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Bookworms Unite!
The Frye
Festival has unveiled the list of
award-winning authors who will participate in the 14th annual
Festival April 22 to 28, 2013, in Greater Moncton. Atlantic Canada’s largest
literary happening promises many great moments for all kinds of bookworms with
its diverse roster: novelists, poets, an obituarist, a book jacket designer, a
former diplomat and businessman, journalists, and children’s writers will feed
thousands of imaginations in nearly 50 events.
“The 2013 Frye Festival truly has
something for everyone,” confirms Dawn Arnold, Frye Festival Chair. “We will
explore local matters and worldly ideas, convincing fiction and improbable
realities, lives lived and lives imagined. We invite everyone to journey with
us to Russia, Guyana, France, Africa, Hong Kong, and Cape Breton, among others,
and come meet the people behind the stories during the Festival. We look
forward to unveiling a program in March that reflects the richness and depth of
our roster.”
THE AUTHORS
The Frye Festival sets up the stage
for great storytelling, giving everyone in Moncton the chance to meet the
people who have penned some of the best books of the year and to hear them tell
their stories. This year’s writers have a combined total of nearly 40 literary
award nominations and wins, including the IMPAC Dublin, Governor General’s
Literary Award and Giller Prize, making this one of its richest years yet.
A Window to the World
A book designer by profession, CS
Richardson tells the compelling story of an unlikely romance between an
illiterate baker and a woman with her head always buried in a book in The Emperor of Paris. It follows
Richardson’s critically acclaimed The End
of the Alphabet.
Formerly a journalist, senior
executive in the federal public service, diplomat, and businessman, Ian
Hamilton has penned five books featuring protagonist Ava Lee, including The Scottish Banker of Surabaya,
published this month to great reviews.
Kim Thúy tells the tale of her
family’s journey from Vietnam to Québec with the boat people in the 1970s in Ru, which was shortlisted for the 2012
Giller Prize. Alternately seamstress, interpreter, lawyer, restaurant owner,
food columnist, and full-time writer, Thúy is a Canadian literary force whose
exploration of cultural worlds resonates deeply.
Author of 14 books and a Member of
the Order of Canada, Marq de Villiers puts his journalistic background to good
use in books such as Dangerous World and,
most recently, Our Way Out. The Nova
Scotia resident, whose works focus mainly on natural history or African themes,
won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Water: The Fate of Our Most Precious Resource. Fellow GG winner
Peter Behrens takes us to Ireland during the famine with his award-winning
novel The Law of Dreams, followed a
few years later by The O’Briens and,
coming this spring, Travelling Light, his
first short story collection. Together with their French counterparts Perrine
Leblanc (whose L’homme blanc, takes
place in Russia) and Kim Thúy, Behrens and de Villiers comprise the panel for
one of the Festival’s most anticipated events, A Window to the World, showcasing the Canadian perspective on
international matters.
To round out the Festival’s
international scope, French writer, cinephile, journalist, television host and
traveller Olivier Barrot will share his stories and expertise, providing
aspiring writers, producers, and artists with invaluable advice on promoting
books and literature in the media.
Canadian Outlooks
As one of Canada’s most prominent
literary voices, Alistair MacLeod explores themes of rural Canada in his two
short story collections (The Lost Salt
Gift of Blood and As Birds Bring
Forth the Sun) and in his novel No
Great Mischief, which won the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in
1999. MacLeod will deliver the 2013 Maillet-Frye Lecture, followed by an
on-stage interview.
Lovers of poetry will be happy to
discover a new collection from Saint John-based Anne Compton titled Alongside. The award-winning poet’s
rural roots and extensive study of literature are reflected in her poetry.
Deni Y. Béchard was born in British
Columbia to French Canadian and American parents and, in his memoir Cures for Hunger, he tells his
fascinating story of growing up with a bank-robber father. His first novel, Vandal Love, was chosen best overall
first book in the British Commonwealth in 2007.
Award-winning journalist and
obituarist Sandra Martin has created a mosaic of modern Canada in Working the Dead Beat: 50 Lives That Have
Changed Canada.
As founder and executive director
of the charity Project Bookmark Canada, Miranda Hill still finds time to write
short stories, recently published in her debut collection entitled Sleeping Funny. Though rooted in the
familiar, Hill’s stories nevertheless find a way to twist themselves into
strangeness.
Alix Ohlin was born and raised in
Montreal but now resides in the United States. The author of four books, most
recently Signs and Wonders and Inside, a finalist for the 2012 Giller
Prize. Ohlin has a knack for exploring the capricious nature of human beings
through fiction.
