Whether you love fiction, social issues, food writing or spoken word, the 15th annual Kingston WritersFest will inspire you.
Check out these books by authors featured in this year’s WritersFest!
Mushrooming: The Joy of the Quiet Hunt by Diane Borsato
Beautiful illustrations combined with fascinating information and anecdotes from the fungi kingdom. Learn about mushrooms upon which one can illustrate, a fungus used thousands of years ago for carrying fire and the fierce competition among foragers. Beware — once you begin, you might start to notice them everywhere!
Ring of Fire: High-Stakes Mining in a Lowlands Wilderness by Virginia Heffernan
In 2007, gigantic metal deposits discovered in the James Bay lowlands sparked a mining rush and the interest of wealthy developers. Now, there are plans for an accessible year-round road in the remote region. In this book, frictions between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, as well as economy and ecology, are explored with a note of hope, with a chance for Canada to set the standard of responsible resource development.
Denison Avenue by Christina Wong
Part graphic novel, part novella set in Toronto’s Chinatown-Kensington Market neighbourhood. The novel illuminates the impacts of gentrification, exploring the loss of our loved ones amid a lost community while navigating the barriers elderly Chinese Canadians can face in big cities.
Mercy Gene: The Man-Made Making Of A Mad Woman by J.D. Derbyshire
Inspired by the author’s play Certified, Mercy Gene is an auto-fictitious story. Told with colourful splashes of poetry, memories and imaginings, which all together create a new portrayal of non-linear fiction, this is a powerful narrative on trauma, gender-queerness, confusion, substance abuse, institutionalization and the visible and unseen side effects of approaches to psychiatric evaluation.
Swimming in Darkness by Lucas Harari
A noir graphic novel with stunning illustrations set in Vals, in the Swiss Alps, where an infamous thermal spring complex was built deep inside a mountain. Renowned for its architectural design, it lures people in. Two architects are at odds and obsessed, attempting to uncover what’s hidden inside the complex. The story is woven with lore, rivalry and an obsession worth killing for.
Unbroken: My Fight for Survival, Hope, and Justice for Indigenous Women and Girls by Angela Sterritt
Before becoming an applauded journalist for major news outlets, Sterritt used sketchbooks and journals to escape the realities of living on the streets of Vancouver. Presenting her debut memoir, she shares her lived experiences woven with her investigative reporting on MMIWG. Unbroken illuminates the resilience and brilliance of Indigenous women while articulating the impacts of and need for accountability for racism and colonialism in modern society.
Try Not to Be Strange by Michael Hingston
Historical fiction disguised as a travel diary blended with literary history set in a most peculiar Caribbean island — a micro-nation, previously uninhabited and guano-infested, now home to eccentric writers and other new inhabitants. Should one venture off into the world from this paradise, heed the advice given by its islanders: try not to be strange.
The Tenant Class by J. Ricardo Tranjan
A manifesto drawn from the expertise and knowledge of a political economist, this is a timely look at our housing crisis. Shedding light upon Canada's inspiring historical collective action, Tranjan examines disinformation and offers a path to secure decent homes and fair rent.
