Boo! Hoo!

...is what CBC SoundXChange is calling today's show and I'm delighted that my Songs from the Stelcoat Barn is part of it. This will be the second airing of the poems. CBC Saskatchewan has been an important publisher of new writing for more than twenty years and has played an important role in my development as a writer, not only bringing my work to a wider audience, but bringing work of other writers and performers to my ears. As a writer who truly works alone on a boreal stage on the northern fringe of a big, sparsely populated province, I am grateful for the opportunity to be heard and to connect with the wider community within the province and beyond. As well, CBC Saskatchewan, with its forward-thinking mentoring relationship with young artists through the Youth Write program, open to secondary level students in Saskatchewan, has opened the doors to many young writers over the years. Fostering creativity like this benefits us all. Needless to say, I was choked when I learned of the extensive cuts to CBC Saskatchewan's literary programming budget. From what I understand, these cuts mean that new work will no longer be acquired. That means fewer ears will hear the emerging stories of our region. Now that's scary.