gritLIT 2017: Complete Schedule

gritLIT 2017 is kicking off tonight at the Staircase Theatre with our annual partnered event with the Lit Live Reading Series, and then we take over the Art Gallery of Hamilton for festival weekend April 6-9. We're exceptionally proud of this year's line-up. Come say hello if you're able to check out any of the following events. Tickets are available at www.gritlit.ca.

Thursday, April 6, 2016
Poetry with the HPC (6:30 pm)
gritLIT partners with the Hamilton Poetry Centre for a vibrant presentation featuring Robin Richardson (Knife Throwing Through Self-Hypnosis), Vivek Shraya (Even This Page Is White) and two team members from Hamilton Youth Poets (HYP).

War and Remembrance (8:00 pm)
Two perspectives on war on its legacy, featuring Diana Bishop (Living Up to a Legend: My Adventures with Billy Bishop’s Ghost) and Leslie Shimotakahara (After the Bloom).

The Disappeared (9:30 pm)
Gripping, unnerving stories about characters on the verge of disappearing from Iain Reid (I’m Thinking of Ending Things) and Rebecca Rosenblum (So Much Love).

Friday, April 7, 2017
Lunch with the Dewey Divas (1:00 pm at Bryan Prince Bookseller)
Join Dewey Divas Andrea Colquhoun and Rosalyn Steele for a sneak peek at the best of summer reading from Penguin Random House and HarperCollins Canada. This event is hosted by gritLIT 2017 author Diana Bishop, and lunch is included.

Justice for All? (6:30 pm)
A revealing look at the Canadian legal system and the people whose lives it affects. Featuring reporter Christie Blatchford (Life Sentence) and memoirist Diane Schoemperlen (This Is Not My Life).

Identity and Self-Determination (8:00 pm)
Join Ivan Coyote (Tomboy Survival Guide), Bev Sellars (Price Paid) and Leslie Shimotakahara (After the Bloom) for an illuminating discussion about how we identify ourselves and how we are identified by others.

Worlds Away (9:30 pm)
Novelists Guy Gavriel Kay (Children of Earth and Sky) and Lesley Livingston (The Valiant) use Renaissance Europe and the Roman Empire as inspiration for tales of adventure and intrigue, pirates, spies and female gladiators.

Saturday, April 8, 2017
Writing Workshop: Memoir Writing with Diane Schoemperlen (9:30 am)
Diane Schoemperlen, author of This Is Not My Life, looks at how to turn personal experiences into readable and relatable stories.

Author Talk: Price Paid (11:00 am)
Award-winning author Bev Sellars debunks myths and addresses misconceptions about First Nations in this riveting discussion of her book, Price Paid: The Fight for First Nations Survival. This event is pay-what-you-can.

Reading in the Digital Age (12:30 pm)
Author Merilyn Simonds (Gutenberg’s Fingerprint) and novelist/blogger Kerry Clare (Mitzi Bytes) examine how we enter the world of stories in the digital age.

Literary Salon with Ivan Coyote (2:00 pm)
Join award-winning author and performance artist Ivan Coyote for tea, sweets and one-on-one conversation at a lively, round-table discussion where you decide the topics.

Kyo Maclear at the HPL (2:00 pm at Central Library)
Follow Kyo Maclear’s journey from urban birdwatching to inspiration in Birds, Art, Life – a joyful examination of creativity and life’s small pleasures. This event is in partnership with the Hamilton Public Library. Free admission

Our Canadian Families (3:30 pm)
Ann Y. K. Choi (Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety) and Scaachi Koul (One Day We’ll Be Dead and None of This Will Matter) offer insight into the modern Canadian family.

Writing Workshop: The Art of Blogging with Kerry Clare (5:00 pm)
Author Kerry Clare draws on her 15+ years of experience blogging to show how to build a blog that works for you. A great workshop for both beginners and people who blog at work.

Democracy (In)Action (6:30 pm)
What if it is not our political system that is broken but our understanding of it? Dale Smith discusses his book The Unbroken Machine.

Anatomy of a Marriage (8:00 pm)
An intimate look inside two imperfect marriages and their far-reaching consequences with Shari Lapeña (The Couple Next Door) and Kate Taylor (Serial Monogamy).

Women and Power (9:30 pm)
Annette Hamm talks with Denise Donlon about her long career as a leader in the Canadian music industry and her book, Fearless as Possible (Under the Circumstances).

