Definitely Not a Novice

When: Sunday, August 9, 11:30 am. Where: Beaches Theatre & Gallery (formerly The Beaches Arts and Heritage Centre). When: Sunday, August 9, 11:30 am Wayne Johnston, the famed, controversial writer of such books as The Colony of Unrequited Dreams and Jenny’s Boy, has a remarkable new novel coming this spring. We know you’re dying to hear what he has to say about The Novice of Holloway Hall, and host Elisabeth de Mariaffi, writer of four books and editor of Riddle Fence, is just the person to lead the conversation. WAYNE JOHNSTON was born and raised in Goulds, Newfoundland. His #1 nationally bestselling novels include First Snow, Last Light; The Custodian of Paradise; The Navigator of New York; and The Colony of Unrequited Dreams. Baltimore’s Mansion won the inaugural Charles Taylor Prize for literary non-fiction. The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, published in 1998, was nominated for sixteen national and international awards including the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction, and was a Canada Reads finalist. In 2011, Johnston was awarded the Writers’ Trust Engel/Findley Award honouring the work of a writer in mid-career. His memoir Jennie’s Boy won the 2023 Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Literary Humour and was also a Canada Reads finalist, in 2025. ELISABETH DE MARIAFFI is the critically acclaimed author of four books: the Giller Prize-nominated short story collection How to Get Along with Women and the thrillers The Devil You Know,