Joel A. Sutherland

Something I've been working on behind the scenes these past few months is a one-day literary convention called The DarkLit Fest of Durham. For the past few years I've been dreaming of such an event to take place in my neck of the woods -- in Durham Region, east of Toronto -- and I finally decided to take the plunge and organize it myself.

Not only was the location an integral part of my plan, but I also wanted the fest to focus on dark literature and, most importantly, I wanted it to be FREE. It can be expensive traveling to and from these types of events and the entry cost is often quite high, so I wanted my event to be affordable (i.e. FREE) for anyone who wants to come.

So what bang do you get for your buck? You get to meet bestselling author Kelley Armstrong, who is the Guest of Honour. You get to meet the other nineteen (yes, nineteen!) literary guests -- authors, editors and publishers from the fields of mystery, crime, horror and dark fantasy. You can register for a pitch session or two in the hopes of selling your manuscript to our three publisher guests: Burning Effigy Press, ChiZine Publications and ECW Press! You get to sit in on panels and readings and can buy autographed books. You might even win a door prize, and if all that wasn't enough, there will be FREE food at the Meet and Greet Luncheon.

Did I mention all of this is FREE?

I'm organizing it in conjunction with the Oshawa Public Library, and they've been an absolute joy to work with. This is going to be a truly special event so if you live in the Greater Toronto Area, you won't want to miss it! The date is Saturday, November 27 from 10:15 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

More information can be found on the website: https://sites.google.com/site/darklitfestofdurham/home

If this year's DarkLit Fest is as successful as I'm hoping it will be, I'll likely make it an annual event, so I hope to see some of you there! It's not like you can beat the price. By the way, it's FREE.