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| Helen Fogwill Porter. Photo courtesy of CBC NL: https://bit.ly/2XGNTtK. |
Join us this Sunday, July 14, at the community room in the St. John's Farmer's Market for a discussion with Helen Fogwill Porter. Folklorist, Dale Jarvis, will led the discussion with Porter, a local writer, and activist on growing up on the Southside Road in St. Johns, Newfoundland, during the 1930s and 1940s.
This Memory Mug Up is a partnership between Heritage NL, the St. John’s Farmer’s Market, and the St. John’s Storytelling Festival. The event will take place on Sunday July 14th from 2-3 p.m. at the St. John’s Farmer’s Market, 245 Freshwater Road.
Southside Memories is a free and informal story sharing session, where people gather, have a cup of tea, and share memories. Bring a memory from growing up, or come out to listen to Helen's stories of the Southside of St. John's.
For more information please contact Terra Barrett with the Heritage NL toll free at 1-888-739-1892 ext. 5 or email terra@heritagenl.ca
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| Helen Fogwill Porter. Photo courtesy of CBC NL: https://bit.ly/2LL6O42. |
Helen Fogwill Porter was born in 1930, on the Southside of St. John's, Newfoundland. Porter began writing in the 1960s, starting with articles, short stories, and poetry. Her memoir Below the Bridge, published in 1980, is based on her youth growing up on the south side of St. John's. She still resides in St. John's, Newfoundland, today.
Her first novel January, February, June or July won the Young Adult Canadian Book Award from the Canadian Library Association in 1989. She was given the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council's lifetime achievement award in 1993. Memorial University of Newfoundland granted her an Honorary Doctorate of Letters in 1997. She was awarded the Order of Canada in December 2015, and the same year a footbridge spanning the Waterford River was dedicated to her.
Porter is a member of the Writers' Union of Canada, and served on the boards of PEN Canada and the Writers Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador. Porter was also a founding member of the Newfoundland Writer's Guild. Porter taught creative writing with Memorial University Extension Arts and worked with the Visiting Artists' Program of the Newfoundland Teachers' Association. Porter was heavily involved in the women's movement in the early 1970s. She was also a founding member of the Newfoundland Status of Women Council and ran for election to the Canadian Parliament as a New Democratic Party representative four times. In 2003 The Helen Porter Fund was established to help women NDP candidates.
