Vancouver Writers Fest 2016 Festival Guide by Vancouver Writers Fest

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3 C ON T E N T S FESTIVAL INFO

The Festival Experience 3 Letters from the Artistic Director & Board Chair 4 About Us 5 Venues & Parking 6 Festival Tickets & Bookstore 7 Membership 7 Our Sponsors and Donors 8 Festival Authors 10 Events By Genre 11 FESTIVAL EVENTS

Monday, October 17 Tuesday, October 18 Wednesday, October 19 Thursday, October 20 Friday, October 21 Festival at a Glance Saturday, October 22 Sunday, October 23 Author Biographies YEAR-ROUND CONTENT

Explore a World of Books and Ideas with 100+ Authors, 90+ Events and Thousands of Readers Like You Join us to experience the transformative power of storytelling during seven days of readings, discussions, performances and interactive events at the 29th annual Vancouver Writers Fest. Whether you are looking to learn more about a topic, be introduced to new authors, or—if your aspiration is to write—inspire your creativity, this Program Guide will help you explore the events on offer. Each year we welcome more than 17,000 people to the Festival—and events are just part of their experience. We are proud to be part of the vibrant Granville Island community that adds to each audience’s enjoyment. Savour a meal at one of the many restaurants, cafes or Public Market vendors before your Writers Fest event. Discover some of the stunning galleries or hidden artists’ studios on the island, or walk along oceanside boulevards to see one of the best views in the city. There’s a palpable sense of excitement and creativity on Granville Island during the Festival. We can’t wait to share it with you. Granville Island is managed on behalf of the Government of Canada by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The Vancouver Writers Fest is a proud cultural partner of CMHC Granville Island.

In Memoriam Spreading The Word Writing Contests Our Year-Round Donors

12 12 16 20 28 32 34 40 42 56 58 59 60

HO W T O C HO O S E A N E V E N T BY AUTHOR : Each author bio lists (by

number) the events in which that author is appearing. See pages 42–57 for bios.

BY GENRE: In the Event by Genre section

(pg. 11), Festival events have been categorized under 16 popular genres.

TO LOCATE A VENUE: refer to the map on

page 6.

If you have any questions, give us a call at 604.681.6330, or check our website at writersfest.bc.ca for updated Festival information.

/VanWritersFest @vancouverwritersfest @VanWritersFest #VWF16

LE T TE R S FR OM T H E ART IST IC DI REC TO R & B OARD C H AI R

Welcome to the Vancouver Writers Fest on Granville Island The tagline for the 2016 Vancouver Writers Fest is, as it has been for a few years now, Reimagine Your World. We hope that the discussions and conversations that begin on our stages continue after the events are over and that the insights, experiences and ideas that our writers articulate push you to see the world differently.

These are perilous times and they demand that we challenge ourselves to look for better ways to build community and to live, work and thrive together. Every writer who begins a book launches into terra incognita, embarking on a voyage of discovery that will bring to the reader reports from new worlds and maps on how to navigate safe passage. We also hope you will be engaged, entertained, amused and delighted by the beauty of these imagined worlds. The program guide you hold in your hands or view online is like a Lonely Planet guidebook to a multitude of ideas, experiences and sensations. Take a leap into the unknown and enjoy the ride.

Hal Wake, Artistic Director

On behalf of the Board of Directors, I welcome you to the 2016 and 29th edition of the Vancouver Writers Fest. Whether you are a long-time member and supporter or a first-time reader of this guide, I am confident that inside these pages you will find an event, or several events, that draw you in. We can hardly wait to host you on Granville Island this fall. We know from feedback in prior years that the Writers Fest experience is treasured by readers and writers alike. The Festival exists to bring the vitality of engaged readers together with the thoughtfulness and creativity of emerging and established local, national and international writers. Your experiences will be treasures because what you take away from a Writers Fest event will be insight, or delight, or a call to action andâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;in every caseâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a sense of community. If you are not yet a member, I invite you to join us. Our members provide a solid foundation for the work we do. We need your support to continue building a national and international reputation for quality and community impact. Membership has its privileges: sneak preview events, advance opportunities to purchase Writers Fest tickets, a subscription to BookNews and more. I invite you, too, to consider becoming a donor and patron of the Writers Fest. Donors, quite simply, enable our artistic team to transform their vision into your lived experience. We would welcome your support in bringing the Writers Fest experience to new and diverse audiences by becoming a donor. I look forward to meeting you in person this fall and to hearing your feedback on our programme and your experience.

Sandra Jakab, Board Chair

ABOUT US

Founder and Lifetime Member Alma Lee

Board of Directors CHAIR:

Sandra Jakab VICE-CHAIR:

Alison Broddle SECRETARY:

Shirley Lew TREASURER:

Yaseen Al-Salam MEMBERS:

Jonathan Burke Ramona Chu Ian Gill Leslie Hurtig Harvey McKinnon Shannon Taylor Paul Whitney

Staff

Hal Wake Nozick DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR: Andrew Forshner ARTISTIC ASSOCIATE: Clea Young PUBLICITY & MARKETING MANAGER: Zoe Grams DEVELOPMENT & MARKETING ASSISTANT: Arielle Spence ADMINISTRATOR: Sandra Millard EDUCATION COORDINATOR: Ilona Beiks VOLUNTEER MANAGER: Kathryn Fowler CATERING COORDINATOR: Carolina Sartor FOOD & BEVERAGE COORDINATOR: Heideh White HOSPITALITY: James Tyler Irvine INTERNS: Joey Glazer, Annabelle Lin, Diana PÃ©rez PRODUCTION MANAGER: Eduardo Ottoni PRODUCTION COORDINATOR: Katja Schlueter OPERATIONS COORDINATOR: Leanne Zacharias BOOKKEEPING: Boyd Norman, Office Alternatives ASSISTANT TO THE VOLUNTEER MANAGER: Michelle Harrison WEBSITE DESIGN: Malcolm van Delst FESTIVAL BOX OFFICE: Theatre Wire PROGRAM GUIDE ADVERTISING: Clevers Media PROGRAM GUIDE DESIGN: Hangar 18 Creative Group PROGRAM GUIDE PRINTING: Mitchell Press PROGRAM GUIDE EVENT COPY: Judith Walker PROOFREADER: Carlos Hernandez Fisher ARTISTIC DIRECTOR:

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Nicole

Special Thanks

Outgoing board members Sandi Case, Jane Estey and Sally Harding; Carrie Nimmo, Lynda Prince, Boca del Lupo, Anita Salchert, Barbara Chirinos and the Granville Island Cultural Society team, Ann McDonell and Camilla Tibbs. Photos by Chris Cameron. Thank you to the 300+ dedicated volunteers who contribute so much to the Festival. We could not do this without you! This program guide is printed on recycled paper made with 30% post-consumer waste, and bleached without the use of chlorine or chlorine compounds.

GRANVILLE STREET BRIDGE

VEN U ES & PAR K I N G

Map Legend

F A L S E E K C R E

1 Granville Island Public Market

2 Granville Island Stage

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TAXI STAND JOHNSTON STREET

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#50 BUS TO NCOUVER N VA DOWNTOW

OLYMPIC #50 BUS TO ATION SKYTRAIN ST

GRANVILLE STREET BRIDGE

All events take place on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations.

DISTRICT

BROKER’

BUS STOP

Café Deux Soleils 2096 Commercial Drive

RAILSPUR

STREET

WE R

ANDERSON

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AN E

REET IDGE ST OLD BR

ENUE 2ND AV

The Vancouver Playhouse 600 Hamilton Street

RD PARK BASFO RON PARK

OP BUS ST

Off Site Venues

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’S

1585 Johnston Street 3 The Revue Stage, 1601 Johnston St. 4 Improv Centre, 1502 Duranleau Street 5 Granville Island Brewery Taproom, 1441 Cartwright St. 6 Waterfront Theatre, 1412 Cartwright St. 7 Festival Box Office, Main Floor, 1398 Cartwright St. 8 Studio 1398, Third Floor, 1398 Cartwright St. 9 Performance Works, 1218 Cartwright St. 10 Granville Island Hotel 1253 Johnston Street

LAMEY’S

AD MILL RO

TOUR BUS STOP

Parking Information

Granville Island has an array of free and pay parking. Please pay attention to posted signage. The multi-level parkade across from Ocean Cement usually has open spaces. Granville Island pay parking garages and lots charge $3.50 hourly or $15 daily. Off the Island (at 990 Lamey’s Mill Road) is an EasyPark lot with all-day parking for $9 or $1.50 hourly. There is also plenty of parking on the north side of False Creek so consider leaving your car there and coming across on False Creek Ferries or the Aquabus.

Public Transit & Ferries

The #50 bus stops just outside Granville Island. Many other buses stop along Granville Street and West 4th. Ferries travel from various locations along the north and south shores of False Creek to Granville Island at frequent intervals. TRANSLINK SCHEDULE INFORMATION 604.953.3333 (between 6:30 am and 11:30 pm) translink.ca FALSE CREEK FERRIES 604.684.7781 granvilleislandferries.bc.ca AQUABUS 604.689.5858 theaquabus.com

F ESTIVA L TI CK E TS & FEST I VA L B O O KSTO RE

Ticket Sales Open ADVANCE TICKETS :

Tuesday, September 6, 2016 (only available for Festival members) SCHOOL GROUPS : Monday, September 12, 2016 GENERAL TICKETS : Tuesday, September 13, 2016

How to Buy

Join Us BECOME A MEMBER

Enhance your Vancouver Writers Fest experience and become a member today! OUR MEMBERS SUPPORT THE ORGANIZATION WHILE RECEIVING EXCELLENT BENEFITS SUCH AS:

BY PHONE: 604.681.6330

• Early access to Festival ticket sales • First access to the Festival program guide • Invitations to exclusive member events • Summer Preview Reading List for the Festival • $2 discount on Festival tickets

All box office sales—by phone, online or in person—close three hours before the start of each event. For last-minute ticket purchases, visit the event venue 45 minutes prior to the performance.

We have several options for becoming a member: ONE-YEAR MEMBERSHIP: $35 TWO-YEAR MEMBERSHIP: $60 BOOK CLUB MEMBERSHIP: $20/person (minimum of 5 people)

ONLINE: writersfest.bc.ca

ext. 111 Festival box office is located on Granville Island at Festival House, 1398 Cartwright Street. IN PERSON: The

Box Office Hours MONDAY TO FRIDAY:

SATURDAYS: (FROM SEPT 17–OCT 22, 2016)

10:00 am−4:00 pm 12:00 pm−4:00 pm

CLOSED STATUTORY HOLIDAYS

Theatre Wire service charges are $3.75 per ticket for online and phone purchases and $2.00 per ticket for in-person sales at the Festival box office and at the door. A $.50 service charge applies to all school group tickets.

MasterCard, Visa and cash (in person) are accepted. Please note that many events sell out in advance.

General Information

• Senior/students discount with valid ID: $2 per ticket • Festival Member discount: $2 per ticket (conditions

apply)

• Programming is subject to change without notice.

Visit writersfest.bc.ca for the latest program updates.

• Please check your tickets carefully as there are no

12015_Kidsbooks ad_concept.ai

For more information visit writersfest.bc.ca/ get-involved/membership, call 604.681.6330 or email aforshner@writersfest.bc.ca.

Buying Your Books: Festival Bookstore & Events FESTIVAL BOOKSTORE :

Located at the back of Performance Works - 1218 Cartwright Street

Festival Bookstore Hours TUESDAY:

WEDNESDAY-SATURDAY: SUNDAY:

CMY

4:00 pm−10:00 pm 10:00 am−10:00 pm 10:00 am−5:00 pm

The Festival Bookstore stocks titles from all featured Festival writers, making it the perfect place to browse between events. Books are also sold at each venue with signings by the featured writers following each event.

exchanges. Refunds will only be given for cancelled events.

On Broadway 2557 West Broadway 604-738-5335 In the Village 3040 Edgemont Blvd. 604-986-6190

ALL FESTIVAL VENUES ARE WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE. PLEASE RESERVE IN ADVANCE BY CALLING 604.681.6330 EXT 107 OR EMAIL BOXOFFICE@WRITERSFEST.BC.CA.

