Meet local sci-fi and fantasy authors; explore reconciliation reading

If you like to read fantasy and science fiction, don’t miss an upcoming event at the County of Prince Edward Public Library rescheduled from a previous date due to an ice storm.

“Celebrating Speculative Fiction in the County” is set for Saturday, May 31 at 2 p.m. at the Picton Branch Library.

Thomas Harrison will perform a live version of “The Swarm’s Creation”, his short story published in Polar Borealis magazine. He will be joined by Fiona Patton, well-known for novels including The Shining City, Silver Lake, and The Granite Shield, and Tanya Huff, another prolific speculative fiction author known for series including Vicki Nelson, Gale Women and Keeper’s Chronicles.

The event is organized by Mike Trites, a theatre producer and entertaining emcee who notes the talk will be of interest to all readers as well as aspiring authors.

A question period will give opportunity to ask these three authors about their works, as well as their paths to publishing and more. Tickets are $10 and available at peclibrary.org, at any branch of the Library, and at the door if space permits. It’s sure to be a can’t-miss afternoon covering a broad range of speculative fiction writing.

A new Reconciliation Reading Group is forming, and all are welcome. Valley of the Birdtail by Andrew Stobo Sniderman and Douglas Sanderson is the story of “An Indian Reserve, a White Town, and the Road to Reconciliation.” It tells the story of the town of Rossburn and the Waywayseecappo reserve, and the ways their stories as neighbours reflects much of what has gone wrong in relations between Indigenous Peoples and non-Indigenous Canadians.

The Toronto Star said the book “offers gritty, eye-opening details about the history and present-day reality of this country… a startling and optimistic way forward.”

It is the first book selected for the group facilitated by Jane Macdonald and Jessica Chase, offered in partnership between the Prince Edward Museums and the County of Prince Edward Public Library. The first meeting is to be held June 11 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Macaulay House at 35 Church Street in Picton. Copies of the book are available at the Library. Future meetings will alternate between the Library branches and the Museums.

June also brings the Multicultural and Pride month series, made possible by the Huff Family Fund through the County Foundation. This year it is featuring three authors – Ashley-Elizabeth Best, Martha Batiz and Saad Omar Khan discussing their works. We’ll share more about this series in a future column, but you can check out the whole schedule at peclibrary.org/authors now.