The Lakefield Literary Festival has announced the line-up of Canadian authors for this year’s festival, taking place on July 19 and 20.
This year’s festival features authors Michael Crummey, Kevin Sylvester, Casey Lyall, Kate Hilton, Elizabeth Renzetti, Drew Hayden Taylor, Tim Cook, and Charlotte Gray.
Over two days at the Bryan Jones Theatre at Lakefield College School (along with the popular children’s tent at Cenotaph Park), the authors will present their latest works, engage in spirited conversations with a moderator, respond to audience questions, and sign their books. There will also be a reception with the festival authors.
The festival kicks off on Friday, July 19th at 7 p.m. in the Bryan Jones Theatre with “Books to Movies,” where author Michael Crummey and award-winning director Christian Sparkes will discuss the adaptation of Crummey’s 2014 Governor General’s award-nominated novel Sweetland into the 2023 film of the same name. The discussion will be moderated by Peterborough documentary filmmaker, historian, and journalist James Cullingham.
The festival continues at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 20th with the children’s tent at Cenotaph Park featuring Casey Lyall, author of A Spoonful of Frogs, and Kevin Sylvester, author of The Fabulous Zed Watson.
Back in the Bryan Jones Theatre at 2 p.m. on Saturday, “Bending Genres” will see Elizabeth Renzetti and Kate Hilton, coauthors of Bury The Lead, and Drew Haydon Taylor, author of Cold, read from their novels and discuss the ways in which they write beyond the bounds of genre.
At 4:30 p.m., festival-goers can gather at Lakefield College School to mix and mingle with all the authors and enjoy served hors d’oeuvres and a wine and beer cash bar.
The festival concludes in the Bryan Jones Theatre at 7 p.m. on Saturday with “Wartime Mothers and Allies” featuring authors Tim Cook (Lifesavers and Body Snatchers and the upcoming The Good Allies: How Canada and the United States Fought Together to Defeat Fascism during the Second World War) and Charlotte Gray (Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons: The Lives of Jennie Jerome Churchill and Sara Delano Roosevelt).
The two authors will read from their recent books and share what they discovered about the people and the historical time that inspired them, with journalist and author Doug Saunders moderating the discussion.
Admission to individual events is $30, except for the reception which costs $50, or $80 for all the events except the reception or $115 for all events including the reception. Tickets are available now at lakefieldliteraryfestival.com, and will also be available in mid-May at Happenstance Books and Yarns at 44 Queen Street in Lakefield. Admission to the children’s tent is free.