TH A N KS TO OU R S P O N S OR S & DO N O RS COMMUNITY SUPPORT We acknowledge the generosity of the following community supporters of the Vancouver Writers Fest. A&B Party Time Rentals Ampersand Canada’s Book and Gift Agency Annick Press Arsenal Pulp Press Arts Club Theatre Company Ballet BC Bard on the Beach Bean Around the World Benton Brothers Fine Cheese Bridges Restaurant Brougham Interiors Ltd. Caitlin Press Camp Fiorante Matthews Mogerman Canadian Linen & Uniform Service Cats Social House Charton-Hobbs Coach House Books Coastal Jazz and Blues Society Comedy Mix Corby Spirit and Wine Cormorant Books Cupcakes on Broadway Daniel Le Chocolat Belge David’s Tea Dolden Wallace Folick LLP Douglas & McIntyre Drawn & Quarterly

Duso’s Italian Foods Dussa’s East India Carpets Ltd. ECW Press Europa Editions Firehall Arts Centre Fountana Beverage Corp Fraser Valley Juice & Salad Bar Funk Shui Gateway Theatre Geist Magazine Glazer’s Goose Lane Editions Granville Island Brewing Granville Island Florist Granville Island Hotel Granville Island Tea Company Greystone Books Ltd. Hartman Leather Harvey McKinnon Associates Hollyhock Lifelong Learning Centre Kids Can Press Laurelle’s Fine Foods Lee’s Donuts Lesperance Mendes Lawyers Linda Leith Publishing The Listel Hotel The Milkman Mix: The Bakery Muffin Granny Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre Odd Society Spirits Olde World Fudge Co. Orca Book Publishers Oyama Sausage Company

Pane e Formaggio Patisserie Bordeaux Pedlar Press Peter Mielzynksi Agencies Plum Clothing Powell Street Festival Publishers Group Canada Quality Fruit Growers Sandbar Seafood Restaurant Scholastic Canada Science World British Columbia The Secret Mountain Shadbolt Centre for the Arts Talon Books Tangerine Bank Taraxca Jewelry Telus Community Affairs Ten Thousand Villages Terra Breads Tinhorn Creek Vineyards Top Ten Market Touchstone Theatre Tradewind Books Urban Impact Recycling Ltd. Van Dusen Gardens Vancouver Chamber Choir Vancouver International Children’s Festival Vancouver International Film Festival Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Vancouver Theatresports League Vellum & Bloom The Wedgewood Hotel & Spa White Ocean Gallery Wolsak and Wynn

REIMAGINE YOUR BRAND

Donate Today

Support a keystone of Canada’s cultural community by donating to the Vancouver Writers Fest today. We rely on our donors and sponsors to help us continue hosting life-changing discussions both on-stage and in classrooms. We are a non-profit organization and a registered charity. Revenue from ticket sales alone cannot sustain our events and youth education programs. Please help us continue to shape and vitalize our cultural community. VISIT US AT WRITERSFEST.BC.CA/DONATE TO LEARN MORE.

Igniting a passion for books

and ideas.

H18.COM

RAINCO

TH ANKS TO O UR S P O N S OR S & DON O RS TITLE SPONSOR

BESTSELLER SPONSOR

LIBRARY

LIMITED EDITION SPONSOR

MEDIA SPONSOR

GOVERNMENT SUPPORT Black

CMYK

Pantone

FESTIVAL SUPPORTER

FIRST EDITION SPONSOR

HOUSE OF ANANSI PRESS

ALBERT NORMANDIN PHOTOGRAPHY

GREYSTONE BOOKS HACHETTE BOOK GROUP BIBLIOASIS

EVEN TS BY G EN RE

F EST I VA L AU T H OR S

André Alexis Gail Anderson-Dargatz Roberto Ascalon Paula Ayer Antonia Banyard Peter Behrens David Bergen Erin Bow Rowan Hisayo Buchanan Robert Olen Butler Garnette Cadogan Deborah Campbell Lisa Charleyboy Alexander Chee Ann Y.K. Choi Eileen Cook Ivan Coyote Joan Crate Craig Davidson Wade Davis David Denby Emma Donoghue Anne Fleming John Freeman Jennifer Gasoi Anne Giardini Nicholas Giardini Sarah Glidden Yaa Gyasi Teva Harrison Adam Haslett Michael Helm Faith Erin Hicks Liz Howard

Chris Humphreys Anosh Irani Marni Jackson Amy Jones Guy Gavriel Kay Joy Kogawa Affinity Konar Gordon Korman Michael Koryta Alice Kuipers Monica Kulling Lynne Kutsukake Owen Laukkanen Catherine Leroux Ashley Little Billie Livingston Jim Lynch Alain Mabanckou Jennifer Manuel Yann Martel Hisham Matar Eimear McBride Francesca Melandri Christopher Merrill John Metcalf Lisa Moore Riel Nason Emilee Nimetz Sharon Olds Kenneth Oppel Kevin Patterson Kit Pearson Soraya Peerbaye Susan Perly Steven Price

Billy Ramsell Iain Reid Noah Richler Peter Robinson Deanna Rodger Margriet Ruurs Ellen Schwartz Maria Semple Olive Senior Aaron Simm Anna Smaill Cordelia Strube Amy Stuart Madeleine Thien Marcos Giralt Torrente Vikki VanSickle M.G. Vassanji Katherena Vermette Roy Henry Vickers Frank Viva Genevieve von Petzinger Eleanor Wachtel Fred Wah Lindy West Andrew Westoll Colson Whitehead Zoe Whittall Sam Wiebe Peter Wohlleben Charlotte Wood Xue Yiwei Alissa York Clea Young

BIOGRAPHY/PERSONAL EXPERIENCE p. 12 #2 City Dwellers: Lisa Charleyboy p. 14/17 #16/24 Lit Up: David Denby p. 18/21 #32/41 Tomboy Survival Guide p. 19 #34 This Really Happened p. 22 #47 Out of Africa p. 23 #50 Embedded p. 28 #53 Learning From Life p. 28 #56 Startle and Illuminate p. 29 #60 In-Between Days: Teva Harrison p. 34 #72 Writing Life p. 36 #81 A Disappearance in Damascus: Deborah Campbell CANLIT p. 12 #1 Between the Pages p. 13 #9 An Intimate Evening with Emma Donoghue p. 13 #11 Remembering Ellen Seligman p. 18 #27 The Best of Writers and Company p. 18 #28 Resistance is Fertile p. 18/21 #32/41 Tomboy Survival Guide p. 22 #46 New Face of Fiction p. 23 #51 A Intimate Evening with André Alexis p. 28 #53 Learning From Life p. 28 #54 The Ark p. 28 #55 Conceit p. 28 #56 Startle and Illuminate p. 29 #59 Gently to Nagasaki: Joy Kogawa p. 30 #63 Griffin Laureate 2016: Liz Howard p. 30 #64 The Literary Cabaret p. 30 #65 Starting Points p. 30 #66 An Intimate Evening with Yann Martel p. 30 #67 Out of Place p. 34 #69 Melding Worlds p. 34 #72 Writing Life p. 35 #74 Don’t Fence Me In p. 36 #78 The Poetry Bash p. 36 #80 The Museum at the End of the World: John Metcalf p. 40 #84 The Sunday Brunch p. 40 #87 The Afternoon Tea CONTEMPORARY GLOBAL ISSUES/ CURRENT AFFAIRS p. 12 #2 City Dwellers: Lisa Charleyboy p. 14 #14 Dystopian Dreams p. 14 #15 The Lights of Pointe-Noire: Alain Mabanckou p. 14/17 #16/24 Lit Up: David Denby p. 18 #28 Resistance is Fertile p. 18 #31 The State of the Union p. 22 #49 Chimes of Freedom p. 23 #50 Embedded p. 34 #68 Writer as Citizen p. 34 #71 Aftershocks p. 36 #79 The Way We Are Now p. 36 #81 A Disappearance in Damascus: Deborah Campbell

EV ENTS BY G E N R E FIRST NATIONS p. 12 p. 16 p. 34 p. 36

#2 #21 #69 #79

City Dwellers: Lisa Charleyboy Peace Dancer Melding Worlds The Way We Are Now

GRAPHIC NOVELS /ILLUSTRATION p. 12 p. 12 p. 16 p. 16 p. 23 p. 29

#4 #5 #19 #21 #50 #60

Illustrated Imaginations Creatures, Kids and Community Dispatches from the Danger Zone Peace Dancer Embedded In-Between Days: Teva Harrison

HUMOUR p. 17 p. 19

#26 #34

Wit Craft This Really Happened

INTERNATIONAL AUTHORS p. 12 #3 p. 13 #10 p. 13 #12 p. 13 #13 p. 14 #14 p. 14 #15 p. 14 #17 p. 18 #28 p. 18 #30 p. 18 #31 p. 19 #33 p. 22 #47 p. 22 #48 p. 22 #49 p. 28 #58 p. 29 #61 p. 29 #62 p. 30 #67 p. 35 #75 p. 35 #76 p. 40 #84 p. 40 #87

The Hidden Life of Trees: Peter Wohlleben Searching for the Source The Return: Hisham Matar Grand Openings: The Alma Lee Opening Night Event Dystopian Dreams The Lights of Pointe-Noire: Alain Mabanckou Shakespeare and Cervantes: Reimagining the Masters Resistance is Fertile Modern Day Bards The State of the Union The Natural Way of Things: Charlotte Wood Out of Africa A Good Way to Get Yourself Killed Chimes of Freedom Grand and Monumental Sibling Strongholds The Underground Railroad: Colson Whitehead Out of Place Love Through All Ages Freeman’s Family The Sunday Brunch The Afternoon Tea

11 INTERVIEWS

POETRY

p. 12 #3 The Hidden Life of Trees: Peter Wohlleben p. 13 #12 The Return: Hisham Matar p. 14 #15 The Lights of Pointe-Noire: Alain Mabanckou p. 14 #16/24 Lit Up: David Denby p. 18 #27 The Best of Writers and Company: Eleanor Wachtel p. 19 #33 The Natural Way of Things: Charlotte Wood p. 23 #52 The First Signs: Genevieve von Petzinger p. 29 #59 Gently to Nagasaki: Joy Kogawa p. 29 #60 In-Between Days: Teva Harrison p. 29 #62 The Underground Railroad: Colson Whitehead p. 30 #63 Griffin Laureate 2016: Liz Howard p. 36 #77 The Interviews p. 36 #80 The Museum at the End of the World: John Metcalf p. 36 #81 A Disappearance in Damascus: Deborah Campbell p. 40 #82 Odes: Sharon Olds p. 40 #86 Scree: Fred Wah

p. 16/20 #18/40 Word! p. 18 #30 Modern Day Bards p. 30 #63 Griffin Laureate 2016: Liz Howard p. 36 #78 The Poetry Bash p. 40 #82 Odes: Sharon Olds p. 40 #86 Scree: Fred Wah

LITERARY SCI-FI/FANTASY p. 18 #29 p. 20 #36 p. 21 #43

An Intimate Evening with Guy Gavriel Kay Mythical Modern Worlds Into The Future with Erin Bow

MUSIC p. 18/21 #32/41 Tomboy Survival Guide p. 20/21/34 Blue and Red Make Purple: A Concert #37/42/70 with Jennifer Gasoi p. 30 #64 The Literary Cabaret NON FICTION (ADULT) p. 12 #3 The Hidden Life of Trees: Peter Wohlleben p. 14/17 #16/24 Lit Up: David Denby p. 18 #31 The State of the Union p. 19 #34 This Really Happened p. 22 #45 An Intimate Evening with Wade Davis p. 22 #47 Out of Africa p. 23 #50 Embedded p. 23 #52 The First Signs: Genevieve von Petzinger p. 28 #53 Learning From Life p. 28 #56 Startle and Illuminate p. 29 #60 In-Between Days: Teva Harrison p. 34 #68 Writer as Citizen p. 36 #81 A Disappearance in Damascus: Deborah Campbell

READINGS p. 14 #13 p. 30 #64 p. 36 #78 p. 40 #84 p. 40 #87

Grand Openings: The Alma Lee Opening Night Event The Literary Cabaret The Poetry Bash The Sunday Brunch The Afternoon Tea

SOLO AUTHOR EVENTS p. 13 #9 p. 16 #20 p. 16 #21 p. 16 #23 p. 18 #29 p. 22 #45 p. 23 #51 p. 30 #66

An Intimate Evening with Emma Donoghue Slacker Peace Dancer Dinosaur Dreams An Intimate Evening with Guy Gavriel Kay An Intimate Evening with Wade Davis An Intimate Evening with André Alexis An Intimate Evening with Yann Martel

SCIENCE AND NATURE p. 12 #3 p. 22 #45 p. 23 #52 p. 28 #54

The Hidden Life of Trees: Peter Wohlleben An Intimate Evening with Wade Davis The First Signs: Genevieve von Petzinger The Ark

THRILLER/CRIME p. 20 p. 22 p. 34 p. 36 p. 40 p. 40

#39 #48 #73 #79 #84 #87

Setting the Hook for Suspense A Good Way To Get Yourself Killed Delicious Suspense The Way We Are Now The Sunday Brunch The Afternoon Tea

MO N DAY, OC TOB E R 1 7 & T U ES DAY, O C TO BER 18

BETWEEN THE PAGES: AN EVENING WITH THE SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE FINALISTS

One of the authors at this anticipated event will win the richest literary prize in Canada on November 7. Being nominated for, let alone winning, the Scotiabank Giller Prize has a history of changing a writer’s life and career forever. Come meet and hear Canada’s stellar literary talents on opening night at the Writers Fest. Visit writersfest.bc.ca on September 26 for the full lineup, announced following the Scotiabank Giller shortlist reveal. Presented in partnership with the Scotiabank Giller Prize.