Sunday, April 9, 2017
Writing Workshop: The First Page with Merilyn Simonds (10:00 am)
Merilyn Simonds is the author of 16 books and a finalist for the Governor General’s Award. Join her for an in-depth look at the all-important first page including tips and techniques for drawing readers into your story from the very first line.

Writing Workshop: Historical Fiction with Kate Taylor (11:30 am)
Kate Taylor‘s first novel, Mme Proust and the Kosher Kitchen, won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for best first book (Canada/Caribbean Region). Join the author as she discusses how to use historical characters and events as building blocks for exciting, original new stories.

Youth Writing Workshop: Fantasy Fiction with Sarah Raughley (1:00 pm at Central Library)
YA Author Sarah Raughley shares tips and techniques for creating great fantasy fiction. This event is free admission but registration is required. For writers aged 13-17.

Hamilton Writes (1:00 pm)
Celebrate the work of three hometown authors with readings from Marnie Woodrow (Heyday), Jamie Tennant (The Captain of Kinnoull Hill) and Paul Benedetti (You Can Have a Dog When I’m Dead).

Telling our Own Stories (2:30 pm)
Memoir author Denise Donlon (Fearless as Possible), poet Chris Pannell (Love Despite the Ache) and graphic novelist Teva Harrison (In Between Days) share three different approaches to telling their own stories.

Drafts and Drafts (4:30 pm at Mills Hardware)
Close out festival weekend by joining authors Wayne Grady, Merilyn Simonds, Marnie Woodrow and three Hamilton writers for a drink and readings from their latest works-in-progress. To meet our 2017 Drafts and Drafts authors, click here. Tickets include one drink. $12 advance, $15 at door.

gritLIT Weekend Pass: $60
Purchase a gritLIT Festival Weekend Pass and get admission to all 16 reading events (value: $160) for only $60! Pass includes all paid reading events taking place at the Art Gallery of Hamilton plus Lunch with the Dewey Divas at Bryan Prince Bookseller. Drafts and Drafts at Mills Hardware: pass includes admission to event. Cost of drinks is extra. Writing Workshops and the Literary Salon are not included.

Hamilton Winterfest 2017

In 2015, I attended my first Hamilton Winterfest kickoff event at Pier 8 (Read about it here). A year later, I was part of the organizing team at gritLIT: Hamilton's Readers and Writers Festival who welcomed Lawrence Hill to Winterfest. This year, despite the cold, I was back at the kickoff event for a third year in a row, just long enough to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate, listen to Syrian performance troupe – Yasmeen AlSham (Jasmine of Syria), and watch skaters take to the ice.

Hamiton Winterfest is a celebration of the city of Hamilton and the beauty of the season, which takes place between February 4-20. This year, as part of the festivities, gritLIT is pleased to present an evening of winter tales at the Staircase Theatre on Thursday, February 9. The event will include a reading by Heather O'Neill, the Winter's Tale flash fiction contest, and the reveal of the 2017 gritLIT Festival. Details and tickets are available at www.gritLIT.ca.

See below for the event poster (Help spread the word!) and see a few photos from the Winterfest Kick Off event. Stay warm, #HamOnt!

gritLIT 2016: Festival Weekend

Authors Corrine Wasilewski, Brent van Staalduinen, and Sabrina Ramnanan.

I’m so pleased and proud to report that this year’s gritLIT: Readers and Writers Festival was the most successful yet. For me, one of the greatest joys was seeing many new faces I haven't seen before in the gritLIT audience. Even my own mom and sister attended their first readings. Along with new faces, we also received the support of some of my favourite local media outlets. Check us out in The Paper Street Journal and People of Hamilton.

Thanks as always to the folks at Bryan Prince Bookseller for acting as gritLIT's official bookstore.

 It's wonderful when the authors you admire turn out to be gracious, giving people, and Charles Taylor Award winner Plum Johnson is the perfect example of that. Here she is talking about They Left Us Everything, one of my favourite memoirs.

 Host Michael Winter really cares about our well-being. Stretch break.

Thanks to Kristin from I Heart Hamilton for joining us again this year as a host.

gritLIT 2016: Lawrence Hill at Hamilton Winterfest

Nearly six years ago, in 2010, I attended my first gritLIT event. It was held at the Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts, and Lawrence Hill was reading from Book of Negroes. I remember clearly how generous Hill was with his time after the reading was over, chatting with each audience member who approached him with a book to sign. It wasn't superficial chatter. He seemed truly interested in each of us. Hill clearly won me over, and so did the festival. I joined the team shortly after. 

