Community event

BMO Room

Join host Gillian Turnbull, Director of Writing & Publishing, in conversation with Emma Kuzmyk, editor of This Wasn’t on the Syllabus.

This Wasn’t on the Syllabus: Stories from the Front Lines of Campus Activism Against Sexualized Violence is both a record and an act of protest, progress, and survival located within Canada’s post-secondary landscape. The collection features personal accounts which articulate not only the prevalence of sexualized violence on campus, but how these acts inspire students to activism. The book is a call to value and prioritize the voices of student activists, who are often among those most impacted by sexualized violence, and who are key participants in driving change.

BMO Room

Join host Gillian Turnbull, Director of Writing & Publishing at the University of King’s College, in conversation with Michelle Hebert, author of Every Little Thing She Does is Magic.

A darkly humorous family saga set in Nova Scotia about a young woman coming of age in a family that believes it’s cursed, for fans of Emma Straub and Lesley Crewe.
Kitten Love’s family is haunted by the memory of her teenaged aunt, Nerida, who died just days before Kitten’s birth in 1970. Her mother, Queena, believes the family is cursed, and she’s determined not to let disaster strike again. She won’t let Kitten out of her sight—especially to visit the beaches that surround the town. She’s built a bomb shelter to protect against Soviet attack, and she’s desperate to protect her husband, Stubby, from the fatal and mysterious Love Heart.

Grab a drink and join a lively discussion about our October book club pick: Lesley Crewe’s newest novel, The Spirit of Scatarie.

Please register for free on our Eventbrite page, or swing by day of. Just bring yourself, your copy of The Spirit of Scatarie, and your thoughts!

Come join our Autumn Book Swap, where you can meet other book lovers and exchange your gently used books for the ones they bring!

While this event is free to all, we ask you to consider buying a drink (or perhaps a new book!) from our bookstore’s cafe.

The Fantastic Grown-Up Book Fair – Take 2!

Celebrating the essence of community and storytelling, and inspired by the school books fairs of our youth, local authors, small presses and book-related merchandise vendors come together to sell, sign, talk books and meet readers on Saturday, October 11, from 10 am until 2 pm at the Mahone Bay Centre.

For the creators of this event, authors Karen Dean and Aren Morris, being a part of this nostalgic occasion means much more than just showcasing their books – it’s about connecting with readers, embracing the spirit of the writing community, and recreating the magic of the school book fair … but for grown ups.

Find us on Facebook & Instagram @thegrownupbookfair or check out our website GrownUpBookFair.com for more information.

Local Dartmouth author Amy Spurway has one of the best first lines in her novels, maybe even the best first paragraph. For our Speed Dating event, Blind Date books use their first line(s) as their “pick-up” lines, so Amy will be here to tell us all about first lines: how she came up with her first line and their importance. She’ll also discuss her novel Crow, winner of the Margaret and John Savage First Book Award for Fiction. There will be games and lots of laughter. Everyone gets one of these, never seen before, specially made, high-demand Blind Dates. Dress to impress. This is an adult event

A $10.50 fee: pre-registration is required for this event to monitor numbers. You can either register at the store, or by phone with a credit card at 902-435-1207, or by etransfer at dbex1187@gmail.com.

The format of the night will be as follows:

• Participants will be given 30 seconds to flip over the Blind Date in front of them, read the Blind Date’s pick-up line, and decide if they are interested and would like to take that date home with them. If they are interested, they take it back with them to their seat, and a new Blind Date with a Book replaces the one removed.
• If they are not interested in that particular date, they just flip it back over, for the next person in line, and return to the end of the line.
• This will continue until all participants have chosen their date for the night.
• Once everyone has picked their date, they can then unwrap them if they wish. We encourage people to wait until everyone has selected their date before unwrapping. Pictures of the lucky matches will be encouraged.

Come share your works in progress with fellow writers in a safe and welcoming space.

Feel free to come by for a drink and to just listen to other writer’s works, too.

Each reader is allotted up to 7-10 minutes of reading time, depending on turnout.

Once a year, in wild, beautiful Unama’ki (Cape Breton), writers and readers come together and experience the magic power of stories to connect us and create community.

The 2025 Cabot Trail Writers Festival includes authors Madeleine Thien, Eliza Reid, Zilla Jones, Tom Ryan, Ian Williams, Mona Knight, David A. Robertson, Sue Goyette, and Ivan Coyote. See the full schedule at https://www.cabottrailwritersfestival.com/, and purchase tickets of individual events at the link above.

If you’ve ever looked to guides to get your writing on track, you’ve likely notices how many there are out there. Where to start? Janet Kitto will give an overview of what is out there and who does what well. Participants are encouraged to bring along their own recommendations and share what they found useful. For more information and to register, please call the Trenton Library at (902) 752-5181 or email,trenton@parl.ns.ca.