Our 20th Anniversary festival was a fantastic success!

What’s the recipe for a successful literary festival? 

Let's start with readings by six Canadian writers who inspire and entertain.

Add an enthusiastic, standing-room-only audience.

Our resident bookseller (Roxanne's Reflections Book and Card Shop in Fergus)

and MC extraordinaire (yup, that's Roxanne showing off her dance moves)

supervises the set-up of her mini-bookshop, aided by some enthusiastic

volunteers.

Why not include a post-readings reception and an illuminating Q&A with the authors?

Of course you also need treats and snacks galore. (Yes, there was wine!)

Throw in an intermission that features a chance to mingle and chat, and then applaud the winners (the young and no-so-young!) of the annual short story contest.

And how about offering a bookshop in the lobby?

On Sunday, May 25 in Aboyne, Ont., the sun was shining and the Museum garden was in bloom – who could ask for more?

Patricia and Laura, ready to take tickets.

Authors Brad Smith and Anita Stewart chill in theGreen Room before

the readings.

Authors Susanna Kearsley, Scott Chantler and Mary Swan

relax with snacks before the readings get underway.

Scott Chantler keeps the audience spellbound as

he explains the background of his graphic novel, Two Generals.

Andrew Pyper reads to a packed house

in Aboyne Hall at the Wellington County Museum.

“Thank you for a wonderful event last Sunday,” said one of the contest winners who was in attendance. “I was thrilled with my prize and learned so much from the Q&A session. Writers are so generous and encouraging to other writers. I hope to attend every year!”

Yes, another successful Elora Writers’ Festival is done, and the hardworking committee is already looking ahead to next year.

Stay tuned for information about some upcoming new initiatives we’re working on, such as the EWF Book Club and an evening of Books & Beer. Details to follow!

Thanks to our six authors – Mary Swan, Brad Smith, Anita Stewart, Scott Chantler, Susanna Kearsley and Andrew Pyper – as well as our volunteers, sponsors and (of course!) all those who came out to support and celebrate great Canadian writing.

We can’t wait until Festival 2015!

Treats from Fergies of Fergus. Yes, those are edible notebooks!

The Elora Writers' Festival's First Graphic Novelist!

Join us for our 20th Anniversary on Sunday May 25th from 1-4 pm at Aboyne Hall in Centre Wellington as we welcome the Elora Writers' Festival's first graphic novelist & cartoonist, Scott Chantler.

     Scott Chantler is creator of the graphic novel,  Two Generals - a very personal story from WWII which was long-listed for CBC’s Canada Reads: True Stories, named one of Chapters-Indigo’s Best Books of 2010, and selected for Best American Comics 2012.  Another graphic novel set in the early days of the North American fur trade, Northwest Passage was nominated for Eisner, Harvey, Shuster, and Doug Wright Awards. His Three Thieves series continues to delight kids (and their parents) with each new installment.  The first book in the series, Tower of Treasure, won the Joe Shuster Award for Best Comic for Kids. The latest installment, The King's Dragon, was released just last month from Kids Can Press Ltd.    Scott also teaches Writing for Graphic Novels at Max the Mutt Animation School in Toronto.  

     We hope you can join us Sunday to listen to Scott and five other Canadian authors share their work in an intimate environment in one of the prettiest communities you'll find anywhere.  Tickets are only $20.00 and can be bought at the door or in advance at Roxanne's Reflections Book Store in Fergus.

Scott Chantler... see him at the Festival on May 25

"'I love to tell stories,'" says Scott Chantler. 'That's what drives me. So when the chance came along to work on a graphic novel, I seized it.'

     Days Like This, illustrated by Chantler and written by J. Torres, is the fictionalized account of a teenage girl group's rise to stardom during the early 1960s. 'This was a fascinating project for me,' explains Chantler. 'It's exactly the type of work I'd been looking for in comics, because I can't think of another book like it. It's personal and character-driven, and makes meaningful use of the time period. It's not just some nostalgia trip. It gave me an opportunity to do a lot of juicy research and challenged me to represent the era properly, but without ramming it down people's throats. There is something iconic to the story that I wanted to reflect in the art.'
     The book hits store shelves March 26 and makes its official debut at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival on March 29. If it is not available at your favourite bookseller, it can be ordered.
     At [the University of] Waterloo, Chantler refined his talents as a visual story teller while he studied Fine Arts and Film. His popular comic strip, 'Manly Man', ran in Imprint 1991-92. More importantly, it was at Waterloo [University] that he met his wife Shari.
     After graduation, he landed a position with Creative Options in Waterloo. He illustrated employee communications campaigns on safety, loss prevention, and customer service for major American retailers such as JCPenney, Pep Boys and Hallmark.
     'But there are only so many ways to creatively illustrate how to lift a box safely and I yearned for work that was more challenging and entertainment-driven,' explains Chantler. Shortly after setting up shop as a freelance illustrator, he started an online comic strip, which caught the attention of comic book writer J. Torres (Sidekicks, X-Men: Ronin). Their online correspondence eventually led to Torres offering him the art chores on Days Like This.”
— James Howe, University of Waterloo
Read more...

Go to Scott Chantler’s website here…

Buy all his books here…