NOWW Celebrates LitFest with Author Angie Abdou
THUNDER BAY, ON – Writers, readers, and everyone in between are invited to celebrate the written word with one of Canada’s up-and-coming literary talents during the Northwestern Ontario Writers Workshop Write NOWW LitFest 2018.
The LitFest is a two-day literary event that will feature best-selling author, Angie Abdou. It will include a public reading and conversation, a workshop led by Abdou, and the Annual Literary Awards Dinner and Gala.
“I have a real soft spot for Thunder Bay and am always happy to come back,” Abdou said. “I lived there as a child when my dad, Frank Abdou, attended Lakehead University. His picture still hangs there on the Athletics Wall of Fame. So Thunder Bay is a home of sorts – and I’m excited to visit and share my passion for writing and reading with the community, working with aspiring writers and engaging in conversation with enthusiastic readers.”
On Friday May 4, Abdou will be reading from her latest novel In Case I Goat the Baggage Building Arts Centre (Prince Arthur’s Landing) at 7 p.m. Sandi Boucher, local Indigenous author, activist and advocate for cross-cultural relationships, will facilitate a Q&A about the writing process, Angie’s book and how Canada, and Canadian literature, is undergoing a transformation.
“The talk Sandi and I have will be part of the wider conversation going on in this country, the search for productive ways forward,” Abdou said.
Abdou will also be leading the workshop: Hook and Hold Your Reader, which is being held on Saturday, May 5 at the Mary J. L. Black Library. Registration and more information is available on the NOWW website.
Abdou is the author of The Bone Cage, which was a Canada Reads finalist in 2011, and her most recent novel, In Case I Go, was a finalist for the Banff Mountain Book Award and made the 2017 “Best Of 2017” lists by CBC Books and Writers’ Trust.
To wrap up the Write NOWW LitFest, NOWW will be hosting its annual Gala Dinner and Awards at the Prince Arthur Hotel on Saturday, May 5 at 6 p.m. Tickets are $45 and the night will include a symposium, dinner, keynote address by Abdou, and presentation of the 2018 Literary Awards, including the winning entries from the NOWW Writing Contest.
“I, like many NOWW members, look forward to the LitFest each year, especially the Gala Dinner,” said NOWW president, Elizabeth Pszczolko. “After a long winter it’s great to get out of our various dens and see our fellow writers. I’m especially looking forward to honouring the Kouhi and Phillips award recipients. The Write NOWW LitFest organizers work very hard to put on a great event each year. Come and help us celebrate a great year of writing.”
NOWW gratefully acknowledges the Canada Council for the Arts through The Writers’ Union of Canada for their financial support of the reading May 4th.
For more information and to register for the workshop or purchase tickets for the Awards Gala, visit www.nowwwriters.ca.
