Epistolary Fiction: Letters of Hope & Heartbreak
Event Details
The art of letter-writing, the catharsis of writing one you don’t intend to send, the unique qualities of slow-paced correspondence, what we can learn about being thoughtful, nuanced communicators through the written word—especially in a world of 280-character hot takes.
Moderated by Amal El-Mohtar.
Books featured:
- Letters to Amelia by Lindsay Zier-Vogel (ebook / paperback)
- Letters from Johnny by Wayne Ng (ebook / paperback)
- Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi (ebook / paperback)
Letters to Amelia
Book*hug Press
Grace Porter is reeling from grief after her partner of seven years unexpectedly leaves. Amidst her heartache, the thirty-year-old library tech is tasked with reading newly discovered letters that Amelia Earhart wrote to her lover, Gene Vidal. She becomes captivated by the famous pilot who disappeared in 1937. Letter by letter, Grace understands more about Amelia while piecing her own life back together.
When Grace discovers she is pregnant, her life becomes more intertwined with the aviation hero and she begins to write her own letters to Amelia. While navigating her third trimester—amidst new conspiracy theories about Amelia’s mysterious disappearance, the search for her remains, and the impending publication of her private letters—Grace goes on a pilgrimage of her own.
Underscoring the power of reading and writing letters for self-discovery, Letters to Amelia is, above all, a story of the essential need for connection—and our universal ability to find hope in the face of fear.
Letters from Johnny
Guernica Editions
A charming coming of age story wrapped around a murder, a betrayal and a national crisis.
Dripping with nostalgia and awash with humour, Letters from Johnny is set in 1970’s Toronto through the eyes of mischievous Johnny Wong, a lonely boy who tries to stickhandle a neighbourhood of immigrants and draft dodgers. Johnny’s world unravels after a murder, a betrayal, and the unexpected emergence of a family member, all this as he tries to make sense of the FLQ crisis. His only solace are letters to a penpal, then to Dave Keon, captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Butter Honey Pig Bread
Arsenal Pulp Press
An intergenerational saga about three Nigerian women: a novel about food, family, and forgiveness.
Butter Honey Pig Bread is a story of choices and their consequences, of motherhood, of the malleable line between the spirit and the mind, of finding new homes and mending old ones, of voracious appetites, of queer love, of friendship, faith, and above all, family.
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