September 26 - 28, 2019

Lunenburg Lit Festival

Thursday Night

September 26, 6:00PM |

Pitch the Publisher

The first ever South Shore Public Libraries and Lunenburg Literary Festival Pitch the Publisher event will take place the Thursday, September 26, 6-8 pm.

This event will help demystify the world of publishing, introduce aspiring book writers to some our province’s leading publishers, and inform the public about the kinds of books being published in Atlantic Canada. Most importantly, authors will have the chance to make a 2.5-minute pitch for the manuscript to publishers, live!

If you’d like to pitch, email cbenjamin@southshorepubliclibraries.ca to register or for more information. Or come on out and cheer on the authors as they pitch their book ideas.

Friday Night

September 27, 7:00PM | Lunenburg School of the Arts

Shandi Mitchell

Shandi considers herself an east coast prairie girl. Growing up, she split her time between the Armed Forces base where her family was stationed, and her aunt and uncle's farm. A graduate of Dalhousie University, she holds a degree in English and Theatre. Her debut novel Under This Unbroken Sky (2009) was published by Penguin Canada, Harper Collins US, and Weidenfeld & Nicholson UK, with translations in Chinese, Hebrew, Dutch, and Italian. Her next novel, The Waiting Hours, will be published in Spring 2019.

Lesley Crewe

Lesley grew up in Montreal, graduated from Concordia University and settled down with her hubby in Homeville, Cape Breton and raised a family. From 2000-2005, Lesley was a features writer and columnist for Cape Bretoner Magazine, and from 2005-2009, a columnist with the on-line magazine, Cahoots. In 2005 her first novel, Relative Happiness, was published by Vagrant Press. It was and instant bestseller, and was shortlisted for the Margaret and John Savage First Book Award. She has since written nine other novels.

Craig Davidson

Craig Davidson was born in Toronto, raised in Calgary and St. Catharines. Davidson attended both Trent University and the University of New Brunswick. He has published work under both his own name and the pen names Patrick Lestewka and Nick Cutter. His 2013 novel Cataract City was named as a shortlisted nominee for the 2013 Scotiabank Giller Prize. His 2018 novel The Saturday Night Ghost Club was a shortlisted finalist for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize.

Saturday Morning

September 28, 11:00AM | Lunenburg Library

Walking Tour with Ashlee Feener

11:00AM

Formerly a research librarian, Ashlee moonlighted as a part-time guide with Lunenburg Walking Tours. Preferring to be a living part of the history, rather than hiding behind-the-scenes with her nose in a book, she co-founded Travel Lunenburg Ltd. in 2014 . She loves sauerkraut, is fascinated with the folklore of Lunenburg County, and is superstitious without even meaning to be.

Saturday Afternoon

September 28, 2:00PM | Lunenburg Courthouse

Kelly S. Thompson

Kelly is a former captain in the Canadian Armed Forces, retiring after an injury, and is now a writer and editor based out of the Toronto area. She has a degree in Professional Writing from York and an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC. Her work has appeared in magazines including Maclean's, Chatelaine, and Maisonneuve, as well as in various anthologies and collections. She has published multiple award-winning essays.

Niki Jabbour

Niki Jabbour is an author and edibles expert from Halifax, who believes that a long Canadian winter shouldn't mean an end to the homegrown harvest. Her first book, The Year Round Vegetable Gardener, was honored with the 2012 American Horticultural Society's Book Award, and Groundbreaking Food Gardens: 73 Plans That Will Change the Way You Grow Your Garden opens your eyes to an infinite number of tasty possibilities. Niki's work is also found in Fine Gardening, Garden Making, The Heirloom Gardener and Birds & Blooms magazines, and Horticulture magazine.

Gerald Hallowell

Gerald Hallowell was born in Port Hope, Ontario, and grew up on a farm in nearby Crooked Creek. For over twenty years he worked as an editor at the University of Toronto Press, retiring as senior editor, Canadian history, in 2000. In 1996 he was elected to the council of the Canadian Historical Association. He edited The Oxford Companion to Canadian History, published in 2004. Since 1989 he has lived in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.

Saturday Night

September 28, 7:00PM | Lunenburg School of the Arts

Michael Crummey

Michael Crummey has published ten books of poetry and fiction. His first novel, River Thieves, was a finalist for the Giller Prize and won the Winterset Award. Galore won the Canadian Authors' Association fiction prize and the Commonwealth Prize (Canada & Caribbean Region). Sweetland was a national bestseller and a finalist for the Governor-General's Award. Little Dogs: New and Selected Poems was published by House of Anansi in the spring of 2016. He lives in St. John's.

Janet Barkhouse

Janet Barkhouse retired from professional theatre in 1982, and from teaching high school English in 2005. She’s written and directed plays for children from ages 8 to 18, written innovative English curriculum for the Province of Nova Scotia, and given workshops and readings for young people, teachers and writers across the Province. In 2006 she fell in love with writing poems. Since then she has studied with many extraordinary poets, at universities in Halifax, and at the Banff Centre. Her debut book of poems, Salt Fires (Pottersfield, 2018) follows on two chapbooks, Silence and Sable Island Fieldnotes. In 2013-14, through their Humanities-HEALS program, she was Artist in Residence (Writing) at Dalhousie University's Medical School.

Amy Spurway

Amy was born and raised on Cape Breton Island, where, at the age of eleven, she landed her first writing and performing gigs with CBC Radio. Amy attended both the University of New Brunswick, and Ryerson University. She has worked as a freelance writer, communications consultant, editor, and performer. Her work has appeared in Today's Parent, the Toronto Star, Babble, and Elephant Journal, as well as in the realms of advertising, marketing, non-profit and corporate communications, education, health, and politics. Amy lives in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, with her husband Matthew, and their three daughters.

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Questions?

  • purchasing tickets & pricing
  • venue information
  • travel & directions
  • accommodations assistance
  • accessibility problem-solving
  • …any other concerns you may have
Click the chat icon in the corner of the screen to chat with a festival concierge or call us at 1-902-543-2548.

2019 Tickets Available August 15th

Tickets can be purchased by cash or cheque at:

Full Weekend Pass • $50
Evening or Afternoon Show • $20
Lunenburg Walking Tour • $20
Kids Event • $0

2019 Sponsors Coming Soon