This workshop explores the journey of songwriting as a way for inspiration and healing.

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Emotional, heartfelt and eclectic: Norine Braun in 3 words.

A Vancouver based singer-songwriter with 12 albums of original songs released independently. Norine Braun is an award winning artist (2018 Western Canadian Music Award Nominee, Banff Centre Musician in Residence, Canada Council For the Arts Award, Los Angeles Music Awards, Artists For Literacy) who has a slew of festival appearances under her belt. Her music blinks an eye to the past, while firmly looking forward, blending timeless elements such as blues, folk and soul, presenting them to the audience with a freshness and balance that are in tune with today’s sensibilities. Norine’s eclectic approach to songwriting and her prowess as a heartfelt performer are the fundaments of her solid reputation within her local scene, and beyond. Norine is of mixed ancestry Metis and Ukrainian and self identifies as Two-Spirit. www.norinebraun.com

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About Exchanging Words Workshops

Exchanging Words is a new project in a partnership between Warriors Against Violence Society, Aboriginal Writers Collective West Coast, and WePress. By providing writing and storytelling workshops to the community at a number of events online, the workshops encourage participants to write and tell stories about experiences with violence (which can include residential school, the 60s scoop, murdered and missing family members, family violence, and intimate partner violence).

The sessions are a way for people to express themselves in ways that they might not have had access to in the past or perhaps ever considered before. Led by professional Indigenous writers in our communities who are collective members of the Aboriginal Writers Collective West Coast (AWCWC). The variety of approaches in writing include traditionally-inspired storytelling, poetry, songwriting, fiction, personal essay, and theatre.

The participants will have access to counsellors during this process to ensure that people feel safe to share. The participants will be encouraged to publish their work online through the AWCWC’s new website in a collection at the end of the process. This project is a way of giving voice to people that may have not had the opportunity to do so and at the same time raising awareness of the many forms of violence that happens in our communities.

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Online workshops will take place from February 2 through mid March 2021. Schedule and more information about the project can be found at https://www.saltchuck.ca/exchanging-words

Funding for this project comes from Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation and the Minister͛s Advisory Council on Indigenous Women through the Giving Voice Initiative.

For more information please contact Russell Wallace and other members of AWCWC at info@saltchuck.ca