One of Canada’s most quickly rising authors will visit Invermere in October when One Book, One Kootenay reader’s choice winner and CBC’s Canada Reads finalist Angie Abdou holds a reading of her book The Canterbury Trail at the Invermere Public Library as part of a six-town tour.
“Authors do love to tour their books, and we find that it’s a good partnership between libraries and authors,” said Helen Graham of the Kootenay Library Federation, which is sponsoring the tour.
Abdou, an instructor at the College of the Rockies, first burst on to the scene in 2006, when her collection of short stories, Anything Boys Can Do, was lauded by critics and fans. Her first novel, The Bone Cage released in 2007, was what brought her the greatest recognition to date, winning the inaugural One Book, One Kootenay reading series. Following the stories of fictitious Olympians Sadie Jorgenson and Tom “Digger” Stapleton, the book was selected by former NHL player George Laraque for the Canada Reads competition and was included in Canadian Literature’s all-time list of best Canadian sports literature.
Her latest novel, The Canterbury Trail, is described as a “black comedy about mountain culture” on her website, as it follows the story of a group of ski enthusiasts on their way to a remote backcountry cabin for the last weekend of the ski season.
“She’s quite different, and quite refreshing,” Graham said. “It’s very much a Kootenay tale.”
Abdou will read from The Canterbury Trail at the Invermere Public Library on Wednesday, October 10 at 7 p.m., and will also visit Kimberley and Sparwood as part of her tour. For more information on the tour or the author, visit klf.bclibrary.ca, or www.abdou.ca.