Birds are chirping, some early flowers are blooming, and the weather is a bit warmer.

That can only mean one thing – it’s time for the County Reads and Authors Festival! We’ll tell you more about the County Reads next week, and this week’s column is an overview of the Authors Festival. For the second year in a row, the Authors Festival events will all be held over Zoom.

Register at peclibrary.org to reserve your spot or call the library. This year, local authors have agreed to act as moderators for the conversations.

On Friday and Saturday there will be three talks each day, and a writer’s workshop on Sunday morning. The schedule is set so that you can attend all three events each day and there will be a short break in between talks. The first author is Bryn Turnbull, who will join us on Friday, April 22 at 1 p.m.

Her new book is The Last Grand Duchess: A Novel of Olga Romanov, Imperial Russia and Revolution. It’s a peek behind palace walls at the end of Imperial Russia. Prince Edward County author Peter Blendell will act as moderator for the talk. At 2 p.m. on Friday, hear Rosemary Sullivan in conversation with Janet Kellough. Sullivan’s new book, The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation works to answer the question “Who betrayed Anne Frank and her family And Why?”

Michal Posner’s new book is Leonard Cohen: Untold Stories vol 2. J.D. Carpenter has agreed to moderate this conversation, which will happen at 3 p.m. Saturday’s talks begin with Kim Thúy, author of em. This conversation will be moderated by Anne Preston who successfully defended Thúy’s title Ru in last year’s County Reads debate!

That talk will be at 1 p.m. At 2 p.m., Marissa Stapley will be joined by Shelagh Hurley. Lucky, a thrilling roller-coaster ride about a heist gone terribly wrong. At 3 p.m. Robert Hough, author of the Marriage of Rose Camilleri will join us for a conversation with Ken Murray. This novel is described as “an illuminating portrait of an unconventional marriage,” with “larger than life characters…warmth, and humour” On Sunday, April 24, writer Hannah Mary McKinnon will join us via Zoom for a small group Women Killing It Crime Writer’s workshop. Tickets for this event are $20. Participants will have the opportunity to turn on their cameras and have a conversation. This session will begin with a session on plotting, followed by a Q&A about writing, publishing, and more. No matter where you are on your writing and publishing journey, this workshop promises to be worthwhile.

If you’re interested in joining these talks and need assistance, technology to participate or help getting on to the Zoom call, please ask the library’s tech help team.

If you’re feeling hesitant about trying Zoom, you can book a space in the library and we’ll set everything up for you and you can just show up and watch! Call (613) 476-5962.

-Liz Zylstra