gritLIT, Hamilton’s very own literary festival, starts Thursday. Below is a summary of some of the exciting events planned for this year's festival. iPhone users don't forget to download the gritLIT app from iTunes. The app is your mobile connection to festival events.

Thursday, April 7: Evening of poetry at the Art Gallery o f Hamilton featuring local award-winning poet Gary Barwin and multi-award winners Karen Solie and Evelyn Lau.

Friday, April 8: Some Cole for a Winters’ Night, featuring local luminary Trevor Cole and both Kathleen Winter and Michael Winter reading from their most recent, critically-acclaimed novels.

Saturday, April 9: Afternoon non-fiction panel on Diversity and Tolerance, built around The Jew Is Not My Enemy by Tarek Fatah and Wayde Compton’s After Canaan, is guaranteed to spark some lively discussion. On Saturday evening it's a blend of the comic writings of acclaimed author Drew Hayden Taylor and the stand-up comedy of CBC Radio personality Jonathan Goldstein in Live from the Westside, It’s Saturday Night.

Saturday, April 9: Workshop at Mohawk College: How to Write Funny with Drew Hayden Taylor.Join multi-award winning playwright, novelist, comedian and journalist Drew Hayden Taylor as he discusses the how-to and why of incorporating humour in your writing.

Saturday, April 9: Workshop at Mohawk College: Telling Details with Erin Bow. CBC Literary Award Winner Erin Bow leads a hands-on workshop designed to show writers how to choose the best descriptive details for your characters, settings, etc.

Sunday, April 10: More poetry readings featuring some of the most exciting up-and-coming voices in Canadian Literature – Alexander MacLeod, Zoe Whittall and Alison Pick to name a few.

Complete festival schedules and locations can be found on the Festival's website: www.gritlit.ca.

Tickets for individual events will be available at the door ($10 for evening events, $5 for afternoon, with 20% discounts for Students/Seniors/Underemployed) and Festival Passes ($25) are available at Bryan Prince Bookseller in Westdale and at Mixed Media on James Street North. Please contact gritLIT if you have any other inquiries.

gritLIT was established in November, 2004, by Hamilton writer and Mohawk College professor Krista Foss. It started as a small, intimate festival, with readings taking place in the Staircase Theatre. Over the past seven years, gritLIT has evolved into a larger-scale and wider-reaching endeavor. It has spread out to encompass a number of venues including the Art Gallery of Hamilton, the Workers' Arts and Heritage Centre, the Sky Dragon Centre, the Westside Concert Theatre, and, in previous years, the Dowtown Arts Centre and the Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts.