I had the most wonderful time this weekend at the Sidney Literary Festival. Literary festivals are such a treat because you get to meet other book lovers, catch up with the latest books by favourite authors, and discover new talent. A bonus is that you may even be given the opportunity to take writing workshops with top notch writers. The only downside is that, if you are anything like me, you are likely to come away with more books to add to your growing pile of “to be read” books! This weekend, I was lucky enough to take a poetry workshop with Carla Funk, a super-talented Victoria-based poet, hear two authors, David Chariandy, and Carmen Aguirre, that I have been meaning to read, and discover the talented Darrel J. Mcleod, whose, Mamaskatch: A Cree Coming of Age, won the Governor General’s Award for non-fiction. I enjoyed a story by humour writer Jack Knox, and stories by Monique Gray Smith. There were so many more talented writers that I missed, but I came away with books to read at home and a list of more to buy on my e-reader for travels. 

Happy reading…