Ann-marie Macdonald to open 10th Knowlton Literary Festival

NSubmitted by Philip Lanthier

oted author, playwright, actor and television personality, Annmarie Macdonald, will be in Knowlton this fall to help launch the 10th anniversary edition of the Knowlton Literary Festival.

Her reading from new work will follow the reception which opens the Festival at 6:00 p.m., Friday, October 18 at the Ville de Lac-brome Community Centre, 270 Victoria in Knowlton. Entry fee for the event is $20 and includes wine and catered hors d’oeuvres.

Ann-marie Macdonald is author of several novels including the best sellers Fall on Your Knees and The Way the Crow Flies. She is also co-creator of a number of original theatrical pieces and sole author of the comic play Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) which won a Governor General’s award for English Language Drama in 1990. She is perhaps best known to Canadians as host of the Life and Times documentary series and as host and narrator of CBC’S Doc Zone.

Her most recent work, Adult Onset, like her two earlier novels, has strong autobiographical elements and was, she says, the hardest to write. Macleans magazine found the novel “intricate and gripping...a master class in turning the personal into the universal through art.” The narrative centres on two gay women and the challenges they face in raising children while pursuing their own creative lives. The re-emerging past complicates their lives and threatens their precarious world. Readers interested in getting a taste of Adult Onset can access the ingenious “trailer” available on Annmarie Macdonald’s website.

This year’s festival will also feature something new: a master of ceremonies. Roger Williams, retired teacher from Marianopolis CEGEP in Montreal will act as the voice of the festival, introducing authors and ensuring that the events move along smoothly. He divides his time between Sutton and a cottage on Lake Memphremagog

For additional information: philiplanthier@live.ca (450-242-2773)