Hemingway famously said, “there is no friend as loyal as a book.”

Although Papa spent more time on Boulevard Saint-Germain than James Street North during his days as an aspiring novelist, that sentiment rings true at Hamilton’s annual gritLIT literary festival.

Launched in 2004 as a community-driven fiction and poetry showcase, gritLIT continues to place a spotlight on emerging local talent while also attracting some of the country’s most celebrated authors and poets.

Throughout the past decade, readings and workshops have been staged at high-profile venues throughout the downtown core, including the Art Gallery of Hamilton, the Workers’ Arts and Heritage Centre, the Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts and the Westside Concert Theatre. Several events at this year’s festival will take place in and around the thriving James Street North arts district.

Although the festival has grown exponentially in recent years, keeping one ear to the ground remains a priority for festival organizers.

“We’re in the middle of a cultural renaissance in Hamilton,” said Jennifer Gillies, McMaster alumna and artistic director and general manager of gritLIT. “That’s maybe not even the right word, because the arts community here has always been strong.”

Gillies, who graduated from McMaster in 1994 with a combined degree in English and Drama, spent much of her early career across the Pacific — teaching English in South Korea, contributing a regular column to an English magazine in Seoul, working for a children’s book publisher in Taiwan and co-authoring a university textbook before eventually finding work as a college instructor back home.

When fellow Mac alumna Krista Foss launched gritLIT in 2004, Gillies didn’t waste much time getting involved. She joined the organizing committee the following year, and has remained connected in various capacities ever since.

“We typically focus on recent publications, which is what attracted me to the festival. It’s great because I’m always introduced to new Canadian authors,” said Gillies. “Our goal is to get new and established authors in the same room, and showcase everyone’s latest work.”

Interestingly, one of Gillies’ professors from her days at McMaster is taking part in this year’s festivities. On Sunday, April 6, associate professor Jeffery Donaldson will participate in the gala closing event at Homegrown Hamilton with a reading from his latest collection of poems, Slack Action. 

For Donaldson, the festival not only cements Hamilton’s reputation as a Canadian literary hub, but provides budding local authors with the most difficult thing to obtain — an audience.

“Hamilton has been blessed by the gritLIT series. It fills in a nice little gap in our reading practices,” explained Donaldson. “There’s a lot of great writing being produced right under our noses, but we don’t always get to see or hear it.

“The festival also helps dispel some of the common myths about Hamilton; that we’re just a gritty industrial city,” added Donaldson. “Hamilton has as rich a literary culture as any city its size, particularly when it comes to poetry.”

McMaster alumnus Dave Haskins will also participate in the closing event on April 6, reading from his 2013 collection of poetry This House is Condemned. Alumna Janet Turpin Myers will take part in the “All About the Hammer” event at 2:15 p.m., reading from her latest work, Nightswimming.

The opening night celebrations for this year’s gritLIT literary festival will take place Thursday, April 3. Click here to view the full schedule of weekend events.

Tickets and weekend passes can be purchased online. Weekend passes can also be purchased at Mixed Media, Bryan Prince Bookseller, Epic Books and J.H. Gordon Books.