‘Authors in the Park’ celebrating its second edition at Gore Park
Give your armchair a break and share the joys of reading and writing with other bookworms in the city.
Authors in the Park" is celebrating its second edition at Gore Park. The ticket-free festival brings local readers and writers together for an afternoon of author readings, presentations, and antiquarian exhibits outdoors.
The festival is organized by Bill King, owner of Attawandaron, a Hamilton publisher that focuses on books of local interest. According to King, the idea of hosting the festival at Gore Park came after doing downtown walking tours every Sunday.
I'm just an amateur local historian and it just struck me one day that it would be a fun place for local authors to come and bring their books and sell them. And considering the pandemic, it got off to a good start," said King.
He said last year's festival attracted 10 authors and after more locals heard about the festival through social media, it led to another edition.
Another activity for the festival is a Hamilton IQ test with 10 questions about the city.
But what does a Hamilton IQ test look like?
Some of the questions are How does a ship get into Hamilton Harbor' or Who is Sheila Cops?' We are going to record the tests and make a short documentary about the festival, which actually can be quite humorous," said King. People will also get a certificate for participating in the test."
For King, the main goal with the festival is to support local authors while building up the literary community in Hamilton.
It gives local authors, whoever they are and whatever they write, or even a chance to come out and show other people what they are doing and meet with the public and with other authors," said King. If you're an artist in a Hamilton area, you get a lot more recognition. But if you're a writer and even if you spend quite a lot of time and you try to do quality work, it's very hard to get any recognition."
2022's lineup of authors includes Christina Carleton, Sarah Farr, Mike Guarascia, Gloria White, Stephen Heys, Bill King, Robin McKee, Carol Priamo, Bernadette Rule and more.
Everybody is welcome at the festival. Aspiring, amateur and professional authors," said King.
Authors in the Park" runs Sunday, Aug. 7 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on King Street East between Hughson and John Streets.
Beatriz Baleeiro is a reporter at The Spectator. bbaleeiro@torstar.ca