On Saturday night, Hill joined us for the first time since 2010 for an intimate conversation about his own work, and the highly anticipated posthumous release of Café Babanussa, written by his sister Karen Hill. If you're not familiar with Karen Hill's "rich and challenging life," read "Lawrence Hill on his late sister, Karen Louise Hill," which was published by the Toronto Star in 2014. 

Following his sister's death, Hill threw himself into editing (for length, not for content) Café Babanussa as a way to channel his grief. He shared insight into this process with the sold-out crowd of approximately 75.

Bryan Prince Bookseller was on hand to sell copies of both Karen and Lawrence Hill's books.

Believing that Karen Hill's story is not his to tell, Lawrence Hill chose to read an excerpt of his most recent book, The Illegal, a satirical look "on people who have turned their backs on undocumented refugees struggling to survive in a nation that does not want them."

Then he sat down with CHCH News's Annette Hamm to talk about his own writing process, as well as the challenges he faced editing Café Babanussa.

Lawrence Hill at gritLIT

Hamilton Winterfest was one of my favourite events last year (Check out my recap here), and I'm thrilled to see it's back with another stellar line-up for 2016. As most of you know, I'm on the board at gritLIT: Hamilton's Readers and Writers Festival, and this year one of our goals is to increase our year-round programming. This year, we're helping to kick off the festivities by presenting an In Conversation with Lawrence Hill on Winterfest's opening night. Tickets for this event are very limited, so get yours today. 

Living Arts: A Thousand Doorways

This article originally appeared as part of the Hamilton Arts Council's Living Arts series. 

My sister went missing from the Burlington Public Library when she was somewhere between the ages of five and seven. This isn't my witty way of telling you she "got lost in a good book." Rather, she did quite literally go missing after a presentation in the basement auditorium of the Central Branch. She was under my not-so-watchful eye, and she simply slipped away. The police were called. My mother's face was streaked with tears as she shouted things like "Someone could have taken her all the way across the border by now!"

Nobody took my sister over the border. She got separated, and she did exactly the thing parents tell their children not to do during "stranger danger" conversations. She left the library and found my parents' station wagon in the Central Branch's large parking lot. This is where we eventually found her.

This isn't my first memory of the library. It probably isn't even in the first ten. But it certainly stands out as one of the memories I won't likely forget.

In April, I had the amazing pleasure of introducing one of my favourite writers -- Richard Wagamese -- at his literary salon at gritLIT: Hamilton's Readers and Writers Festival. Over the hour and a half that followed, Wagamese shared with us stories of homelessness, poverty, and finding his voice as a writer. He also told us stories about his relationship with libraries, and inevitably, it forced me to reflect on my own.

"Every book I ever opened had a thousand doorways in it," said Wagamese, speaking in particularly about the time he spent at the St. Catharines Public Library where librarians "were always there for me." Before he was a celebrated writer, he was homeless, hungry, and thirsty for knowledge. My memories of libraries come from a more privileged place; however, I share Wagamese's hunger for books and fondness of libraries.

The Burlington Public Library's Central and Aldershot branches were both second homes to me as a child. The Aldershot branch is where I sat cross-legged for storytime and where I counted jelly beans in canisters in hopes of taking the whole thing home. The shiny beige plastic chairs would likely seem miniature to me now, but back then they were the perfect place to sit and decide which books to bring home.

In the summer, Central Library was a weekly, sometimes daily, destination. My appetite for books was never more acute than during the BPL's summer reading program. For every five books read, I collected a prize, and I've been a competitive reader since. I've moved half a dozen times in the years since then, but I still have my summer reading program record sheets, and they're invaluable to me. They're keepsakes of the summers I met Amelia Bedelia, Cam Jansen, and the Rosso family (from my all-time favourite children's book, Ten Kids, No Pets).

There are at least a hundred stories I could share about the role of libraries in my life, but here are only a few: Always the budding historian, in elementary school, I connected to the library's copy of Encarta and listened to the speeches of dead presidents. I checked out a hardcover copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz more times than I can count, and it was at that school library that I transcribed the lyrics to Michael Jackson's Heal the World to be sung at a school assembly. In middle school, I accessed the Internet for the first of a million times, and a whole new world was at my fingertips.

