Canadian author Margaret Atwood will open the 2016 Alice Munro Festival of the Short Story Thursday evening at the Blyth Festival.
The internationally-acclaimed author will read from her 2014 short story collection, followed by an onstage conversation with fellow Canadian author Merilyn Simonds as they discuss Atwood’s work, many interests and passions.
Margaret Atwood (photo by Liam Sharp)
Nine other guest authors will take part in this year’s Festival of the Short Story between Thursday and Sunday at venues in Blyth, Wingham, and Goderich.
The Festival honours the work of Huron County native and Nobel Prize winning author Alice Munro.
The Opening Reception on Friday is a unique collaboration between the Blyth Festival and the Alice Munro Festival of the Short Story. Blyth Festival artists will read selections from 'If Truth Be Told', a new play by Beverly Cooper which is premiering at Blyth this season.
The play is a fictionalized account of a group that was successful in having a number of award-winning books banned in schools in Ontario in the 1970s. Four guest authors will read selections from some of the banned books in-between scenes from the play.
Fans of Alice Munro’s work will want to hear Munro biographer Robert Thacker’s lunchtime talk "Alice Munro Country" on Saturday in Wingham.
One popular segment of the Festival is the Short Story Contest, which attracted over two hundred entries from across Canada. Winners in the adult and youth categories will be announced at the gala Saturday evening at the North Huron Wescast Community Complex in Wingham.
The keynote address at the gala Saturday evening will be delivered by Elizabeth Hay. She's a multiple Governor General Award for Fiction Finalist and 2007 Scotiabank Giller Prize winner.
Fellow Giller Prize winner Lynn Coady is also one of the featured authors on this year’s roster. Ms. Coady will speak at the Huron County Museum on Sunday on her latest publication 'Who Needs Books?: Reading in the Digital Age' - an examination of how technology is impacting literacy.
As the only literary festival in the world to celebrate the short story format, a panel of authors will share their favourite short stories at a Books and Brunch event at the Livery Theatre in Goderich on Sunday.
A new addition to this year’s Festival is photography. The Huron County Library and Photography Club of Bayfield have partnered on a photo exhibit that matches quotes from Munro’s stories to images of the Huron County landscape, demonstrating the connection between art and place.
Full program details, including box office information for the 2016 Alice Munro Festival of the Short Story can be found on the website www.alicemunrofestival.ca.
The Alice Munro Festival of the Short Story is supported by the Ontario Arts Council, Township of North Huron, County of Huron, and the municipalities of Central Huron and Morris-Turnberry.