As of August 2025, we are no longer producing events as Riverside Reading Series.
Thank you to all the writers who presented their work with us, to our local partners and supporters, and to everyone who attended our literary events between 2022 and 2025.
Our group of volunteers, all the folks who worked behind the scenes to make this series operate, are still committed to fostering community-based connections and supportive spaces for writers.
For literary events, please visit Riverside Bookshelf in Paris, Ontario.
How did it all start?
An idea of a place where writers of all ages and professional levels could gather and present their work.
What happened next?
photo of Alison Fishburn by Zach MumfordParis, Ontario-based writer Alison Fishburn launched the Riverside Reading Series (RRS) website in June 2022. Our first monthly event happened a month later at the Walter Williams Amphitheatre in Paris. Writers Mike Chaulk, Vanessa Ricci-Thode, and Eirinn Todd, along with Fishburn, presented their original in-progress and published writing.
We celebrated the first year of RRS with our first annual Summer Writers Festival on June 24, 2023. The festival was a day-long public event with independent publishers, local organizations, and performances for children, teens and adults by Ekiuwa Aire, Nic Brewer, Jaclyn Desforges, Farzana Doctor, Kim Fahner, Erica London, Deb Lloyd, Fareh Malik, Dwayne Morgan, Tony North, Robert Priest, and Bruce Simpson.
Between 2022 and 2025, our series became a place where writers of all ages and professional levels found a sense of community, connection and opportunity to present their work.
