MOOSE JAW - During the 2024 Festival of Words, a July 19 panel discussion titled “Let’s Get Political” featured writers David A. Robertson, Katherena Vermette, and S. Bear Bergman with moderation by Jael Richardson.
The one-hour discussion began at 4 p.m. in the Mae Wilson Theatre and explored the consequences of books that become political in their message.
Consider the impact
“What can this do? What impact can this have?” Vermette challenged writers to ask.
By considering this simple question, writers can avoid many negative consequences of the written word that may not be intended or that may have been written with the best intentions in mind.
The thought experiment helps make better decisions, not just for your writing, but throughout your life and even on a national level.
Her challenge was to “Make better decisions than we made in the past and make this a country we’re proud of.”
One of the most important audiences, she said, is children. Children represent the future and can one day make the needed changes to create a better world.
“Work for children, because children are the answer,” she said.
Find balance
When asked how the group finds balance between writing and their personal lives, Vermette was the first to answer by saying she spends a lot of time at home with her dog — but she also does what she believes is right to sleep at night.
“I do believe we have a responsibility… to walk in this world with compassion,” she said. “To sleep at night in this horrible world, we have to do what’s right… It’s a duty that we have to constantly aspire to.”
When it comes to, for example, a non-Indigenous person speaking on behalf of the Indigenous community, the concept of balance also applies.
“I think we have to know what our place is when we say something and know when we should let someone else speak and be allies,” Bergman explained. He said a non-Indigenous writer — simply to use one example from his area of expertise — can write an accurate, respectful story and be genuinely caring and concerned, but sometimes the most respectful gesture is to ally with an individual or a community.
“Don’t speak for other people who can speak for themselves,” he suggested. It would be far more powerful for an individual to share their own voice and explain their story as seen through their eyes. The rest of us, then, could learn something we may have never known.
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