-by Beverley Phillips
Elamin Abdelmahmoud will be at the Cabot Trail Writer’s Festival to host conversations and share some of his own work. He is the host of the CBC Radio’s Commotion, and his work has appeared in Rolling Stone and the Globe and Mail. His memoir, Son of Elsewhere, was a national bestseller. (Photo credit: Kyla Zanard)
The Cabot Trail Writer’s Festival celebrates its 18th year with another weekend of readings, workshops, and conversations at the Gaelic College in St. Ann’s from October 2nd to 4th.
Like how so many things in Cape Breton begin, the idea came up around a kitchen table. A book club in North River invited George Elliott Clark, the author of the book they were reading, to come and read for them. This poetry reading received an overwhelming response, and it was clear there was an appetite for such events.
The first Cabot Trail Writer’s Festival was in North River Hall in 2009, and it, too, proved to be a success. “Many who are not from here might not expect this from a very rural corner of the country,” said Rebecca Silver Slayter, executive director of the festival, “but it just kept growing, and it outgrew that hall, and that’s why they moved it to the Gaelic College.”
The setting of the forest and the water and the mountains is part of what makes it special. “We try to plan opportunities to encounter the land,” said Silver Slayter, “and the vital part that the land plays in all of our stories and our lives, and the joy of being gathered together in this beautiful place at such a beautiful time of year.”
One of this year’s outdoor events will be the closing, and it takes place along the Skye River Trail in We’koqma’q with Ann Joe, Rita Joe’s daughter, sharing some of her mother’s work, along with other Mi’kmaw storytellers.
The setting also entices artist and attendees to make the long trek to the out-of-the-way location. “They always talk about how special it is,” said Silver Slayter, “and of all the festivals they go to, how rare and unique this experience is.”
The writer’s festival comes on the heels of the inaugural film festival in Inverness, and the weekend before the nine-day music festival which is Celtic colours, which is in its 30th year. Silver Slayter said, “It’s lovely to see these long-standing festivals continue, but also to see that new ones are being born. I think the nature of a festival is that it is celebrating and fostering culture, but it’s also creating and connecting community. And I think in the case of all those festivals, and many more, it’s an indicator of how vital not just the cultural and artistic life of Cape Breton is, but also the communities that make it what it is.”
This year those coming to the community in St. Ann’s include writers from near and far. “Some of them are people you may be very familiar with already, like Elamin Abdelmahmoud, who everybody hears on CBC Radio,” said Silver Slayter, “and Catherine Hernandez, who’s books, especially Scarborough, were so widely read and celebrated. And alongside them are amazing homegrown talents like Kate Beaton and Daniel MacIvor, and other Cape Breton writers.”
Every year the weekend opens with their Friday night reading series, and this year is no different. Silver Slayter said, “It always feels so special to me the ways that somehow, nearly magically, they end up giving you a sense that you are experiencing all of life across that tapestry of readings. There are ones that move you to tears, ones that make you howl with laughter. They’re always very different, and yet there’s often somehow little themes that emerge and connect them together.”
On Saturday, there are more in-depth looks at the lives and lived experience of some of the writers. Alexander MacLeod is hosting a brunch with Whit Fraser, retired broadcast journalist and the husband of former Governor General Mary Simon. “He’s been a huge advocate and ally to reconciliation work across the country,” said Silver Slayter, “and he has a new book out sharing some of the stories from his life and experiences that he didn’t get to share as a journalist or couldn’t go as deeply into.”
There will be a panel conversation on graphic novels and two opportunities to explore mental health. On Saturday afternoon there will be a discussion hosted by Abdelmahmoud, talking about anxiety with David A. Robertson, author of All the Little Monsters, and Dr. Arundhati Dhara. This is a free event open to everyone, offered in partnership with Dalhousie University’s Medical Humanities Program. In the evening, there will be a panel with Kate Beaton and Daniel MacIvor discussing grief with host by Alexander MacLeod.
On Sunday, there are some very writer-specific programming, including workshops and a writers’ salon, where several writers come in conversation with Abdelmahmoud to discuss their writing process and their publishing experiences.
But just because it’s called a writers festival, it’s not just for writers. “It’s a festival for readers,” said Silver Slater. “We provide the writers, and you don’t even have to be a reader to enjoy hearing writers talk about the things that move and inspire them. If people haven’t been to it before, they should know that it’s a really warm, welcoming, unintimidating, and fun place to be. I’ve had so many say, ‘I never would have thought this would be something I would enjoy or feel comfortable at, but I’ve never experienced anything like this, and I loved it, and I’m going to come every year.’”
“It really does give you the sense as that the world gets a little bigger and you’re able to experience and connect with something bigger than your own life and experience and really feel the power of that and experience how rich and big and bright the world is. And that’s a good thing, something that we really need in this day and age. Being able to talk to people different from ourselves, being able to hear different points of view and really connect with different experiences, I think, helps us at a time when our digital lives want to funnel us into one camp or one perspective or another.”
Earlier this year, the society didn’t know what this year’s festival would look like. As with all arts and culture organizations, the writer’s festival faced significant funding cuts in the March provincial budget, but the community pulled them through. “We’re so grateful that despite the cuts we’re able to continue what has been built over years by the love and labour of so many people, volunteers, and community members,” said Silver Slayter. “It’s the support of our community, the donors and sponsors who helped us get through this. It’s always been the community that carried it and created it and sustained it. It is not an obvious place to have a literary festival, and I think all the things that make it a little bit more complicated or expensive to do it there are offset by the fact that it’s also a place where people really come together and care together and work together to make it possible. As with all arts organizations, you’re never running with any surplus; you’re always stretching the most you can of every dollar. The unexpected news of the cuts came when we were already part way through planning our festival. So we had to just halt and wait to get our funding back and figure out what we could afford to do and, and fundraise.”
To learn more or buy tickets, go to their website cabottrailwritersfestival.com. You can also book tickets by calling 902-224-5231. There are free events, and the writer’s festival committee doesn’t want anyone to feel they can’t take part in other activities due to finances and will offer complimentary tickets to remove that barrier.