Festival 2015: Great stories, great moments - and a great big cake!

You had to be there.

The authors shared stories and read to us. The audience laughed - and cried, too. Prizes were awarded to contest winners, wine was drunk, finger foods were devoured, questions were asked and answered. And there was even a birthday cake!

But that's just the short version.

If you were one of the lucky participants at the 21st Elora Writers' Festival, which took place yesterday (May 24) at the Wellington Country Museum and Archives in Aboyne, Ont., you know what a rich and rewarding afternoon it was for everyone in attendance.

Thank you Barbara Kyle, for sharing your research adventures (who knew that men could walk and pee at the same time?). And Clifford Jackman, for your advice to budding writers ("Don't do it. And if that's enough to stop you, you probably shouldn't be a writer"). And Kim Moritsugu for a story about a family adventure that made us laugh, and Tasneem Jamal for for a story about a family adventure that made us cry. And Michael Hale for taking us to other dimensions. And Ian Hamilton for spending your birthday - and the kick-ass Ava Lee - with us. (Yes, there was cake. A really, really, big cake!)

Our committee - Patricia Reimer, David Campbell, Roxanne Beale (resident bookseller and Mistress of Ceremonies extraordinaire!), Marilyn Kleiber, Dave Beynon and Jean Mills - thanks our generous sponsors and supporters, as well as our featured authors and our wonderful guests for another afternoon to remember.

Stay tuned for news about Festival 2016!

In the meantime, here's a taste of Festival 2015...

We're ready for Barbara Kyle, Clifford Jackman, Kim Moritsugu...

...Michael Hale, Tasneem Jamal and Ian Hamilton!
(With thanks to our friends at Little Tree Garden Market for
the beautiful floral arrangements around the hall!)

Roxanne Beale (left), our resident bookseller and Mistress of Ceremonies,
finalizes the Festival Bookshop with assistant, Mimi

Author Kim Moritsugu heads into Aboyne Hall, as guests check in
at the ticket table, under the watchful eye of EWF Committee
member Patricia Reimer (left)

And there's Ian Hamilton, already chatting with fans!

Barbara Kyle, author of The Traitor's Daughter, shares stories of research
and adventure - and acorns and pinecones, too...

Cliff Jackman, author of The Winter Family, takes
us to a wild, wild West...

Kim Moritsugu, author of the Oakdale Dinner Club, knows how to
make the most of a well-placed potato bug...

Want to buy a book and have the author sign it? Yup. We've got
that covered (as Barbara Kyle and a happy fan demonstrate during
the intermission)

Tasneen Jamal (left), author of Where the Air is Sweet,  chills with some fans
 (including husband, Craig Daniels) during the intermission...

...and then she sends chills down our spines with the
brave story of her family's adventure in Africa

Michael Hale, author of A Fold in the Tent of the Sky,
takes us to some other dimensions

Ian Hamilton, author of The Water Rat of Wanchai and seven other
Ava Lee mysteries, takes us into the world of Chinese Triads
and a heroine who gets the job done

And then we all celebrate with a chorus of Happy Birthday, and....

... a cake! (Which we all shared. Yum!)

Michael Hale offers advice to budding writers
during the Q&A session, led by EWF Committee member, Dave Beynon

Cliff Jackman's advice to budding writers: "Don't do it.
And if that's enough to stop you, you probably shouldn't
be a writer."

Kim Moritsugu (in her third visit to our Festival!) shares her insights into the
life of a writer - and makes us laugh!

The Elora Writers' Festival - we're small, and intimate,
and friendly, and fun. And you won't
go home hungry, either. Just ask any of our authors and guests.
Maybe you'll be in this photograph next year....?

Announcing the 2015 EWF Short Story Contest winners!

Our contest always generates lots of buzz, and this year was no different. The three panels of judges had to work hard to make their final selections – lots of great stories, they said!