In high school, the library was the place I pretended to study because it was easier to hide than to try to make friends. The school library is where we turned on the news to watch the World Trade Centre towers fall. It's the place where we held a memorial for two students who died too young fifteen years ago today. At the Carleton University library, I devoured copies of The Village Voice, reading about concerts I couldn't go to and movies I couldn't see.

It's been years since I've visited the BPL, but for eight years now, I've had a new home at the Central Branch of the Hamilton Public Library, a place I first visited by bus in high school in search of Leonard Cohen CDs and a little bit of freedom. I do a lot of my freelance work, writing articles like this, tucked in a corner of the library's fourth floor.

It must come as no surprise that I spent eight years editing children's books, and even more as a reader, writer, and reviewer. It will come as no surprise that I pity my travel partners, because each new destination means another library (or libraries) to visit.

"One of the things we need to give to our children is that the culture of books is the best place to be in," said Richard Wagamese at gritLIT's literary salon. It goes without saying that I couldn't agree more.

[Edited to add: Here are the Burlington Public Library summer reading lists that started it all:]

Lists of my summer reading in the early 90s. I wonder if anyone from @burlingtonpl remembers these! pic.twitter.com/DnLOTRqkjT

— Jessica Rose (@NotMyTypewriter) July 17, 2014

gritLIT 2015 with LitLive

Same brick wall as the previous post, but this time, the evening was a mix of poetry and prose. On Thursday night, gritLIT partnered with LitLive, welcoming Elizabeth Bachinsky, M.A.C. Farrant, Janet Hepburn,Stephen Smith, Michael Lista and André Alexis.

gritLIT officially kicks off on Thursday. Everything you need to know is available at www.gritlit.ca.

Thrilled to find out that Homegrown Hamilton stocks my favourite local beer, the Garden Brewers' Piperales!

gritLIT2015: Poetry with the Hamilton Poetry Centre

gritLIT: Hamilton's Readers & Writers Festival has kicked off with two pre-festival events so far — Battle of the Books at the Hamilton Public Library (unfortunately I brilliantly forgot my camera's memory card) and Poetry with the Hamilton Poetry Centre at Homegrown Hamilton. Poetry with HPC featured one of my favourite poets — Gary Barwin — and introduced me to a new favourite — Deanna Young.

Tonight we're back at Homegrown Hamilton for gritLIT's partners event with LitLive. Things kick off at 7:30. Here's everything you need to know:

LitLive Partner Event
7:30 pm at Homegrown Hamilton
gritLIT partners with Hamilton’s long-running LitLive reading series for an evening of readings encompassing everything from octogenarian adventurers to serial killers to our national obsession with hockey. Readers include Elizabeth Bachinsky, M.A.C. Farrant, Janet Hepburn,Stephen Smith, Michael Lista and André Alexis.

See you there, Hamilton.

Gary Barwin at Homegrown Hamilton on Thursday night. 

Ottawa's Deanna Young on Thursday night.

On the Second Day of Christmas ...

My true love gave to me, a list of the best places in #HamOnt to buy books.

Hamilton offers dozens of reasons not to shop at big-box stores over the holidays. We've got independent record stores, a handful of craft fairs, neighbourhoods like James Street North and the International Village that boast stores of all kinds. We also have some of the best independent bookstores I've been to.

It's probably no surprise that I spend a lot of time in Hamilton bookstores, constantly adding to the pile of books that I'll never get through before I inevitably die. Despite the obvious commonality of books, books, and more books, each store offers something unique.

J.H. Gordon Books
314 King Street East
(905) 522-1862

I'll start with J.H. Gordon Books in the International Village because it's where I bought my most recent haul (pictured above) on an evening when I was supposed to be shopping for others. If you're not familiar with J.H. Gordon Books, you can't miss its bright blue exterior. There are a few things you should know about the shop. Firstly, it's perfectly curated. Owner Julie carries new (mostly local and independent books) and used books: "We pride ourselves on carrying only the very best in gently used literary fiction, classic literature, award-winning Science Fiction and Fantasy, and scholarly and general non-fiction titles. Secondly, the store will trade store credit for your gently used books. And finally (though I could go on), Julie is currently blogging through the recipes in one of my favourite local books this year, In Grace's Kitchen by Vince Agro. In related news, now I really want pasta.

