VIA Rail's Ocean hosts authors onboard for 24 hours of writing

HALIFAX, Oct. 23 2015 /CNW/ - At noon today, 24 French-language authors from France, Belgium, Acadia, Quebec and Ontario will depart Halifax on VIA Rail's Ocean train, faced with a "24 Heures du roman" challenge of writing a novel in only 24 hours. This railway and literary adventure will lead to the creation of Sur les traces de Champlain, un destin extraordinaire en 24 tableaux, to be presented exclusively at Salon du Livre express de Toronto on Saturday October 24.The initiative was put forth by L'Ecriture en Movement, whose mission is to promote French-language writing.

"We are happy to sponsor this ambitious project by offering the writers a space that is conducive to creation, so that they have plenty of inspiration to draw on during their trip", noted Yves Desjardins-Siciliano, President and CEO of VIA Rail. "VIA Rail is proud to support culture and French-speaking artists in Canada. Since 2009, over 450 artists have also performed on board our long-distance trains thanks to our Artists-on-Board program."

During the hours between between Halifax and Montreal, within the train cars reserved for them, each writer much concentrate their efforts on writing their own chapter. "24 heures du roman" is a collaborative work created by writers from different cultures, from which will be born one unique book of fiction - a mosaic of stories.

Upon arrival in Montreal, the writers will present the first edited version of their work to dignitaries and the public. Following this, they will continue their train journey to Toronto, where the organizers of Salon express will be waiting to celebrate their literary accomplishment.

About l'Écriture en mouvement
L'Écriture en mouvement is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote writing in all its forms, to explore the infinite possibilities, to dive into the unlimited universe of language, using words at its means. Through this project, by bringing together a small and diverse group of writers to create a story with many voices, the organization will highlight the 400th anniversary of the Francophonie in Ontario.

About VIA Rail Canada
As Canada's national rail passenger service, VIA Rail (viarail.ca) and its 2,500 employees are mandated to provide safe, efficient and economical passenger transportation service, in both official languages of our country. VIA Rail operates intercity, regional and transcontinental trains linking over 400 communities across Canada, and safely transports nearly four million passengers annually. The Corporation was awarded seven Safety Awards by the Railway Association of Canada over the last eight years, and was the recipient of the 2012 Agent's Choice Award voted by Canadian travel agents and presented by Baxter Travel Media. Since 2007, the Government of Canada has invested almost a billion dollars in VIA Rail. VIA Rail information at a glance: www.viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail  

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SOURCE VIA Rail Canada Inc.

Maxime Dupont-Demers, Senior Advisor, Corporate Communications, VIA Rail Canada, 514 871-6137, 1 877 393-8787, [email protected], [email protected]