The County Reads and the County Reads Authors Festival is right around the corner. Mark April 25, 26, and 27 on your calendars. We have a great lineup this year of both established and new and emerging authors.
As Marlene Fraser, a retired director of sales with Random House Canada and member of our committee says, “I look forward to the planning of this event every year! It is like the thrill of the chase – who will we bring to Prince Edward County? Every year is better than the last with fabulous authors and their stories, fiction and non-fiction.”
Fraser, in her role with the committee, is responsible for many of the contacts that we are able to make. As a master organizer, she sees that they all have everything that they need for an enjoyable experience in the county.
This is the line up as we know it to date…
The evening of Thursday, April 25 will be the The County Reads event, this year to take place at St. Mary Magdalene Church at 7 pm.. Defenders and their book choices are soon to be announced! Stay tuned for the announcement of this closely guarded secret. However, I am happy to announce that Ken Murray is returning as the stern and skillful moderator of The County Reads for another great year!
On Friday, April 26 at 3 p.m. there will be Rendez-vous 2019, with Wayne Grady in conversation with Dorothy Speirs.
Friday evening at 7, Debra Komar will talk about her new book The Court of Better Fiction.
Saturday morning from 10 a.m. to noon at the Picton branch, Cornelia Hoogland will be running a writing workshop entitled “Into the Woods: Using Fairy Tales in Writing.” This fascinating two-hour workshop explores the cultural influence of fairy tales and their possible uses in writing. Discover contemporary fairy tales that address social struggles and dreams, and reconnect with your child experience and put the child that you were into your writing.
Red Riding Hood, in book and PowerPoint formats, will be examined for themes that can influence your writing. The workshop is $15 per person and registration is limited.
Saturday afternoon is packed. At 1:30 p.m. Samra Zafar, author of The Good Wife, will tell her story of the years of abuse that she endured after arriving in Canada as a teenage bride in an arranged marriage. Hear the inspiring story of her escape from repression to realize her dreams and ambitions. This is Zafar’s first book. She is an award-winning international speaker, author, scholar and social entrepreneur.
She guest lectures at several universities, including Yale. She says: “It is necessary to break the silence – for the millions of silences still waiting to be broken.”
At 2:30 on Saturday we will hear from Camilla Gibb. She is the award-winning author of Sweetness in the Belly, Mouthing the Words, The Petty Details of So-and–so’s Life, The Beauty of Humanity, and most recently, This Is Happy. Gibb holds a Ph.D from Oxford University and she is an adjunct faculty member of the graduate creative writing programs at the University of Toronto and the University of Guelph-Humber. She has been honoured for her writing with such prestigious awards as the Trillium Book Award, City of Toronto Book Award, CBC Canada Literary Award and shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.
The final event of the day on Saturday will be a panel discussion featuring our Saturday authors and moderated by our favourite moderator, Murray, who will have recovered from Thursday evening by this time we are sure.
Please plan to attend, tickets are available by phoning 476-5962 or through the library web site peclibrary.org.
– Barbara Sweet