OnWords

Middle-graders and teens, this is something just for you! You’re invited to an afternoon of stories, sharing and selfies with two amazing Canadian authors: Michael Hutchinson and Alexandra Harrington. This is your chance to hear them read from their latest books and ask them about how they write, how they got published, what inspires them, and their tips for young writers. Where: outside in the Remembrance Gardens at the River John Legion. When: In the morning on Saturday, July 6, 2024 (9:40am – 10:20am). Watch this space for more details!

Michael Hutchinson

Michael Hutchinson is Swampy Cree from the Treaty 5 area and a member of the Misipawistik Cree Nation. During his early years, he fought forest fires, worked in an underground research mine, and did catering for rock concerts and movie shoots. As an adult, he has switched back and forth between communications and journalism, hosting APTN National News for seven years, co-hosting CTV Morning Live Winnipeg, and working for numerous First Nation advocacy organizations from the national to the local level, including the Assembly of First Nations and the Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak. He is currently the communications manager at the Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre. He wrote the Mighty Muskrats Mystery series to educate young Canadians, build pride in First Nations and impoverished youth, and create a better Canadian and First Nations relationship. He is also the author of The Windy Lake. He lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Pasha Malla

PASHA MALLA is the author of five works of poetry and fiction, including the story collection The Withdrawal Method and the novel People Park. His fiction has won the Danuta Gleed Literary Award, the Trillium Book Prize, an Arthur Ellis Award and several National Magazine awards. His work has also been long-listed for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Pasha’s latest novel, Kill the Mall, was released in February 2021.

Stephen Maher

The Writers Workshop "Fiction Thrillers" will be led by Stephen Maher, a journalist and novelist originally from Truro, Nova Scotia. Steve is an interviewer for the 2021 MainStage. An award-winning investigative journalist and political columnist, he is the author of three novels, Deadline, Salvage and Social Misconduct. He makes his home on the South Shore of Nova Scotia.

Suzanne Stewart

Suzanne Stewart’s writing has appeared in The Dalhousie Review, The Goose, The Globe and Mail, Saltscapes Magazine, The Antigonish Review, English Studies, Essays on Canadian Writing, The Craft Factor, and Newest Review. She has published a creative non-fiction book, The Tides of Time: A Nova Scotia Book of Seasons (Pottersfield 2018). Having completed an MFA in Creative Nonfiction and a PhD in English literature, Suzanne currently teaches at St. Francis Xavier University. Read by the Sea welcomes Suzanne as a MainStage interviewer.

Lana MacEachern

Lana MacEachern is a library technician and former journalist/columnist whose work has appeared in Nova Scotian daily and weekly newspapers and The Seniors' Advocate. A longtime Read by the Sea fan and frequent festival interviewer, she is now a member of the festival's organizing committee. Lana writes poetry and creative non-fiction and is working up the courage to submit her work to literary journals. She lives on Nova Scotia's Northumberland shore.