Thu, Sep 10th, 7-9pm, Book Launch – Port Alberni’s own Author & Artist Winter Darbey
His first book, Beautiful Demons, was published earlier this year to favourable reviews and is available at select local bookstores.   When not writing poetry or social satire, Winter can be found making visual artwork. He is known locally for his ten-minute graphite portraits that bring out the inner beauty in anyone that falls under his pencil.  Currently he is about to begin a degree in psychology at North Island College.  From an interview in ArtLink: "I try to make the grotesque beautiful and the beautiful grotesque."  From a Shaw TV interview: "Art is everything to me."  From a qoute of Beautiful Demons in a critical review: "What else can you do but write?"  "Gaia's Laughter is a bit of an experiment for me. It's a new direction from my usual stuff, which is very gritty and dark. This book is a celebration of being a young man lost in the world, and it's also a celebration of the beautiful West Coast. I think too many people of my generation have lost touch with Mother Earth entirely, and I wanted to remind them of the beauty and power of the natural world. And a lot of people of past generations have forgotten the raw, physical, frightening experience that is being young, so this book is for them too."  Admission for the evening is $5 donation to the artist OR a book purchase.
Char’s 19+ Lounge opens M-F 4pm, S-S 1pm FMI (778) 421-2427 Char’s Landing, 4815 Argyle @5th. Port Alberni