The
line-up also features Joséphine Bacon (Nous
sommes tous des sauvages), Sonia Cotten (Ovalta), Éric Dupont (La
fiancée américaine), Dominic Langlois (La
rue en eaux troubles), Daniel Lessard (La
revenante), and Jocelyne Saucier (Il
pleuvait des oiseaux).
For Young Readers
The Festival will feature a great line-up of children’s
and young adult writers who will take part in various events such as Imagination
at Work, Budding Writers and KidsFest.
Sara O'Leary is a playwright,
fiction writer, and literary journalist. She is the author of the
"Henry" series for children: When
I Was Small, When You Were Small
and Where You Came From. Heidi
Jardine Stoddart, whose inspiration comes from maritime scenery and the
whimsical ways of children, will share her stories with our youngest creators.
Philip Roy’s love for the ocean has
led to the Submarine Outlaw series, detailing the adventures of a young
submariner circumnavigating the world. He returns home with his latest work, Blood Brothers in Louisbourg, which
tells the story of two brothers at the siege of Louisbourg in 1745.
French-speaking children will get
to hear and meet award-winning Sylvie Desrosiers (L’ère glaciaire dans la glacière) and Charlotte Gingras (Guerres).
Blurring the Language Lines
As Canada’s only bilingual literary
festival, the Frye Festival showcases the best of contemporary literature in
the country’s two official languages, promoting understanding and closeness
between the two cultural communities. The Festival invites its English-speaking
fans to discover two French Canadian writers whose recent novels have been
translated: Jocelyne Saucier (And the
Birds Rained Down, March 2013) and Perrine Leblanc (Kolia, fall 2013).
French-speaking
fans have an even greater selection of translated works: Alistair MacLeod (Les hirondelles font le printemps, Cet héritage au goût de sel and La perte et le fracas), CS Richardson (La fin de l’alphabet), Deni Y. Béchard (Vandal Love and Remèdes pour la faim), Peter Behrens (La loi des rêves) and Philip Roy (Frères de sang à Louisbourg).
EVENTS PREVIEW
Traditionally presented in the
fall, the Festival’s Community Read brings together Moncton’s two main cultural
communities. Everyone is invited to read Ru,
by Kim Thúy, in French or English, and then to come meet the bilingual author
and get their books signed on April 27 at 2 pm.
The popular Imagination at Work
event for students from kindergarten to grade four is going digital in 2013
thanks to the support of the TELUS Community Board. The works of more than 200
students will be displayed at the Blue Cross Centre from April 20 to 27 and
will have an extended presence online thanks to the Beyond the Fridge program. Individuals interested in
submitting the text/artwork of a student for all youth programs may contact
Rhéa at 506.859.4389 or rhea@frye.ca.
Deadline is March 8, 2013.
The Frye Festival is delighted to
reprise its key events, including Soirée Frye (April 25, 7 pm, Capitol
Theatre), KidsFest (April 27, 9:30 am, Moncton Public Library), the
Maillet-Frye Lecture (April 27, 8 pm, théâtre l’Escaouette), and Frye Jam
(April 27, 10 pm, Empress).
Tickets for Soirée Frye ($12) and
the Maillet-Frye Lecture ($15) go on sale today (prices exclude fees). Event
line-ups, musical performances, and complete program details will be announced
at the end of March.
ABOUT THE FRYE FESTIVAL
The Frye Festival is Atlantic Canada’s largest
literary happening. The Frye Festival presents events year-round, culminating
in a week of festivities at the end of April. The 14th annual Frye
Festival will take place April 22 to 28, 2013, in the Greater Moncton area and
will feature 30 local, Canadian, and international authors taking part in
various events.
As part of its year-round programming, the Festival
is pleased to present a one-on-one conversation with Globe and Mail columnist Jeffrey Simpson, author of Chronic Condition: Why Canada’s Health Care
System Needs to be Dragged Into the 21st Century on March 26 at
4:30 pm at Moncton City Hall.
The Frye
Festival has unveiled the list of
award-winning authors who will participate in the 14th annual
Festival April 22 to 28, 2013, in Greater Moncton. Atlantic Canada’s largest
literary happening promises many great moments for all kinds of bookworms with
its diverse roster: novelists, poets, an obituarist, a book jacket designer, a
former diplomat and businessman, journalists, and children’s writers will feed
thousands of imaginations in nearly 50 events. 