But the decisions have finally been made and here they are, the winners of the 2015 EWF Short Story Contest:

YOUTH (age 14 and under)
Sponsored by the Community Resource Centre of North and Centre Wellington

(Judges: Lisa Dalrymple, Lisa MacColl, Kira Vermond)

First Prize

Jasmine Moroz for Drizella Tremain

Second Prize

Grace Huntley for Adventures as a Fish

Third Prize

Manuela Morgan for Mystical Mystery

Honourable Mentions

Madeline Vukovic for Cut Away

Jonah Doupe for My Formula One Car

TEEN (age 15-19)
Sponsored by the Elora Arts Council

(Judges: Heather Wright, Heather Debling)

First Prize

Emily Vaillancourt for Peanut Butter

Second Prize

Brittany Helena Tenhage for The Magical World in Brian’s Book

Third Prize

Claris Lam for Level Up

Honourable Mentions

Michaela Beam for Untold Story

David Botros for The Streetlamp in the Desert

ADULT (age 20 and older)

(Judges: Barbara Kyle, Bieke Stengos, Lisa McLean, Kelly Waterhouse, Sharon Blomfield)

First Prize

J.C. Hobson for A Coyote Summer

Second Prize

Melanie Scott for The Surrogate

Third Prize

Rita Bailey for Closer

Honourable Mentions

Anna Armstrong for To the Island and Back

Beverley Burgess Bell for The Elephant’s Pearls

Congratulations to the contest winners, and a special thank-you to our hard-working judges. 

Thanks also to our two sponsors, The Community Resource Centre of North and Centre Wellington, and the Elora Arts Council, two organizations that join us in recognizing the importance of supporting and encouraging young writers.

During the intermission of the 2015 Elora Writers’ Festival on Sunday, May 24 (1-4 p.m.), any winners in attendance will receive their prizes – along with a big round of applause from the Festival audience and authors.

And speaking of the Festival authors, here’s our fantastic line-up, in case you missed it:

Barbara Kyle, The Traitor’s Daughter (historical fiction)

Cliff Jackman, The Winter Family  (a Western with a dark side)

Kim Moritsugu, The Oakdale Dinner Club (suburban comedy of manners)

Michael Hale, A Fold in the Tent of the Sky (speculative/fantasy fiction)

Tasneem Jamal, Where the Air is Sweet (contemporary fiction exploring the immigrant experience)

Ian Hamilton, The King of Shanghai, the most recent in the wildly popular Ava Lee crime series (coming to CBC!)

Please join us at the Wellington County Museum and Archives for an afternoon of readings, an author-audience schmoozefest with nibbles and wine, and our famous Q&A with the authors. You can reserve and pick up tickets at Roxanne's Reflections Book and Card Shop in Fergus (Phone 519-843-4391) or by ordering online through the Theatre on the Grand box office (find the link to their ticketing website, here).

Have you got your tickets for the 2015 Elora Writers' Festival, Sun. May 24?

It's time to buy, reserve or pick up your ticket to the 2015 Elora Writers' Festival featuring authors Barbara Kyle, Michael Hale, Clifford Jackman, Tasneem Jamal, Ian Hamilton and Kim Moritsugu. 

It's all happening on Sunday, May 24, 2015, 1-4 p.m., at Aboyne Hall, Wellington County Museum and Archives. Tickets are $25 and include the readings as well as a wine-and-nibbles reception afterwards, which offers a Q&A with the authors -- and a chance to schmooze one-on-one, too.

You can reserve and pick up tickets at Roxanne's Reflections Book and Card Shop in Fergus (Phone 519-843-4391) or order online through the Theatre on the Grand box office (find the link to their ticketing website, here).

Come and be read to! Please join us - and these six outstanding Canadian authors - at the 2015 Elora Writers' Festival.

Guess who's coming to Elora! Meet our authors for Festival 2015

The word has been trickling out on Twitter and Facebook, but now it's time to announce our 2015 line-up, right here, right now.

Ready?

Here are the six Canadian authors who will join us at Aboyne Hall, Wellington County Museum and Archives, on Sunday, May 24, 1-4 p.m. They'll read to us, answer our questions, schmooze a bit throughout the afternoon - and wow us with their words.

