Joe Kertes, dean of the School of Creative and Performing Arts, and Antanas Sileika, co-ordinator of the Creative Writing by Correspondence program, were guests at a very special Ottawa literary launch this week. Her Excellency Sharon Johnston—wife of His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, The Governor General of Canada—celebrated the publication of her first novel, MATRONS AND MADAMS (Dundurn Press), with a reception at the Canada Council. Well over 300 people gathered to hear Her Excellency read from the book and be interviewed on stage.

A graduate of the Creative Writing by Correspondence program, Her Excellency was effusive in her praise of both the program and its founder, her writing mentor Kertes.

The first installment of a planned trilogy, MATRONS AND MADAMS is set in Lethbridge, Alberta, in the years following World War I. It is loosely based on Her Excellency's own family history, and explores the rehabilitation of wounded soldiers against Lethbridge’s brothels and a growing public health crisis.

For more information about the novel and its planned sequels, listen to Her Excellency in conversation with the Ottawa Citizen: ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/books/of-matrons-madams-and-rideau-hall-traditions-sharon-johnston-talks-about-her-new-novel

To hear Her Excellency speak in person, join us on April 28 at 7 pm at Indigo Bay and Bloor (55 Bloor Street West, Manulife Centre). It will be an evening you won't soon forget!