FAITH ERIN HICKS, FRANK VIVA 10–11:30 AM STUDIO 1398 $17 / $9.50 FOR STUDENT GROUPS

Faith Erin Hicks worked in the animation industry for several years before altering the path of her career to write and draw comics full time in 2008. Frank Viva is an award-winning illustrator of several books for children. His art also appears regularly in The New York Times Magazine and on the cover of The New Yorker. This morning these two multi-talented authorartists present their latest works for young people. Viva’s heavily illustrated Sea Change is loosely based on childhood summers spent with relatives in a remote corner of Nova Scotia, while Hicks’ graphic novel, The Nameless City, the first in an eventual trilogy, is set in a fictional world based on historical China. Two vastly different worlds brought to life through words and pictures.

10–11:30 AM WATERFRONT THEATRE $17 / $9.50 FOR STUDENT GROUPS

GRANVILLE ISLAND STAGE $17 / $9.50 FOR STUDENT GROUPS

VANCOUVER PLAYHOUSE $26

THE HIDDEN LIFE OF TREES PETER WOHLLEBEN IN CONVERSATION WITH JOHN VAILLANT

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 10–11:30 AM

MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 8:00 PM

SUITABLE FOR GRADES 4–7

LISA CHARLEYBOY IN CONVERSATION WITH KATHRYN GRETSINGER

AUTHORS TO BE ANNOUNCED HOST: HAL WAKE

ILLUSTRATED IMAGINATIONS

CITY DWELLERS: FIRST NATIONS AND THE URBAN EXPERIENCE

Presented by Vancity.

A walk in the woods will never be the same once you have heard Peter Wohlleben, author of The Hidden Life of Trees speak. The professional forester from Germany has already sold millions of books in Europe, sharing revelatory information about our forests. Trees can count, learn, remember, nurse sick neighbours and even warn each other of danger by sending electrical signals across a fungal network known as the “Wood Wide Web.” Trees also keep the ancient stumps of long-felled companions alive for centuries by feeding them through their roots. This scientifically rigorous and simultaneously magical event will change the way you look at our woodlands forever.

SUITABLE FOR GRADES 7–10

SUITABLE FOR GRADES 8–12 AND ADULTS

While studying at York University, Lisa Charleyboy was “encouraged to explore [her] heritage … and be more critical about aboriginal issues in Canada.” She talks about her journey to being named one of the young Aboriginal Canadians to watch by Huffington Post Canada and an “Aboriginal Storyteller for the Digital Generation” by the National Post, as well as her online publication Urban Native Magazine and two co-edited anthologies. Each project aims to inspire indigenous youth and dispels untruths about Canada’s First Nations.

CREATURES, KIDS AND COMMUNITY

NOWHERE TO GROW BUT UP

ALICE KUIPERS, VIKKI VANSICKLE, ROY HENRY VICKERS

ANN Y.K. CHOI, IVAN COYOTE, ASHLEY LITTLE, LISA MOORE

10–11:00 AM

1–2:30 PM

REVUE STAGE $17 / $9.50 FOR STUDENT GROUPS

GRANVILLE ISLAND STAGE $17 / $9.50 FOR STUDENT GROUPS

Settle in for storytime! In Alice Kuipers’ book, twins Violet and Victor work together to write an extraordinary tale starring an evil witch on the loose in a fairytale kingdom. In Vikki VanSickle’s If I Had a Gryphon, Sam longs for an interesting pet, but who knew sasquatches were so messy and unicorns so shy? And in acclaimed storyteller Roy Henry Vickers’ Peace Dancer, Tsimshian children who mistreat a crow learn an important lesson about respecting all nature’s creatures.

We all have to grow up, but it’s not often easy. Growing up in Toronto’s Korean community, Ann Y.K. Choi’s protagonist is caught between two cultures. With wry humour, Ivan Coyote’s memoir recounts growing up as a tomboy in the Yukon. In Ashley Little’s novel, Tucker’s mom is a stripper and he’s sent to live in a youth group home. And in Lisa Moore’s first novel for young readers, 16-year-old Flannery’s mother can’t pay the bills and young love is a potentially damaging experience.

Presented by Kidsbooks.

SUITABLE FOR GRADES K–3

SUITABLE FOR GRADES 10–12 AND ADULTS

TUESDAY, O CTO B E R 1 8

PAVING THE WAY MONICA KULLING, MARGRIET RUURS

1–2:30 PM

ELLEN SCHWARTZ, ROY HENRY VICKERS

WATERFRONT THEATRE $17 / $9.50 FOR STUDENT GROUPS

1–2:30 PM

It’s never too soon for children to learn that they have the power to make a difference. Nor is it ever too soon for them to discover their capacity for resilience. Monica Kulling shares the inspiring true story of Mother Jones and her march to end child labour, as told by two fictitious eight-year-olds who wish they could go to school but are instead working 12 hour days in a cotton mill. World traveller Margriet Ruurs provides kids with a better understanding of the Syrian refugee crisis by following one family’s journey as they flee on foot from the ravages of civil war in search of freedom in Europe. Young people often feel powerless, but these two authors are keen to prove they are anything but.

SUITABLE FOR GRADES 2–5

SEARCHING FOR THE SOURCE

WORLDS UPSIDE DOWN

WATERFRONT THEATRE $26

We learn by example how to be good members of society, but what happens when those setting the example fall down on the job? In Ellen Schwartz’s Heart of a Champion, a young boy who’s nuts about baseball finds a way to keep his family’s spirits up amid the inhumane conditions of a Japanese Canadian internment camp. When children mistreat a crow in Roy Henry Vickers’ Peace Dancer, the Chief of the Heavens brings down a ferocious storm, forcing people to abandon their homes. Only once the waters recede do the villagers see that they’ve failed to teach their children the importance of respect for all creatures. Sometimes, when worlds are upside down, we have a chance to learn how to be better people.

REMEMBERING ELLEN SELIGMAN

6–7:15 PM

REVUE STAGE $17 / $9.50 FOR STUDENT GROUPS

Irish-born Canadian Emma Donoghue became an international household name with the publication of her seventh novel, Room. In addition to winning the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and the Commonwealth Prize, and being shortlisted for the Man Booker and Baileys prizes, it has sold over two million copies and was adapted to the critically acclaimed film of the same name—for which Donoghue also wrote the screenplay. “From the age of 23, I have earned my living as a writer, and have been lucky enough to never have had an ‘honest job’,” she says. She writes for a range of audiences, from literary history and historical fiction to contemporary fiction and short stories to fiction for young adults. Her new novel, The Wonder, reeking of peat and possibility, is a thriller set in rural 1850s Ireland. Presented by Vancouver Film School.

SUITABLE FOR GRADES 4–7

AN INTIMATE EVENING WITH EMMA DONOGHUE

ROWAN HISAYO BUCHANAN, ASHLEY LITTLE, FRANCESCA MELANDRI MODERATOR: SHAENA LAMBERT

MICHAEL HELM, STEVEN PRICE, MADELEINE THIEN MODERATOR: JARED BLAND

6-7:15 PM

6–7:15 PM

STUDIO 1398 $20

REVUE STAGE $20

Happy people to whom nothing happens are generally not the focus for novelists. Meet three authors whose characters grapple with abandonment, secret pasts, loneliness, shameful national history and reconciliation. Rowan Hisayo Buchanan’s debut novel, sold after a fierce six-way auction with publishers, is heralded by Lorrie Moore as “cause for celebration.” Ashley Little has followed up her IMPAC Dublin-nominated Anatomy of a Girl Gang with the story of 11-year-old Tucker on an epic search for his father across mid-90s America. And fans of Elena Ferrante will be delighted by Italy’s Francesca Melandri, whose bestselling novel Eva Sleeps, follows a woman searching for truth about her origins. It is soon to be a film, and has been translated into German, French, Dutch and English.

Even in Ellen Seligman’s final weeks before her death in March, she was editing the novels of Michael Helm and Steven Price. Exacting, meticulous, demanding and “a gift to good writing,” Seligman edited some of the most prominent authors Canada’s ever produced— Margaret Atwood, Leonard Cohen, Rohinton Mistry, Michael Ondaatje, Jane Urquhart, Guy Vanderhaeghe, Elizabeth Hay and so many more. Books she edited have won 23 Governor-General’s awards, four Man Booker Prizes and six Gillers. Three authors who spent hours on the phone with her, going over their manuscripts line by line, talk about this consummate editor’s influence, her process, her ferocious devotion to quality—and the difference Seligman made to their work and words.

THE RETURN HISHAM MATAR IN CONVERSATION WITH BILL RICHARDSON

6-7:15PM IMPROV CENTRE $20

Hisham Matar burst onto the international literary scene with his first novel In the Country of Men. It was shortlisted for Man Booker Prize, won a regional Commonwealth Prize and has been translated into 28 languages. His new book, The Return, is a memoir about his father’s mysterious disappearance in Egypt and Matar’s return to Libya in search for answers. The New York Times said, “It seems unfair to call Hisham Matar’s extraordinary new book a memoir since it is so many other things besides: a reflection on exile and the consolations of art, an analysis of authoritarianism, a family history, a portrait of a country in the throes of revolution, and an impassioned work of mourning.” This is your opportunity to meet a writer the Wall Street Journal calls “…a brilliant narrative architect and prose stylist.”

TU ESDAY, OC TOB E R 1 8

GRAND OPENINGS THE ALMA LEE OPENING NIGHT EVENT

It’s a comment on the state of writing in this country that half of the featured authors in Grand Openings have chosen Canada as home. Last year’s Scotiabank Giller Prize winner, Trinidad-born André Alexis, joins UK-born crime fiction writer Peter Robinson and multi-award winner Irish-born Emma Donoghue to read from their new novels. These prolific and well-loved writers take the stage along with newcomers Rowan Hisayo Buchanan and Ann Y.K. Choi, and Italy’s Francesca Melandri, who is making her English language debut. Presented by UBC Creative Writing.

STUDIO 1398 $20

There seems to be no end to the variations of worlds-gone-wrong that we can dream up. Michael Helm imagines a neuroscientist who intends to blow the whistle on a pharmaceutical company and its creativity drug gone wrong. In Anna Smaill’s dystopian world, chimes are played across London morning and night to mute memory and keep people trapped in ignorance. M.G. Vassanji veers from themes he often tackles to imagine a future where mortality has been overcome but people are running out of memory space and, by erasing memories, create new identities. In Charlotte Wood’s near-future nightmare world, misogyny and totalitarianism haunt and hunt ten young women. Come meet four explorers who have been to the darkest parts of our psyche, and returned with great fiction.

