The Book Drunkard Festival and HarperCollins Canada Present ‘Read Better’ with Jayne Allen, Kaitlyn Greenidge, and Myriam Chancy (2021)

We celebrated the opening of The Book Drunkard festival with HarperCollins Canada and their national event, ‘Read Better’: an evening with Jayne Allen, Kaitlyn Greenidge and Myriam Chancy. Attendees joined these three fabulous authors in conversation as they discussed their new novels, their unique perspectives and experiences in the writing scene, and what it means to “Read Better”.

Jayne Allen is the pen name of Jaunique Sealey, a graduate of Duke University and Harvard Law School. She draws from her experiences as an attorney and entrepreneur, crafting transcultural stories that touch upon contemporary women’s issues. Black Girls Must Die Exhausted is her first novel which she calls “the epitaph of my 30s.” It follows a young Black woman who must rely on courage, laughter, and love—and the support of her two longtime friends—to overcome an unexpected setback that threatens the most precious thing she’s ever wanted.

Kaitlyn Greenidge is the critically acclaimed and Whiting Award–winning author of We Love You, Charlie Freeman. Her second novel, Libertie is an unforgettable story about one young Black girl’s attempt to find a place where she can be fully, and only, herself. Inspired by the life of one of the first Black female doctors in the United States and rich with historical detail, Kaitlyn Greenidge’s new and immersive novel will resonate with readers eager to understand our present through a deep, moving, and lyrical dive into our past.

Myriam Chancy is the award-winning author of The Loneliness of Angels, Spirit of Haiti and more. Born in Port-au prince Haiti and raised there and in Canada, her newest novel What Storm, What Thunder charts the inner lives of a series of characters in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake. It is a singular, stunning record, a reckoning of the heartbreaking trauma of disaster, and—at the same time—an unforgettable testimony to the tenacity of the human spirit.