LECTURE SERIES

The Annual Lecture Series has become a signature event in the Willowbank calender. It brings knowledgeable and provocative speakers to the informal setting of the Bright Parlour, in the main house at the estate. Here, these people share their experiences and engage in lively discussion with participants.  The seating in the parlour limits attendance to about 50 guests, and most of them fill up or are sold out, so those interested should book their attendance early.

Themes for the lecture series vary each year. Past speakers have included Jane Urquhart, beloved Canadian novelist; Bill German, noted cabinetmaker; Andrew Steeves, co-founder of the Gaspereau Press in Nova Scotia; Nat Benjamin, co-founder of the legendary Gannon Benjamin boatyards in Martha’s Vineyard; John Sewell, politician and planner; Mark Laird, internationally respected landscape architect and historian; and Noah Richler, noted Canadian author and essayist. Actors and actresses from the Shaw Festival did a private reading of Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia as a culmination of the 2010 series on the Picturesque landscape tradition.