SHAKESPEARE AND CERVANTES: REIMAGINING THE MASTERS

8:30 PM

WATERFRONT THEATRE $20

PERFORMANCE WORKS $26

THE LIGHTS OF POINTE-NOIRE ALAIN MABANCKOU IN CONVERSATION WITH ELEANOR WACHTEL

8:30 PM

8:00 PM

DAVID DENBY IN CONVERSATION WITH STEPHEN QUINN

MICHAEL HELM, ANNA SMAILL, M.G. VASSANJI, CHARLOTTE WOOD MODERATOR: CLAUDIA CASPER

ANDRÉ ALEXIS, ROWAN HISAYO BUCHANAN, ANN Y.K. CHOI, EMMA DONOGHUE, FRANCESCA MELANDRI, PETER ROBINSON HOST: CAROLINE ADDERSON

LIT UP (1)

DYSTOPIAN DREAMS

8:30 PM

HISHAM MATAR, MARCOS GIRALT TORRENTE MODERATOR: GLORIA MACARENKO

REVUE STAGE $20

8:30 PM

In a world where texting and tweeting hold sway, can screen-obsessed teens be turned on to serious reading? What are the ingredients for building a lifelong love of the written word? To find out, David Denby, staff writer for The New Yorker and author of four books, spent a year embedded in three Grade 10 English classes. He observed the reactions and interactions of students trying to find a raw connection with Sylvia Plath’s poetry or books such as The Scarlet Letter or Brave New World. A dramatic narrative, Lit Up shows that with great teaching and inspiring books, surprise and creativity can bubble out of almost every student. And that should raise the spirits of anyone who believes in the value and pleasure of reading.

This year is the joint 400th anniversary of the deaths of Shakespeare and Cervantes, yet their work transcends centuries. Internationally renowned authors Hisham Matar and Marcos Giralt Torrente discuss why these writers have come to take on such cultural significance, and how contemporary ideas can engage with literature of the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Both will read from their own work featured in Lunatics, Lovers and Poets, an anthology of short stories inspired by Shakespeare and Cervantes. Gain a new perspective on two giants of world literature, as told by two celebrated modern day greats.

IMPROV CENTRE $20

This event is part of Shakespeare Lives, an unprecedented global programme of events and activities celebrating William Shakespeare’s work on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of his death in 2016. #ShakespeareLives

CBC Radio interviewer Eleanor Wachtel is famous for bringing some of the world’s most talented and thought-provoking authors to our attention. Tonight Eleanor talks with Alain Mabanckou in an interview to be taped for broadcast on Writers and Company. Novelist, poet, journalist and academic, Mabanckou was born in the Republic of the Congo, teaches literature at UCLA and is one of the most successful writers in the French language. Nominated for the Man Booker Prize last year and published in 15 languages, he has achieved international fame for his fiction and non-fiction works about contemporary Africa and the African diaspora. His latest work, The Lights of Pointe-Noire, is a non-fiction meditation on home, homecoming and belonging, about his return to the Republic of the Congo after 23 years.

Wherever you’re writing from... A house on stilts on Marajó island, where the Amazon meets the sea. There was a rubber tree inside the house, and the waves were red at high tide. - Samuel Veissiere, MFA

When the weather’s polite, I write from a garden shed in our back yard affectionately known as the Paperback Shack. It’s less than 8’ by 10’, wired for light, with the inside painted the blue of a blind pony’s eye. - Katherin Edwards, MFA

UBC Creative Writing Eleven Genres Of Study | On-Campus or Online | Flexible, Comprehensive, Challenging Write and learn on our breathtaking campus in Vancouver, one of the world’s most livable cities. Or participate in a vibrant online community from wherever you live. UBC offers world-class creative writing programs at the BFA and MFA level, on-campus, by Distance Education and through the non-credit edX platform. We’ve been doing it for over 50 years now. Join us.

www.creativewriting.ubc.ca

Faculty Alison Acheson Deborah Campbell Kevin Chong Maggie de Vries Charles Demers Sara Graefe

Wayne Grady Nancy Lee Annabel Lyon Keith Maillard Maureen Medved Susan Musgrave Andreas Schroeder

Linda Svendsen Timothy Taylor Peggy Thompson Rhea Tregebov John Vigna Bryan Wade

HEEADDNES E R DAY, L EFT OC TOB E R 1 9 W

WORD! (1) ROBERTO ASCALON, EMILEE NIMETZ, AARON SIMM HOST: CHRIS GILPIN

(This event is repeated Thursday, October 20 at 1:00 pm.) SUITABLE FOR GRADES 8–12 AND ADULTS WARNING: CONTENT IN THIS EVENT MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR ALL CLASSES

10–11:15 AM REVUE STAGE $17 / $9.50 FOR STUDENT GROUPS

Renowned artist Roy Henry Vickers was so shy when he was younger that he wouldn’t talk at all. A few decades ago, he was fishing when an eagle flew past. As Vickers whistled at it, the eagle turned around and an eagle feather fell onto his chest. He says that was when he knew it was his turn to speak. And speak he has: his series of bestselling children’s books, the latest of which is Peace Dancer, gives him a voice to hand down the First Nations legends that have shaped his life. Come hear this master storyteller weave a warning tale about respect for the natural world, and what happens when children mistreat a crow, bringing about near-disaster on their village.

SUITABLE FOR GRADES 2–5

Despite the daily headlines, wars raging around the world can seem unreal and irrelevant to our lives. Two authors who’ve seen the fighting and its aftermath up close help us understand how those conflicts matter to us all. Graphic novelist Sarah Glidden found an audience with her first book How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less. She’s back with Rolling Blackouts, looking at how the lives of refugees from the Iraq war have been altered by the war, and how those changes are reported by journalists. Writer and practising doctor Kevin Patterson joined the Canadian army to pay for medical school. After serving for nine years, Patterson drew on his experiences working in Afghanistan for News From the Red Desert, a novel about a war correspondent. SUITABLE FOR GRADES 10–12 AND ADULTS

CHAIN REACTIONS OWEN MATTHEWS, LISA MOORE, VIKKI VANSICKLE

With more than 17 million copies of his novels in print, Gordon Korman is no slacker. Not like Cameron, the main character in Korman’s new novel of the same name. Korman’s writing career began at 12 when his seventh-grade English assignment became his first novel. Since then, he has written more than 75 books for young people and his work has been translated into 14 languages. But just because he’s a high achiever doesn’t mean he can’t relate to kids who’d rather play video games than do their homework. Korman’s a master at understanding “kid logic” and turning it into a great story. Come and meet the man who’s unleashed his imagination to delight young readers for almost 40 years.

SUITABLE FOR GRADES 4–7

1–2:30 PM PERFORMANCE WORKS $17 / $9.50 FOR STUDENT GROUPS

Three authors share stories of teen life gone sideways, from falling in with the wrong crowd, to the growing apart of “best friends since forever,” to floundering between childhood and adolescence. Owen Matthews explores what happens when Eric’s new crowd ups the ante from shoplifting to building bombs. Man Booker and Scotiabank Giller Prize nominee Lisa Moore creates a series of shattering events that change 16-yearold Flannery’s worldview. And award-winning author Vikki VanSickle looks at the summer that everything changed for Reenie.

SUITABLE FOR GRADES 8–12

GORDON KORMAN WATERFRONT THEATRE $17 / $9.50 FOR STUDENT GROUPS

PERFORMANCE WORKS $17 / $9.50 FOR STUDENT GROUPS

Prepare for the best kind of Festival experience: a room buzzing with artistic energy and inspired young minds. Roberto Ascalon ties together different cultures and communities by performing poetry about everything from racism and first kisses to family and Spam. Arts educator, performance artist, choreographer and ukulele enthusiast, Emilee Nimetz has toured her poetry across the country. And Victoria’s Individual Slam Champion Aaron Simm is known for his sharp tongue, clever wordplay and satirical wit.

SLACKER 10–11:15 AM

10–11:30 AM

GRANVILLE ISLAND STAGE $17 / $9.50 FOR STUDENT GROUPS

ROY HENRY VICKERS

SARAH GLIDDEN, KEVIN PATTERSON MODERATOR: PAUL GRANT

10–11:30 AM

PEACE DANCER

DISPATCHES FROM THE DANGER ZONE

DINOSAUR DREAMS KENNETH OPPEL

1–2:15 PM WATERFRONT THEATRE $17 / $9.50 FOR STUDENT GROUPS

Saddle up for a trek through the Badlands with Festival favourite Kenneth Oppel. His latest cast of characters, Samuel, Rachel and their rival fathers, set out in the late 19th century on a hunt for the largest dinosaur skeleton the world has ever seen. For Samuel, the “rex,” as he calls it, could put him in the history books. Oppel’s Silverwing trilogy has sold over a million copies, and Airborn won him a Governor General’s award for children’s literature. His latest, Every Hidden Thing, will appeal not only to boys and girls, but also teachers, who’ll be pleased with how Oppel challenges sexist and racist stereotypes. This is Oppel’s only event at the Festival this year—you won’t want to miss out!

SUITABLE FOR GRADES 4–7

H EAD E R L E F TOCTOBER 19 WEDNESDAY,

LIT UP (2) DAVID DENBY IN CONVERSATION WITH SUSIN NIELSEN

KIT PEARSON, ELLEN SCHWARTZ

REVUE STAGE $17 / $9.50 FOR STUDENT GROUPS

STUDIO 1398 $17 / $9.50 FOR STUDENT GROUPS

David Denby, former film critic for The New Yorker and an acclaimed author, had one central question he wanted to explore in his latest book: can today’s screen-obsessed teenagers be turned into serious readers? He spent a year sitting in on three high school classes to find out. Lit Up is an entertaining account of some of the awkward and baffled beginnings as those kids try to make a connection with books such as The Scarlet Letter or Slaughterhouse-Five. But he also witnesses exciting breakthroughs as students find joy in reading and in charismatic teachers passionately sharing their knowledge. In a sea of bad news about education and the fate of the book, Denby provides a lively rebuttal by giving first-hand evidence that young people in schools everywhere can relate to. pub seizième_2.pdf

BACK IN TIME 1–2:30 PM

1–2:30 PM

SUITABLE FOR GRADES 8–12 AND ADULTS

2016-06-24

SUITABLE FOR GRADES 4–7

MARNI JACKSON, AMY JONES, LISA MOORE, MARIA SEMPLE MODERATOR: LISA CHRISTIANSEN PERFORMANCE WORKS $20

Four funny women highlight how some of life’s challenging moments are better with laughter. Marni Jackson’s linked stories have celebrities like Meryl Streep, Joni Mitchell, Keith Richards or Neil Young showing up on the bus, at the cottage or on the operating table, invading her characters’ lives. Amy Jones follows the Parker family’s misadventures over one feverish weekend. Lisa Moore’s exuberant and inimitable style is on every page of Flannery, a YA novel also for adults who remember how hard it was to be a teenager. Following in the footsteps of her comic hit Where’d You Go, Bernadette, Maria Semple highlights one day in the life of a woman determined to be her best self. Wit and craft will be well displayed tonight. Presented by Raincoast Books

Working together for all British Columbians

CMY

seizieme.ca

English surtitles on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays Photo © Emily Cooper

6–7:15 PM

Two local authors who’ve written distinctly BC books take us to visit different moments in our province’s history. Kit Pearson, recipient of the British Columbia Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence and veteran novelist of acclaimed books for children, takes us back to 1881, and one amazing day in the life of young Emily Carr in Victoria. Award-winning author of 16 books for children, Ellen Schwartz paints a vivid portrait of BC in 1941 in her new novel. Kenji is obsessed with baseball, but his life changes drastically when war comes to his Japanese Canadian community in Vancouver. One great way to make history come alive for children is to tell it through the eyes of a child.

15:15:30

WIT CRAFT

HE ADDNES E R DAY, L EFT OC TO B E R 1 9 WE

THE BEST OF WRITERS & COMPANY

RESISTANCE IS FERTILE

ELEANOR WACHTEL IN CONVERSATION WITH JERRY WASSERMAN

ANNA SMAILL, MADELEINE THIEN, XUE YIWEI MODERATOR: JARED BLAND

6-7:15 PM

WATERFRONT THEATRE $20

STUDIO 1398 $20

Eleanor Wachtel has been host of CBC Radio’s Writers & Company since it began in 1990. To commemorate the show’s 25-year anniversary, Wachtel presents The Best of Writers & Company: conversations with legendary authors like Jonathan Franzen, Alice Munro and J.M. Coetzee. She shares some of the insights gleaned from talking with the world’s best writers: insights on the writing life, literary fame, the delight in words, tracking down elusive authors and opening up the reticent. Wachtel’s intimate conversations with authors are legendary and now the tables are turned as she’s answering the questions. Expect an evening of wit, intelligence and grace from this eight-time honorary degree holder whose signature characteristic is curiosity.

