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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, January 16, 2015 | 22 Lawrence Hill opens speaker series at Sheridan Renowned Canadian author's The Book of Negroes selected for Sheridan Reads book club by John Bkila Oakville Beaver Staff Artscene "Connected to your Community" A ward-winning Canadian author and former Oakville resident Lawrence Hill will impart his gifted writing knowledge and expertise to Sheridan students and staff Monday (Jan. 19). Hill will deliver the inaugural address in the college's new Creative Campus Series, a selection of talks by distinguished guests from a range of disciplinary and professional backgrounds. The event, which takes place at The Marquee student pub at 6:30 p.m., is a kickoff to a series of Sheridan Reads events -- including book club conversations -- to take place over the winter term across Sheridan's campuses in Oakville, Brampton and Mississauga. Hill's award-winning The Book of Negroes, a No. 1 bestseller in Canada, was selected as a Sheridan Reads designated book. "I was very happy about that. It's always gratifying to hear that students are reading my work," said Hill. "My theory is that if you come across a novel that you love and you do so when you are a teenager or young adult, you will likely never forget the book. "You will always carry it with you, like a friendship," he explained. "So, I was thrilled when Sheridan selected The Book of Negroes." Published by HarperCollinsCanada, the book dramatizes the tragic migration of Nova Scotia's Black Loyalists into and out of Canada. Hill writes in the first person through his protagonist, Aminata Diallo. A young girl born in 1745 in Bayo, Mali in Africa and raised a free Muslim, Diallo is stolen from her home, witnesses her parents' deaths and installed in the slave trade in the late 1700s. Her transatlantic journeys take her to South Carolina and then as an old woman leaving Halifax, N.S., to Sierra Leone to eventually get back home. Diallo is a fictional character Hill based on historical fact. Hill said he felt he had to dramatize his story after learning about the migrations of the Black Loyalists. "Regardless of whether the Black Loyalists were born into or brought into slavery in the Americas, they took back their freedom to service the British in Manhattan on the losing side of the American Revolutionary War, only to travel to Nova Scotia in 1783 -- after the ward ended -- and then sail back to Africa to found the colony of Freetown in Sierra Leone in 1792," said Hill. "Imagine that -- being stolen from Africa as a child, becoming enslaved... but getting back to the mother continent in the same lifetime. I had never heard of such an astounding migration. So, when I discovered it, I found myself itching to create a female protagonist and dramatize her life story. "A life that would encompass the transatlantic migrations of the Black Loyalists." Hill, born to a black father and white mother who were human rights activists in the U.S. and Canada, has written a string of books on being black and Black History, both fiction and nonfiction. An early start The 57-year-old author started writing stories when he was 14 and published his first novel, Some Great Thing, in 1992 at the age of 35. Hill said he never imagined The Book of Negroes would reach such critical acclaim; the novel has sold 700,000 copies in Canada alone. "Good thing I hadn't seen that coming or I would have found it paralyzing during the writing process," he said. The book has also been adapted into a sixpart television miniseries, which premiered on CBC last week, much to Hill's delight, he said. "I co-wrote the screenplay -- that was an amazing learning curve, and I got to attend filming on the sets in South Africa and Nova Scotia, be an extra, have my daughters Caroline and Beatrice join me on the sets, and learn a whole new writing skill," Hill explained. "A great experience." A penchant for the arts runs in Hill's family; At left, renowned Canadian author, and former Oakville resident, Lawrence Hill has seen his work The Book of Negroes turned into a television miniseries, which premiered last week. Hill is pictured with miniseries director Clement Virgo (in middle) and executive producer Damon D'Oliveira on a frigid day of filming on set in Louisbourg, N.S. Hill will be speaking at Sheridan's Oakville campus on Monday (Jan. 19), delivering the inaugural address for the college's Creative Campus Series. The Book of Negroes has also been selected as part of the new Sheridan Reads book club. | photo courtesy of Lawrence Hill his brother Dan is a famed singer-songwriter and his late sister Karen loved poetry. Hill's parents married in 1953 and had a love affair that endured more than 50 years, beginning as the couple fled their native U.S. for Canada the day after their wedding -- interracial marriages were illegal in the U.S. at the time. His mother Donna was born into a Republican family in a Chicago suburb and his father Daniel was the first Ontario Human Rights Commissioner, later becoming an Ombudsman. Hill's parents founded the Ontario Black History Society in their basement; the group would be responsible for February becoming known as Black History Month in Canada. Having lived in Oakville from 1989-2004, Hill currently lives in Hamilton with his wife and writer Miranda Hill. The pair has four daughters and a son. -- with Oakville Beaver files. Masterworks of Oakville on the lookout for new members for upcoming spring concert Masterworks of Oakville chorus and orchestra is auditioning for new members for its upcoming spring concert. The musical group regularly performs with a chorus of more than 80 voices and a full orchestra. All perspective choristers need to audition and prior choral experience is preferable, however, Masterworks asks those who come out have a good ear and the ability to learn music. The chorus rehearses on Saturday mornings in Oakville and rehearsals for the spring concert begin on Saturday (Jan. 17). To audition, or for more information on location, contact Masterworks artistic director Charles Demuynck at charles@ masterworksofoakville.ca. The spring concerts will be held on May 23 and May 24, where the chorus and orchestra will perform Francis Poulenc's Gloria, Igor Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms and Demuynck's own composition, Alerion. "(It's) for orchestra alone, so the choir will be focusing on two great 20th century masterpieces, Poulenc's Gloria and Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms," said Demuynck. "These challenging and rewarding works will make a chorister grow as a musician, and explore new harmonies and rhythms. "The effect of these works is marvellous and will be very enjoyable. Symphony of Psalms will be presented with a visual accompaniment of works by Stravinsky's contemporary Pablo Picasso, and so will be a fusion of art and music that will be a splendid artistic statement." In addition to the pair of May concerts in Oakville, Masterworks will also be performing with the Symphony on the Bay at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre on May 3. Over the recent holiday season, Masterkworks performed Johann Sebastian Bach's Christmas Oratorio to an audience of more than 800 people in November 2014. The concert was also broadcast over TV . Visit www.masterworksofoakville.ca for more.