Oscar winner Polley coming to FirstOntario Arts Centre as part of One Book, One Milton

Oscar winner Sarah Polley is coming to Milton to talk about her best-selling book Run Towards the Danger.

The talk is part of the Milton Public Library’s One Book, One Milton program and will be held Oct. 26 at the FirstOntario Arts Centre.

Polley will speak about her collection of six essays that captured pieces of her life as she remembers it, explores memory and the dialogue between her past and present.

The book is the winner of the 2022 Toronto Book Awards, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice and was named a most anticipated book of 2022 by Entertainment Weekly, Lit Hub and AV Club.

Polley is the Academy Award–winning screenwriter of Women Talking, an Academy Award-nominated director, and actor.

After making short films, Polley made her feature-length directorial debut with the drama film Away from Her in 2006. She received an Oscar nomination for the screenplay, which she adapted from the Alice Munro story The Bear Came Over the Mountain.

Her other projects include the documentary film Stories We Tell, which won the New York Film Critics Circle prize and the National Board of Review award for best documentary; the miniseries adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s novel Alias Grace; and the romantic comedy Take This Waltz.

Polley began her acting career as a child, starring in many productions for film and television.

“We are excited to host Oscar Winner Sarah Polley and engage in meaningful discussions about her work,” said Kanta Kapoor, MPL’s interim CEO.

“I can’t thank her enough for bringing Milton together and working with us to promote literacy, education and a sense of community among our readers.”

Tickets will be available first for library patrons starting June 5 and to the general public on June 15.

Tickets for the event will be $20 per person or $35 for a ticket and book combo. Books will be for sale for $20 each or for free to borrow digitally or in physical copy at all branches.

Discounted copies of the book will be available for sale at all Milton Public Library branches (Main Library, Beaty branch and Sherwood branch) as well as at the main event.

One Book, One Milton is a community-wide program that is designed to encourage everyone in Milton to read the same book. One Book, One Milton engages the community through the shared experience of reading and discussing the same book: its contents, themes and relevance, as it relates to the Milton community.

Past authors have included Mark Critch, Kelley Armstrong, Jagmeet Singh, Samra Habib, Margaret Atwood, Chris Hadfield, Yann Martel, Neil Pasricha and Don Gillmor.

For more information, visit the MPL website or One Book, One Milton.