Anyone who can nurture a writing project from conception to an actual volume you can hold in your hands, deserves loads of respect and a bit of time in the spotlight, says Jeremy Luke Hill.
Hill is the publisher of Guelph’s Vocamus Press and managing director of Friends of Vocamus Press, a partnership between many in Guelph who support the written word.
Friends of Vocamus is set to host the third addition of Book Bash, a celebration of most of the books published in the current year by Guelph authors. The literary affair has thus far been a packed one.
It goes Sunday, Oct. 16 from 1-4 p.m. at Red Papaya Restaurant in the Old Quebec Street Shoppes, the same venue as last year.
Over 20 local authors will bring out their books, getting a moment in the spotlight to introduce their work and sell their volumes throughout the afternoon.
Local arts and culture champion Jen Rafter will host, while young Madison Gallaway will offer live music.
Hill, an author of fiction and poetry, said Friday in a sit down interview that most of the literary festivals out there are focused on the great books — on popular, prize-winning, best-selling books.
“There’s certainly a place for that,” he said. “But I feel with all the self publishing, independent publishing, and these little micro-presses out there, they often don’t have access to a wider market. But some of them are doing really interesting things.”
With Book Bash, all authors who published books in the calendar year get a chance to show off their books.
There are many ways to write, and many ways to get writing to readers, Hill said. There are people writing memoirs for their children, others writing therapeutic journals, and others write local history or grind out novels.
“There are lots of reasons why people write, and lots of reasons why they should write, and we want to encourage that writing — not confuse it with great literature, but not minimize the real value that it has,” he added. “That stuff can be important, especially in the community.”
A book doesn’t have to be great literature in order to be useful and important, or to play a role in our community, he said. And eclecticism is an important thing to encourage.
“It always surprises me how many people have the intestinal fortitude to stick with a book project all the way to the end,” Hill said. “There’s a lot of work involved, even if your writing a memoir and have the plot already in your head because you’ve lived it.”
For a city of just over 120,000, to be able to assemble over 30 or more published books by local authors each year at Book Bash is something to be impressed by, Hill indicated.
“I’d like to see more people just show up and browse it,” he added. “For me, it’s about trying to engage a community to read a little bit differently, so that we’re not just reading the bestsellers, but that we are interested in what our neighbour is writing.”
Friends of Vocamus, he said, is busy building a “public to read books, write books, and engage about books.”
Book Bash 2016 will feature the launch event for The Rhapsody Anthology 2016, an annual collection of Guelph poetry and very short prose. It’s published by Friends of Vocamus Press as a way to generate awareness of local authors.
Book Bash is a come-and-go event, and admission is free. This year there will be written word door prizes.
The book pitches, where authors have a few minutes to talk about their books, will be a bit quicker this year. A number of local organizations will be on hand.
