Sally Armstrong Guest Speaker at Literary Gathering in Fredericton

Sally Armstrong

Award-winning author and human rights activist Sally Armstrong will be among the featured guest speakers at WordsSpring, May 13-16 in Fredericton. A presentation of the Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick, WordsSpring will bring writers from across the province together for a weekend of workshops, book launches and readings on the campus of St. Thomas University. The gathering will culminate with a banquet to honour the winners of WFNB’s literary competition awards.

Armstrong will give her address, entitled “Getting the Story”, on Friday, May 14 at Mulroney Hall, beginning at 8 p.m. A recent recipient of the Calgary Peace Prize, Armstrong has travelled to war-torn countries like Somalia, Bosnia, Rwanda and Afghanistan for years. Each trip has resulted in the stories of women and children whose lives have been forever changed by civil conflict. Some of these stories can be found in her latest book Bitter Roots, Tender Shoots: The Uncertain Fate of Afghanistan’s Women.

Armstrong, who is also a documentary filmmaker, recently returned from a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo where she reported on the horrific abuses suffered by women and children there.

Armstrong has received numerous awards for her human rights work, including an honourary degree from Mount Allison University and, most recently, was invited to join the United Nations International Women’s Commission.

Armstrong is perhaps best known in New Brunswick as author of The Nine Lives of Charlotte Taylor, a richly told biography of her great-great grandmother who settled in the Miramichi region in the 1800s.  She also maintains strong connections to the province through her yearly summer treks to visit family near Bathurst.

“We are most fortunate to have such a celebrated and accomplished writer at WordsSpring” said WFNB’s executive director, Lee Thompson.

Other WordsSpring highlights include a reading by Jessica Grant, author of Come, Thou Tortoise and panel discussion with Carla Gunn, author Amphibian, on the first novel, followed by the launch of Tony Tremblay’s new book David Adams Richards of the Miramichi, on Saturday, May 15. WFNB’s annual general meeting will be held that morning.

For more information and to register for WordsSpring visit the WFNB website at: www.wfnb.ca