Written by Dick Bourgeois-Doyle

Over the past 25 years, my wife and I have made literary festivals an essential part of our travel itineraries. What many call “literary tourism” has added a special dimension to our travel. It has taken us to some out-of-the-way places, introduced us to interesting people, and more often than not left us with a better understanding and appreciation of a community than conventional attractions and events might. 

When we moved to Port Dover five years ago, I wanted to learn more about the local writing stable. With our friends at Beach Reads, we developed a podcast series of interviews to this end with people in our community who have seen success as authors. 

What I learned became DoverWrites: Storytelling in Small Town Ontario, a new book of newspaper profiles based on those podcast interviews. The interviews were an education in the breadth of writing already around us.

There is David Beasley, the historian, publisher, and lifelong literary adventurer, who was still talking about playing tennis when I interviewed him shortly before his 93rd birthday. His books range from memoirs and studies on library science to historical fiction and poetry. He told me that one of the great advantages of living in Norfolk County is that “there are so many stories that haven’t yet been told.”

Then there is Deborah Ellis, whose writing takes us far away. Her Breadwinner series has introduced readers around the world to the experiences of children living through war and hardship and have generated millions for international humanitarian causes. Notwithstanding the subjects, she says she tries to end her young-adult books on a note of hope, asking how people can become stronger and more capable of loving one another.

Artist and author Janice MacLeod provides another kind of literature. Her New York Times bestseller Paris Letters emerged from years of living and creating in France, yet she returned to Norfolk County, where she says the quieter surroundings give a creative person something precious: time to think.

And then there is Port Dover poet John B. Lee, whose work is nationally and internationally recognized. He reads his poetry aloud because, for him, writing begins with sound. He wants words to flow. Kari Gunson turned data about wildlife killed on Ontario roads into an engaging citizen-science book filled with photographs, illustrations, and stories. Autumn Demarest overcame her early life struggles with English to create FEAD, combining local history, farms, food, and photography.

Historian Stephen Selk followed a question about the Long Point Company into years of archival research. Adventurer Adam Shoalts saw a peregrine falcon over a Norfolk field and eventually followed its migration route 3,400 kilometres north, producing the national bestseller Where the Falcon Flies.

Port Dover’s Peter Ivey writes fantasy. J.P. Riemens combines memoir, music, and imagination. Dr. Kailey Buller somehow found time to write a book about babies while practicing medicine and raising two young children. Waterford’s Roselle Lim uses food, art, culture, and a touch of magic to introduce readers to lives and perspectives they might never otherwise encounter.

And there are writers who remind us that literary achievement can be a side benefit to personal growth and reflection. Authors like Liz Grace, Jeff Tribe, and Tamiah Johnston write memoirs and works that test their skills and that are both touching and personal.

Ilse and Aurora Tozer, young sisters from Port Rowan, have already won recognition for their writing. Ilse wants to become a librarian; Aurora is working on her first book. They have curiosity, a willingness to learn and a magical backyard swing that fosters creativity. They and others have been encouraged by our library’s Norfolk Literary Prize which has grown from a youth writing initiative into a county-wide celebration of storytelling.

I arrived in Norfolk County wondering whether we could create a writers’ festival. I discovered instead that we already have a vibrant and varied literary community worth celebrating.

We have authors with national and international audiences. We have historians and poets, novelists and journalists, scientists and memoirists, food writers, and fantasy writers. We have a bookstore that has become a gathering place for readers and writers. We have a public library supporting emerging writers. We have young people entering competitions and discovering that their stories are worth putting on paper.

DoverWrites is, of course, not a definitive catalogue of Norfolk County writers. It couldn’t be. It is an invitation to look around. Ask who is writing here. Ask what stories are being told. And ask what stories remain to be discovered.

For a free copy of DoverWrites and information on Voltaire’s Pizza, the locally published celebration of literary travel, email doverwrites@gmail.com and check out DoverWrites

https://doverwrites.blogspot.com