The word is out...

Elora Writers' Festival Committee member Roxanne Beale with EAC
chair Barb Lee at the 2013 Writers' Festival Launch
(from: The Wellington Advertiser)

FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 3013 - It was blustery March morning, but surrounded by beckoning shelves of newly-minted books and the scent of fresh-brewed coffee there was much excitement in air, and the promise of spring.
     Elora Writers’ Festival Committee member Roxanne Beale had just announced the lineup of readers for the 2013 Elora Writers' Festival: Sonia Day, Terry Fallis, Ailsa Kay, Robert Rotenberg, Carrie Snyder and Andrew Westoll.

     "We've streamlined it, to some degree," said Festival Committee member Michael Hale. "Made it even more of a personal experience, for both the audience and the authors. As intimate, I guess, as this Media Launch.
     "After the readings there’ll be a question-and-answer session — it was a real success last year — then everyone gets a chance to chat about the readings and books in general — a real schmooze-fest; and we'll have appetizers and wine so people can relax and really get to know each other — no special dinner this year. Just a simple gathering of book creators and consumers."
     "In case you’ve been wondering why you haven’t heard anything about our writing contest this year, here's the scoop: we're taking a break," said former Competition Coordinator and Committee member Jean Mills. "But watch our blog spot for details about next year’s contest; we are re-inventing it for 2014, our 20th Anniversary. So keep writing."
     This year the Elora Writers’ Festival will be held at the Elora Centre for the Arts, 75 Melville Street, in Elora on Sunday, May 26, 2013 from 1:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M., so space is more limited than last year's venue. Tickets for the Readings (which includes the Reception) are $20. They’re available at Roxanne’s Reflections Book & Card Shop in Fergus (519-843-4391). You can also purchase them on the bookstore website: www.roxannesreflections.ca
     The Elora Writers’ Festival has been celebrating fine Canadian writing in this way since 1994, featuring authors (novelists, poets, biographers, journalists, screenwriters and playwrights) such as Alison Pick, Thomas King, Nino Ricci, Di Brandt, Andrew Pyper, Johanna Skibsrud, Linwood Barclay, Louise Penny, Paul Quarrington, Bonnie Burnard, Leon Rooke, Susan Coyne and Linden MacIntyre. Award winners and losers, veterans and novices—all of them with wonderful stories to tell.
      The 2013 Festival lineup is no exception: it  includes a criminal lawyer who’s a Dagger (Crime Thriller) Award winner; a primatologist and recipient of the 2012 Charles Taylor Award for Literary Non-Fiction; a local (Waterloo) writer whose latest book was shortlisted for the 2012 Governor General’s Award; an acclaimed political satirist (2011 Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour); an award-winning author/Toronto Star columnist/chef/gardener/painter; and one of the founders of the Elora Writers’ Festival returning as a first-time novelist.

For more information about the authors go here...
and here…; just follow the links to articles about each of this year's readers.