The Eden Mills Writers’ Festival will take place on the quiet banks of the Eramosa River on Sept. 10.
This year’s writers both spin and break tales.
Indigenous, Francophone and LGBTQ writers continue to be a big part of the festival’s offerings, alongside emerging writers, fringe and literary contest winners, and writers of history, memoir, horror and humour.
The ‘Breakers’
The breakers of spells and tales are those writers who explore themes of oppression, colonialism and appropriation, cultural imaginings that cripple communities versus those that reflect and amplify them.
On Sept. 9 at the University of Guelph, Naomi Klein will discuss No Is Not Enough, her vital book that explains how to break the spell of Donald Trump’s shock tactics and oppressive narratives. Tanya Talaga will interview Naomi Klein at 1pm in War Memorial Hall, at the university.
The rest of the writers will read on Sept. 10 from noon until 6pm in Eden Mills.
-In his reading from Injun, Jordan Abel will disrupt the spell of settler language that colonizes Indigenous peoples visually and textually.
Carol Off, in All We Leave Behind, will read the story of one family’s attempt to resist Taliban oppression.
Gregory Scofield will read from Witness, I Am, poems about missing and murdered Indigenous women.
Stephen Henighan will read from The Path of the Jaguar, a complex story about Mayan resistance to Spanish colonization and appropriation.
Monia Mazigh will read from Hope Has Two Daughters, which looks at life inside the revolutionary Arab spring from a woman’s perspective.
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson will read from This Accident of Being Lost, a genre-breaking collection of stories and songs that deliberately challenge readers to rethink the world they thought they knew.
The ‘Spinners’
History: If you’re looking for retellings of history, take in Tim Cook’s reading from Vimy: the Battle and the Legend or Kathleen Winter’s Lost in September, a reimagining of the story of General Wolfe.
Scary with notes of horror, the supernatural and the thriller: If you’re wanting a spine-tingling escapist tale that is mildly creepy or outright terrifying, give Nicole Lundrigan, Shari Lapena and Andrew Pyper a try.
Family: If you want sprawling explorations of family that can cross generations and centuries, try Daniel Grenier’s The Longest Year, Catherine Leroux’s The Party Wall, Emma Donoghue’s The Lotterys Plus One, or Zoe Whittal’s The Best Kind of People.
Humour and coming of age: If you want to hear a coming-of-age tale that is also historical fiction, one of Canada’s most prized comedians, Mary Walsh, will be reading from her first novel, Crying for the Moon. Terry Fallis and Dan Needles, both award-winning humorists, will also read at this year’s festival.
This year will feature over 40 writers for adults, teens and children.
The Big Festival Day is Sept. 10 from noon to 6pm in the village of Eden Mills.
Visit edenmillswritersfestival.ca for information about buses, parking, cash, book-buying and book-signings, wine, food and treats.