In Madeleine Thien’s new novel, the lives of two successive generations—those who lived through Mao’s Cultural Revolution and their children who became Tiananmen Square protestors— are contorted by those who would limit their creativity. Chinese-Canadian Xue Yiwei, one of the most important writers of contemporary Chinese literature, explores the conflict between autonomy and society’s pressure to conform. In New Zealand writer Anna Smaill’s speculative fiction, chimes are played citywide morning and night to mute memory. This is sure to be a thought-provoking discussion about creativity and the compelling need for resistance in the face of oppression.

MODERN DAY BARDS

DEANNA RODGER AND SPECIAL GUESTS 8:00 PM

CAFÉ DEUX SOLEILS TICKETS AVAILABLE AT DOOR, $6–10 CASH ONLY

Who says Shakespeare’s dead? It may be the 400th anniversary of his physical death, but his staggering body of work still inspires young artists today. Deanna Rodger, a former UK Poetry Slam Champion who has written and performed commissions everywhere—from Buckingham Palace to BBC iPlayer— has come to Vancouver to work with established and emerging spoken word poets, exploring how the traditional sonnet can be adapted by contemporary voices to talk about their lives today. Tonight Rodger’s work with this talented group of modern day troubadours culminates in a performance that would make the master himself proud. This event is part of Shakespeare Lives, an unprecedented global programme of events and activities celebrating William Shakespeare’s work on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of his death in 2016. #ShakespeareLives Presented in partnership with the Vancouver Poetry House.

THE STATE OF THE UNION

AN INTIMATE EVENING WITH GUY GAVRIEL KAY

6–7:15 PM REVUE STAGE $26

GARNETTE CADOGAN, DAVID DENBY, CHRISTOPHER MERRILL, LINDY WEST MODERATOR: JOSEPH BOYDEN 8:30 PM

PERFORMANCE WORKS $20

Voters in the USA are on the cusp of a momentous election that has the world watching. At this potential turning point in history, join four distinguished American writers as they explore the contradictions of a great nation and the challenges it faces in turbulent times. Essayist Garnette Cadogan writes on history, culture and the arts for various US publications. David Denby, former film critic and now a staff writer for The New Yorker, has published books on topics as varied as sarcasm on the Internet to misadventures in the dot-com stock market. Poet and essayist Christopher Merrill was appointed by President Obama to serve on the National Council on the Humanities. Lindy West writes about politics and pop culture from a feminist perspective. Join them for an in depth look at the United States from the inside.

For lovers of fantasy fiction, the name Guy Gavriel Kay is synonymous with excellence. Kay’s writing is celebrated internationally and translated into more than 25 languages. Although he prefers not to be characterized as a fantasy writer, he is the winner of the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel. He is author of more than a dozen novels, IMPAC Dublin Prize nominee and member of the Order of Canada. Using Renaissance Europe as a touchstone, his latest novel, Children of Earth and Sky, thrusts his characters into a stew of cultural and religious conflict. Kay has earned his reputation by reimagining the world as it might have been. Tonight is your only opportunity at this year’s Festival to meet this master writer who has delighted millions.

TOMBOY SURVIVAL GUIDE

IVAN COYOTE, ALISON GORMAN, PEBBLES WILLEKES, SALLY ZORI 8:30 PM WATERFRONT THEATRE $20

Tomboy Survival Guide is a collaboration between Ivan Coyote and three fast friends who, through story, music, lyrics, memories and photographs, have created a show that’s part anthem and part instructions for dismantling the gender stories we tell. Coyote and the all-tomboy band invite you to join them as they navigate the narrow halls of public washrooms, skirt the threat of being picked to be a flower girl, triumph over tying a double Windsor knot and discover the power and beauty in realizing they were handsome all along. A defiant, fearless and tender performance awaits you, fresh from the creative minds of Coyote, award-winning author of 10 previous books, and musical friends who have found their own way to be true.

H EAD E R DAY, L E F T O C TOB E R 1 9 W ED NES

THE NATURAL WAY OF THINGS

THIS REALLY HAPPENED: COMING OF AGE

CHARLOTTE WOOD IN CONVERSATION WITH AISLINN HUNTER

AUTHORS TO BE ANNOUNCED HOST: MARIA TURNER

8:30 PM

REVUE STAGE $20

8:30 PM

STUDIO 1398 $20

The live storytelling series, This Really Happened, is back in Vancouver to present stories on that uncomfortable, fraught and oh-so-universal theme: coming of age. Sit back and listen, or shudder in recognition and laugh out loud, as some of your favourite writers talk about growing up too fast, growing up too slow, or not growing up at all. This Really Happened has played to packed houses in Vancouver, Banff, Calgary, and Montreal, with stories from award-winning authors including TJ Dawe, Susan Juby, Lisa Moore and Charlie Demers. After telling his story in Banff, Australian crime writer Michael Robotham had this to say: “Nothing beats a night of stories, be they funny, poignant, scary or heartwarming. People turned off their phones and turned on their minds.”

They don’t have a “hottest book of the year” award in Australia (yet) but if they did this year it would go to Charlotte Wood’s The Natural Way of Things. It has already won two of Australia’s most prestigious literary awards and is shortlisted for the Miles Franklin. The novel, centred on a group of young women who are drugged, kidnapped and imprisoned in a facility somewhere in the desert, explores misogyny, corporate control and being visible and female in Western society. “It’s the hardest book I’ve ever written,” says Wood. “At one point I cried and told my friends I couldn’t do it.” Come and hear what all of Australia is talking about.

th The annual

Rockwood Centre | Sechelt

August 17-20 2017

“So m a

- Fr ny books, so little time.”

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tel: 604.885.9631 • toll free:1.800.565.9631 www.writersfestival.ca

Main and king ed& Broadway and ash& Surrey& New West& Maple Ridge& White Rock& Mission& Ladner& Langley& Coquitlam. with 10 locations across the lower mainland, we’re cooler than tightly kerned helvetica.

HE A D E R L EFT THUR SDAY, OC TO B E R 2 0

LIVE AND LEARN GORDON KORMAN, FRANK VIVA

10–11:30 AM GRANVILLE ISLAND STAGE $17 / $9.50 FOR STUDENT GROUPS

Children like stories to be served with a good helping of humour and a dollop of selfrecognition. What kid can’t see themselves in Gordon Korman’s latest romp Slacker? Cameron is so distracted by gaming that the fire department has to bash in his front door to stop the smoke billowing from the oven. Kids will also connect with the characters in Frank Viva’s Sea Change, in which Eliot’s mother ships him off for a summer with strange relatives at the very edge of the world: a fishing village in a remote part of Nova Scotia. There are lessons underlying each story— the importance of connecting with family, the perils of focusing on one thing to the exclusion of all else—but there’s also a whole lot of mischief and fun.

SUITABLE FOR GRADES 4–7

WATER WOW! PAULA AYER, ANTONIA BANYARD

10–11:15 AM STUDIO 1398 $17 / $9.50 FOR STUDENT GROUPS

Have you ever considered that the water in your glass has an incredibly long history? It might once have been dinosaur pee, or Cleopatra’s bath water, or rain that fell on your great-great-grandfather! These are just some of the surprising ways that coauthors Paula Ayer and Antonia Banyard get into the slippery nature of that spectacular substance covering three quarters of the planet. Using colourful illustrations and easy-to-understand infographics, their presentation addresses some mighty big questions: where did water come from before it got to Earth? If water can’t be created or destroyed, how can we run out? No doubt kids will have more questions to ask, and if you didn’t have a classroom of conservationists before this event, you will after!

SUITABLE FOR GRADES 4–7

MYTHICAL MODERN WORLDS

BLUE AND RED MAKE PURPLE (1)

ERIN BOW, CHRIS HUMPHREYS

A CONCERT WITH JENNIFER GASOI

10 – 11:30 AM

10–11:00 AM

PERFORMANCE WORKS $17 / $9.50 FOR STUDENT GROUPS

WATERFRONT THEATRE $17 / $9.50 FOR STUDENT GROUPS

“Characters’ lives do not end just because a book does,” says Chris Humphreys. Today, he and Erin Bow share the sequels to their wildly popular books. Bow’s The Swan Riders picks up where The Scorpion Rules left off, set in a world four centuries from now, with humankind on the brink of extinction. You’ll want to know how 16-year-old Crown Princess Greta handles that challenge. Humphreys’ Elayne, star of The Hunt of the Unicorn, is also primed for new adventures in The Hunt of the Dragon when she hears reports of an unusual two-headed snake caught in the city’s sewers. This is readers’ opportunity to discover what other adventures lie in the fertile minds of Humphreys and Bow.

Bring your kids to Granville Island this morning for a great family outing that will have you and your little ones bouncing in your seats. Blue and Red Make Purple is a unique book and CD combination that takes young readers on a musical tour with jazz singer Jennifer Gasoi, the first Canadian children’s entertainer to win a Grammy. You’ll be introduced along the way to the history, instruments and unique characteristics of many different musical genres, like the blues or Dixieland jazz or Cajun. This morning the Waterfront will rock!

SUITABLE FOR GRADES 8–12

SUITABLE FOR GRADES K–3

SETTING THE HOOK FOR SUSPENSE

EILEEN COOK, ALICE KUIPERS 10–11:30 AM REVUE STAGE $17 / $9.50 FOR STUDENT GROUPS

Suspense, doubt, anticipation—they’re what keep us turning pages. Both Eileen Cook and Alice Kuipers write addictive novels for young people. Readers will be perched on the edge of their seats as Cook and Kuipers hook them in. Cook’s thriller opens in the hospital room of 18-year-old Jill who has no recollection of the past six weeks while on a school trip in Italy. Her best friend is dead, and now everyone’s a suspect—including Jill. Meanwhile, Kuiper’s love triangle gone horribly wrong moves back and forth in time between a deadly car accident and the 14 days leading up to it. Our brains are wired to solve problems, to seek resolution. How does an author plant the reader’s path with clues without making the solution obvious? SUITABLE FOR GRADES 10–12 AND ADULTS

(This event is repeated Thursday, October 20 at 1:00 pm and Saturday, October 22 at 10:30 am)

WORD! (2) ROBERTO ASCALON, EMILEE NIMETZ, AARON SIMM HOST: CHRIS GILPIN

1–2:30 PM GRANVILLE ISLAND STAGE $17 / $9.50 FOR STUDENT GROUPS

H EAD E R L E FOTCTO B E R 2 0 TH URSDAY,

TOMBOY SURVIVAL GUIDE

BLUE AND RED MAKE PURPLE (2)

INTO THE FUTURE WITH ERIN BOW

IVAN COYOTE, ALISON GORMAN, PEBBLES WILLEKES, SALLY ZORI

A CONCERT WITH JENNIFER GASOI

1–2:15 PM

1–2:00 PM

1 – 2:30 PM

WATERFRONT THEATRE $17 / $9.50 FOR STUDENT GROUPS

STUDIO 1398 $17 / $9.50 FOR STUDENT GROUPS

PERFORMANCE WORKS $17 / $9.50 FOR STUDENT GROUPS

Bring your kids to Granville Island this afternoon for a great family outing that will have you and your little ones bouncing in your seats. Blue and Red Make Purple is a unique book and CD combination that takes young readers on a musical tour with jazz singer Jennifer Gasoi, the first Canadian children’s entertainer to win a Grammy. You’ll be introduced along the way to the history, instruments and unique characteristics of many different musical genres, like the blues or Dixieland jazz or Cajun. This afternoon the Waterfront will rock!

E M I LY C A R R

A(ThisNevent D is repeated W OThursday, LFG AN October 20 atG 10am and Saturday, October 22 at 10:30am)

PA A L E N I N

GRADES 2–4 B RSUITABLE I TFORI S H COLUMBIA I HAD AN INTERES TING FRENCH ARTIS T TO SEE ME THIS SUMMER

E M I LY C A R R

AND WOLFGANG PA A L E N I N

O :OAD B R I T I S HFPC LUMBIA I HAD AN INTERES TING FRENCH ARTIS T TO SEE ME THIS SUMMER

Erin Bow is a physicist turned poet turned children’s novelist, and author of the dystopic The Scorpion Rules, awarded the 2016 CLA Book of the Year for Young Adults. In it, Bow introduced readers to Greta Stuart, Duchess of Halifax, Crown Princess of the Pan Polar Confederacy, and hostage to peace. Her nation—in a world four centuries in the future—is on the brink of war. If it tips over, Greta’s life will be forfeit. Today Bow shares her much buzzed-about companion novel, The Swan Riders, in which Greta has become AI. “It’s a meditation on what it means to be human, and what it doesn’t mean to be human,” says Bow. Big ideas and a richly imagined world will get kids thinking this afternoon.

