Literary achievements

Bookmark, Charlottetown’s locally owned, independent bookstore, and UPEI’s English Department’s Winter Tales are hosting a celebration of Deirdre Kessler’s contributions to the PEI literary community. The event takes place on March 20 at 7 pm in Schurman Market Square, Don & Marion MacDougall Hall, UPEI. Richard Lemm and Laurie Brinklow will co-host the evening, and Island writers, students, and friends will share short readings of Kessler’s work. Admission is free and all are welcome. 

Deirdre Kessler has had a pronounced influence on the Island’s culture and literary scene as an author, educator, and advocate for Lucy Maud Montgomery’s writing. She is a former Poet Laureate of PEI, a novelist, children’s author, non-fiction writer, and occasional radio broadcaster. For many years, Kessler has been a sessional professor of children’s literature, creative writing, and the course on L.M. Montgomery with the Department of English at UPEI. She has supported other writers as a workshop facilitator, book editor, and teacher. She has been involved in the L.M. Montgomery Institute from its early days, and is on the editorial board of the Journal of L.M. Montgomery Studies.

 As the author of more than two dozen books, Kessler offers readers a diverse range of worlds to immerse themselves in. In her latest book, Darwin’s Hornpipe, a sailor accused of mutiny is thrown overboard near the Galapagos and must not only survive but go on to seek justice for his friend. Her memoir, Mother Country, examines what is home and family. In the Maritime classic children’s book Lobster In My Pocket, a lonely girl meets a talking lobster. A cat sets out to see the whole wide world in Adventures of an Island Cat named Brupp. Her poetry collection Afternoon Horses is filled with a sense of wonder, the beauty of nature, and the joys and sorrows of family life. 

With such a deep range of work to celebrate, the evening’s festivities will have something for new and old fans alike.