On Wednesday, October 30, 2019, Legislative Librarian, Melissa Bennett, arranged for the SBA, to once again, co-host a noon hour reading by three SBA award winning authors at the Legislative Library. SBA's new Executive Director, Kam Teo, moderated the event.
Reading from his book, Clifford, Harold R Johnson, recipient of the SBA's 2019 University of Saskatchewn Non-Fiction Award, delves into a personal memoir and reflection on the relationship between himself and his charismatic younger brother who passed away.
Valerie Korinek, recipient of SBA's 2019 Jennifer Welsh Scholarly Writing Award, read excerpts from her book, Prairie Fairies. Her book which is based on immersive research, "paints a broad and authentic picture of LGBTQ2S life and experience on the prairies from the Depression to the mid 1980s".
Arthur Slade's reading featured excerpts from Crimson, a book that won him the SBA's 2019 G. Murray and Edna Forbes Young Adult Literature Award. Slade's dark edged fantasy takes "readers into a world of wild magic immersing them in a story that flows with the otherworldly feel of a myth or legend, one built on the model of medieval Asia".
Approximately 70 people, including members of the Legislative Assembly and the general public, enjoyed the reading and the luncheon provided by the Legislative Library.
Following the event, all three authors along the SBA's Chairperson, Donna Woloshyn, and Executive Director, Kam Teo, were introduced at the afternoon opening of Saskatchewan's Legislative Assembly.
The SBA also wishes to acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the grant provided to SBA to make these readings avialable to the public.