Literary salons … a rebirth!

Many of my readers will remember that I was once an Author Impresario who ran a business called Alberta Books Canada. It was my mandate to find new readers for my clients. So, in an attempt to reach a new and different audience, I began hosting the Alberta Books Canada Literary Salon Series, and a number of good friends opened up their private homes to host these events. I wrote a recap of the series here, 2012 – A Year of Alberta Books Canada Literary Salons.

The idea behind this was to bring together authors and readers for the enjoyment of listening to an author read from their own work and to discuss various topics in an informal, comfortable setting. We had some great successes over the year and I do believe that everyone involved – authors, guests, and hosts – enjoyed themselves. I know I did!

So it is with great pleasure I now announce the Rebirth of our literary salons … but this time in Ontario, and eventually on the Internet. The first will be held on the afternoon of Sept. 29th in Minden and we will be sending out invitations soon. (Because these salons are held in private homes, we cannot announce the location publicly, but will send invitations to those who are interested in attending.) This particular salon is being held to launch IslandShorts. It is hoped by the end of September IslandShorts will have four eBooks available in this short fiction series. So Michael Fay and Susan M. Toy (me!) will read from their recently published stories, and they’ll be joined by Bruce Hunter, a poet and novelist who lives in the Toronto area, but who was born in Calgary. (The Calgary connections will be strong at this particular salon as all three readers have lived in that city at one time or another.) For the discussion following, how about if we talk about ePublishing and promoting eBooks?

We will not be Skyping-in anyone – this time, but there is the possibility of expanding this salon concept to eventually include authors from much further away. For instance, I like the idea of hosting a salon held back in Canada while I sit on my verandah in Bequia, sipping on a cold cocktail. Just imagine the possibilities of going global!

Poet, Alice Major, speaking with reader and bookseller, Judy Gardner at the final salon

b: Peter Midgley, Kath Maclean, Susan Toy, Geo Takach
F. Sue Hill, Alice Major, Cathie Crooks