Fully booked
High-profile authors attend Le Salon du Livre in Summerside
More than 5,000 people are expected to attend Le Salon du Livre book expo. Bookworms are in for a treat as the leading French book expo, now in its third edition, has many in a flurry as rising stars come to shine the spotlight on their most coveted works at the Centre Belle-Alliance in Summerside.
The event, in collaboration with the Congrès Mondial Acadian 2019, has thousands of books for sale, as well as libraries, publishing houses, and author booths all under one roof. Chair of Le Salon du Livre de l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard board, Rachel Lapointe, says everyone is invited to the three-day event, which began Thursday and continues throughout Saturday.
“The public is invited to come and look at the different booths by authors, libraries and publishers, as well as purchase books and talk to them,” she said. “There are also fun workshops, breakfast and lunch with authors, and lots more happening over the three days.” Books for sale range from children’s novels to true crime for adults. Bestselling crime author Martin Michaud, from Montreal, was among the special guests at the official opening ceremony on Thursday evening. Although busy with his upcoming television series, the author wanted to support this cultural event.
“I worked as a business lawyer for 20 years, and all those years I was writing and trying to publish my novels, which were always rejected, until 2010,” he said. “Then a publisher picked up my crime novel that featured a character called Victor Lessard, who is a police investigator on murder cases. So that book propelled me to publish eight novels and write a TV series (in March) based on this character.”
The author also writes thrillers, one called “Sous La Surface” that has been picked up by a producer for the U.S. market, and Michaud expects to screen-write the movie over the next two years.
The book expo is a great opportunity to meet the authors and participate in the activities involving books, reading and writing.
There is no fee to attend, and all proceeds from the book sales go to the publishing houses and authors.