Words At Large

Corner Gas star Janet Wright begins reading a novel about the joys and frustrations of life with a man of the cloth in this week’s Between The Covers podcast.

The opening reading of Chokecherry (Oberon) takes us to 1950s Saskatchewan, where a new pastor and his wife arrive in their first parish. In her first novel, Norma Hawkins drew on her own experiences as a minister’s wife to offer this rich tapestry of triumph and tribulation.

After attending a writers' workshop led by W.O. Mitchell, Hawkins published dozens of short stories and articles over several decades of writing.

Chokecherry concerns a fictional Anglican pastor named Geoffrey Hastings and his new bride Becky. They are trying to cope with Geoffrey’s new assignment in the community of Chokecherry, three hours north of Saskatoon by bus. It’s a poor parish, consisting of only 500 people, but spread over a fair distance. The pair can scrape together enough money to buy an old car, but can’t always find enough for groceries

Episode one: Geoff and Becky get a new car but who’s going to drive?

Each episode of Between The Covers is between 15 and 17 minutes.

If you missed previous podcasts you can download them at the Between the Covers podcasts. If you’re interested in readings of other Canadian books, check out the Hear A Reading page on the Between the Covers site.