Winnipeg Arts Council

Write To Move

WriteToMove is a themed anthology on the broad topic of mobility rights. It features poetry and prose, including short fiction, creative non-fiction, and essays, from 37 writers from Winnipeg and elsewhere.

The selected writings represent a variety of voices, belonging to both emerging and established writers, and a variety of experiences, both real and imagined. They explore freedom of movement, barriers to movement, refugee experiences, physical challenges, personal bests, agile bodies and aging bodies. They explore the thrill of cycling, boating, hiking, and other outdoor adventures, the splendour of dance, and the serenity inherent in a simple neighbourhood walk. They explore fear and frustration, intuition and ingenuity, and exhaustion and exhilaration. Set in Winnipeg, in Copenhagen, in Bordeaux and myriad other locales, they are inspiring, insightful, edifying and engaging.

WriteToMove was conceived by artist/writer Sharon Chisvin in consultation with Winnipeg Trails Association, Anders Swanson, and Leigh Anne Parry. Winnipeg Trails is a local non-profit dedicated to promoting and enhancing accessibility, connectivity and opportunities for active and sustainable transportation in Winnipeg and beyond.

The right to mobility is entrenched in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, yet it is a right that is denied to many. While this anthology about movement is meant primarily to entertain, it is hoped that it also will give readers pause to consider the millions of refugees, asylum seekers and detainees who, for a multitude of reasons, cannot move freely in this world.

It is important to note, as well, that this anthology was conceived and curated before the world changed in the winter of 2020. The stories contained within it, therefore, do not delve into the restrictions of movement posed by Covid-19. Those stories – and there will be many of them – are for another time.

Read it now!

WriteToMove is available at Winnipeg Public Library,  The Winnipeg Trails Association Bicycle Garden, local community bike shops, and the Winnipeg Arts Council office.

The anthology was launched virtually on June 24, 2021. Watch it on YouTube!

Sharon Chisvin with Winnipeg Trails Association and featured writers.

Sharon Chisvin has edited thousands of words of copy for newsletters, newspapers, magazines, memoirs, and fiction and non-fiction books, and
written countless articles for a variety of publications. She is a regular contributor to the Winnipeg Free Press, the author of three social history books, and the author of the children’s picture book, The Girl Who Cannot Eat Peanut Butter. Sharon’s short fiction and creative nonfiction have been published in the Toronto Star, and in the anthologies, Prairie Fire Home Place 3, Under the Prairie Sky, and Living Legacies. In between freelancing, Sharon has worked as a communications officer in the non-profit industry and as an interpretive writer at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

As an organization, Winnipeg Trails Association sees its job as eliminating barriers to human movement in the city. Part of the organization’s goal is to prepare a more equitable and resilient society that is ready to tackle climate change with urgency.

Featured writers: Steve Abbott, Laurence Ammann-Lanthier, Bob Armstrong, Robert Beveridge, Gabriella Brand, Diane Driedger, Emma Durand-Wood, Holly Ferrier Lamont, Berhe Gebrihet, Glenn Green, John Grey, Izzeddin Hawamda, Janell Henry, Tricia Knoll, Yvonne Kyle, Jenean McBrearty, Brendan McKay, Laura McMaster, Alex Merrill, Eva Morrison, Cath Nichols, Binh Pham, Byron Rempel-Burkholder, Nicole Roach, Matthew Robinson, Ron Romanowski, Jim Ross, Sandra Schmidtke, Korellia Schneider, Moneca Sinclaire, Karen Solomon, Kevin Strong, Vincent Ternida, Carol VandenEngel, Donald R. Vogel, Laura White, and Nancy Wick.

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