The actress and musician Barbara Williams discusses her memoir, The Hope in Leaving (Seven Stories Press, 2016), growing up throughout British Columbia, family, and more, with Joseph Planta.

The Hope in Leaving by Barbara Williams (Seven Stories Press, 2016). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: The Hope in Leaving

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, at TheCommentary.ca.

Barbara Williams is a renowned musician and actress on the stage and screen. She grew up throughout British Columbia and she writes of her itinerant, difficult childhood in a moving memoir, The Hope in Leaving. Ms. Williams joined me last week while in Vancouver to launch her book, and we’ll talk about her father, a logger, nomad, and drinker, and her mother, and the challenges she faced raising her children, trying to survive with little or no money. It’s a troubled family that encounters abuse, illness, and poverty. The book’s strength is how it presents these challenging years lyrically, and with no judgment. Barbara Williams won a Gemini Award for her performance in the television film Mother Trucker. She began her career appearing in such films as Thief of Hearts, and City of Hope. She began performing on the stage here in Vancouver in her early 20s, and went on to play roles at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, as well as in Los Angeles, where she lives and works today. The book is published by Seven Stories Press. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Barbara Williams; Ms. Williams, good morning.

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