper article from the National Post. The story detailed how there are multiple statues of our hockey stars in Canada but not for our famous writers who have passed away. This project will pay homage to twelve internationally renowned Canadian authors - six men and six women.

The Men: Mordecai Richler, Leonard Cohen, Richard Wagamese, Robertson Davies, Milton Acorn and Irving Layton.

The Women: Lee Maracle, Margaret Laurence, Gabrielle Roy, Nancy Richler, Margaret Laurence, Gwendolyn MacEwan and Marion Engel.

I started the Circle of Writers project by creating two of the busts while I was an artist-in-residence at Jenni House in 2016 and 2019. The others have been completed over the last four years. Jenni House is a restored heritage home on the shores of the Yukon River in Whitehorse, Yukon and is now used for artist residencies. This is such a stimulating space to work in and certainly a great venue to share my skills and stories with local people as well as visitors.

Once the project is complete - the exhibit of these twelve literary giants will be in the form of a circle - to emulate a book discussion group. Each writer’s display will feature four of their best-loved books and some quirky characteristics for which they were known.

The photos below show the sculptures in clay, eventually they will all be fired and glazed.

All photos except Leonard Cohen by Christian Kuntz Photography