We are excited to present our eight guest authors for the 2020 Words on the Water Festival:
Guest Authors

Patrick Friesen

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Photo: WordPress
Patrick Friesen, a former resident of the original lands of Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene peoples, and on the homeland of the Métis Nation (Steinbach and Winnipeg) now lives on the unceded territory of the Lekwungen people (Victoria, B.C.). He has published numerous books of poetry and has written several stage and radio plays. Friesen has also collaborated with choreographers, dancers, musicians and composers. He tours on a regular basis, giving readings and workshops all over the country. His book, Blasphemer’s Wheel, was awarded Manitoba Book of the Year Prize in 1996; A Broken Bowl, was a finalist for the 1997 Governor-General’s Award; and Patrick was awarded the ReLit Award for Poetry in 2012 for jumping in the asylum.

John MacLachlan Gray

David Chariandy
Photo: CBC
John MacLachlan Gray is a multi-talented artist. As a playwright, composer and theatre director, he has created many acclaimed productions, most notably Billy Bishop Goes to War (1978), which won the Governor General's Literary Award for Drama, was produced on and off Broadway, and was released as a feature film in 2011.

As a writer, Gray has authored several books, fiction and non-fiction, including a series of mystery-thrillers: A Gift For The Little Master (Random House, 2000), The Fiend in Human (St. Martins/Random House, 2004), White Stone Day (Minotaur Books, 2005) and Not Quite Dead (Minotaur Books, 2007). Hi latest novel, The White Angel (2017), follows the unsolved death of a Scottish nanny living in Vancouver. Set in the years following the First World War and at the height of Canada's anti-immigration campaign, Gray put his spin on a real-life cold case.

He is an Officer of the Order of Canada and lives in Vancouver, BC.

Brian Harvey

In his 2019 memoir Sea Trial (ECW Press), short-listed for the 2019 Governor General's Literary Award for nonfiction, Brian Harvey circumnavigates Vancouver Island with his wife, his dog and a box of documents that surfaced after his father's death. John Harvey was a neurosurgeon, violinist and photographer who answered his door a decade into retirement to find a sheriff with a summons. It was a malpractice suit, and it did not go well. Dr. Harvey never got over it. The box contained every nurse's record, doctor's report, trial transcript and expert testimony related to the case. Only Brian's father had read it all — until now.

In this beautifully written memoir, Brian Harvey shares how after two months of voyaging with his father's ghost, he finally finds out what happened in the O.R. that crucial night and why Dr. Harvey felt compelled to fight the excruciating accusations.

Brian Harvey grew up on the West Coast of Canada. His first full-length book for a general audience (The End of the River, ECW) was published in 2008 and was followed by three works of fiction. He lives in Nanaimo, British Columbia, and his main interests are playing the piano and working on his boat.

Naomi K. Lewis

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Photo: Aaron Giovannone
Naomi K. Lewis's books include the novel Cricket in a Fist, the short story collection I Know Who You Remind Me Of, and the memoir Tiny Lights for Travellers, and she co-edited the anthology Shy with Rona Altrows. Her journalism has been shortlisted for provincial and national magazine awards, and she has served as writer in residence at the University of New Brunswick and the Calgary Public Library. She lives in Calgary and sometimes Kelowna.

Lenore Newman

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Photo: UFV
Lenore Newman holds a Canada Research Chair in Food Security and Environment at the University of the Fraser Valley, where she is currently an Associate Professor of Geography and the Environment. She also serves as Director of the Food and Agriculture Institute at UFV. Lenore’s academic career as a culinary geographer has included fieldwork around the globe in the study of public markets, regional cuisines, farmland preservation, global food security, and the ecology of the world’s food system.

Lenore’s first book, Speaking in Cod Tongues: A Canadian Culinary Journey, was published by University of Regina Press in 2017 and won a Saskatchewan book prize.  Lenore has also authored over forty academic papers and reports in her areas of research. She is particularly proud of her work on foraged foods and on the impact of climate change on cuisine.

In 2014 she was inducted into the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. She has published op-eds in Georgia Straight, the Vancouver Sun, The Globe and Mail, Alternatives Magazine, and Modern Agriculture Magazine, and she has been interviewed for a diverse and growing range of media outlets on topics such as farmland protection, Canadian cuisine, and the future of food.

Eden Robinson

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Photo: CBC
Eden Robinson is a Haisla/Heiltsuk author who grew up in Haisla, British Columbia. Monkey Beach, her first novel, was shortlisted for both the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Governor General’s Literary Award for fiction in 2000 and won the BC Book Prize’s Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. Her novel, Son of a Trickster, was shortlisted for the 2017 Scotiabank Giller Prize. Her latest work is Trickster Drift.

Eden is the 2019/20 Haig-Brown House Writer in Residence.

Joan Thomas
Joan Thomas is the author of four novels, most recently Five Wives, which won the 2019 Governor General’s Award for Fiction. The jury wrote, “In Five Wives, Thomas delivers a compelling and powerful story about an encounter that alters the lives of those involved for generations. Set in a world where Indigenous peoples, missionaries and the forces of global capitalism collide, Thomas’s tale provides a nuanced examination of Operation Auca—a historical event that took place in Ecuador in 1956. This book raises important questions about religious fervour, autonomy and legacies of violence. Ambitiously conceived and beautifully written, this book is a masterful achievement.”

Joan’s first novel, Reading by Lightning (2008,Goose Lane Editions) won the Commonwealth Prize for Best First Book (Canada and the Caribbean) and the Amazon.ca First Novel Award, and was nominated for four other awards.  Curiosity (2010, McClelland & Stewart), and spent 42 weeks on the McNally Robinson Bestseller list. It was named a Quill and Quire Book of the Year and was nominated for the ScotiaBank Giller Prize, as well as the International IMPAC-Dublin Literary Award. The Opening Sky (2014), won the McNally Robinson Prize for Book of the Year and was a finalist for the Governor General’s Award for Fiction.

Joan Thomas lives in Winnipeg.

Ian Weir

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Photo: CBC
After working for several years as a newspaper reporter in Kamloops and Ottawa, Ian Weir completed a BA in English at UBC and an MA in Middle English Language and Literature. He wrote several radio plays for CBC and BBC before establishing himself as a stage playwright. His first full-length play, The Idler, premiered in Vancouver in 1987, winning a Jessie Award for Best New Play. He has since written more than a dozen plays, and has been produced internationally.

For television, Ian served as creator and executive producer of the CBC one-hour drama series Arctic Air. He was writer and executive producer of the acclaimed gangland miniseries Dragon Boys, and creator and executive producer of the long-running teen drama series Edgemont. Otherwise, he has written more than 150 episodes for nearly two dozen series in Canada.  Awards include two Geminis, four Leos and a Writers’ Guild of Canada Screenwriting Award.

His first novel, Daniel O’Thunder, was a finalist for four awards: the 2009 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book, the Ethel Wilson Award, the Canadian Authors Association Award for Fiction, and the Amazon.ca First Novel Award. His second novel, Will Starling, was longlisted for the 2016 International Dublin Literary Award. His latest is The Death and Life of Strother Purcell, published in September of 2018.

Ian lives in Langley with his wife, Jude, and their daughter Amy. He lives and dies with the BC Lions, roots passionately for the Toronto Maple Leafs.