Sixties Girls a girlhood romp by late-blooming P.E.I. playwright
Sara Fraser | CBC News | Posted: February 28, 2017 7:30 PM | Last Updated: February 28, 2017
'I never thought of myself as an author'
Sixties Girls is a new, semi-autobiographical book written in the form of a play about a close friendship between two P.E.I. girls growing up in the 1960s.
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Katherine MacCallum was recently introduced to the Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre (PARC) writing group, and began with this story.
Something that I've always said I wanted to do is write a book. — Katherine MacCallum
"I never thought of myself as an author," MacCallum told CBC Radio: Mainstreet P.E.I.'s Angela Walker. "I went to a few meetings and kind of got drawn in."
The story is the coming-of-age tale of MacCallum and her then-best friend, who now lives in Ontario.
When a friend helped her do a public reading of part of the story, "it went over very well," and she decided to finish and publish the comedy.
'Happy, foolish times'
Although she admits she doesn't have a strong theatre background, she gave it a shot and "hoped to share some fun times … there was a lot of happy times, foolish times."
She recalls teenage years spent with her friend eschewing the nascent drug scene, opting instead to attend dances and sleepovers — "it was good, innocent fun."
"It was a little bit surreal," to hold the recently-published book, she said. "Something that I've always said I wanted to do is write a book... so I finally put my money where my mouth was!"
The girls' teenage photos, along with an image of a record player, are on the book's cover. "She was pretty happy to see the finished product too!" MacCallum said.
MacCallum plans to give a public reading Saturday March 11 at the Confederation Centre Public Library. She'd like to see the play on stage some day, she added.
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