As part of our Friday Night Fiction event (8pm, Memorial Hall UNB), we are holding a silent auction of 3 donated paintings and 1 sculpture. These will also be on display at our Book Fair (Wednesday, 3-7pm, Fredericton Public Library) to whet your appetite. Thanks very much to the artists for these beautiful donations: Kris Leblanc, T.A. Fox, Jane Tims, and Wayne Sears!

Kris LeBlanc “Purple Sea”

Kris LeBlanc is a self-taught artist. Originally from Moncton, NB, Kris spent most of his childhood in Fredericton. He spent 10 years living in western Canada before returning home. He lives with his family in New Maryland, NB.

T.A. Fox “Untitled”

T.A. Fox is a visual artist who works in a number of mediums, including ferro-cement and acrylic paints.  His sculptures and paintings can be found in private collections in various parts of Canada.  Fox is a regular contributor to A Brush of Hope – Celebrity Paintings for Kidney Research. He is constantly experimenting with his art and is not shy to use bold colours and textures in his work.  His paintings are inspired by his emotions and energy. Poppies are a favourite when Fox is in a reflective mood. Originally from Toronto, Fox studied under master ferro-cement artist, Nicholas Rees before taking up a palette knife and paints.  Fox now resides in Hanwell, NB, where he says, “I’m finally home.”

Jane Tims, “pick faster”

Jane Tims is a writer and artist from rural New Brunswick. She writes poetry and illustrates her books with her black and white drawings and cover art. Jane shows her paintings at Isaac’s Way in Fredericton at their charity art auctions. She also shows her paintings on her blogs www.janetims.com and www.offplanet.blog. The painting illustrates a poem by the same name in Jane’s book within easy reach (Chapel Street Editions, 2016).

Wayne Sears, “Garden Gnome”

Wayne was born and raised in NB.  He has been working with wood, driftwood and metal for the last five years

Word Feast serves up inspiration to foster literacy

Inaugural Fredericton Literary Festival launches this week

On September 18, 2017, Word Feast, Fredericton’s Literary Festival kicked off in the city, as more than 30 authors from across Canada arrived to share their work and celebrate creativity. Over the week-long festival, running September 18-24, 2017, award winning authors will give workshops and readings in venues across the city. A full program is available on the Word Feast website.

The festival is the legacy project of Fredericton’s first Cultural Laureate, Ian LeTourneau. “My hope is to see this festival become a lasting part of Fredericton’s cultural landscape,” says LeTourneau. “This city has a rich literary heritage and we want to build on that and help preserve it. Our goal is to inspire creativity and foster literacy among readers and writers of all ages, from all walks of life.”

Word Feast events will be held throughout the city at numerous venues, with a total of nearly 20 sponsors and partners offering support. “It was heartening to see the community embrace the festival, with restaurants and businesses agreeing to host events and offering sponsorship.” says LeTourneau. “It says a lot about Fredericton’s character, to have so many people in the community support our vision and offer to help bring these writers and their books to the public.”

Word Feast also received funding from the City of Fredericton and the Province of New Brunswick’s Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture. Other sponsors include Cedar Valley Investments, the Canada Council and the League of Canadian Poets.  Taylor Printing sponsored print materials for the festival.

“Needless to say, we are very grateful,” says LeTourneau. “This support, along with a team of dedicated volunteers going above and beyond, has allowed us to put together an impressive inaugural festival.”

Word Feast’s official launch will be held at the Fredericton Public Library Art Gallery on September 20 from 7-9 p.m.  Admission is free.  Details are available on the festival’s Events page.

Additional Quotes

“Our government recognizes the critical role of literacy in our society and the value that it brings to New Brunswickers. Fredericton’s Literary Festival celebrates New Brunswick’s authors, its history, and our cultural diversity. Festivals such as this provide the opportunity to discover authors and writers in a meaningful way as well as build literacy skills for all ages.”

– John Ames, Minister of Tourism, Heritage and Culture and Minister responsible for Poverty Reduction and the Economic and Social Inclusion Corporation

“Fredericton is a city with deep cultural roots and a long history of fostering diverse literary talent. This festival will honour that tradition and help to inspire the next generation, while also promoting literacy and imagination in our community.”

– Fredericton Deputy Mayor Kate Rogers

Tickets for our two marquee events are available at Westminster Books. Each event costs only $10 and tickets will be available at the door as well.

Friday Night Fiction (Friday, September 22, 8pm, Memorial Hall, UNB) features a reading by Riel Nason, the first annual Word Feast Lecture to be delivered by Rebecca Rosenblum, and a conversation with both authors led by CBC host Colleen Kitts-Goguen. The event includes a silent auction of tremendous artwork and there will be a door prize of books!

Word & Music (Saturday, September 23, 8p, Memorial Hall, UNB) will feature readings by Allan Cooper and Rebecca Rosenblum in addition to original musical sets from singer-songwriters Tim Walker and Jonathan Bowie. There will also be a door prize given away!

Don’t miss out! Buy your tickets today (and browse through the wonderful Westminster Books while you’re at it)!

Wondering what’s going on the week of Word Feast? Wonder no longer! Please click on the link below and it will take you to our program, which is packed full with details!

WORD FEAST 2017 Program

Festival chair Ian LeTourneau was interviewed on Information Morning Fredericton last week and CBC followed up with more questions for a web story. Read the story and listen to the podcast here.

Word Feast: Fredericton’s Literary Festival is pleased to be offering five workshops during the festival (see details here!), so you can learn some tricks of the trade. Want to learn how to polish a poem? Tell your life story? Develop characters through dialogue? Or apply storytelling techniques to the graphic novel? Each of these workshops with some of our festival authors costs twenty dollars!

Registration is limited and on a first come, first served basis. Send an email to info(at)wordfeast.ca to register. We’ll send you a confirmation with payment details.

Don’t miss out!

Our festival is fast approaching and there are plenty of volunteer opportunities. If you’d like to support Fredericton’s inaugural literary festival and join an already fun and dedicated bunch of volunteers, please drop us a line at info(at)wordfeast.ca!

Rebecca Rosenblum, Toronto author of the new novel So Much Love (Penguin Random House, 2017), and recently a finalist for the 2017 Amazon.ca First Novel Award, will headline two events, delivering the first annual Word Feast lecture on Friday September 22 and reading from her novel on September 23.

Rosenblum is also the author of two award-winning collections of short fiction, The Big Dream and Once, which was named one of Quill and Quire‘s 15 Books That Mattered in 2008. Her fiction has been shortlisted for the Journey Prize, the National Magazine Awards, and the Danuta Gleed Award.

Word Feast: Fredericton’s Literary Festival will also feature authors from Vancouver to St. John’s, Newfoundland, including Griffin Prize and Governor General’s Award winning poet Don McKay. Many New Brunswick authors also join the lineup, including Riel Nason, Allan Cooper, and the recent winners of the second annual New Brunswick Book Awards M. Travis Lane, Kerry-Lee Powell, and Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon.

The festival, which runs from September 18-24, 2017, is a legacy project of Fredericton’s inaugural Cultural Laureate, Ian LeTourneau.