What book featured the character that Mark Twain called, “…The dearest and most moving and delightful child since the immortal Alice”? What book was it that brought hope and inspiration to Japan after WWII? What is the best-selling Canadian book of all time? The answer to all of these questions, believe it or not, is "Anne of Green Gables." It may also surprise you to find out that this book is soon to celebrate a very important milestone. 2008, just two years away, will mark the 100th anniversary of the publication of Anne of Green Gables - Island author L.M. Montgomery’s first and most famous novel - and Prince Edward Island is going to celebrate!

A committee called the Anne 2008 Celebration Committee is already working to plan a year-long celebration of this important anniversary. The committee includes representatives of the L.M. Montgomery Institute, Tourism P.E.I., Parks Canada, the Confederation Centre of the Arts, the P.E.I. Department of Education, Festivals and Events P.E.I., various tourism businesses and the Tourism Industry Association of P.E.I. The Honourable Marion Reid, CM, a long-time Montgomery enthusiast and former Lieutenant-Governor of Prince Edward Island, is honorary chair of the celebration.

Shelley Gordon, of Mermaid, P.E.I., has been hired to coordinate the committee’s creation of a celebration that will honour the impact the novel and the author have had on the Prince Edward Island and the world.

“Anne 2008 offers us the chance not only to celebrate the fun of the character of Anne Shirley but also to celebrate all of the things Montgomery’s book has made famous – the power of creativity and imagination, optimism, determination and, of course, the beauty of Prince Edward Island and its culture,” says Gordon. “As a committee, we are trying to emphasize all of these themes in our events.”

The committee, co-chaired by Anna MacDonald of the Confederation Centre of the Arts and Jeannette Arsenault of Cavendish Figurines, is working to organize a celebration that will include a balance of entertainment and educational opportunities. Local community groups and organizations are encouraged to develop celebratory events that will appeal to people of all ages. Academic and cultural events will include the L.M. Montgomery Institute’s biennial international conference, the Charlottetown Festival’s production of “Anne of Green Gables - The Musical™,” the annual L.M. Montgomery Festival and much more. As well, new products will be created in honour of the anniversary.

“We want to invite all Islanders to be involved in this celebration,” says Gordon. “'Anne of Green Gables' is not just the story of a red-haired orphan, it also tells us a lot about Island history and what it was like to live here at that point in time. We will celebrate the story but we also want to celebrate the way of life on PEI which is something Montgomery captures so clearly in her writing.”

An immediate bestseller in 1908, Anne of Green Gables is Montgomery’s most celebrated and recognized novel, providing the inspiration for musicals, plays, movies, television shows, Anne-related products and other books. It has been translated into over 30 different languages, most recently into Mandarin Chinese. Each year, tens of thousands of people from all around the world come to Prince Edward Island to see the place where Montgomery set her novel.

Anne 2008 updates will be posted on the TIAPEI website, www.tiapei.pe.ca, Tourism PEI’s website, www.thegentleisland.com and www.Anne2008.com. For information about the celebration, please contact Shelley Gordon at (902) 566-5008 or by e-mail at sgordon@tiapei.pe.ca. This project is funded by the Canada/Prince Edward Island Labour Market Development Agreement www.lmda.pe.ca.

-30-