August 9th is National Book Lovers Day, a day for book lovers everywhere to celebrate their love of reading and share their favourite books with others. Here at TBPL, you’ll find plenty of book lovers working in our branches. To celebrate, we’ve rounded up our staff’s favourite books by local authors. Our region has a number of authors writing across genres, so there is sure to be something for everyone.
Our list contains authors who were not originally from our region, but came to the Lakehead and found a home. One notable author is Sheila Burnford who is known for her children’s novels, including the award-winning “The Incredible Journey.” Burnford emigrated to Port Arthur from Scotland in 1951. Closer to Thunder Bay, Ruby Slipperjack, author of “These are My Words”, part of the Dear Canada series, grew up in Whitewater Lake, Ontario. A member of the Eabametoong First Nation, “These are My Words” tells the story of a girl named Violet attending residential school in 1966. Slipperjack herself attended residential school, eventually attending high school in Thunder Bay, going on to attend Lakehead University here as well.
We also feature authors who were born and raised in Thunder Bay, which includes Michael Christie, author of a number of award-winning novels. Back in 2023, Christie came back home and visited TBPL for an event that drew in many fans as he discussed writing, including how our fair city has influenced his literary works. Another Thunder Bay-born author we feature on this list is Natalie Lehto. Lehto’s memoir “Like the Glide of a Butterfly” recounts her experience surviving the Boston marathon in 2013. She also spoke with TBPL staff back in 2023 - an interview you can read here.
As you can see, our local authors have done it all! To celebrate, here is TBPL’s Staff Picks for Local Authors:
Check out these titles by authors with a connection to Thunder Bay, handpicked by our TBPL staff!
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