Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Writer in Residence evaluations



Well, I think it's safe to say now that they loved me in Kitchener. :)

Tonight was my last event as the Tenth Annual Edna Staebler Writer in Residence at the Kitchener (Ontario) Public Library. Seventy people showed up for the farewell reception, the local Chapters bookstore was on hand to sell books by me, and five of the people who had come to see me while I was writer in residence gave readings from their work: Jennifer Ross, Susan Deefholts, Kimberlee Feick, Heather E. Wright, and Leanne Beattie -- and I gave a reading from Rollback.

During my two-month residency I had one-on-one hour-long appointments with 37 aspirant writers. All of them were asked to fill out anonymous surveys after their appointments; 35 of them chose to do so. They rated their experience on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best. The ratings given were:
  • Twenty-three ratings of "10"
  • Nine ratings of "9"
  • One of "7"
  • One "11" from a particularly satisfied patron who added that number to the scale
  • One left blank
for an average rating of 9.7 out of 10.

They also commented at length on the program. You can read everything they had to say here.

For my own part, I had an absolutely fabulous time; it was a total joy from start to finish.
 


7 Comments:

At November 28, 2006 11:34 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I really enjoyed the final event. The readings were very well done. I don't know how many readings the authors had done in the past, but all seemed very professional. I wanted to read more of their stuff!!

I'm glad they all found it the Writer in Residence programme useful, hopefully KPL will invite RJS back in the future.

 
At November 28, 2006 11:44 PM , Blogger RobertJSawyer said...

Thank you! Before the readings, I sent the authors a link to this tip sheet.

 
At November 29, 2006 7:42 AM , Blogger Michael A. Burstein said...

Let me be the first to congratulate you on those wonderful evaluations!

 
At November 29, 2006 2:56 PM , Anonymous Nick Matthews said...

Thanks very much for being our Writer in Residence this year. It was a very enjoyable experience, and you brought a great deal of experience and encouragement to us all.

 
At December 13, 2006 9:50 PM , Anonymous Kimberlee said...

I had a weird urge to google myself tonight - and voila! Here's my name in print, right on your website! Thanks for all your honest and helpful comments during the writer in rez programme. I was busy revising my story at Second Cup last night - it's taken some interesting turns. And thanks for giving me a mention. I have a big smile on my face now.
Take care...

 
At December 13, 2006 10:08 PM , Blogger RobertJSawyer said...

My pleasure, Kimerblee! And best of luck with your work -- you're very talented!

 
At January 03, 2007 11:33 PM , Blogger Anduril Elessar said...

Wow! Thanks for the mention, Rob! I really enjoyed meeting with you and having the opportunity to ask an insider all sorts of questions about the industry. Your insights were invaluable, as was your feedback on my work. Thanks so much!

 

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