This year's gritLIT was a five-day celebration of the excellence, diversity and culture of the city's literary arts community
Originating as a grassroots initiative, the gritLIT literary festival has grown into a five-day celebration of Hamilton's local talent and authors from across Canada. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the festival which took place from Apr 17 to Apr 21.
gritLIT describes itself as an intimate festival with a focus on local Hamilton writers.
“People don't know what to expect, and if it's something you're intimidated by or you haven't really been in that literary world, just the idea of a literary festival can sound kind of snobbish or exclusive. And we're absolutely not that,” explained Jessica Rose, interim artistic director at gritLIT.
People don't know what to expect, and if it's something you're intimidated by or you haven't really been in that literary world, just the idea of a literary festival can sound kind of snobbish or exclusive. And we're absolutely not that.
Jessica Rose
gritLIT, Interim Artistic Director
In addition to gritLIT’s commitment to celebrating excellence in the literary arts and bringing cultural traffic to Hamilton, the festival is focused on promoting a diversity of perspective and experience in their programming.
“We've got some incredible authors coming this year who are sharing their trans experience, their immigration experiences — very much their lived experiences — whether they're telling it through memoir or poetry or fiction,” said Rose.
We've got some incredible authors coming this year who are sharing their trans experience, their immigration experiences — very much their lived experiences — whether they're telling it through memoir or poetry or fiction.
Jessica Rose
gritLIT, Interim Artistic Director
During the pandemic, gritLIT organizers saw the importance of virtual programming, which the festival still continues today through a hybrid format. This year, gritLIT will be hosting their 20th anniversary celebration and writing contest awards online to accommodate viewers and contest participants from across Canada.
“Accessibility is really, really important to us. There were so many negative things about the pandemic, but one amazing thing was we were able to have people tune into gritLIT events from across the country,” explained Rose.
Over the 30 events that gritLIT held, the festival drew in thousands of attendees. The larger events included an evening with Margaret Atwood, who was speaking about her latest work Old Babes in the Wood at Theatre Aquarius.
Efforts to engage younger audiences included new events like their flash fiction contest and involvement from the youth committee. Last year, the gritLIT youth committee organized a mixer event for attendees to discuss their favorite books, which was well-received by the younger crowd.
“We find once people come to a gritLIT event, they come back and they come back and they come back. So, we're just excited to see the demographics change a little bit, seeing some of those younger faces,” said Rose
This monthly reading series taking place the Staircase Theatre spotlights diverse creative writers of all literary forms and gives them an opportunity to share their work with the community
The LitLive Reading Series is a local monthly reading series for writers to share their work with the community. Founded by Kerry Schooley in 1995, the series showcases a diverse range of Canadian and local writers. The events takes place on the first Sunday of each month and run from September through June at the Staircase Theatre, located on Dundurn St. N. There is also a livestream option available and admission is on a pay-what-you-can basis.
The series has featured writers who specialize in a variety of literary forms, including poets, short story writers, novelists and non-fiction writers. The range of presenters also adds another unique touch to their events. Each series is accompanied by a specific theme, and writers are encouraged to read their work according to how they believe it fits.
The series is currently hosted by committee members Anuja Varghese and Brent van Staalduinen, both of whom are award-winning writers based in Hamilton. Varghese was recently awarded the Governor General's Literary Award for her debut short story collection Chrysalis, and van Staalduinen has authored five books and was awarded the Kerry Schooley Book Award in 2021. The two writers alternate between hosting the reading series.
LitLive has featured a number of published writers, including award winners, but there is also space for emerging writers who are not published to showcase their work.
Students should check out the next LitLive event for excellent and varied literary work, an opportunity to engage with the community and even an opportunity to connect with established writers. For those with a love for anything literary, the LitLive Reading Series is a great way to further engage with your passion.
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Being in university, we’ve all grown accustomed to reading research papers and academic studies. Unless you’re taking English or literature courses, your novels are probably collecting dust or waiting to be read during a break. But when that time comes around, you’re so tired of reading that you’d much prefer an activity that doesn’t involve consuming long passages of text for hours on end. Last year, when I was drowning in scientific papers and textbook readings, picking up a novel felt less like a leisurely learning experience and more like a waste of time — something that would distract me from my other courses. Reading fiction is often associated with entertainment rather than learning, however — as I have discovered — it is probably the most eye-opening and true-to-life literary genre.
The amount of reading required in our academic careers can be overwhelming. It’s easy to see why some people would underestimate seemingly superfluous genres. We think of fiction as basic stories of monstrous creatures and magical Greek islands, when really these tales have a lot to teach us about the world we’re living in today. The Odyssey cannot be reduced solely to a king battling various mythical monsters on his journey home. What are the lengths someone will go to return to their family? When a great hero is on his knees begging to go home, one can’t help but be reminded of the importance of loved ones. Fiction does not solely provide entertainment; it teaches us lessons about our world and ourselves.
It is probably the most eye-opening and true-to-life literary genre to exist.
Reading literary fiction can even improve our empathy. It asks us to step into a character’s life and understand his or her choices. In Frankenstein, the creature is presented as a monstrous being, undeserving of love from the perspective of his creator. The novel challenges us to consider the perspective of multiple characters, including the creature. We are asked to be active readers and assume different roles as the narration shifts from character to character. Despite subjective interpretations of the piece, every reader undoubtedly learns how to relate. If we can step into a fictional world and empathize with characters we come to know in the span of two hundred pages, we can apply that skill to our own lives. The way you form strong bonds with people and connect with others depends on your ability to see the world through their eyes.
So is fiction a waste of time? It doesn’t detract from your schoolwork. It enhances your perspectives and critical thinking by allowing you to see the world in a new light. You cannot come away from a few hours of reading unchanged. When you read fiction, consciously or not, you relate differently to your own life. Whether you have to escape to Ithaca, or pay a visit to Victor Frankenstein’s laboratory, you gain insight into humanity. Even if you may not recognize it, you are learning.
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