Open Mic Night at the Elora Centre for the Arts

Want to channel your inner "I'm an author too"? Thursday, October 23 is Open Mic Night with EWF authors Brad Smith and Sonia Day at the Elora Centre for the Arts. Sound like fun? Yup. We think so too! Here's the poster with details:

Celebration

Left to right: Andrew Westoll, Ailsa Kay, Carrie Snyder, Sonia Day, Robert
Rotenberg and Terry Fallis at the EWF Reception, Elora Centre for the Arts
(photo: Jean Mills) 

Carrie Snyder, one of our readers at the 2013 Elora Writers' Festival yesterday, was awarded the Gowlings Literary Award at last night's Waterloo Region Arts Awards ceremony at Centre in the Square, Kitchener, Ontario.

     Congratulations Carrie! And thank you so much for being a part of the stunning lineup of authors at this year's Festival.
     And our thanks go out to all the authors who honoured us with readings from their recent works: Sonia Day, Ailsa Kay, Terry Fallis, Robert Rotenberg, Carrie Snyder and Andrew Westoll.
     And who can forget the packed house of enthusiastic fans? Our gratitude is immeasurable.
     Three cheers for our audience!!
     "Hap! Hap! Hap!"
     (You had ta' be there…)

"KITCHENER (May 27, 2013)— Every year, artists in Waterloo Region are recognized for both their achievements and contributions to arts in their community in a gala that attracts hundreds of audience members. Sunday night was no exception. Nearly 60 nominees in 11 categories joined the 25th annual 2012 Arts Awards Waterloo Region event at Centre in the Square, for an evening of music, food, an art auction and celebration of all that makes this community a cultural hot bed."
— The Record
Read more...

Learn more about Carrie here...

And buy all her books here...

" […] eat whatever you want, as long as you’ve cooked it yourself."

"Michael Pollan’s seventh book will not substantially surprise readers of the first six. Mr. Pollan has often said that we lose touch with the basic facts of food production at our own peril, and that shared meals hold families and communities together. He has advocated fresh ingredients and sounded warning bells about why processed foods are barely worth digesting. And he is a major ingredient in his books’ blend of gastronomy, science and investigation, linking his own experiences to the lessons he imparts.

     But Mr. Pollan winds up broadly playing celebrity chef in Cooked, his four-quadrant book about fire (barbecue), water (stewing and braising), air (baking bread) and earth (fermentation). He was prompted to do this, he says, partly by what he calls the Cooking Paradox. There we sit on our sofas, watching cooking shows on television rather than preparing meals of our own. 'I don’t need to point out that the food you watch being cooked on television is not food you get to eat,' Mr. Pollan says."
— Janet Maslin, The New York Times
Read more…

Find out more about the health benefits of gardening and cooking at the Elora Writers' Festival on Sunday, May 26; where you can hear Sonia Day read from her award-winning books Incredible Edibles and The Untamed Garden.

Get more information about Sonia Day and the Festival here...

And buy all of Michael Pollan's easily digestible books here...

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.

Ripe for the picking: £2,500

From: Indulgy

Since our Writing Competition is on hold, here's word of a competition ripe for the picking — and the deadline isn't so bad either: May, 31, 2013.
     I love a good deadline. It's like an alarm bell that calls up the Muse...

"The first Festival of Garden Literature celebrates garden writing as a genre, with a particular emphasis on Memoir. We are holding a writing competition for a piece of literary memoir inspired by, or set in, a garden.

    Judged by Antonia Fraser, Adam Nicolson and Sigrid Rausing, a prize of £2,500 will be awarded to the winning entry. Maximum word length: 2,500 words. […]
     The Prize is open to writers of any nationality writing in English, 16 years old and over at the time of the closing date.
     Entries must be entirely the work of the entrant and by submitting you are confirming that the work is your own. Any evidence to the contrary will result in immediate disqualification.
     Entries must never have been published, self-published, published on any website, blog or online forum, broadcast nor winning or placed (as in 2nd, 3rd,, runner up etc) in any other competition. Simultaneous submissions are allowed but will become ineligible should they win a prize or be published prior to the prize-giving date; entry fees will not be refunded.
     The deadline date for entries is 12 midnight (UK time) on Friday 31st May 2013 (postal entries postmarked 31st May but received later will be accepted)."
— Granta
Read more…

Here's a note about the Elora Writers' Festival Competition in 2014.

And come and hear Sonia Day read from her works on May 26 at the Elora Writers' Festival — she's a master of "Garden Literature."

The word is out... about Ailsa Kay

Join us on Sunday, May 26, 2013 (1 to 4 P.M.) at the Elora Centre for the Arts, 75 Melville Street, Elora for a relaxing yet thought-provoking afternoon of readings by Sonia Day, Terry Fallis, Carrie Snyder, Andrew Westoll, Ailsa Kay and Robert Rotenberg.
     For $20.00 (includes Reception) you get to enjoy readings by six of Canada's finest authors; a Q&A session; a "Schmooze-fest" replete with wine & appetizers… and BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS (Get them signed by the author[s].) courtesy of Roxanne's Reflections.

     Welcome home, Ailsa!
     Ailsa Kay and Amy Appleford were the driving forces behind the committee of the Elora Arts Council that started the Elora Writers' Festival (Words by the Water) back in 1994. That first festival was an ambitious confection of formal readings at the Gorge Cinema, along with more casual and intimate events at cafes and outdoor locales in and around the village.

"Ailsa Kay's new novel (Under Budapest) came out of her life-changing visit to Hungary ('I fell in love with Budapest when I lived there in 2004. I return as often as I can, which is not as often as I would like.').
     She has taught writing at college and university where she has learned from her students to laugh a lot, swear occasionally, and always risk that leap of faith ('I teach and I love to teach. I don’t know what this says about me.').
     Kay’s short fiction has appeared in literary journals such as Exile and The New Quarterly. After twenty years in Toronto, she recently returned to her hometown of Fergus, Ontario."
— (from Fictionista! and Ailsa Kay.com)

     Under Budapest, her first novel, will be published in April by Goose Lane Editions.

Find out more about Ailsa Kay here…

And pre-order Ailsa's book Under Budapest here…

The word is out... about Sonia Day

Join us on Sunday, May 26, 2013 (1 to 4 P.M.) at the Elora Centre for the Arts, 75 Melville Street, Elora for a relaxing yet thought-provoking afternoon of readings by Sonia Day, Terry Fallis, Carrie Snyder, Andrew Westoll, Ailsa Kay and Robert Rotenberg.

     For $20.00 (includes Reception)  you get to enjoy readings by six of Canada's finest authors; a Q&A session; a "Schmooze-fest" replete with wine & appetizers… and BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS (Get them signed by the author[s].) courtesy of Roxanne's Reflections.
Tickets are available at Roxanne's Reflections website here... or by calling 519-843-4391

From: Toronto Botanical Garden

"Whoopee! My latest book, The Untamed Garden, A Revealing Look At Our Love Affair With Plants, is, literally, tops.
     At the U.S. based Garden Writers’ Association annual convention in Tucson, Arizona, it won the Gold Award — beating out all the other books, magazines, newspaper sections and electronic media in the awards program. As most of the 215 entries were American, it’s quite a coup, folks, for a 'mere' Canadian to achieve this. My book had already won Silver for Best Book, but we had to wait until Oct. 16 to hear which 'Best Overall Product' had nabbed the Gold.
     I felt immensely proud (and a bit surprised) as I heard my name called out at the awards banquet." — Sonia Day, soniaday.com
Read more…

Buy all of Sonia Day's books here...