Authors who will be visiting this summer
Read by the Sea 2011
A beautiful warm sunny day greeted the Read by the Sea festival this year. WordPlay attracted a lovely crowd of young people in the morning. Gales of laughter rose from the room where Frieda Wishinsky brought the youngest children into her stories by having young volunteers act out the characters as she read her picture books. In the adjoining room Jill MacLean read to the older set and spoke to her young audience about writing and publishing. Workshops followed the readings. The grand finale of the morning’s event was the Open Mic where kids of all ages presented their writing (or their drawings) to the assembled audience.
At lunchtime several budding writers joined Frieda for a more intensive writing workshop. They worked on some basic skills in looking for inspiration and weaving it into textured prose.
Centre Stage was held in the Legion Memorial Garden in the afternoon. A festival atmosphere pervaded the park, brightened by armloads of flowers and vividly painted lawn chairs. The crowd of about 300 was as warm and welcoming as the weather. The authors all spoke of the wonderful opportunity Read by the Sea offered for them to see and speak directly to their audience. Alexander MacLeod, Shandi Mitchell, Richard B. Wright, and Johanna Skibsrud all read from their latest books and spoke with interviewer Stephanie Domet of CBC radio about their experiences of writing and the effects publishing had on their lives. During the break festival-goers had the opportunity to chat with the writers and with each other, to buy tickets on raffled books, to browse the book table, and to seek out autographs and photo opportunities.
Afterwards, the fest feast was crowded as people enjoyed the usual scrumptious spread of smoked pork chops and lasagne put on by the Legion volunteers. The Open Mic event followed dinner. Several writers screwed up their courage and shared their works-in-progress with the crowd that lingered after dinner. The Bards on Bikes wrapped up the event with their unique poetry performance.
With another successful festival under its collective belt, the Read by the Sea committee is now busy getting the 2012 slate in place for next year. Hope to see everyone back again on July 21st, 2012!
Book Club News
Attention Book Clubs!!
Join Pageturners
Our most popular project ever – borrow a set of books for your book club for a month, free!
Read by the Sea has book club sets (12 copies) of the latest novels by our 2011 authors available for loan to your club. Simply send us your name, location, and your contact e-mail and we’ll get back to you about availability and scheduling.
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Comments Overheard at Previous Events...
- "This is incredible. This has the potential to make River John the literary Mecca of the province."
- "What a glorious day!"
- "I plan my vacation around this event. When is it next year?"
- “ I love the décor! Perfect: Well organized.”
- "I've been to a lot of readings but I've never experienced anything like this. It's just so wonderful!"
Read by the Sea
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