A new kind of 21st Century literary festival combining literature, the arts and interactive programming comes to Stratford next month, giving aspiring writers a chance to share their work with established authors and industry professionals.

The inaugural Stratford Writers Festival runs Oct. 22-23, with events held in various venues around the downtown core. Tickets for individual events taking place during the festival range from $25-50, while popular ticket “multi-packs” allow visitors to plan their visit by choosing multiple events from the festival calendar at a discounted rate.

Over the course of the two-day festival, visitors can attend:
•    writing workshops
•    a literary lunch
•    musical literary brunch
•    panel discussions
•    author readings
•    book signings 
•    meet-and-greets

"The DigiWriting Stratford Writers Festival is an amazing event, since the literary community in Stratford is both large and diverse. Having authors visit and share their books and writing experience benefits Stratford’s writing community, and all the dedicated readers here as well,” says Melanie Kindrachuk, librarian at the Stratford Public Library. "It’s a great opportunity to hear from authors who otherwise wouldn’t be visiting our region, and to enjoy literature alongside other art forms like music and fine cuisine.”

Confirmed authors who will be appearing include Plum Johnson, Kim Echlin, Ivan Coyote, Janet Kellough, Barbara Fradkin, Steve Burrows, Farzana Doctor, Kathleen Trotter, Alison Wearing, CC Humphreys, Gail Anderson-Dargatz, Joseph Kertes, Dionne Brand, and Michael Winter. 

But it won’t just be published authors who are presenting their works at the Stratford Writers Festival. New writers will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to polish their presentation skills and pitch their manuscript to professionals, much like a “Dragons Den” for writers.

The most unique feature of the festival is the introduction of #CanLitPit Live, based on the popular #CanLitPit event held in August that allowed authors to pitch their ideas to publishers using Twitter. For #CanLitPit Live, writers will meet one-on-one with an editor, publisher, or literary agent from a panel to pitch their story idea and the first few pages of their writing. The industry professional will provide feedback to the author, and also choose their favourite pitch from the session. These finalists will be presented to the entire panel, and a winner will be chosen to receive a free marketing consultation with DigiWriting Book Marketing Agency. 

For more information on the DigiWriting Stratford Writers Festival, check out the website at http://digiwriting.com/stratfordwritersfestival/ or be in touch with DigiWriting via email at festival[at]digiwriting.com.

DigiWriting is an integrated Book Marketing Agency that helps authors and publishers get exposure and attention for their titles, from book launches, social media start-up and management, to book reviews and media relations.