2014 Atlantic Book Festival Events

The festival runs May 14 – 21 throughout the Atlantic region and the gala is May 21 at the Delta Prince Edward / PEI Convention Centre in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

New Brunswick

Wednesday, May 14
7:00 PM: Director/CEO and Chief Curator of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Terry Graff, presents his book Masterworks from the Beaverbrook Art Gallery at the Saint John Arts Centre, Saint John

Wednesday, May 21
12:00 PM: “Lunch and Learn”: David Bell presents Loyalist Rebellion in New Brunswick: A defining conflict for Canada’s political culture at the Moncton Public Library, Moncton

Nova Scotia

Wednesday, May 14
2:00 PM: Rosalie Osmond reads from her novel Waldenstein at the Thomas H. Raddall Library, Liverpool
6:00 PM: Jan L. Coates reads from her book The Power of Harmony at the Wolfville Memorial Library
6:00 PM: Gerald Hallowell presents his book The August Gales: The Tragic Loss of Fishing Schooners in the North Atlantic, 1926 and 1927 at McKay Memorial Library, Shelburne
6:30 PM: “Meet the Artist” event with Leonard Paul, illustrator of Pisim Finds Her Miskanow at the Glooscap Heritage Centre, Truro

Thursday, May 15
10:15 AM: Jan L. Coates presents her book The Power of Harmony to local students at the Spring Garden Road Memorial Public Library, Halifax
1:30 PM: Meghan Marentette shares her book The Stowaways with local students at the Captain William Spry Public Library, Halifax
6:00 PM: Charlotte R. Mendel reads from her debut novel Turn Us Again at the Lunenburg Library
7:00 PM: Local publisher Robbie MacGregor moderates a discussion with the finalists for the Jim Connors Dartmouth Book Award (Fiction), Anne Emery (Blood on a Saint), Stephanie Domet (Fallsy Downsies) and Rosalie Osmond (Waldenstein), Alderney Gate Public Library, Dartmouth
7:00 PM: Janet E. Cameron reads from her debut novel Cinnamon Toast and the End of the World at the Rosa M. Harvey Middleton & Area Library, Middleton

Friday, May 16
12:00 PM: Local author and journalist Jon Tattrie brings together Gerald Hallowell (The August Gales: The Tragic Loss of Fishing Schooners in the North Atlantic, 1926 and 1927), Brian Douglas Tennyson, editor (Merry Hell: The Story of the 25th Batallion (Nova Scotia Regiment)), Ruth Holmes Whitehead (Black Loyalists: Southern Settlers of Nova Scotia’s First Free Black Communities) and Joel Zemel (Scapegoat: the extraordinary legal proceedings following the 1917 Halifax Explosion) for a discussion on local history at Uncommon Grounds, Public Gardens, Halifax
2:30 PM: Brian Douglas Tennyson, editor of Captain Robert N. Clements MC’s Merry Hell: The Story of the 25th Batallion (Nova Scotia Regiment), presents the book to residents of Camp Hill Veteran’s Memorial Building, Halifax

Saturday, May 17
10:00 AM: Jacqueline Halsey will sign copies of her children’s book Bluenose Adventure at Chapters, Mic Mac Mall, Dartmouth
12:00 PM: Joel Zemel will sign copies of Scapegoat: the extraordinary legal proceedings following the 1917 Halifax Explosion at Carrefour Atlantic and The Puffin Gallery, Privateers Wharf Historic Properties, Halifax
12:00 PM: Book signing with Stephanie Domet (Fallsy Downsies) and Anne Emery (Blood on a Saint) at Chapters, Bayers Lake, Halifax
12:30 PM: A meet and greet with Debra Komar, author of The Ballad of Jacob Peck, at Bainton’s Tannery Outlet (Mad Hatter Bookstore), Annapolis Royal

Monday, May 19
2:00 PM: Jonathan Fowler presents Diaries of the Acadian Deportations, No. 1: Jeremiah Bancroft at Fort Beauséjour and Grand-Pré in the Interpretation Centre followed by a short walking tour of Grand-Pré National Historical Site of Canada

Tuesday, May 20
10:00 AM: Susan Tooke explains the artistic process behind her illustrations for George Elliott Clarke’s Lasso the Wind: Aurelia’s Verses and Other Poems to young readers at the Cole Harbour Public Library
6:30 PM: Debra Komar presents “Getting Away with Murder: Rewriting Canada’s bloodiest history, one crime at a time” in support of her book The Ballad of Jacob Peck at the Westville Public Library, Westville
7:00 PM: Janet E. Cameron (Cinnamon Toast and the End of the World), Stephen Law (Tailings of Warren Peace) and Charlotte R. Mendel (Turn Us Again) read and discuss their experiences as debut novelists at the Spring Garden Road Memorial Public Library, Halifax

Prince Edward Island

Wednesday, May 14
7:00 PM: Special guest Paul Bowdring reads from his new novel The Strangers’ Gallery at Mavor’s, Charlottetown.

Thursday, May 15
7:00 PM: PEI Book Award (Fiction) finalists Keir Lowther (Dirty Bird), Patti Larsen (Ghost Boy of MacKenzie House), Richard Lemm (RipTides: New Island Fiction) come together for a discussion at the Confederation Centre Public Library, Charlottetown

Saturday, May 17
1:00 PM: Book signing with PEI Book Award (Fiction) finalists Patti Larsen (Ghost Boy of MacKenzie House), Richard Lemm (RipTides: New Island Fiction) and Keir Lowther (Dirty Bird) at Indigo, Charlottetown.

Tuesday, May 20
7:00 PM: Join non-fiction writers John Flood – editor (The Master’s Wife: The Book and the Place), Earle Lockerby (Diaries of the Acadian Deportations, No. 1: Jeremiah Bancroft at Fort Beauséjour and Grand-Pré) and Pan Wendt (Lionel F. Stevenson: Fifty Years of Photographs/ Cinquante ans de photographie (1962-2012)) for a panel discussion in the Faculty Lounge, Main Building, UPEI, Charlottetown.

Wednesday, May 21
12:00 PM: Director/CEO and Chief Curator of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Terry Graff, presents his book Masterworks from the Beaverbrook Art Gallery at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery, Charlottetown.
2:00 PM: Jesse Francis and A.J.B. Johnston present their book Ni’n na L’nu: The Mi’kmaq of Prince Edward Island at the Confederation Centre Public Library, Charlottetown.

Where to Stay – Charlottetown Hotel Details:

Delta Prince Edward (adjoining Awards gala venue)

Best Western Charlottetown (10 – 15 min. walk from Awards gala venue)

Holman Grant (5 – 10 min. walk from Awards gala venue)