April 8, 2016
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Arts Council of New Westminster, New Westminster Public Library, Douglas College and the Royal City Literary Arts Society are excited to present the 2016 edition of LitFest NewWest.
For the past five years, the Arts Council of New Westminster, the Royal City Literary Arts Society, Douglas College and the New Westminster Public Library have partnered together to produce LitFest New West—a celebration of readers and writers. LitFest New West was born out of the love of words and the desire to share that love with the community. There is a vibrant literary scene in New Westminster, and this festival celebrates and promotes it.
The festival will be taking place May 13th19th
2016 in various venues across New Westminster, British Columbia.
The theme for this year is Diverse/City and we are celebrating that theme with three specific events:
- a two month exhibit (April 4th – June 3rd) at the Community Art Space at the Anvil Centre. Opening reception April 15th 5:00 – 7:00pm. http://sched.co/6fuk
- a Multilingual Poetry event at the Aboriginal Gathering Space at Douglas College on Saturday May 14th 2:00 – 4:00pm http://sched.co/5rAa
- a Cross Cultural Communication Workshop at Century house on Wednesday May 18th. This will be an interactive, conversational workshop relying on stories from participants.
On Saturday May 14th at Douglas College we will be hosting a literary marketplace featuring local authors and vendors, author workshops, author readings(featuring Ujjal Dosanjh at 4:30pm and Grant Lawrence at 5:30pm) and wrapping up with a singer/songwriter panel discussion on the art of songwriting.
Please get in touch with any questions and find below some information on our opening night of the Diverse/City art exhibit at the Anvil Centre and two of our featured authors.
Thank you!
Mike Gittens
Festival Manager
LitFestNewWest.com
778.888.0300
OPENING NIGHT: Anvil Centre April 15, 2016 5:00 – 7:00pm
LitFest NewWest has partnered with the City of New Westminster’s Arts Services to present an exhibition by local artists and writers. Each artist has been paired up with a writer to create work that is inspired by a text based piece. The exhibition reflects on the themes of diversity, inclusiveness and social dialogue. http://anvilcentre.com/events/diversecity /
The Diverse/City exhibition will take place at the Community Art Space on April 4 – June 3 with an opening reception on April 15, from 5:00 – 7:00pm.
Cliff Blank Lilija Valis
Elena Zhukova Janet Kvammen
Eryne Bea Donahue Gayle Mavor
Gillian Wright Franci Louann
Julia Schoennagel James Felton
Mardell Rampton Candice James
Shantala Singh Donna Ross
Katherine Freund Bryan Vogler
Tony Durke Eden Fine Day
Ujjal Dosanjh Author
Reading 4:30pm
Laura C Muir Theatre @ Douglas College LitFest
NewWest
Journey After Midnight
A beautifully written and evocative memoir of one of Canada’s most distinguished politicians.
A midnight’s child of poor rural India, Ujjal Dosanjh emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1964 at the age of eighteen, and spent nearly four years making crayons, car parts and shunting trains while he attended night school and learned English by listening to BBC Radio. He moved to Canada in 1968, to the west coast, where he pulled lumber in a sawmill for a few years, eventually earning a B.A from Simon Fraser University in 1973 and then his law degree from the University of British Columbia three years later. He practiced law for many years, and was a social justice advocate who fought for the rights of farm and domestic workers. After many years as a Member of the Legislative Assembly he became Attorney General and then Premier of British Columbia, the first person of Indian descent to hold these offices anywhere in the country. This is a deeply personal and thoughtful memoir of Dosanjh’s journey from his beloved India to the upper echelons of Canadian politics, a story that is both wise and compelling, about a man passionate about social justice and democratic process who continues to rail against injustice and corruption wherever it is happening
in the world. http://figure1pub.com/project/journeyaftermidnight/
Grant Lawrence Author
Reading 5:30pm
Laura C Muir Theatre @ Douglas College LitFest
NewWest
In the fall of 2013, Grant Lawrence released his second book, The Lonely End of the Rink: Confessions of a Reluctant Goalie.The new memoir is Grant’s official follow up to his bestselling debut Adventures in Solitude. The new book is fittingly divided into three “periods”, each one chronicling a different, tumultuous time in Grant’s conflicted relationship with the game of hockey, and his reluctant position as goaltender. Each “period”
is also backdropped by the Vancouver Canucks‘ three failed attempts to win the Stanley Cup in 1982, 1994, and 2011. The title is from a song by the Tragically Hip. http://grantlawrence.ca/writing The book debuted at #3 on the Canadian National Nonfiction Paperback Bestsellers List, hit #1 on the BC Bestsellers List, and won the BC Book Prize for the 2014 Book of the Year
