Tag Archives: Imagination Writers’ Festival 2024

Kim Spencer is poised to sign a copy of Weird Rules to Follow purchased by CQSB librarian Chelsea Baker. (Photo by Danielle Burns)

IMAGINATION WRITERS’ FESTIVAL: 15th Imagination Writers’ Festival opens with GG finalist Kim Spencer

IMAGINATION WRITERS’ FESTIVAL 15th Imagination Writers’ Festival opens with GG finalist Kim Spencer Danielle Burns danielle@qctonline.com Governor General’s Literary Award finalist Kim Spencer shared her multi-award-winning debut children’s novel Weird…

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Author Waubgeshig Rice and CBC Quebec producer Kim Garrity discuss Rice’s latest novel with a Morrin Centre audience at the Imagination Writers’ Festival on April 9. (Photo by Ruby Pratka)

IMAGINATION WRITERS’ FESTIVAL: Moon of the Turning Leaves paints a picture of hopeful dystopia

IMAGINATION WRITERS’ FESTIVAL:  Moon of the Turning Leaves paints a picture of hopeful dystopia Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter editor@qctonline.com As the world shut down in March and April…

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IMAGINATION WRITERS’ FESTIVAL: Linda Leith shares publishing wisdom at Imagination Writers’ Festival

Imagination Writers’ Festival Linda Leith shares publishing wisdom at Imagination Writers’ Festival Cassandra Kerwin Cassandra@qctonline.com In front of a full crowd, recently named officer of the Order of Canada, Montreal…

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Host Luc Murray Mercier, Caitlin Murphy, Deb VanSlet and Raissa Simone discussed the importance of spoken word as a literary art form. “With spoken word, you get the full course of my message and emotions,” Simone emphasized.

IMAGINATION WRITERS’ FESTIVAL: ‘Why do we even use words?’

IMAGINATION WRITERS’ FESTIVAL ‘Why do we even use words?’ Myriam Labbé myriam@qctonline.com A voice and sound-centred literary event concluded the Morrin Centre’s 15th Imagination Writers’ Festival on April 14. Authors…

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Writer Neil Bissoondath appeared at the Morrin Centre for the 15th Imagination Writers’ Festival. On April 14, he spoke about (self)-censorship in an age of nationalist and identity politics. (Photo by Cassandra Kerwin)

IMAGINATION WRITERS’ FESTIVAL: Neil Bissoondath talks (self)-censorship in an age of nationalist and identity politics

IMAGINATION WRITERS’ FESTIVAL  Neil Bissoondath talks (self)-censorship in an age of nationalist and identity politics Cassandra Kerwin  Cassandra@qctonline.com On April 14, returning author Neil Bissoondath read his academic essay (Self)-Censorship…

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Joan Thomas reads a section of her novel Wild Hope to introduce her main character, Isla, who is a wholesome, well grounded woman stepping out into the world as a new chef, ready to fall in love; who equates getting cooking right, to getting life right. (Photo by Sarah Elworthy)

IMAGINATION WRITERS’ FESTIVAL: Morrin Centre hosts intimate discussion with Joan Thomas

IMAGINATION WRITERS’ FESTIVAL Morrin Centre hosts intimate discussion with Joan Thomas Sarah Elworthy sarah@qctonline.com At the final talk of the day on April 9, the opening day of the 15th…

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Sommelier Bianca Thériault chats with Montreal-based non-fiction writer Taras Grescoe, author of The Lost Supper: Searching for the future of food in the flavours of the past about the robust Monasterio de las Vinas red wine that she paired with his book. (Photo by Shirley Nadeau)

IMAGINATION WRITERS’ FESTIVAL: Imagination Books & Wine event a delicious match

IMAGINATION WRITERS’ FESTIVAL Imagination Books & Wine event a delicious match Shirley Nadeau shirley@qctonline.com What’s better than curling up with a good book and a tasty glass of wine? On…

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Montreal Gazette journalist Philip Authier (left) interviews Will and Ian Ferguson, co-authors of I Only Read Murder, at the Imagination Writers’ Festival on April 11. (Photo by Shirley Nadeau)

IMAGINATION WRITERS’ FESTIVAL: Ferguson brothers team up to write I Only Read Murder

IMAGINATION WRITERS’ FESTIVAL Ferguson brothers team up to write I Only Read Murder Shirley Nadeau shirley@qctonline.com After the tasty Books & Wine event at the Imagination Writers’ Festival on April…

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Daniel Scott Tysdal gets ready to start his workshop, “Everything You Need to Write a Poem (and How It Can Save a Life)” at the Morrin Centre library. (Photo by Lise Lafond)

IMAGINATION WRITERS’ FESTIVAL: Workshop shows the transformative power of poetry

IMAGINATION WRITERS’ FESTIVAL Workshop shows the transformative power of poetry Lise Lafond lise@qctonline.com Writing poetry is a passion, ignited by thoughts, fuelled by ink. A way to travel through another…

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IMAGINATION WRITERS’ FESTIVAL: Plucky Newfoundland author discusses Rage The Night

IMAGINATION WRITERS’ FESTIVAL

Plucky Newfoundland author discusses Rage The Night

Shirley Nadeau

shirley@qctonline.com

Bibliophiles were delighted to meet Donna Morrissey during the April 13 event of the Imagination Writers’ Festival. The author of eight books, including her 2021 memoir Pluck, subtitled A Memoir of a Newfoundland Childhood and the Raucous, Terrible, Amazing Journey to Becoming a Novelist, was there to talk about her most recent novel, Rage the Night.

QCT journalist Danielle Burns interviewed Morrissey before an enthusiastic group of festival-goers. Rage the Night is described as “an intimate tale of one man’s quest to discover the truth of his birth and a riveting account of a real- life Newfoundland tragedy in March 1914, when 132 sealers from the SS Newfoundland were stranded on the ice in blizzard conditions and with- out adequate shelter for two days. More than two-thirds of the men died and many of the survivors lost one or more limbs to frostbite.”

After a deathbed confession uncovers secrets of his birth, 20-year-old Roan, the main character of Rage the Night, travels across Newfoundland from the remote Northern Peninsula to St. John’s and then onto the SS Newfoundland, one of many poorly equipped ships heading out to the sealing grounds for the spring hunt. Morrissey referred to Death on the Ice, written in 1972 by Cassie Brown, which gives a detailed account of the harrowing and terrible tragedy.

Morrissey also talked about her memoir, explaining that her publisher – Penguin Random House Canada – had urged her to shorten the book’s lengthy title (now a subtitle) to just one word, and came up with the succinct Pluck. She shared deeply personal stories about her life and how she overcame difficult and tragic times to become a successful author. Born and raised in a remote community in northern Newfoundland, she now lives in Halifax.

At the end of the evening, Burns said, “Personally, I loved her memoir! I bought it twice – in audiobook form and again at the festival in hard copy. She is certainly a lovely woman with a lot of pluck….If I had to get stuck on a desert island with someone, Morrissey might be in my top 10! She’s a survivor and would have enough stories to entertain us for a long time!”

Aiden Roberts, a fellow Newfoundlander, enjoyed the event immensely, saying, “I really appreciated the evening and Danielle’s interview with Donna. It has inspired me to go back and read the book again! It is a novel that has lots of riddles, starting with the front cover. However, a close read will allow you to come up with satisfactory answers.” Roberts also wrote a review of the book that appears in the spring edition of the Morrin Centre’s Society Pages quarterly.

QCT journalist Danielle Burns interviewed author Donna Morrissey about her latest book Rage the Night during the April 13 Imagination Writers’ Festival event at the Morrin Centre. (Photo by Shirley Nadeau)