Frye Festival Celebrates Outstanding Week & Announces Special May Event

Linden MacIntyre (right) in conversation with Maurice Basque (left).

The 2010 edition of the Frye Festival was filled with memorable events and generous authors who gave Greater Moncton the opportunity to bask in the world of words and books for the 11th consecutive year. The Festival took place from April 19th to the 25th. The closing ceremony was held at The Greater Moncton International Airport on Sunday April 25th.

“We were lucky to welcome authors who were extremely generous with their time and ideas and have helped us feed our imagination,” says Rachelle Dugas, Festival Interim Executive Director. The opening of the event was rocked by the cancellation of two authors from Europe due to disruptions in air traffic. “Unexpected circumstances happen in most cultural events and you have to be able to bounce back, which the Festival team has done remarkably well,” says Dugas.

First Frye Academy Award

Even though the Festival is over, Moncton’s love story with authors continues. The Festival has just announced the visit to Moncton by Quebec author Myriam Beaudoin, winner of the very first Frye Academy Award. This “battle of the books” held in January and March, starred four Canadian novels. Grade 12 students from the region, all avid readers, selected a winner after two rounds of heated debates. Beaudoin will be in Moncton on May 31st to meet with the young readers and the public.

Frye Academy participants with the Northrop Trophy that will be given to Myriam Beaudoin in May.

An unforgettable Festival

The 2010 Frye Festival held many unforgettable moments, book clubs, writing workshops, and fabulous discoveries. Renowned authors were in town to meet the public including Linden MacIntyre, Annabel Lyon, Nino Ricci, and Noah Richler who were all part of An Evening of Canadian Literature, an event that is sure to remain in the memories those who attended.

“This event was extraordinary from all angles: some of the best names in Canadian literature, all on stage together, talking about their writing, about their great Festival experiences and then meeting and chatting with the entire audience,” says Dawn Arnold, Festival Chair. “While all the authors were delighted with the Festival, Linden MacIntyre was particularly impressed with how our community has embraced it. He has promised to spread the word about the tremendous impact that our Festival is having and how the world needs to know about what we are doing here.”

For those who were not able to attend or who wish to relive the evening, a video will be available at www.frye.ca .

Other authors included experimental poet Christian Bök, Fred Stenson, Guy Gavriel Kay, Beth Powning, Steven Galloway, and children’s author Jacob Berkowitz. A first for the Frye Festival this year was the evening of Storytelling featuring, amongst others, Kay Stone a folklorist with 30 years of experience.

At the heart of the KidsFest.

An expanding Youth Program

For the first time, all Festival authors were in schools to meet with students and talk about inspiration, reading, and the process of writing a book. “Every year, our Youth Program is expanding and reflects our fundamental mission which is to show that reading and writing can be a fun and enriching experience,” says Rachelle Dugas. Authors visited students in the Greater Moncton region, Kent County, the Acadian Peninsula as well as Sussex.

The Festival also hosted Imagination at Work an exhibit featuring the works of kids from kindergarten to grade four as well as Budding Writers where grade 5 to 8 students read their own work. As every year, Café Underground was at full capacity and featured some of our most creative high school students showcasing their poetry, prose, songs, and even the reading of a play! KidsFest was a huge success with hundreds of kids playing word bingo, writing their own poetry, meeting authors, taking writing workshops, swapping books and watching plays.

The Frye Festival is Canada’s only bilingual international literary festival. Next year’s Festival will take place from April 25 to May 1 and work is already underway to invite some of the best authors in the world to Moncton.

All the information on the Frye Festival and its mission is available at www.frye.ca .