Join us this Boxing Day for our second and final holiday show this year. Jessica Outram sings her special version of We Wish You a Merry Christmas, then you can enjoy Tom Pickering’s story of a sledding adventure, which had unexpected results. Felicity Sidnell Reid shares a holiday poem and Les Robling his account of his childhood Christmases in Wales. After the break, Anne -Marie Burrus reads her beautiful poem, Advent and Ronald MacKay closes the programme with his story of a visit by angels on Christmas Eve in a remote part of Tenerife. We hope you enjoy the show. Gwynn, Chris and Felicity send all listeners their best wishes for a happy New Year and good fortune in 2022.

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Today we are airing the first of our holiday shows and sharing with you some of the stories and poems about Christmas and winter by local writers. You’ll hear stories from René Schmidt, Pat Calder, and Chris Cameron, interspersed with poems by Antony di Nardo, Katie Hoogendam and Gwynn Scheltema. We hope you enjoy the show.

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Karin Wells is an author, journalist, and lawyer. She is also a sometime actress and worked – briefly – in a pea canning factory. Her recent book “The Abortion Caravan: When Women Shut Down Government in the Battle for the Right to Choose” (Second Story Press, 2020) is the winner of the OHS (Ontario Historical Society) Alison Prentice Award and was short listed for the 2021 Shaughnessy Cohen prize, Canada’s premier award for political writing. She has been recognized as one of this country’s leading radio journalists. A three time winner of the Canadian Association of Journalists’ Award for investigative journalism, she regularly won international awards and was twice recognized by the United Nations. Karin lives in Port Hope with her little dog Mimi. She is currently working on a new book for Second Story Press: More than a Footnote: How Ten Women Reshaped Their World, due out in Fall of 2022.

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Melody Crowe is an elder of Alderville First Nation. She studied at Trent University, earning not only her Honours BA in Native Studies, but also numerous prizes. And she has been the recipient of many other awards over the course of her career. She has worked tirelessly for the preservation of Ojibway culture and language for more than 25 years and is currently First Nations Education Liaison for Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board. Through her company, Aandeg Productions, Melody has produced a variety of materials, dedicated to creating a deeper understanding and appreciation of First Nation culture, knowledge, language and wisdom. And she has published a number of books for young readers learning Ojibwe. In this episode, Word on the Hills is honoured that Melody shared a poem she wrote this past summer.

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This week our guest is Donna Wootton. Donna is a graduate of the Humber School for Writers. Her nonfiction book about her father, MOON REMEMBERED, was published by Ginger Press. Her novel, What Shirley Missed, was published by Hidden Brook Press. Her poetry about Cuba was published in the anthology The Divinity of Blue. She has a poem and a short story coming out in an anthology called Musings. Her latest novel, Isadora’s Dance, is published by Blue Denim Press. Find out more about Donna at her website https://www.dmwootton.com

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Today we are having a different kind of discussion at Word on the Hills: we hear about two Artists’ Residencies one in the Haliburton Highlands and one in Prince Edward County. What is a residency and what does it offer the artists and writers who are so lucky as to be granted one? Ruth E Walker is the co-chair of the Management Committee of the Hall’s Island Artist Residency in Haliburton County. Dr. Jean Baird is an administrator for the Al Purdy A Frame Residency and sophie anne edwards, an interdisciplinary artist, is the current resident at the Al Purdy A Frame House. Sophie was long listed this week for the CBC poetry prize. They will tell about the residencies from their own experience.

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Ted Barris decided in grade school that he wanted to be a writer. He has had a stellar career as a journalist in every kind of media and has written, produced and directed numerous award winning documentaries. He gave 18 years to teaching journalism and broadcasting at Centennial College, becoming professor of print journalism in their Centre for Creative Communication, while establishing his reputation as a highly respected military historian and author of 20 bestselling books. In 2017 Ted decided to step down from his teaching and to go back, as he said, to where he came from as a full time freelancer. Since then he has continued to write for periodicals and make radio appearances and follows a heavy schedule as a public speaker in normal times, sometimes addressing as many as 6 audiences a week. He has also continued to publish books, his latest being Rush to Danger published in 2019. Please join us.

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