Atlantic Canada literary Frye Festival celebrates 26th year

The Frye Festival returns to Moncton and features over 50 literary and arts events.

The Frye Festival, a showcase of literary and artistic talent in Atlantic Canada, is celebrating its 26th year this week.

The festival features more than 50 events.

“My press relations manager calls it an instant classic,” says Ariane Savoie, executive director of the Frye Festival, referring to “Frye Fever,” a 36-hour poetry marathon featuring five poets, DJs, and music. “University students, regular public, dignitaries, staff, poets, authors; the energy in the room was just like people needed this event so much.”

This year’s festival in Moncton, N.B., boasts a predominantly Canadian lineup, with a few international authors. Among them is Moncton native Siobhán Gallagher, whose success in the U.S. has brought her back to her roots. Gallagher discussed her new graphic memoir “Full Of Myself,” a deeply personal exploration of body image and its impact on her life.

“It’s all about my lifelong experience dealing with the pressures of existing as a woman, and how that manifested in my eating disorder and body dysmorphia. The book is about my journey in losing myself and finding myself again,” she explained.

Gallagher cited female comic artists like Cape Breton native Kate Beaton and Lisa Hanawalt as her inspiration.

“Certain illustrators like Lisa Hanawalt, who’s another artist who just expresses emotions and what it’s like to live in a female body in a really funny way,” Gallagher said. “I think (the festival is) exactly what Moncton means. Just more great community activities like this and learning about local authors and other Canadian artists and writers.”

The festival attracts nearly 10,000 people daily. This success, Savoie explains, stems from a sense of trust and community.

“This is where we can see that there is a trust in the Frye Festival. They don’t necessarily always see the authors, but they trust our choices and the just join us in the journey. The authors feel like they instantly join a community; authors are asking the public, ‘Hey, how many of you read my book?’ and they see hands rising and they are stunned… I think they feel important and relevant,” Savoie said.

“At the Frye Festival, authors feel like rock stars.”

The Frye Festival concludes on May 4.

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