Executive Committee

Katherine Belrose

Katherine’s role on the Words Alive Committee is to ensure the smooth delivery of the venue on the day of the Festival. In addition to having been Sharon Temple’s Program and Site Coordinator for three years, she has helped with education programs at the Whitchurch-Stouffville Museum and Black Creek Pioneer Village. She’s passionate about recreating forgotten voices of the past and is currently involved in promoting literacy as a volunteer reading coach in schools and as a trustee of the Richmond Hill Public Library. Katherine holds a BA from the University of Ottawa and has worked as a museum educator, publicist, event planner and wardrobe mistress.

Jim Bolton, President

In addition to taking over as president in 2010, Jim assists the Festival with publisher and author recruitment and liaison. Following a career at Historic Fort York he has been a bookpedlar for the past almost twenty years working in very independent small shops as well as at Canada’s national chain.  Books near his desk today include titles from his gardening, cookery, blacksmithing and military history collections.  Jim also has a passion for fiction and poetry written from the edge. His favourite book of poetry is Karen Connelly’s The Disorder of Love.

Vali Stone, Founder

Vali Stone is not only the inspiration behind, and founder of, the Words Alive Literary Festival, but a published author in her own right.

Winner of the “In Celebration of Women” author’s award, an editor and public speaker, she is also a full time faculty member at Georgian College in Barrie, Ontario.  Vali teaches Communications and English and recently developed a first-of-its-kind program, Visual Analysis.

A creative writing teacher of adults for several years, she understands the importance of literature and writing and fully appreciates the frustrations new writers face. Vali’s dream of bringing writers together with published authors and book lovers to share ideas and stories became the impetus for the Words Alive Literary Festival.

“Words Alive has been a dream of mine for many years, one that wouldn’t let go, until one day, I knew it had to come alive”