Announcing the line-up of authors for the 2015 Elora Writers' Festival:

Barbara Kyle

BARBARA KYLE is the author of the acclaimed Thornleigh Saga series of historical novels, which follow a middle-class English family's rise through three Tudor reigns. She is also the award-winning author of contemporary thrillers. Over 450,000 copies of her books have been sold in seven countries. Her new novel, The Traitor's Daughter, will be published in June 2015.

Barbara has taught writers at the University of Toronto and is known for her dynamic workshops for many writers’ organizations and conferences. Through her Master Classes and manuscript evaluations, she has launched many writers to publishing success.

           

Before becoming an author, Barbara enjoyed a twenty-year acting career in television, film, and stage productions in Canada and the U.S.

           

Barbara and her husband live in Guelph, Ontario.

Clifford Jackman

CLIFFORD JACKMAN was born in Deep River, Ontario, and grew up in Ottawa. He studied English Literature at York University and Queen's University before attending Osgoode Hall Law School and being called to the bar in 2008. He lives in Guelph, Ontario, with his wife, Cathy, and his son, Anthony.

Clifford's dark Western novel, The Winter Family, published by Random House Canada, will be available April 14, 2015.

Tasneem Jamal

TASNEEM JAMAL was born in Mbarara, Uganda, and immigrated to Canada with her family in 1975. She has worked as a journalist for over a decade as an editor at The Globe and Mail, Saturday Night magazine and the National Post. She lives in Kitchener with her husband and two daughters. Where the Air Is Sweet is her first novel. 

Michael Hale

MICHAEL HALE lives in Elora, Ontario. He was born in Liverpool, England, and at the age of seven emigrated with his family to Canada. He grew up in Aurora, Ontario, before moving to Toronto to attend The University of Toronto and the New School of Art.

In the early eighties, while earning a living as a graphic designer, he wrote his first novel, The Other Child. It was short-listed (under the title Wakings) for the 1984 Seal Books First Novel Contest and published by Avon in 1986. 

His novel, A Fold in the Tent of the Sky, has just been released in paperback.

Kim Moritsugu

KIM MORITSUGU is the author of six novels to date, including Looks Perfect, nominated for the Toronto Book Award; The Glenwood Treasure, shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Best Crime Novel award; The Restoration of Emily, serialized on CBC Radio; and the food-centric suburban comedy of manners, The Oakdale Dinner Club. Kim also conducts a walking tour for Heritage Toronto and teaches creative writing through The Humber School for Writers.

Ian Hamilton

IAN HAMILTON is the author of the wildly popular and bestselling Ava Lee novels, which will be adapted for television by CBC. The first book in the series, The Water Rat of Wanchai, was the winner of the Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel, an Amazon.ca Top 100 Book of the Year, an Amazon.ca Top 100 Editors’ Pick, an Amazon.ca Canadian Pick, an Amazon.ca Mysteries and Thrillers Pick, a Toronto Star Top 5 Fiction Book of the Year, and a Quill & Quire Top 5 Fiction Book of the Year. The Disciple of Las Vegas was a finalist for the Barry Award for Best Original Trade Paperback, and The Wild Beasts of Wuhan was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Mystery. Most recently, The Two Sisters of Borneo was an instant Canadian bestseller and, in July 2014, BBC included Ian Hamilton on their list of “crime writer[s] to read now.”

_______________

It's all happening on Sunday, May 24, 2015, 1-4 p.m., at Aboyne Hall, Wellington County Museum and Archives. Tickets are $25 and include the readings as well as a wine-and-nibbles reception afterwards, which offers a Q&A with the authors -- and a chance to schmooze one-on-one, too.

You can reserve and pick up tickets at Roxanne's Reflections Book and Card Shop in Fergus (Phone 519-843-4391) or order online through the Theatre on the Grand box office (find the link to their ticketing website, here).

Come and be read to! Please join us - and these six outstanding Canadian authors - at the 2015 Elora Writers' Festival.