Today marked the official launch of the 16th annual Frye Festival in Moncton.
Executive Director Danielle Leblanc says one of the unique features of the festival is that it’s bilingual.
“And that means that we program Anglophone and Francophone writers in the same events,” says Leblanc. “People can just enjoy meeting the best of both literary sectors in Canada because they don’t get to interact very often.”
Leblanc says it’s a celebration of literature and there are events for all ages including a talk by famous author Jane Urquhart.
She adds events like authors visiting schools encourages youth engagement.
“So what we try to do is to foster the enjoyment of reading and writing,” says Leblanc. “We don’t teach them how to read, but we try to encourage them to love reading.”
Leblanc says with New Brunswick suffering from a low literacy rate, events like the Frye Festival can help by encouraging youth to read and write more.
She adds the Moncton community is very welcoming to all the authors and participants.
“People go up and talk to the authors, and tell stories, they’ll take them out for lunch or dinner and the authors go home raving about the warm welcome they receive here and that’s all thanks to the community – that’s not us doing that,” says Leblanc.
For a full schedule of events, click HERE