2009 Atlantic Book Festival, April 14 - 18!

Here's a look at the 2009 events. Watch for the 2010 events to be posted soon!

Tuesday, April 14th, 1:00 pm, CBC Radio One's Maritime Noon,
Phone: 1-800-565-1940
Listen and call in with your "Pitch the Publisher" ideas. You will have a chance to pitch your book ideas to three of the region's top publishers.

Nova Scotia

April 5 – 19 at The Puffin Gallery, The Market Mall, 1869 Upper Water Street, Halifax
Phone: 902-423-2940
The Puffin Gallery, created by Carrefour Atlantic Emporium in conjunction with Historic Properties, will host a show of Original Illustrations by Atlantic Book Award nominated illustrators Susan Tooke (Up Home) and Frances Wolfe (The Little Toy Shop). Join us for the Opening Party on Sunday, April 5th from 2:00 – 5:00 pm.

Tuesday, April 14, 7:00 pm at McConnell Memorial Library, 50 Falmouth Street (at the corner of Charlotte Street), Sydney Phone: 902-563-1604
A Celebration of Cape Breton Writers, with special guest, Donna Morrissey
Readings by Donna Morrissey (nominated for Booksellers’ Choice Award), Douglas Arthur Brown (nominated for the Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction), Robert J. Morgan (nominated for the Atlantic Book Award for Historical Writing and the Dartmouth Book Award for Non-fiction), Susan M. Farrell (author of Basement Suite, forthcoming from CBU Press); and Dave Wilson (author of Talkback, forthcoming from Breton Books). The evening, featuring a tribute to Robert J. Morgan, is hosted by Cape Breton Regional Library, Breton Books, and Cape Breton University Press. Emcee is Wendy Martin, journalist and book panel host on CBC Radio One Cape Breton.

Tuesday, April 14, 1:00 – 3:00 pm at Frog Hollow Books, Park Lane Mall, Spring Garden Road, Halifax Phone: 902-429-3318
Chris Arsenault will be reading from and signing copies of his newly released book, Blowback: A Canadian History of Agent Orange and the War at Home (Fernwood Publishing).

Tuesday, April 14, 7:00 pm, at Women’s Council House, 989 Young Avenue (at the corner of Inglis Street), Halifax Phone: 902-420-0711
The Author / Publisher Relationship: A Celebration of the Best Atlantic Published Books of 2009
Publishers and authors of books nominated as the Best Atlantic Published Book discuss what makes the relationship work. Moderated by host, Leonard Preyra, MLA Citadel-Sable Island. Refreshments.

Tuesday, April 14, 8:00 pm (doors open at 7:00 pm), at The Company House, 2202 Gottingen Street, Halifax Phone: 902-420-0711
Join Catherine Banks, Ian Colford, and Mark Blagrave—the finalists for the Margaret and John Savage First Book Award—for an evening of readings and a discussion of the journey from manuscript to publication. Hosted by last year’s recipient of the First Book Award, CBC Radio’s Stephanie Domet. Licensed: 19 years and older. Cash bar.

Wednesday, April 15, 12:00 – 2:00 pm, at Spring Garden Road Public Library, Halifax
Phone: 902-490-5745
Celebrating the finalists for the Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction. Readings and Q&A with nominated authors Douglas Arthur Brown, Anne Simpson, and Susan Young de Biagi.

Wednesday, April 15, 1:00 pm, at Carrefour Atlantique Emporium, Historic Properties, Halifax
Phone: 902-423-2940
Readings and signings by nominated non-fiction authors Robert J. Morgan, Stephen Kimber, John Leroux, and William Naftel. Coffee and cookies.

Thursday, April 16, 5:00 – 7:00 pm, at Trinity Restaurant, 1333 South Park Street, Halifax
Phone: 902-455-4286
Nimbus Publishing Spring Launch Mixer. Join us for a relaxing mixer among friends to celebrate the Atlantic Book Festival and our Spring 2009 releases. Hors d'oeuvres will be served. Cash bar.

Thursday, April 16, 7:00 pm, at Alderney Gate Public Library, Dartmouth
Phone: 902-490-5745
An evening of readings by nominated authors, including Catherine Banks (nominated for the Margaret and John Savage First Book Award), Douglas Arthur Brown (nominated for the Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction) and Susan Young de Biagi (nominated for the Atlantic Book Award for Historical Writing and the Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction).

