THUNDER BAY – The Thunder Bay Public Library has a new writer-in-residence, Annette Pateman.
Pateman was chosen by a panel of jurists with the Ontario Arts Council, who decided to allocate $5,500 toward her project proposal, which was submitted by Patemen as a grant application to the Northern Arts Projects program.
The Ontario Arts Council received 49 applications, seeking $627,476, and handed out 20 grants, worth $268,462.
Pateman will begin her six-month role in May and will in part focus on the theme of the United Nations Decade of People of African Descent, which ends in 2024. Her main focus will be writing on Black identity and culture with elements of African and Caribbean folklore.
She is the author of Spectrum, a collection of her poetry and has previously been awarded a grant for anti-racism work by the City of Thunder Bay.
Group workshops and programs, author readings and other special events will also be part of the residency. Much of this work will take place wholly online, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. She also in December published a children's book, Anancy and The Turtle.
Pateman is the wife of Thunder Bay Public Library chief librarian John Pateman.
