This weekend, I got a full on literary experience, compliments of the Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts. This is the longest running Canadian Festival of its kind (this weekend marked 32 years) and features a wonderful line-up of Canadian authors. It’s always a delightful mixture of big name writers and up and coming writers and writers you’ve never heard of. (Check out the full line-up here.) Some highlights for me included Bill Gaston, Steven Galloway, Miriam Toews, and Heather O’Neill. Who knew Steven Galloway was so funny? Or what a delightful surprise it would be to hear Heather O’Neill read from an upcoming short story collection?
I’ve attended events at the Writer’s Fest once before but this year, due to work, I got thrown in full board for the whole weekend. From Terry Fallis on Thursday night to a spoken word poetry slam on Sunday evening. It made for long days and so much fun.
Frankly, it’s kind of amazing that a festival of this calibre takes place in our little town. It makes me proud and happy to live where I do.
One of my summer goals (more on those later) was to read as many of the Festival authors as I could. I managed close to half (still working on a couple) and added more to my list by the end of the weekend.
If you’re ever out west on an August weekend, I highly recommend taking in this literary event.
Karissa Reads Books 