![Northrop Frye statue](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Northrop_Frye_statue.JPG)
The Frye Festival, formerly known as the Northrop Frye International Literary Festival, is a bilingual (French and English) literary festival held in
Moncton
Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the The Maritimes, Maritime Provinces. The ...
,
New Brunswick
New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
in April of each year. The festival began in 1999 and honours noted literary critic
Herman Northrop Frye (1912–1991), who spent his formative years in Moncton, graduating from
Aberdeen High School.
History
Although born in
Sherbrooke, Quebec
Sherbrooke ( ; ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François and Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional count ...
,
Northrop Frye
Herman Northrop Frye (July 14, 1912 – January 23, 1991) was a Canadian literary critic and literary theorist, considered one of the most influential of the 20th century.
Frye gained international fame with his first book, '' Fearful Symmet ...
was seven years old when his family moved to Moncton, New Brunswick. He became an accomplished author and was elected to the Royal Society of Canada in 1951.
He was named University Professor by the University of Toronto in 1967 and wa
Norton professorat Harvard University.
In November 1990, at the invitation of Professor Serge Morin, Northrop Frye returned to Moncton to deliver the
Pascal Poirier
Pascal Poirier (February 15, 1852 – September 25, 1933) was a Canadian author, lawyer, and the all-time longest-serving Senator.
Born in Shediac, New Brunswick, in a big family, he attended College Saint Joseph in Memramcook, New Brunswick ...
Lecture at the
Université de Moncton
The Université de Moncton is a Canadian francophone university in New Brunswick. It includes campuses in Edmundston, Moncton, and Shippagan.
The university was founded in 1963 following the recommendations of the royal commission on higher ed ...
. During his stay he had the chance to meet and talk with many Monctonians, and he was able to visit his old home and the grave of his mother in Elmwood Cemetery. "They were two of the best days of my life," he reported to fellow Monctonian,
Reuben Cohen. The following year, after Frye's death in January 1991, The Northrop Frye Society hosted a gathering of Frye-ites, an
John Ayre Frye's biographer, delivered the Pascal Poirier Lecture.
In 1997 the City of Moncton, developed an Arts Policy which recommended that the city have a festival to honour Northrop Frye.
The Frye Festival was founded by three partners from the Greater Moncton region: the
Aberdeen Cultural Centre
The Aberdeen Cultural Centre is an Acadian cultural cooperative containing multiple studios and galleries and is located on Botsford Street in Moncton, New Brunswick. The Centre houses the Galerie Sans Nom, which presents art exhibitions that show ...
, the Northrop Frye Society, and the Greater Moncton Economic Commission.
In December 1999, a public conference featuring two Canadian literary superstars,
Antonine Maillet
Antonine Maillet, (; born May 10, 1929) is an Acadian novelist, playwright, and scholar. She was born in Bouctouche, New Brunswick, Canada."Antonine Maillet." ''Paroles d'Acadie : Anthologie de la littérature acadienne (1958-2009)'', edited by ...
and
John Ralston Saul
John Ralston Saul (born June 19, 1947) is a Canadian writer, political philosopher, and public intellectual. Saul is most widely known for his writings on the nature of individualism, citizenship and the public good; the failures of manager-l ...
, was organized at the
Capitol Theatre by the Greater Moncton Economic Commission, Vision TV, and the Aberdeen Cultural Centre. This project became the catalyst for the creation of the Festival.
The first edition of the festival, known as the time as the Northrop Frye International Literary Festival, took place in 2000.
In its first year more than 3,000 people attended the Festival. In 2011 more than 15,000 people attended. The Frye Festival has become one of the major literary events in Canada, and continues to grow every year. More than 450 award-winning authors, from every continent and recipients of almost every major international literary prize, have now attended the Festival. The Festival is the proud recipient of the 2005 Lieutenant-Governor’s Dialogue Award, the 2007 Éloize for Event of the Year, the 2009 TD Canada Trust Arts Organization of the Year by the New Brunswick Foundation for the Arts, and the 2014
Commissioner of Official Language's
Award of Excellence—Promotion of Linguistic Duality.
The Frye Festival is the largest literary happening in
Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (french: provinces de l'Atlantique), is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec. The four provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundlan ...
.
Awards
Throughout the years, the Frye Festival has received many awards:
* New Brunswick
Lieutenant-Governor
A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
’s Dialogue Award (2005)
* Event of the Year Award at the Soirée de
Éloizes(2008, with another nomination in 2012)
* TD Arts Organization of the Year by the NB Foundation for the Arts (2009)
* Community Service Excellence Award from th
Greater Moncton Chamber of Commerce(2012)
* Recognition Award from the Association of Professional Librarians of NB (2012)
* Dr.
Marilyn Trenholme
Marilyn Trenholme Counsell (born October 22, 1933) is a Canadian lecturer, doctor and politician. Counsell was a Canadian Senator and Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick from 1997 to 2003.
Early life and career
She was born in Baie Verte, N ...
Counsell Award for Community Literacy Programs (2014)
* Excellence Award—Promotion of Linguistic Duality, Commissioner for
Official Languages of Canada
The official languages of Canada are English and French, which "have equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all institutions of the Parliament and Government of Canada," according to Canada's constitution. "Official ...
(2014)
* Dr.
Marilyn Trenholme
Marilyn Trenholme Counsell (born October 22, 1933) is a Canadian lecturer, doctor and politician. Counsell was a Canadian Senator and Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick from 1997 to 2003.
Early life and career
She was born in Baie Verte, N ...
Counsell Award for Community Literacy Programs (2014)
* Prix Acadie-Québec (2018)
* Finalist of the Non-profit Organization of the Year Category at th
Chamber of Commerce for Greater MonctonBusiness Excellence Awards (2018)
See also
*
Events in Greater Moncton
References
External links
The Frye Festivalin Moncton, Website
About a statue
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frye Festival, The
Literary festivals in Canada
Festivals in Moncton
Recurring events established in 2000
Arts festivals in New Brunswick