Lawrence Hill and Mohamed Fahmy at recent CWS

At the recent Canadian Writers' Summit in Toronto, Keynote Lawrence Hill spoke eloquently about his life as a writer. I took this picture before he signed my copy of his award-winning novel The Illegal.

After spending a year imprisoned in his native Egypt, Canadian and world citizen Mohamed Fahmy knows the value of free speech at first hand. CWS Conference attendees spontaneously applauded Fahmy's eloquent acceptance speech of the Right to Read award. Founder of the Fahmy Foundation for a Free Press, this writer continues to champion the rights of the reading and writing public worldwide. 

Oddly, my husband and I happened to be at the airport when he arrived in Vancouver shortly after his release last autumn. We looked on as the (free) press rushed to interview him.