Chatham-Kent is being bookmarked.
Project Bookmark Canada announced that two sites in the municipality have been chosen for Bookmarks on Canada’s Literary Trail. These are the first in Southwestern Ontario, joining Bookmarks across Canada.
The trail is marked by plaques (Bookmarks) with poems or passages from fiction in the physical locations the writers imagined when writing the words.
Bookmarks celebrate imagined scenes in real places with the aim of placing bookmarks in communities in Canada to stimulate interest in literature and nourish a pride in the community celebrating a local author, according to a Project Bookmark Canada media release.
Only Canada honours its writers with such a unique literary trail. Writers including Michael Ondaatje, Lawrence Hill, Elizabeth Hay, Carol Shields and several others are celebrated in this way.
Thamesville, the birthplace of Robertson Davies, will be the site of one of the Bookmarks. Thamesville is described in the early chapters of Robertson Davies’ book, Fifth Business. In the book, the author details life prior to the First World War and later the celebrations in the town that took place at the end of the war. The Bookmark will be on the site of the historic Town Hall.
Chatham Public Library will be the site of the plaque honouring author Lori Lansens who was born and raised in Chatham. Lansens’ book, The Girls, is a fictional account of conjoined sisters who volunteered at the library and had a love of literature.
The project was funded partially through councillor ward funding, made possible through Hydro One’s Community Benefit Funding Program. The investment reflects council’s commitment to preserving local history and highlighting cultural impact across Chatham-Kent.
Funding was also provided by the Chatham-Kent Community Foundation and private donors.
Unveiling of the plaque in Thamesville will be at 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 22, and for Chatham on Nov. 18 at 1:30 p.m.
For more information: https://www.projectbookmarkcanada.ca/#your-canlit-trail
