Write Out Loud: “Life in the Road Allowance”

A strange and disconcerting aspect of Saskatchewan history is the subject of Write Out Loud on March 6. Arnolda Dufour Bowes is a Cree-Metis Saskatchewan writer whose first book is “20.12m: A Short Story Collection of a Life Lived as a Road Allowance Metis”. “20.12m” refers to the narrow width of many of the road allowances throughout the prairies. This unoccupied crown land became one of the meagre options for many impoverished Métis families as so few owned land. Ms. Bowes celebrates their tenacity to survive and even thrive in the face of so many hardships. She’s received the Danuta Gleed Literary Award and the High Plains Award for Best Indigenous Author and is a playwright and emerging screenwriter. Arnolda has written a novel for young readers and a non-fiction book for schools. She facilitates workshops for children and educators.

Arnolda will be joined by her sister, artist Andrea Haughian, who illustrated “20.21m:” Andrea especially enjoys landscape and portrait art and though acrylics are usually her choice, she experiments with a variety of media. She works in an impressionistic style and likes trying to abstract her subjects. She lives in Herbert and has participated in the Southwest Saskatchewan Highway 1 Studio art tour.

Arnolda and Andrea are currently collaborating on a sensory art display, “Apples & Traintracks,” which is being featured at Wanuskewin and Allan Sapp Galleries in 2024.

Because of ongoing renovations at the Lyric Theatre, Write Out Loud is scheduled to be held at the Swift Current Museum on March 6, 2024. There’s a slim chance the Lyric will be available for March’s WOL, so it would be advisable to check the Lyric’s website or Facebook page prior to the evening. Doors open at 6:30, with the featured presentation beginning at 7:00. Admission is $8.00.

For further information contact:
Terry Toews: t.toews@sasktel.net or
Dianne Miller: dorm@sasktel.net