Ross King at Storyfest

Storyfest is the cultural "jewel in the crown" of my little town of Hudson.  Run under the auspices of Greenwood, a heritage home, this annual literary festival presents a lineup of distinguished Canadian authors and poets. Past presenters include Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, and Louise Penny.

This year's roster is as stellar as ever. I was fortunate to attend Friday's lecture by Daniel Levitin, the eminent McGill professor of psychology and author of This is Your Brain on Music, The World in Six Songs, and most recently, Weaponized Lies: How to Think Critically in the Post-Truth Era.

Coming up on Tuesday evening is a presentation by Ross King, focused on his most recent book, Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lilies, winner of the 2017 RBC Taylor prize for non-fiction. You can read the Guardian's review of the book here.

King has made a career of writing about art. His titles include:

• Brunelleschi's Dome: The Story of the Great Cathedral in Florence
• Michaelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling
• The Judgement of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade that Gave the World Impressionism
• Defiant Spirits: The Modernist Revolution of the Group of Seven
• Leonardo and the Last Supper

King's lecture, scheduled for Tuesday, October 10, 7:30 pm in the Hudson Village Theatre, is sure to be a treat for any art-lover. Tickets are still available here.