SUITABLE FOR GRADES 9 AND UP

HE A DE R L EFT TH UR SDAY, OC TO B E R 2 0

READ IT AGAIN, PLEASE!

MONICA KULLING, OLIVE SENIOR, VIKKI VANSICKLE

AN INTIMATE EVENING WITH WADE DAVIS

PERFORMANCE WORKS $26

REVUE STAGE $17 / $9.50 FOR STUDENT GROUPS

Kids often get attached to their favourite storybooks, asking for them to be read over and over again. Today, add three new titles to that list, with the unquantifiable benefit of hearing from the authors themselves. Children will relate to Anna’s determination as she struggles to carry a jug of water on her head like her brothers and sisters in Olive Senior’s Anna Carries Water. They’ll get wrapped up in the bungled birthday party preparations in Happy Birthday, Alice Babette by Monica Kulling. And they’ll delight in the mishaps that come with having mythological creatures—a sasquatch, a unicorn, a gryphon—as household pets in If I Had a Gryphon by Vikki VanSickle. Take note of these authors’ new titles; there a good chance you’ll be searching them out after today.

6–7:15 PM

Writer and photographer Wade Davis has been an inspiration to thousands around the world. After an enthralling Davis lecture at UBC, a young student rushed to the lectern to thank him before immediately switching his major to anthropology. Davis has written almost 20 books on everything from Haitian voodooism to the sacred headwaters in northern BC. His new book Wade Davis: Photographs features 150 photographs he has taken from his journeys around the world. Each is a rich story about the human condition and invites the viewer to experience scenes of family, magic, love and tradition. Davis, who was “Explorer-InResidence” at the National Geographic Society, is a consummate storyteller. Who knows how he will inspire you?

ALAIN MABANCKOU, M.G. VASSANJI MODERATOR: DENISE RYAN

WATERFRONT THEATRE $20

Since its inception 20 years ago, the New Face of Fiction program has brought sensational first-time fiction authors to Canadians. Now shepherded by Penguin Random House, the program has also played a significant role in launching the careers of writers who have collectively won 46 literary awards and sold more than 1.8 million books in Canada. This celebratory event will welcome two authors whose debut novels were part of the series—Yann Martel and Gail Anderson-Dargatz—alongside “new face” Lynne Kutsukake. The authors talk about learning their craft, what it means when editors and publishers show that degree of faith in their work and the astounding effect that such a program has had on so many. Presented by Penguin Random House.

SUITABLE FOR GRADES K–3

OUT OF AFRICA

GAIL ANDERSON-DARGATZ, LYNNE KUTSUKAKE, YANN MARTEL MODERATOR: TIMOTHY TAYLOR

6–7:15 PM

1–2:00 PM

NEW FACE OF FICTION

6–7:15 PM STUDIO 1398 $20

M.G. Vassanji was born in Kenya and raised in Tanzania. Although he left Africa as a young man, his writing career has focused on the experiences of East African Indians, migration and diaspora. His memoir recounts his return to his homeland and the memories it evokes. Alain Mabanckou, born in the Republic of the Congo, left for France when he was 22. His memoir tells of his return “home” after 23 years, his guilt as a relative asks for his shoes and shirt, and his regret that he’s a stranger. In an age of mass migration, where millions have left their homelands yet continue to be shaped by what they left behind, these two contemplative authors reflect on living as exiles and question what home really means.

A GOOD WAY TO GET YOURSELF KILLED

MICHAEL KORYTA, PETER ROBINSON, SAM WIEBE MODERATOR: LONNIE PROPAS 6–7:15 PM REVUE STAGE $20

Crime fiction readers are in for a treat as Festival favourite Peter Robinson takes the spotlight together with American crime writer Michael Koryta and Vancouver-based newcomer Sam Wiebe. Robinson’s Inspector Banks pieces together decades-old evidence in the Yorkshire Dales. Koryta’s private investigator pursues his suspected killer to the mining towns of Montana. And Wiebe’s gritty PI begins his search for a missing boy and a funeral home necrophiliac on the streets of Vancouver. Seems like crime knows no boundaries—a boon for fans of great crime fiction.

CHIMES OF FREEDOM

YAA GYASI, COLSON WHITEHEAD MODERATOR: JOHN FREEMAN 8:30 PM PERFORMANCE WORKS $20

The memory of captivity is burned deep into the psyche of America, so it is no surprise that novelists continue to revisit the impact of slavery. Born in Ghana and raised in Alabama, Yaa Gyasi imagines how the force of slavery ricocheted through generations, beginning with two half-sisters in 18th century Ghana. The 26-year-old has earned a remarkable seven-figure advance for her debut novel Homegoing. Lives shaped and misshaped by the historical force of slavery has been a 15-year fascination for Colson Whitehead, US author of five novels. He turns the metaphorical underground railroad into an actual network of hidden tracks in The Underground Railroad, a shattering tale about a young slave’s desperate bid for freedom. “It’s all timeless American misery,” he says. Presented by Simon Fraser University Library.

H EAD E R L E FOTCTO B E R 2 0 TH URSDAY,

EMBEDDED DEBORAH CAMPBELL, SARAH GLIDDEN, KEVIN PATTERSON MODERATOR: TIMOTHY TAYLOR

8:30 PM

AN INTIMATE EVENING WITH ANDRÉ ALEXIS 8:30 PM

WATERFRONT THEATRE $20

STUDIO 1398 $26

The effects of the Iraq War on refugees hardly seems like material for a cartoonist, but when Sarah Glidden accompanied a reporter and a former Marine to the Middle East, it was the only way for her to express the complexities she witnessed. Journalist Deborah Campbell, working undercover in Damascus, spent months trying to find and free her Iraqi colleague from the Syrian Secret Police. Her resulting book, A Disappearance In Damascus, is a riveting story of friendship and a long way from her original assignment. Kevin Patterson, a doctor who served with NATO forces in Afghanistan, drew on his experiences from that time for his new novel News from the Red Desert. Three insiders talk about telling stories from the inside out.

When André Alexis wrote his Scotiabank Giller award-winning Fifteen Dogs, he saw it as the second of five novels that would explore “the nature of God, God as an idea, the nature of love, the nature of place.” Lofty themes, but Alexis has never shied away from turning his philosophical meditations into stories that capture readers’ imaginations. Even his debut novel, published almost 20 years ago, won the Books in Canada First Novel Award. While Fifteen Dogs is populated by talking canines, his new novel, The Hidden Keys, features albino heroin dealers and club-footed psychopaths and questions what it means to be honourable and faithful. Alexis is a thoughtful, imaginative, playful philosopher—and a wonderfully entertaining writer with whom you’ll enjoy spending this evening.

THE FEDERATION OF BC WRITERS

BRITISH COLUMBIA'S COMMUNITY OF WRITERS

JOIN

BCWRITERS.CA

THE FIRST SIGNS GENEVIEVE VON PETZINGER IN CONVERSATION WITH BRIAN LYNCH

8:30 PM REVUE STAGE $20

Imagine yourself as a caveperson. It’s 25,000 years ago and your cave walls are filled with illustrations, handprints, dots, triangles and spirals. You know what it all means—but then you and your people vanish. Archaeologist Genevieve von Petzinger has scrabbled over the rock art sites of northern Portugal, plunged into caverns and dived into remote Spanish caves that can only be reached by sliding face-first through the mud to make sense of these mysterious geometric signs and symbols that offer an opening into the Paleolithic mind. Acting as a guide and sleuth, von Petzinger, who is completing her PhD and was selected as a TED Senior Fellow, has written what anthropologist Wade Davis calls “one of the most extraordinary scientific insights of our time.”

Writers_CMYK.pdf 1 8/3/2016 4:22:29 PM

A DRAM COME TRUE

Experience a night of wonder and whisky from across the globe during this whisky fundraiser for The Vancouver Writers Fest.

SAVE THE DATE

Friday, March 10, 2017 C

Join our mailing list to be the first to learn about early-bird tickets: writersfest.bc.ca/get-involved/connected

CMY

Joy Kogawa Gently to Nagasaki

Poetic and unflinching, a long-awaited memoir from one of Canadaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most distinguished literary elders IN STORES & ONLINE NOW

RED PHONE Become both performer and audience with a remarkable immersive theatre experience, brought to you by Boca del Lupo and the Vancouver Writers Fest. What’s the most urgent conversation Canadians should engage in? We asked acclaimed writers to create it… so that you can have it. Imagine you enter a beautiful phone booth with a vintage rotary phone. It begins to ring. A teleprompter inside says, “Pick up the phone.” You do. You hear a voice on the other end. “Hello?” You are prompted to respond. “Hello.” What follow is a conversation between you and another, each following a script. On the line could be a loved one or a complete stranger. Sharing this live dialogue for the first time, you uniquely experience both a character and yourself.

Pick up the phone at The Fishbowl on Granville Island, from October 18-23. Free. Presented as part of the Vancouver Writers Fest and Boca del Lupo’s Micro Performance Series.

ENHANCE YOUR EXPERIENCE AT THE FESTIVAL: JOIN US TO EXPERIENCE THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF WRITING & STORYTELLING IN OUR COMMUNITY BECOME A MEMBER TODAY The Vancouver Writers Fest changes people’s lives by engaging participants in important conversations with readers and writers: conversations that enable us to reimagine the world, our community and our place within it.

BECOME A MEMBER Our members support the organisation while receiving excellent benefits such as: > $2todiscount all Festival tickets > Early access Festivalon tickets - before events sell out > Invitations to exclusive membertickets events > $2 discount on all Festival > Early access to Festivalmember ticket sales > Invitations to exclusive events Preview Reading Reading List >>Preview Listfor forthe theFestival Festival > First-access to the Festival program guide We have several options for becoming a member: One-year membership: $35 Two-year membership: $60 Book Club Membership: $20/person (minimum of 5 people)

For Formore more information visit writersfest.bc.ca/get-involved/membership, information visit writersfest.bc.ca/membership, call 604-681-6330, or email Andrew aforshner@writersfest.bc.ca or emailForshner: aforshner@writersfest.bc.ca

FOR FESTIVAL NEWS ON THE GO DOWNLOAD OUR FREE SMARTPHONE APP NOW

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Vancouver Writers Festival set to launch most star-studded chapter yet

The Vancouver Writers Festival is often B.C.’s biggest literary event of the year, but the 2014 instalment is looking to be a real blockbuster. The festival has managed to attract some of the biggest international stars for its week of literary love (Oct. 21-26), including James Ellroy, author of the L.A. Quartet

VS Now

Reimagine your world at this year's Vancouver Writers Fest B.C.’s bookish blades: Local writers carve out a new direction for genre writing

Vancouver Writers Festival set to launch most star-studded chapter yet

Music, Stage, Family, Community: A look at this week’s events

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B.C.’s bookish blades: Local writers carve out a new direction for genre writing Historical thrillers are nothing new. In fact, they’ve been around since we started recording history. What are The Odyssey and Beowulf if not their era’s version of Dan Brown or Andrew Pyper? But a trio of B.C. authors are writing a new chapter for the historical thriller

DONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T MISS THESE AMAZING AUTHORS!

MARIA SEMPLE Oct. 19

MICHAEL KORYTA Oct. 20 & Oct. 21

HE D E R OLC EFT F R IADAY, TO B E R 2 1

LEARNING FROM LIFE

IVAN COYOTE, CRAIG DAVIDSON, TEVA HARRISON, NOAH RICHLER MODERATOR: ANDREAS SCHROEDER 10–11:30 AM GRANVILLE ISLAND STAGE $17

Although drawing from real life experiences, memoirs require just as much creativity to write as novels. Ivan Coyote’s Tomboy Survival Guide is the personal tale of the triumphs and terrors of a “young butch.” Craig Davidson opens up about his year of driving a school bus for a group of children with disabilities. Teva Harrison’s comic illustrations and personal essays chronicle how she lives with terminal breast cancer. And Noah Richler recounts his time on the campaign trail.

