Spirit Writers’ Group

History

In 2009, Spirit of the Hills Writers’ Group, a support group for the writers of Northumberland County, was started by Gwynn Scheltema and Beth Rhind. Beth chaired the early meetings and in 2011 the group set their meeting place at the Grafton Inn. In 2013 Felicity Sidnell Reid became Chair and in 2023, former president of Spirit of the Hills, Susan Statham, accepted the role. A larger venue and the ability of members to meet online as well as in-person was achieved by a move to the Rotary Room of the Cobourg Public Library.

Numbers

When the group celebrated its fourth anniversary, there were 34 members, in 2019 there were 59 and in 2024 there were 78.

Nature of the Group

The group meets monthly to discuss issues of interest, to learn from experts in various fields, including established authors, literary agents, librarians, sales and marketing professions, and specialists in writing tools and computer software. Members also share their own work, support each other’s endeavours and exchange news.

The Anthologies

With the first publication in 2012, a bi-yearly anthology provides creative, promotional and sales opportunities for our members. Hill Spirits I-VI contains prose, poetry and artwork. In 2022, with Hill Spirits V, submissions were opened to the writers and artists of five Eastern Ontario Counties. All written submissions are edited and the accepted work is published by Blue Denim Press.

Events

Initiatives by our members include: “Word Northumberland” (Susan Statham), “Words and Pictures”, (Beth Rhind) the Spirit of the Hills Festival of the Arts 2017 and 2019 (Cynthia Reyes, Jennifer Bogart, Kim Aubrey, Susan Statham, and Felicity Sidnell Reid.) Northumberland Festival of the Arts, 2022 and 2024 (Felicity Sidnell Reid and Gwynn Scheltema). An annual booth at the Cobourg Waterfront Festival is leased each Canada weekend, and a December book fair is held at the Cobourg Library.

Contact

For more information contact Susan Statham at writers@spiritofthehills.org.