Four noteworthy writers Visit Westport

Sep 23, 2010

Photo: Helen Humphreys

Book lovers gathered at the United church in Westport for the Westport Art Council's 3rd annual Writers’ Reading event and were treated to a sneak peak at four celebrated authors’ latest works.

Roy MacSkimming read from Laurier in Love, his just-released work of historical fiction about the life of Sir Wilfred Laurier as told from the vantage point of the two women he loved simultaneously during his lifetime. His wife Zoe, a “ quiet, loyal, demure and retiring personality” and his mistress Emilie Lavergne, a charismatic, sophisticated, fiery and well-read intellectual. Laurier is a fascinating personality and many biographies have been written about him but MacSkimming admitted, “It was the darker side of Laurier that drew me in...the side of him that made him human.”

Helen Humphreys, who now resides in Kingston, read from her latest work, a new novel titled The Reinvention of Love that is slated to come out next fall. It is based on the real life love affair between Victor Hugo's wife Adele Foucher Hugo and Hugo's good friend, writer and literary critic Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve.

Humphreys read the first two chapters, which were a rollicking and comedic ride through the trials and tribulations facing Charles and proved an inviting teaser into what will surely be an entertaining romp through this particular love triangle during 1830s Paris.

Trevor Cole gave his first public reading from his latest novel called Practical Jean, his third novel to date, which was just recently reviewed in the Books section of Saturday's Globe and Mail. A “serious” comedy set in the fictional town of Kotemee, the tale delves into the topics of friendship and death. The book's main character, Jean Horemarsh, begins to question the meaning of life after watching her mother's demise from cancer.

Cole's reading was highly comedic and the book, when read aloud by him, sounded more like a play, which is not surprising since two of his books Norman Bray and The Fearsome Particles were both adapted for radio and optioned for film.

Last but not least, former leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada, Ed Broadbent, read from three different sources of his own writings, each in his words, “reflections of my concerns as a social democrat”. They all specifically concerned the topics that have been the primary focus of his career in politics: equality, democracy and citizenship.

He began reading from an essay that appeared in the Queen's Quarterly a few years back titled Canadian Citizenship and the New Barbarism, which outlines the reasons behind the recent downturn in social democratic thinking in this country, but also in the US and Britain.

He also read from a Bronfman lecture that he will be giving at a later date at the University of Ottawa.

His readings were dense, and filled with facts and statistics that provide much food for thought on the direction in which the nation has been heading. He highlighted the latest findings from various studies, which have determined that social equality is of the utmost importance in maintaining healthy robust democracies, citing that “more equal nations and states prove to be better off in almost every way.”

Each author took questions from the audience, and listeners had an opportunity to purchase books and speak intimately with some of this country’s most popular authors and personalities.