The Book Drunkard Literary Festival

Festival Archive – 2020

2020 FESTIVAL IN RETROSPECT

2020 was a challenging and eventful year, and the first year The Book Drunkard went virtual. We introduced our signature Book Lush events with our main event featuring Margaret Atwood and Lorna Crozier (presented by Penguin Random House Canada and The Book Drunkard Festival). Three more Book Lush events took place as we paired with our national partners as well:

  • Penguin Random House Canada and Blue Heron Books present Anna Olson and Ashley Kosowan & Jenna Hutchinson
  • Penguin Random House and Blue Heron Books present Carmen Maria Machado and Silvia Morena-Garcia in Conversation
  • Harper Collins Canada and The Book Drunkard Festival present: Matt Haig

2020 FESTIVAL FEATURES

The Book Drunkard Beer can and glass

“The Book Drunkard Beer” returned to tap at The Second Wedge on October 8th, 2020!

Märzen | 5.5% alc./vol. – Seasonal

The Book Drunkard Literary Festival captures the wonderment of the written word and praises its ability to intoxicate, transport and transform. What better way to celebrate than with the traditional beer of Germany’s Oktoberfest? Pouring a clear pale amber, The Book Drunkard märzen is an exceptionally smooth, medium-bodied lager. An aroma of fresh-baked bread draws you into the sip, where rich malt flavour is gently balanced by spicy/floral noble hops. Ein prosit!

This seasonal beer was available in cans and on tap at The Second Wedge Brewing Co from October 8th, 2020!

DesBarres Kindred Spirits Raspberry Cordial chocolate bar

We Introduced the “Kindred Spirits” Chocolate Bar by DesBarres Chocolate

This bar is in honour of L. M. Montgomery who penned many of her books a few kilometres away from Blue Heron Books and DesBarres chocolate factory. The bar combines the smooth and chocolatey richness of 70% Dominicana with tart freeze-dried raspberries and a hint of fresh lemon peel. Munch on this bar while re-reading the story of Anne Shirley, Diana Barry and the rascally “raspberry cordial”. Book Drunkards fell in love with Anne and the Kindred Spirits bar!

The chocolate bar was available for purchase at Blue Heron Books.

(Fun fact! The inner liner of the Kindred Spirit Raspberry Cordial bar was a beautiful bookmark, designed by artist Tracy Walker!)

2020 FESTIVAL EVENTS

Getting Drunk on Writing – A six-week writing workshop with author Bianca Marais (2020)

Zoom (virtual event)

You know her as an amazing author, our star interviewer and, during our 2021 festival… finally, our writing instructor. Bianca teaches creative writing at the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies, and during our 2020 festival, Book Drunkards could… Read More

Enjoying an evening with Aislinn Hunter! (2020)

Zoom (virtual event)

Book Drunkards didn’t want to miss our opener on October 13th, 2020! Our extraordinary interviewer, Bianca Marais, chatted with the thoughtful and thought-provoking Aislinn Hunter, whose new novel The Certainties might well have made readers ask: “What would I do… Read More

Harper Collins Canada and The Book Drunkard Festival present: Matt Haig (2020)

Zoom (virtual event)

Matt Haig is the number one bestselling author of Reasons to Stay Alive and Notes on a Nervous Planet and six highly acclaimed novels for adults, including How to Stop Time, The Humans and The Radleys. He has also written… Read More

Book Launch: Kevin Craig’s “The Camino Club” (2020)

After getting in trouble with the law, a group of wayward teens are given an ultimatum: serve time in juvenile detention for their crimes or walk the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage across Spain over the summer holidays with a pair… Read More

CROSSING RIVERS WITH PETER ROBINSON (2020)

Zoom (virtual event)

PETER ROBINSON grew up in the United Kingdom, and now divides his time between Toronto, and Richmond, Yorkshire. Many Rivers to Cross is the 26th book in the DCI Banks series. He has also written two collections of short stories,… Read More

CONSENT to being entertained by Annabel Lyon! (2020)

Zoom (virtual event)

Annabel and acclaimed interviewer Bianca Marais dove into Consent just as it hit the shelves! Noted as “this generation’s answer to Alice Munro” (Vancouver Sun) Annabel delivers a sly, sensual, haunting novel about two women whose lives collide when tragedy… Read More