Thursday, April 16, 7:00 – 9:00 pm, at Frog Hollow Books, Park Lane Mall, Spring Garden Road, Halifax Phone: 902-429-3318
Launch of Annapolis Valley Tastes (Nimbus Publishing) with author Sean Buckland.

New addition! Friday, April 17, 12:00 - 3:00 pm, at Carrefour Atlantique Emporium, Historic Properties, Halifax, Phone: 902-423-2940

Book signing with Steve Vernon, Halifax Haunts (Nimbus Publishing).

Saturday, April 18 (through June 14) at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (AGNS), Halifax
An exhibition of the original acrylic paintings for Atlantic Book Awards double nominee, Up Home by artist/illustrator Susan Tooke, accompanied by a DVD presentation of the words as spoken by author, Shauntay Grant. In honour of the exhibit, “Up Home,” the Nova Scotia Department of Education and AGNS will partner in a series of writing and art workshops for young people in the North Preston area focused on the notion of their own home. School groups and gallery visitors are also invited to participate in special tours highlighting this important exhibition. The Black Cultural Centre will host the "Up Home" exhibition throughout the summer. For exhibition and programming details, please check the AGNS website at www.artgalleryofnovascotia.ca.

Saturday, April 18, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm, at Captain William Spry Community Centre, 10 Kidston Road, Spryfield, Halifax Phone: 902-477-7665
First Annual Free Spryfield Book Bonanza. A family event with such activities as book trading, a book “doctor,” and readings from Jacqueline Halsey (co-author, The Terrible, Horrible, Smelly Pirate) and Frances Wolfe (author and illustrator, The Little Toy Shop). Organized by the Single Parent Centre, Edward Jost Children’s Centre, and the Spryfield Family Task Force.

New Brunswick

Friday, April 17, 7:00 pm, at the University Club, Mount Allison University, Sackville
Phone: 506-536-0404
Tidewater Books celebrates the Atlantic Book Awards with nominated authors Donna Morrissey, Ian Colford, Mark Blagrave, and Susan Young de Biagi. The University Club (also known as the Faculty Club or President's Cottage) is the white house located on Main Street, just across from the Avard-Dixon building on the Mount Allison campus.

Friday, April 17 – Sunday, April 26: various locations, Moncton
The Frye Festival is celebrating its 10th anniversary! Canada’s only, bilingual, international literary festival will bring together world-renowned authors with audiences of all ages in a bilingual celebration of words. Some of this year’s authors are: Jane Urquhart, Wayne Johnston, Sheree Fitch, and Miriam Toews. Check www.frye.ca for more details.

Saturday, April 18, 2:00 pm, at Westminster Books, 445 King Street, Fredericton
Phone: 506-454-1442
Sheree Fitch will be doing an in-store signing of Sleeping Dragons All Around (Nimbus Publishing).

Saturday, April 18, 2:00 – 4:00 pm, at Moncton Chapters, in Crystal Palace, 499 Paul Street, Dieppe
Phone: 506-855-8075
Atlantic Book Festival Closing Celebration with nominated authors Donna Morrissey, Ian Colford, William Naftel, and Susan Young de Biagi, and illustrator, Susan Tooke.

Newfoundland

Saturday, April 18, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm, at Chapters, 70 Kenmount Road, St. John's
Phone: 709-726-0375
Interactive illustrating workshop for children with Nancy Keating, illustrator of the Best Atlantic Published Book Award finalist, Forget-Me-Not.

Prince Edward Island

Thursday, April 16, 7:00 pm, at Confederation Centre Art Gallery, 145 Richmond Street, Charlottetown Phone: 902-628-1864
Reading Night with nominated authors, Donna Morrissey and Ian Colford, and PEI’s own David Weale and Orysia Dawydiak. Refreshments to follow.

Saturday, April 18, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, at the Bookmark, 172 Queen Street, Charlottetown
Phone: 902-566-4888
Author signing with Julie V. Watson, author of Sensational Seafood and Shipwrecks & Seafaring Tales of Prince Edward Island (Nimbus Publishing)