Epic Books

226 Locke Street South

(905) 525-6538

Maybe it's because I edit kid's books for a living, but I'm a gigantic snob when it comes to picture books. My go-to place to buy children's books is Epic Books on Locke Street. Despite being a small store, it has a huge collection to choose from. And let's face it, I'm 31, so I pretty much have a baby shower to go to every other weekend these days. Epic also has a section devoted to books written by local authors, so it's a great place to get some of the books I will highlight in this 12 Days of #HamOnt #ReadLocal series. And to state the obvious, Epic is located on Locke Street, where you can find something for everyone on your list (unless you're buying for somebody who hates books, cheese, chocolate, music, and antiques).

Bryan Prince Bookseller
1060 King Street West
(905) 528-4508

One day, I want my entire house to look like the inside of Bryan Prince Bookseller. I want to have books from floor to ceiling, and I want to need a ladder to reach the top shelf. I don't make it to Westdale often, therefore I'm not at Bryan Prince Bookseller as much as I would like; however, the shop occupies a big place in my heart because of its support of local authors and the city's literary festival, gritLIT, which I am happily a part of. The staff at Bryan Prince Bookseller are friendly and helpful, and I desperately need to spend more time there. The shop is responsible for so many of #HamOnt's literary events. Expect announcements about their 2015 events in January.

James Street Bookseller & Gallery

134 James Street South

(905) 296-1251

I'm biased, but James Street South is one of Hamilton's most unique neighbourhoods. It's a tiny stretch, but it's home to some of my favourite places, including House of Java and James Street Bookseller & Gallery. I lived seconds away from James Street South until recently, and I miss calling Durand my home. (Sorry, Stinson. I love you, but change and I aren't always on the best of terms.) Each day, multiple times a day, I walked past James Street Bookseller & Gallery, sneaking in whenever I had the chance. Like J.H. Gordon Books, this shop offers a wonderfully curated collection of second-hand books. I've always been most successful in the shop's biography and memoir section. Recently, James Street Bookseller became James Street Bookseller & Gallery, showcasing the work of visual artists. Learn more on the Artist Gallery section of their website. 

The Bookworm
852 King Street West
(905) 523-4345

It's confession time. This is embarrassing to admit as somebody who spends a lot of time writing about local books and reading local, but I've never been to The Bookworm in Westdale. I do, however, know it's a go-to shop for many people in Hamilton's literary scene whom I trust. Be a better citizen of #HamOnt than I am, and go browse the store's 27,000 second-hand books, among them many that are difficult to find and/or out of print.


Speaking of stores I haven't visited, I'm sure there are bookstores on the Mountain that I'm missing, among them Mountain Books on Concession Street. Let me know which stores I'm missing, and I'll happily visit them (and blog about them) in the New Year. 

Don't forget there are also many stores in Hamilton that don't specialize only in books, but do carry them, including Mixed Media (154 James Street North) and the newly opened STORE (in the old Leon Furs building on James Street North).

Happy shopping.

gritLIT 2014: Recap

Authors have always seemed unreachable to me. They're the people who have written books — actual books — that are sold in stores, talked about in book clubs, and devoured in coffee shops. Needless to say, I get really excited and even a little starstruck when I find myself surrounded by them. This, along with my obvious love of books, is one reason I didn't even consider saying no when I was asked to join the committee of gritLIT, Hamilton's literary festival, last year.

The tenth annual gritLIT Festival was held between April 3–6 at the Art Gallery of Hamilton, and we were thrilled to celebrate the festival's anniversary with Lynn Coady, Michael Winter, members of Teenage Head, and Emma Donoghue, to name only a few, along with many local talent from both Hamilton and Toronto. I even got the chance to host a workshop with Denise Chong, the author of one of my all-time favourite works of non-fiction, Egg on Mao, which I reviewed a few years back for Ricepaper magazine.

It was a whirlwind of a weekend, but it was the best kind of weekend, reminding me of why I love this vibrant city and all that it offers. We hear a lot about Hamilton's thriving art and music scene, but sometimes it seems like our literary community is still our little secret — brimming with poets, novelists, and non-fiction writers who are just waiting to be discovered. My favourite part of gritLIT is hearing, meeting, and buying the books of authors who, until recently, I've been unfamiliar with. My favourite discovery at this year's festival was Dannabang Kuwabong, a Ghanaian-Canadian poet who read from his book Voices from the Kibuli Country.

One of our goals as a festival for 2014 is to expand beyond the annual festival to include programming throughout the year. Our first endeavour is a writing group, which we hope will meet once a month. Sign up for our inaugural meet-up, which will take place on April 28 at Brown Dog Coffee Shoppe on Locke Street.