We are located in the Slocan Valley, which is part of the West Kootenay region of British Columbia. Members live in the rural villages of New Denver and Silverton on Slocan Lake, as well as in unincorporated areas along the lake and down the valley.

The Slocan Writers Guild is a gathering of like-minded people interested in promoting the writing of prose and poetry and having fun in writing. The organisation was started in the Spring of 1995 and one of the original four founding members, Trevor Harrop, is still participating.

Why, you might ask, does this guild exist? In a nutshell, to keep us writing and to have fun sharing our efforts with one another. Our philosophy is, if we don't have FUN then why bother. Initially we had ten or twelve goals which were set out on a large sheet of paper; with time some goals were discarded and others modified. An annual student writing award to a Lucerne Elementary and Secondary school graduate continues to be our major community project.

If you wish to know what we are all about in the Slocan Writers Guild, read on for a brief introduction. For the latest events and activities, check out the current monthly newsletter above, which is kept up to date. You can also browse the newsletter archives for an idea of how we have functioned in the past.

The Slocan Writers Guild (SWG) used to meet on the second Sunday of the month from 2-4 P.M. Meetings were often held at 1002 Bellevue St. in New Denver (corner of 8th Ave. and Bellevue), but also revolved among other member's houses. This social part has now been eliminated. We commune by e-mail now. Much of the previous SWG that was in existence for fifteen years, has been modified. Read it with "tongue in cheek".

Membership in the SWG was $10.00 per year. These fees contributed in total to the annual Stan Rowe Memorial Award given to an outstanding graduating student from Lucerne Elementary Secondary School who had demonstrated the greatest writing talent according to criteria set down by the Guild in an annual writing contest.

Monthly titles are suggested by a contributor from the previous month. Participants always have the right to present work outside the suggested topic.

One of the original objectives of the Slocan Writers Guild was to publish a book of stories contributed by members. In 2000, we published Tales from the Slocan, and hosted a well-attended book launch in New Denver on July 16th of that year. A limited number of copies still remain (approximately 15 out of 200 at a cost of $10.00 plus postage), which can be obtained from trevorharrop. All proceeds go to community outreach events such as the Stan Rowe Memorial Award at Lucerne School in New Denver.

Stories by guild members and some of our award winning students are posted on this website. The majority of these stories were written in response to monthly topics and have received little or no editing from their original presentation.

In 2006 the SWG hosted a Valentine's Coffee House at the Bosun Hall in New Denver.

Need more information about the SWG? Email me at trevorharrop 'at' yahoo dot ca where 'at' equals the ampersand @ and the dot between yahoo and ca is a real one. If you want to comment then please do by e-mail. I will rely most of the time. Sadly, nothing is for sure in this word except death and taxes.