A look at the Kingston WritersFest

It’s a good weekend to be a book lover (or a book writer) in Kingston, as the annual Kingston WritersFest is now underway.

Now in its eleventh year, the 2019 edition will feature over 75 authors and dozens of events from now until Sunday, Sept. 29, 2019. Here’s a look at a sampling of what’s in store.

‘The Big Idea,’ recognized as one of the four cornerstone events of the festival, is a panel discussing the future of democracy in Canada — a timely topic with an election just weeks away. This panel, featuring Lee Maracle, Robert Lewis and Dave Meslin, will be moderated by Carol Off and touch on topics of climate change, social upheaval, digital media, and more.

Luna Ferguson, the first person in Ontario to receive a non-binary gender on their birth certificate will share from their recent memoir, ‘Me, Myself, They’ and talk about how they used their earliest traumas to build strength and creativity. This conversation with Lee Airton, a gender studies researcher and advocate, is co-presented by the Reelout Arts Project.

Prizewinning novelist and playwright Damian Tarnopolsky will share a class on scene construction, including various generes, tips for pacing, and crafting dialogue. In addition to hearing from Tarnopolsky, participants to this event will have the opportunity to write scenes and share them for constructive criticism and feedback.

A returning free favourite, the Viva Voce panel this year ‘And the Journey Continues’ will feature spoken word poetry from Abena Beloved Green and Cyrena Fiel, and is being headlined by local author and poet Allison Chicholm. This outdoor event “promises to make you see the world in a different way.”

Another cornerstone of this years festival is ‘Author! Author!’ with M.G. Vassanji. Vassanji’s most recent book captures the traditions, passions and connections between Delhi and Toronto, and he will share his life, his work and his observations of humanity with broadcast journalist Eric Friesen.

These are just a small sample of the events happening over the coming days in the downtown. Tickets for some events are already sold out, but others can be had at the door or at the WritersFest box office inside the Holiday Inn Kingston Waterfront.

For more on any of these events, check out the Kingston WritersFest website.