It's here! It's here! Summer is here, and with it comes the height of the literary festival season. This year, the Lakefield Literary Festival takes place from July 12–July 14, with featured authors including M.G. Vassanji, Douglas Gibson, Alison Pick, Thomas King, and John Boyko. Lots of folks are looking forward to the 17th Saskatchewan Festival of Words, which runs July 18–21 in Moose Jaw. Participating authors include Annabel Lyon, Candace Savage, CS Richardson, Dave Bidini, Ken Babstock, Linda Spalding, Marie Louise Gay, Miranda Hill, and Zoe Whittall.
Read By the Sea in River John, NS, is scheduled for July 20, featuring authors Marina Endicott, Phil Hall, Vincent Lam, and Rebecca Silver Slayter. The 2013 Leacock Summer Festival runs July 23–28 this year on Orillia, ON.The Winterset in Summer Literary Festival in Eastport Peninsula, NL, takes place August 9–11, with Giles Blunt, Gail Bowan, Lisa Moore, Lesleyanne Ryan, Claire Wilkshire, Russell Wangersky, and more! That same weekend, Calgary, AB, hosts When Worlds Collide 2013, featuring Canadians Barbara Fradkin, Shirlee Smith Matheson, and Jamis Paulson, along with many other writers.
August 13–18, check out Writers at Woody Point in Bonne Bay, South NL, featuring writers including Cathy Marie Buchanan, Will Ferguson, Douglas Gibson, Wayson Choy, Chad Pelley, Michael Winter, Christine Pountney, and Elisabeth de Mariaffi. This year, the Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts runs August 15–18 in Sechelt, BC, with participating authors including Susan Swan, David Bergen, Esi Edugyan, Sally Armstrong, Linwood Barclay, Linda Spalding, and Donna Morrissey. Wolfe Island (near Kingston, ON) is the birthplace of Canada's first crime writer, Grant Allen, and will once again be the setting for the Scene of the Crime Festival, which takes place on August 17 and features writers including Andrew Pyper, Ian Hamilton, and Janet Bolin.
2013 is the 25th Anniversary of the Eden Mills Writers' Festival on September 15 in Eden Mills, ON, featuring writers including Elizabeth Ruth, Tamas Dubozy, Grace O'Connell, Alix Ohlin, Emma Donoghue, Thomas King, Sarah Elton, Iain Reid, Ania Szado, Deborah Ellis, Sheree Fitch, Monica Kulling, Aubrey Davis, and Jennifer Lanthier. (Check out their great list of featured authors up on 49th Shelf!) The Winnipeg International Writers Festival Thin Air runs September 20–28 with featured writers announced so far including Marie Louise Gay, Robert Priest, Olive Senior and Eva Wiseman.
On September 15, the 5th annual Telling Tales, a festival devoted to families discovering the joy of reading, will take place in Rockton, ON, and includes Marie Louise Gay, Andrew Larsen, Evan Munday, Loris Lesynksi, and Meg Tilly, among many others and musicians, too! Everyone from toddlers and teens to grandmas and grandpas are welcome!
The Word on the Street Festival takes place across the country once again this year with events in Lethbridge, AB on September 22, Saskatoon SK on September 22, Kitchener ON on September 21, Toronto on September 22, and Halifax on September 22. This year, the Kingston WritersFest takes place from September 25–29 with participating writers including Wayne Grady, Michael Crummey, Laurie Lewis, Thomas King, Iain Reid and Shyam Selvadurai.
The first annual Fog Lit Festival takes place in Saint John, New Brunswick, October 3–6. Fog Lit is an all-inclusive family festival, providing an exciting lineup of mainstream events, workshops, panel discussions, and readings. It will feature many talented Atlantic Canadian writers including Chad Pelley, Nicole Dixon, Riel Nason, Beth Powning, Biff Mitchell, Carey Caffrey, Corey Redecop, Kathy-Diane Leveille, Robert Rayner, Ian LeTourneau, Clyde Wray, Laurie Lewis and more.
The Northwords Muskoka Literary Festival returns October 4–6 in Huntsville ON, featuring John Boyko, Mellissa Fung, Donna Morrissey, Marina Namat, MS Vassanji and Kathleen Winter (and don't miss their Kids' Day event on July 27). That same weekend, the Cabot Trail Writers Festival takes place at North River on the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton Island NS with events still to be announced.
Storyfest is taking place again in Hudson QC with events throughout the fall, featured authors still to be announced. Banff and Calgary's WordFest runs October 14–20. The Victoria Writers Festival returns for its second year, with details still to come! Also returning is the Thousand Islands Writers Festival, which will be running events throughout summer and fall so check back to their website to learn more. Litfest, Edmonton’s Nonfiction Festival, will also be taking place again in October.
This year, Vancouver Writers Fest runs October 22–27. Check out their excellent blog for interviews with participating authors. Ottawa's Writers Festival is on from October 24 to 30. The International Festival of Authors runs in Toronto October 24–November 3. BookFest Windsor takes place in Windsor ON on November 2, and will feature Margaret Atwood with her latest novel, among other authors. The Wild Writers Literary Festival returns to Waterloo, ON, November 8–10. And the Pure Speculation Festival hits Edmonton, AB, November 16–18, with Arthur Slade and others.
Have we missed anything? Email editor at 49thShelf dot com to have a festival added to the schedule.