THE ARK YANN MARTEL, ANDREW WESTOLL, ALISSA YORK MODERATOR: ANNE FLEMING

ANNE GIARDINI AND NICHOLAS GIARDINI 10–11:30 AM STUDIO 1398 $17

When Carol Shields died in 2003, she left behind a wealth of material on the craft of writing. Startle and Illuminate has been drawn from decades of correspondence, essays, notes and lectures. With Shields’ trademark vision and humour, she reveals her thoughts on why we read and why we write. Anne Giardini, Shields’ daughter, is an author in her own right. Nicholas Giardini had a rare chance to know his grandmother better, spending hours in archives and poring over letters and notes. Presented by The Writer’s Studio @ SFU.

ANDRÉ ALEXIS, MARNI JACKSON, CATHERINE LEROUX, SUSAN PERLY MODERATOR: IAN WEIR

10–11:30 AM

PERFORMANCE WORKS $17

WATERFRONT THEATRE $17

Three authors preoccupied with humankind’s relationship to the animal world take the stage this morning. In Yann Martel’s novels, animals often play central roles. In his new novel, a chimpanzee gets star billing. Says Martel, “There’s something about animals that curiously echoes the divine, in that animals have a strong sense of being in the present moment,” which humans have difficulty achieving. Andrew Westoll, who won the Charles Taylor Prize in 2012 for The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary, sets his novel in the rainforest where a primatologist is obsessed with the capuchin monkeys he studies. Alissa York located The Naturalist in the Amazon of 1867—“an Eden full of snakes.” We often set ourselves apart from animals but good fiction reminds us we’re all in the same ark.

When André Alexis conceived his five-novel series, he was inspired by Pasolini`s film Teorema. So he set out to write a pastoral, an apologue, a quest narrative (with Treasure Island in mind), a ghost story and a kind of Harlequin romance. Marni Jackson’s organizing principle is the idea that we live in a world obsessed with celebrities—so stars show up in every one of her linked short stories. Catherine Leroux links her stories through siblings all joined in surprising ways. And Susan Perly’s Death Valley is a mashup of recognizable established forms—spaghetti westerns, pulp fiction, part Pynchon, part Lewis Carroll. Writers who use particular frameworks upon which to hang their work talk about “conceits”—how binding, how freeing and does a conceit ever get in the way?

Presented by HarperCollins Canada Ltd.

STARTLE AND ILLUMINATE

CONCEIT

FAMILY FRACAS ADAM HASLETT, AMY JONES, JIM LYNCH, ZOE WHITTALL MODERATOR: JERRY WASSERMAN

10 – 11:30 AM REVUE STAGE $17

Families are like fudge: mostly sweet with a few nuts—or so goes the old saying. This event features four takes on families, nuts included. In Pulitzer Prize-nominated Adam Haslett’s novel, Michael cycles through obsessions while his parents and siblings orbit around him in a constant emergency. Amy Jones’ novel follows the Parker family’s misadventures after dementia beckons the family matriarch to plunge over a waterfall in a barrel. Jim Lynch puts his imagined family all together in a sailboat, to deal with both the wind’s and life’s twists and turns. And Zoe Whittall’s fictional family patriarch is arrested for sexual assault, leaving his family reeling with questions, denials and rage. Our tendency to care for one another makes for heartfelt fiction in the hands of these authors.

GRAND AND MONUMENTAL

PETER BEHRENS, YAA GYASI, MADELEINE THIEN, COLSON WHITEHEAD MODERATOR: CHARLES FORAN 1–2:30 PM

GRANVILLE ISLAND STAGE $17

Peter Behrens’ novel is a historical epic, ranging from golden Edwardian summers to London under Zeppelin attack, Ireland fighting for independence and pre-war Germany. Yaa Gyasi’s debut novel is described as epic, magisterial and monumental. Not one to start out her career small, Gyasi traces three hundred years in Ghana and America as the effects of selling humans are felt generation after generation. Madeleine Thien tackles the impact of history, from Mao’s cultural revolution to Tiananmen Square, on one Chinese family. And Colson Whitehead tracks a slave’s escape state by state, creating a shattering meditation on our shared history. Join four big thinkers, staring into the eyes of the past, to talk about creating intimate portraits of people pitted against forces beyond their control.

HREAD E R OLCTO EFT BER 21 F IDAY,

GENTLY TO NAGASAKI JOY KOGAWA IN CONVERSATION WITH KATHRYN GRETSINGER

IN-BETWEEN DAYS TEVA HARRISON IN CONVERSATION WITH SHAENA LAMBERT

1–2:30 PM

WATERFRONT THEATRE $17

STUDIO 1398 $17

Joy Kogawa published her first novel, Obasan, in 1981. The story of the internment of Japanese Canadians during World War II won the Books in Canada First Novel award and became essential reading for our nation. Drawing closely from her own life and experiences, Kogawa has written poetry and novels, is a member of the Order of Canada and a member of the Order of the Rising Sun in Japan for her contribution to the understanding and preservation of Japanese Canadian history. Now 82, Kogawa has published Gently to Nagasaki, a memoir she has been working on for years. This is a rare opportunity to hear a Canadian icon whose life has been a tireless search for healing and restoration, personally and for her community.

Writer and graphic artist Teva Harrison was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer at the age of 37. She started to draw comics as one way to fight back against the disease, and find the humour and absurdity in it. She added short personal essays, and In-Between Days was born. In it she balances the sadness of cancer with everyday acts of hope and wonder. Joseph Boyden calls her book “sly and brutal and funny and crushing.” Since the book was published in April, she’s been touring Canada, expanding the breast cancer conversation and helping others living with cancer feel less alone. It’s working. Spend an afternoon with an inspiring, honest and funny woman who really knows the difference between surviving and living.

SIBLING STRONGHOLDS AFFINITY KONAR, CATHERINE LEROUX, RIEL NASON, CORDELIA STRUBE MODERATOR: RHEA TREGABOV

1–2:30 PM REVUE STAGE $17

What is the connection that joins people far more strongly than genes or bloodlines can explain? Four contemporary works explore the depths of familial love. Harriet and her brother, Irwin—who is constantly in and out of hospital—have a complicated relationship with each other, and with the oblivious adults who are raising them. Twins Pearl and Stasha, taken to Auschwitz to be part of Josef Mengele’s horrors and experiments, have an unbreakable bond that helps them navigate their painful past. Violet, left behind by her parents while they search for her older brother, is haunted by his absence. And siblings bonded in surprising ways make up Catherine Leroux’s collection of linked short stories. Leroux, alongside Affinity Konar, Riel Nason and Cordelia Strube, finds that fiction can share the deep emotion and protection of sibling bonds: connections that go far beyond just sharing parents.

THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

COLSON WHITEHEAD IN CONVERSATION WITH JOHN FREEMAN 6–7:15 PM

WATERFRONT THEATRE $20

Pulitzer Prize finalist, author of seven novels, recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship or “Genius Grant,” Colson Whitehead is a writer with epic and quirky ideas. His first novel dealt with intrigue in the Department of Elevator Inspectors; another was about a nomenclature consultant who gets an assignment to name a town. His latest novel is a new take on the underground railroad, only Whitehead plays fast and loose with history, imagining it as a real train and America as historically unrecognizable. Playful yet deeply serious, his advice to writers is, “Get out and see the world. Book passage on a tramp steamer. Rustle up some dysentery; it’s worth it for the fever dreams alone. Lose a kidney in a knife fight. You’ll be glad you did.”

History EcHoEs tHE FuturE By L.J. Dionne

If given reliable prophetic knowledge, would you commit murder to save the world? : L J Dionne

W: lj-dionne.com

HE D E R OLCEFT F R IADAY, TO B E R 2 1

GRIFFIN LAUREATE 2016

LIZ HOWARD IN CONVERSATION WITH AISLINN HUNTER

THE LITERARY CABARET

ALEXANDER CHEE, ANOSH IRANI, SUSAN PERLY, BILLY RAMSELL, IAIN REID, MADELEINE THIEN HOST: SALVADOR FERRERAS

6–7:15 PM STUDIO 1398 $20

PERFORMANCE WORKS $38

Even if you’re a “Lit Cab” regular, you might not know that Sal Ferreras and his chameleonic band Poetic License has only half an hour on the Friday afternoon of the cabaret to rehearse with each of the authors who will collaborate with them. What happens during those 30 minutes can only be described as alchemy. Later that evening, those same six authors take the spotlight to “perform” alongside the band, with music that fits each reading like a warm glove over a guiding hand. Audiences are guaranteed a sensory spectacle they won’t soon forget. Don’t miss out on the fun—get your tickets early because they will go quickly.

8:30 PM STUDIO 1398 $26

In novel after novel, international bestselling author Yann Martel has refused to shy away from the big issues, the big subjects: the nature of faith in Life of Pi, or the meaning of the Holocaust in Beatrice and Virgil. Martel’s latest novel, The High Mountains of Portugal, also tackles a big question: how does one solve the mystery of death? Jared Bland in the Globe and Mail has called High Mountains “. . . gleefully bizarre, genuinely thrilling and entirely heartbreaking.” Join Martel as he tells the stories behind his books and why literature means so much to him.

OUT OF PLACE GAIL ANDERSON-DARGATZ, MICHAEL KORYTA, OLIVE SENIOR, XUE YIWEI MODERATOR: IAN WEIR

WATERFRONT THEATRE $20

Presented by SFU’s World Literature Program.

AN INTIMATE EVENING WITH YANN MARTEL

JOAN CRATE, AFFINITY KONAR, STEVEN PRICE, ALISSA YORK MODERATOR: ANGIE ABDOU 8:30 PM

8:00 PM

At the age of 30, Liz Howard is the youngest poet, and the first with a debut collection, to win the $65,000 Canadian Griffin Poetry Prize. Howard grew up in a small town in northeastern Ontario, where her ambitions were as stunted as the scrubby trees in the landscape: “My upbringing was quite difficult and impoverished, and when I was young I sort of thought that perhaps it would be best not to exist. And for me poetry made life possible.” Describing Infinite Citizen of the Shaking Tent, this year’s Griffin judges said, “These poems are filled with magic and energy … vivid imagery and crackling language.” By day a research officer in cognitive psychology at the University of Toronto, Howard is a brilliant new voice in Canadian poetry.

STARTING POINTS

8:30 PM REVUE STAGE $20

Though some fiction can take place in a nameless “anywhere,” some stories are so tied to the place in which they run their course that the place itself becomes a character. Gail Anderson-Dargatz’s novels are inspired by the Thompson-Shuswap region where she grew up and The Spawning Grounds couldn’t happen anywhere else. Although he writes thrillers, Michael Koryta’s landscapes are as ominous as his plots, from Montana’s windy peaks to Florida’s eerie swamps. Olive Senior lives in Toronto, but she writes of Jamaica where she was born, writing infused with the light, smells, class, history and hopes of that island. And Chinese-Canadian author Xue Yiwei’s first book available in English, Shenzheners, is being hailed as a Chinese Dubliners. Pack your suitcase ‘cause we’re off to visit new places tonight.

Joan Crate began her novel with a character from her other writing who would have gone to a residential school, so she followed that thread to write Black Apple. At age 16, Affinity Konar encountered a piercing biography about Auschwitz and Mengele’s twins. “I clung to this book for years.” Mischling is the result. Steven Price was inspired to write By Gaslight after a conversation with a reclusive great-uncle who told Price about his great-grandfather, an English gunsmith who fled to Canada after trouble with the law. And Alissa York wrote The Naturalist after reading accounts of 19th century Amazon explorers. “The more I learned about … naturalists during that era, the more I wanted to create one of my own.” Four starting points for an intriguing discussion about the novels that followed.

H EAD E R L E F T

A proud supporter of Vancouver Writers Fest

Changing the world, one book at a time.

