Celebrating 20 years of gritLIT!

ann Yu-Kyung choi

April 28

For 2o years, gritLIT has welcomed readers, authors, and publishing professionals to the City of Hamilton.

Established in 2004 by Hamilton author Krista Foss, it started as a small festival at the Staircase Theatre. Since then, the festival has grown and welcomed over 500 writers from across Canada, including hundreds of debut authors.

I've been happy to serve as a program advisor since 2018.

Lots of smiles! I was especially happy to introduce aspiring writers with some of their favourite authors who attended this year's festival.

Great to catch up with Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio, Brent van Staalduinen, Jamie Tennant, Jessica Westhead, Kerry Clare, January Rogers, and Chyx. Wonderful to meet Kai Cheng Thom, Scarlett Gillespie, Paige Maylott, Casey Plett, Conyer Clayton, Shelly Kawaja, Canisia Lubrin, and Alicia Elliott.

Delighted to host two events this year, including "And So, It Starts" with authors Shelly Kawaja (The Raw Light of Morning) and Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio (Reuniting with Strangers).

"Drafts & Drafts" with Brent van Staalduinen (moderator), Anuja Varghese (Chrysalis), Nathan Whitlock (Lump), and Amy Jones (Pebble and Dove).

Photo 1: "Words Collide" with January Rogers (moderator), Adriana Chartrand (An Ordinary Violence), and Alicia Elliott (And Then She Fell). Photo 2: "Falling Short" with Carleigh Baker (moderator), Vincent Anioke (Perfect Little Angels), and Jessica Westhead (Avalanche).

I seem to like taking photos of authors signing their books!

Top left to right: Ayomide Bayowa (Gills), Adriana Chartrand (An Ordinary Violence), Alicia Elliott (And Then She Fell), Casey Plett (On Community).

Bottom left to right: Vincent Anioke (Perfect Little Angels), Gary Barwin (Imagining, Imagining), Kai Cheng Thom (Falling Back in Love with Being Human), Paige Maylott (My Body Is Distant).

Jennilee delivered a great workshop on social media for writers. Love this slide that reads: "Never stop whatever you're doing in the real world in order to post about it... No content is more important than being present." Great advice!

A huge thanks to festival regulars and everyone behind the scenes! Jennifer Gilles, Artistic Director, I still need a photo of you! A special thanks to Jessica Rose, interim Artistic Director, for helping make this year's festival so memorable! Learn more about the amazing gritLIT team by visiting gritLIT's website.