Author Tours

Visits and readings with Hackmatack-nominated authors are organized annually to occur during the week preceding the Hackmatack Award Ceremony. The Hackmatack Award will be touring nominated authors in the Atlantic region during the week of May 10 to 13.

Last year's nominated authors met thousands of young Hackmatack fans, and offered a total of 68 readings in schools and libraries across the Atlantic region. Hackmatack author tours were made possible with generous assistance from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Nova Scotia Department of Education, and the partnership of a number of regional libraries.

Jump ahead: Preparing for an Author Visit.

Robert Rayner and his rapt audience.

Preparing for an Author Visit

Make the visit worthwhile for the students and the author.

In order to host a successful reading, make sure that your school is prepared for the visit:

students have read the book and know something about the writer
have questions ready for the author
make sure that your school or library has the required equipment ready
organize the reading space
make sure you have an idea of what the writer intends to do during the presentation

Make the author feel welcome:

have a pair of students or a staff person await the writer's arrival at the entrance and show them the basic geography and conveniences
involve students as much as possible on the day of the visit
have your students supervised at all times

Check out the following websites for more ideas on hosting authors and other author tour programs:

Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia's Writers in the Schools
Canadian Children's Book Centre's Canadian Children's Book Week