Penguin Random House Canada and Blue Heron Books present Anna Olson and Ashley Kosowan & Jenna Hutchinson (2020)

Zoom (virtual event)

Book Drunkards joined the fun as Anna Olson, author of eight bestselling cookbooks and the beloved host of Food Network’s Bake with Anna Olson, Fresh with Anna Olson, and Sugar, talked all things baking with Jenna Hutchinson and Ashley Kosowan,… Read More

IS KERRY CLARE “WAITING FOR A STAR TO FALL”? (2020)

Zoom (virtual event)

KERRY CLARE is an editor and blogger and lives in Toronto with her family. She has entertained guests of Blue Heron Books in many capacities before — as an author and an interviewer. Book Drunkards weren’t disappointed after spending an… Read More

The Making of an 11 year old Super Sleuth by Alan Bradley (2020)

Zoom (virtual event)

ALAN BRADLEY is a Canadian (living on the Isle of Man) and New York Times bestselling author of many short stories, children’s stories, newspaper columns, and the memoir The Shoebox Bible. His first Flavia de Luce novel, The Sweetness at… Read More

GHOSTS AT THE WHITE HOUSE?!! WITH ANDREW PYPER (2020)

Zoom (virtual event)

What is November 5th? Why, it’s days after the American election, of course! And what better way to celebrate/commiserate than with ANDREW PYPER and his new novel. The Residence takes place in the White House in 1853, during the infancy… Read More

EMMA DONOGHUE ON THE PULL OF THE STARS (2020)

Zoom (virtual event)

A Blue Heron Books veteran, EMMA DONOGHUE was born in Dublin in 1969. Emma is an Irish emigrant twice over: she spent eight years in Cambridge, England, before moving to Canada’s London, Ontario. She is best known for her novels,… Read More

Penguin Random House and Blue Heron Books present Carmen Maria Machado and Silvia Morena-Garcia in Conversation (2020)

Zoom (virtual event)

Carmen Maria Machado followed up her incredible short story collection, Her Body and Other Parties, with 2019’s In The Dream House, a groundbreaking memoir about domestic abuse wherein each chapter is driven by a different narrative trope. Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican… Read More

SUE MILLER ON MONOGAMY AND MARRIAGE – MUST THEY GO HAND-IN-HAND? (2020)

Zoom (virtual event)

Both critically acclaimed and loved by readers, SUE MILLER is recognized internationally for her elegant and sharply realistic accounts of the contemporary family. Her books have been widely translated and published in 22 countries around the world. Read More

JANE JOHNSON ON THE TIMELESSNESS OF LOVE & LOYALTY (2020)

Zoom (virtual event)

JANE JOHNSON is a novelist, historian, and publisher. She is the UK editor for George R.R. Martin, Dean Koontz, and others. She has written several novels for adults and children, including the bestselling novel The Tenth Gift. Her latest novel,… Read More

JESSE THISTLE RISES “FROM THE ASHES” (2020)

Zoom (virtual event)

JESSE THISTLE is Métis-Cree, from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. He is an assistant professor in Métis Studies at York University in Toronto. You won’t want to miss this virtual event on Thursday, November 17, during which THISTLE and BIANCA MARAIS discuss… Read More

Penguin Random House Canada and The Book Drunkard Festival present: Lorna Crozier and Margaret Atwood (2020)

Zoom (virtual event)

This was the event of the season—two giants of Canadian literature sharing one screen. Margaret Atwood and Lorna Crozier discussed their latest books, Dearly and Through The Garden, with their publisher, McClelland & Stewart’s Jared Bland. Read More

HALIFAX comes to BLUE HERON BOOKS WITH ALEX PUGSLEY (2020)

Zoom (virtual event)

It’s always exciting to be in on the ground floor of new writers. We at Blue Heron Books read this early and fell in love. Book Drunkards were invited to discover ALEX PUGSLEY’s debut novel, Aubrey McKee. Read More

Alan Doyle’s Cure for the Covid Blues – Newfoundland style (2020)

Zoom (virtual event)

ALAN DOYLE is a Canadian musician, actor and writer. His albums as a solo artist and as front man for the Newfoundland Celtic-rock band Great Big Sea have sold over a million copies, and he has starred in such features… Read More

2020 FESTIVAL SPONSORS

2020 FINAL NOTE

Thank you for a wonderful festival! See you soon!

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