My first time in Eastport, Newfoundland! I was thrilled to be part of Winterset in Summer Literary Festival‘s 25th year.

Eastport was an hour drive from Gander International Airport. The town is located in Central Newfoundland on the Eastport Peninsula.  My family and I enjoyed the nearby sandy beaches and explored the many coastal hiking trails that offered stunning ocean lookouts. The festival was held at the Beaches Arts & Heritage Centre.

This was my first time in conversation with David Bergen. On stage, we discovered that Phyllis Bruce, one of Canada’s most legendary editors, edited both our debut novels. A Year of Lesser was a Phyllis Bruce Books (imprint with HarperCollins Canada, 1996) and Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety was a a Phyllis Bruce Edition (imprint with Simon & Schuster Canada, 2016). Our moderator was the super-cool Ted Blades, who made it easy for us to have a relaxed and fun chat.

I can’t take selfies, but Maddie sure can! Ever since I read Sweetland, I’ve been a huge fan of Michael Crummey’s work. What a pleasure to meet and watch him on stage. And I finally got to thank Lisa Moore for her kindness and generosity when she moderated my first out-of-province lit panel back in 2016. Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety had been published that year and suddenly I was in Vancouver sharing a stage with Ivan Coyote and Ashley Little for one event and Andre Alexis, Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, Emma Donoghue, Francesca Melandri, Peter Robinson with host Caroline Adderson, for another. Lisa told me to “just breathe.”

The event with Souvankham Thammavongsa and Ian Williams in conversation with William Ping was entitled “Excellence in Craft” and covered a range of topics that included beauty, appearance, and identity. Souvankham talked about how hard writing was – that the real work was the things readers couldn’t see – navigating editorial feedback, having to defend creative choices, and writing for countless hours that might not result in anything meaningful. Ian made everyone laugh when he said, “I’d trade food for a good idea.” He raised an important point when he wondered, who gets to be in a novel? What type of characters are included? Excluded?

Madeleine Thien in conversation with  Eleanor Wachtel moved us with her candor and honesty. When asked, what is it to imagine? Maddie replied that she had spent something like 31,200 hours inside her imagination working on The Book of Records.

Our welcome bag had coffee, tea, bread, locally made jam and even a mini-first aid kit. The flashlight came in handy! It got very dark at night. The partridgeberry jam had a lovely tart twist without being overly sweet. The East Coast Glow lip balm, which I just started using, soothes and softens instantly – love it!

The fish dinner at the local Legion was a huge hit! People were taking photos of others taking photos of their meals – which made everyone laugh.

My family and I loved our little cabin! And because each cabin around us had an author staying in it, White Sails Inn felt like a little writing community. The festival also had a Hospitality space in a house near the Beaches Centre for guest authors and hosts to hang out and grab a bite to eat.