Now in its 18th season, Port Colborne’s Canadian Authors’ Series (otherwise known as Readings at the Roselawn) kicks off this Thursday, September 29th, with a reading by Sheree-Lee Olson. Olson will be reading from her current novel, Sailor Girl, which is published by The Porcupine’s Quill. Readings at the Roselawn started through the efforts of author, inaugural reader and Port Colbornite, William Thomas. In an arrangement that turned the Roselawn Centre Theater from an old boys club into an arts and culture hub, Thomas devised the reading series, promising to bring authors to Port Colborne. And Thomas has certainly delivered on that promise, attracting big names like Mordecai Richler, Adrienne Clarkson, Peter Mansbridge, Lloyd Robertson, David Suzuki and Margaret Atwood, to name only a few. When asked what the reading series means to him, Thomas joked, “It means I don’t have to drive to Toronto!” In all seriousness, Readings at the Roselawn has become a favourite of authors, and has brought the celebration of reading to Port Colborne, where Thomas postulates that the series has helped sell 10,000 books during its time, which is remarkable considering the town does not have a bookstore. It is an accomplishment of which Thomas should certainly be proud.
Thomas selects his annual honourees through examining bestseller lists and hounding big name authors, though he insists there are “no rules.” Sometimes, he gets lucky and authors he’s been asking for years say yes, or even return (Atwood has read twice). Olson was a special choice for the series because her novel, Sailor Girl, pertains to the Port Colborne area. Olson is also being honoured in Port Colborne on Wednesday, October 12th, at 10:45 a.m. when a plaque (or “Bookmark”) bearing a passage from Sailor Girl will be installed at Lock 8, in the exact location where a scene from the novel takes place. According to Thomas, Olson’s work has “great resonance in Port Colborne.” Calling it a “great read,” Thomas expanded on what Olson’s work has meant to the citizens of the town. “(We) see the boats, we think we know the boats,” Thomas said over the telephone, perched at his desk overlooking Lake Erie, but he admits that they don’t really know what boat life is truly like, and because of Olson’s work, “there’s a whole new world out there.”
Readings occur on the last Thursday of every month from September to May. Other scheduled authors for the 2011/2012 season are Bob MacDonald, host of CBC Radio’s Quirks and Quarks, and bestselling author Wayne Johnson. Sheree-Lee Olson will read at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are currently sold out.
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