Another addition of the BOOKED! Fernie Writers Series will be held on Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. Alix Hawley, who has won numerous awards for her writing in fiction, essay and review styles will be the events featured author. Host of the event, Angie Abdou, tries to showcase B.C. writers. “Though we bring writers from all over the country, we like to support B.C. writers especially,” said Abdou. “Alix Hawley comes to us from Kelowna and her book All True Not a Lie In It has been extremely successful: it won the Amazon First Novel Prize and the BC Book Prize for Fiction, as well as being long-listed for the Giller, possibly the country's most prestigious fiction award. Her novel is lively and exciting - two things we always aim for at BOOKED! events.”
While Hawley has not been to Fernie before, the name was around in her childhood.
“I have never been to Fernie, despite being B.C.-born,” she said. “Angie Abdou and the event itself are also known for being great. And a childhood friend had a cat named Fernie.”
All True Not a Lie In It is the authors debut novel and, according to Abdou, it is an impressive start to Hawley’s writing career.
“Fernie audiences will be interested in her playful and creative take on the life of Daniel Boone and on the book's blend of fact, myth, and fiction,” said Abdou.
Hawley is looking forward to speaking to the Fernie crowd about the novel.
“My first novel, is a first-person account of Daniel Boone's early life. I was trying to get behind all the myths about this frontier hero and figure out the person. It's about family, captivity, death, and an unending search for paradise,” she said. “It won the Amazon.ca First Novel Award and the BC Book Prize for Fiction, and was longlisted for the Giller. I'm looking forward to talking about it in Fernie. I also write short stories, and my first book was a collection of contemporary fiction, The Old Familiar. I'm always interested in personality and motivation, in any period.”
Hawley is experienced in more than just fictional writing, and has a fondness for her three writing styles.
“They feel separate but equal to me. Fiction is my first love, and I kept it up as a sideline through years of academic training. I've recently come back to essay-writing, which uses a different part of the brain. It feels strange but good to wake that up again. And I love reviewing, getting at what the writer was trying to do,” she said.
A self proclaimed “bookish house,” was one of the reasons Hawley chose an education and career in writing.
“I've been writing all my life, and as a small kid used to make my mum take down my stories for me until I could do it myself. I was lucky to grow up in a bookish house, where I fit in very well,” she said. “So studying English Literature seemed natural - if not very practical. But I realized then that I wanted to write the books, not just read them, so I turned to that side again for an M.A. in Creative Writing. But it's all part of the same road.”
The doors to the Fernie Heritage Library will open for the event at 7 p.m. and after Hawley and Abdou are done speaking Clay Parsons and Joelle Winkel, a duo from Cranbrook, will be playing some music to event goers.