First St. Lawrence Writer’s Festival Launches in Brockville This Weekend

Brockville – The first St. Lawrence Writers Festival is set for this weekend, starting on Friday, September 5th, to Sunday, September 7th, at the Arts Hub Brockville.

The exciting new all-Canadian festival arts initiative for Eastern Ontario, enriching the cultural tapestry of Brockville celebrates words in all their forms, transforming the Arts Hub Brockville into a bustling centre of word-related fun, discourse, and intellectual exchange showcasing a plethora of authors and poets ranging from established names to emerging voices, including: Linwood Barclay, Gary Barwin, Don Butler, Rod Carley, Brenda Chapman, John Delacourt, Terry Fallis, Hollay Ghadery, Ali Hassan, Wayne Johnston, Amy Jones, Barbara Radecki, Heidi Reimer, Stuart Ross, Andrew Sullivan, Katie Tallo, Drew Hayden Taylor, Paul Van Dyck, Brent Van Staalduinen, Heidi von Palleske, Anuja Varghese, Emily Weedon, and Maggie Wheeler, as well as local writers Carolyn Bennett, Lois Lorimer, Dennis Stein, Rene Tyo, and Ron Zajac.

The festivities commence on Friday night with award-winning writer Wayne Johnston in conversation with Rod Carley, followed by Nightmare on the Narrows, a horror boat cruise aboard the General Brock with 1000 Islands and Seaway Cruises, featuring Drew Hayden Taylor, Andrew Sullivan, Rene Tyo and Emily Weedon.

Start your Saturday with a laugh with the Humour panel, followed by a Poetry panel, best-selling author Linwood Barclay in conversation with best-selling author Terry Fallis, a Contemporary Fiction panel, and a New Play reading with Paul Van Dyck, Pina Pipia and Rod Carley. The day wraps up at 9 PM with CBC’s Ali Hassan’s stand-up comedy show, Does This Taste Funny?

Sunday’s programming includes a Young Adult Fiction panel, a Mystery/Thriller panel, and the Queen of Seaway Crime, Maggie Wheeler.

To provide something for everyone, there are other events planned. On Saturday from 11-1 p.m., Medium Effort Fine Art Supplies is hosting graphic novelists Colton Fox and Jeff McIntyre for a 2-hour workshop where creators of all experience levels can explore visual storytelling and create their own comic zine. And an option on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. is Write ‘Em Up at the Brockville Arts Centre, where Todd Van Allen hosts a night of comedy, writing and roasting.

The Festival is pleased to welcome The Book’s Better Bookshop from Smiths Falls as the official bookseller for the event.

An all-inclusive Festival Pass is $150 (all passes include free admission to Ali Hassan Saturday at 9:30 p.m.), a Saturday pass is $75, a Sunday pass is $50, and individual event tickets can be purchased for $25. Tickets for the Nightmare on the Narrows boat cruise are $75.00.

For tickets, please visit: https://sites.google.com/downtownbrockville.com/slwf/tickets

For more information, please visit their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573968628026