FEST I VA L AT A G L A N C E

Monday

17 Wednesday

#1 BETWEEN THE PAGES: AN EVENING WITH THE SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE FINALISTS

#18 WORD! (1)

8:00 pm Vancouver Playhouse

Tuesday

#2 CITY DWELLERS: FIRST NATIONS AND THE URBAN EXPERIENCE

Lisa Charleyboy 10–11:30 am Granville Island Stage

#3 THE HIDDEN LIFE OF TREES

Peter Wohlleben 10–11:30 am Waterfront Theatre

#8 WORLDS UPSIDE DOWN

Ellen Schwartz Roy Henry Vickers 1–2:30 pm Revue Stage

#14 DYSTOPIAN DREAMS

Michael Helm Anna Smaill M.G. Vassanji Charlotte Wood 8:30 pm Waterfront Theatre

#10 SEARCHING FOR THE SOURCE

#5 CREATURES, KIDS AND COMMUNITY Alice Kuipers Vikki VanSickle Roy Henry Vickers 10–11:00 am Revue Stage

Ann Y.K. Choi Ivan Coyote Ashley Little Lisa Moore 1–2:30 pm Granville Island Stage

•

André Alexis Rowan Hisayo Buchanan Ann Y.K. Choi Emma Donoghue Francesca Melandri Peter Robinson 8:00 pm Performance Works

6–7:15 pm Waterfront Theatre

Faith Erin Hicks Frank Viva 10–11:30 am Studio 1398

F I C T I O N

#13 GRAND OPENINGS

Monica Kulling Margriet Ruurs 1–2:30 pm Waterfront Theatre

#9 AN INTIMATE EVENING WITH EMMA DONOGHUE

#4 ILLUSTRATED IMAGINATIONS

#6 NOWHERE TO GROW BUT UP

#7 PAVING THE WAY

#15 THE LIGHTS OF POINTE-NOIRE

Rowan Hisayo Buchanan Ashley Little Francesca Melandri 6–7:15 pm Studio 1398

Alain Mabanckou 8:30 pm Studio 1398

#16 LIT UP (1) David Denby 8:30 pm Revue Stage

#11 REMEMBERING ELLEN SELIGMAN Michael Helm Steven Price Madeleine Thien 6–7:15 pm Revue Stage

#17 SHAKESPEARE AND CERVANTES: REIMAGINING THE MASTERS

Hisham Matar Marcos Giralt Torrente 8:30 pm Improv Centre

#12 THE RETURN Hisham Matar 6–7:15 pm Improv Centre

P O E T R Y

•

C O M M E N TA R Y

•

A R T

•

B O O K

R E V I E W S

Roberto Ascalon Emilee Nimetz Aaron Simm 10–11:30 am Granville Island Stage

#19 DISPATCHES FROM THE DANGER ZONE Sarah Glidden Kevin Patterson 10–11:30 am Performance Works

#20 SLACKER

Gordon Korman 10–11:15 am Waterfront Theatre

#21 PEACE DANCER Roy Henry Vickers 10–11:15 am Revue Stage

#22 CHAIN REACTIONS Owen Matthews Lisa Moore Vikki VanSickle 1–2:30 pm Performance Works

#23 DINOSAUR DREAMS Kenneth Oppel 1–2:15 pm Waterfront Theatre

#24 LIT UP (2) David Denby 1–2:30 pm Studio 1398

#25 BACK IN TIME

Kit Pearson Ellen Schwartz 1–2:30 pm Revue Stage

#26 WIT CRAFT

Marni Jackson Amy Jones Lisa Moore Maria Semple 6–7:15 pm Performance Works

19 Thursday #27 THE BEST OF WRITERS & COMPANY

#35 LIVE AND LEARN

Eleanor Wachtel 6–7:15 pm Waterfront Theatre

Gordon Korman Frank Viva 10–11:30 am Granville Island Stage

#28 RESISTANCE IS FERTILE

#36 MYTHICAL MODERN WORLDS

Anna Smaill Madeleine Thien Xue Yiwei 6–7:15 pm Studio 1398

#29 AN INTIMATE EVENING WITH GUY GAVRIEL KAY 6–7:15 pm Revue Stage

#30 MODERN DAY BARDS Deanna Rodger and special guests 8:00 pm Café Deux Soleils

#31 THE STATE OF THE UNION

Garnette Cadogan David Denby Christopher Merrill Lindy West 8:30 pm Performance Works

#32 TOMBOY SURVIVAL GUIDE

Ivan Coyote Alison Gorman Pebbles Willekes Sally Zori 8:30 pm Waterfront Theatre

#33 THE NATURAL WAY OF THINGS Charlotte Wood 8:30 pm Studio 1398

#34 THIS REALLY HAPPENED 8:30 pm Revue Stage

Erin Bow Chris Humphreys 10–11:30 am Performance Works

“Beautiful!

assertive! Magnificent! BaM!!!

suBterrain delivers word-and-art iMpact!” —george elliott clarke, poet laureate of canada WATCh FOR COPIES ON-SITE! | SuBTERRAIN.CA

#44 READ IT AGAIN, PLEASE! Monica Kulling Olive Senior Vikki VanSickle 1–2:00 pm Revue Stage

#45 AN INTIMATE EVENING WITH WADE DAVIS

6–7:15 pm Performance Works

#37 BLUE AND RED MAKE PURPLE: A CONCERT #46 NEW FACE WITH JENNIFER GASOI (1) OF FICTION 10–11:00 am Waterfront Theatre

#38 WATER WOW! Paula Ayer Antonia Banyard 10–11:15 am Studio 1398

#39 SETTING THE HOOK FOR SUSPENSE Eileen Cook Alice Kuipers 10–11:30 am Revue Stage

#40 WORD! (2)

Roberto Ascalon Emilee Nimetz Aaron Simm 1-2:30 pm Granville Island Stage

#41 TOMBOY SURVIVAL GUIDE

Ivan Coyote Alison Gorman Pebbles Willekes Sally Zori 1–2:30 pm Performance Works

#42 BLUE AND RED MAKE PURPLE: A CONCERT WITH JENNIFER GASOI (2) 1–2:00 pm Waterfront Theatre

#43 INTO THE FUTURE WITH ERIN BOW M

1–2:15 pm Studio 1398

Gail Anderson-Dargatz Lynne Kutsukake Yann Martel 6–7:15 pm Waterfront Theatre

#47 OUT OF AFRICA Alain Mabanckou M.G. Vassanji 6–7:15 pm Studio 1398

#48 A GOOD WAY TO GET YOURSELF KILLED Michael Koryta Peter Robinson Sam Wiebe 6–7:15 pm Revue Stage

#49 CHIMES OF FREEDOM

Yaa Gyasi Colson Whitehead 8:30 pm Performance Works

#50 EMBEDDED

Deborah Campbell Sarah Glidden Kevin Patterson 8:30 pm Waterfront Theatre

#51 AN INTIMATE EVENING WITH ANDRÉ ALEXIS 8:30 pm Studio 1398

#52 THE FIRST SIGNS

Genevieve von Petzinger 8:30 pm Studio 1398

TI CK ETS: 60 4 . 6 8 1 . 6 3 3 0 OR W R IT ERS FEST.B C .CA

Friday #53 LEARNING FROM LIFE Ivan Coyote Craig Davidson Teva Harrison Noah Richler 10–11:30 am Granville Island Stage

#54 THE ARK

21 Saturday #61 SIBLING STRONGHOLDS

Affinity Konar Catherine Leroux Riel Nason Cordelia Strube 1–2:30 pm Revue Stage

Yann Martel Andrew Westoll Alissa York 10–11:30 am Performance Works

#62 THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

#55 CONCEIT

#63 GRIFFIN LAUREATE 2016

André Alexis Marni Jackson Catherine Leroux Susan Perly 10–11:30 am Waterfront Theatre

#56 STARTLE AND ILLUMINATE Anne Giardini Nicholas Giardini 10–11:30 am Studio 1398

#57 FAMILY FRACAS Adam Haslett Amy Jones Jim Lynch Zoe Whittall 10–11:30 am Revue Stage

#58 GRAND AND MONUMENTAL

Colson Whitehead 6–7:15 pm Waterfront Theatre Liz Howard 6–7:15 pm Studio 1398

#64 THE LITERARY CABARET Alexander Chee Anosh Irani Susan Perly Billy Ramsell Iain Reid Madeleine Thien 8:00 pm Performance Works

#65 STARTING POINTS Joan Crate Affinity Konar Steven Price Alissa York 8:30 pm Waterfront Theatre

Peter Behrens Yaa Gyasi, Madeleine Thien Colson Whitehead 1–2:30 pm Granville Island Stage

#66 AN INTIMATE EVENING WITH YANN MARTEL

Joy Kogawa 1–2:30 pm Waterfront Theatre

Michael Koryta Olive Senior Xue Yiwei 8:30 pm Revue Stage

8:30 pm Studio 1398

#67 OUT OF PLACE #59 GENTLY TO NAGASAKI Gail Anderson-Dargatz

#60 IN-BETWEEN DAYS Teva Harrison 1–2:30 pm Studio 1398

#68 WRITER AS CITIZEN

Deborah Campbell Wade Davis Christopher Merrill Noah Richler 10:30 am Granville Island Stage

#69 MELDING WORLDS Gail Anderson-Dargatz Joan Crate Jennifer Manuel Katherena Vermette 10:30 am Performance Works

#70 BLUE AND RED MAKE PURPLE: A CONCERT WITH JENNIFER GASOI (3) 10:30–11:30 am Waterfront Theatre

#71 AFTERSHOCKS Robert Olen Butler Lynne Kutsukake Kevin Patterson 10:30 am Revue Stage

#72 WRITING LIFE

Anne Giardini Joy Kogawa John Metcalf 2:00 pm Performance Works

#73 DELICIOUS SUSPENSE

Eileen Cook Iain Reid Amy Stuart 2:00 pm Waterfront Theatre

#74 DON’T FENCE ME IN

22 #76 FREEMAN’S FAMILY

Garnette Cadogan Alexander Chee John Freeman Sharon Olds 5:00 pm Waterfront Theatre

#77 THE INTERVIEWS David Bergen Anosh Irani Soraya Peerbaye 5:00 pm Revue Stage

#78 THE POETRY BASH Roberto Ascalon Liz Howard Christopher Merrill Sharon Olds Soraya Peerbaye Billy Ramsell 8:00 pm Performance Works

#79 THE WAY WE ARE NOW Marni Jackson Owen Laukkanen Jennifer Manuel Zoe Whittall 8:00 pm Waterfront Theatre

#80 THE MUSEUM AT THE END OF THE WORLD John Metcalf 8:00 pm Studio 1398

#81 A DISAPPEARANCE IN DAMASCUS

Sunday 23 #82 ODES

Sharon Olds 10:30 am Waterfront Theatre

#83 NEW SHOOTS Kevin Chong Evelyn Lau Jeff Steudel 10:30 am Studio 1398

#84 THE SUNDAY BRUNCH

David Bergen Craig Davidson Jim Lynch Riel Nason Cordelia Strube Amy Stuart 11:00 am Performance Works

#85 EMERGE

1:30 pm Waterfront Theatre

#86 SCREE

Fred Wah 1:30 pm Studio 1398

#87 THE AFTERNOON TEA

Robert Olen Butler Adam Haslett Eimear McBride Sharon Olds Sam Wiebe Clea Young 3:30 pm Performance Works

Vancity is proud to support the Vancouver Writers Fest.

Deborah Campbell 8:00 pm Revue Stage

Anne Fleming Billie Livingston Katherena Vermette Andrew Westoll 2:00 pm Revue Stage

#75 LOVE THROUGH ALL AGES Peter Behrens Eimear McBride 5:00 pm Performance Works

Good Money (TM) and Make Good Money (TM) are trademarks of Vancouver City Savings Credit Union.

HE A DRE DAY, R L EFT SATU O C TOB E R 2 2

WRITER AS CITIZEN DEBORAH CAMPBELL, WADE DAVIS, CHRISTOPHER MERRILL, NOAH RICHLER MODERATOR: CHARLES FORAN

As cliché has it, the writer toils alone in a garret for years, to emerge blinking in the sunlight, finding the world has moved on. But there are writers for whom engagement with the world is a responsibility. As a journalist covering international conflicts, Deborah Campbell is a commentator and an advocate for freedom of expression. The renowned Wade Davis has travelled the world, lending both his voice and his support for many causes. Poet Christopher Merrill has visited more than 30 countries engaging in cultural diplomacy on behalf of the U.S. Writer and essayist Noah Richler’s new book The Candidate stems from his run for parliament during the last election. What compelled these writers to leave the garret? And what is lost or gained in that choice?

10:30 AM REVUE STAGE $20

“The most important part of war happens on the inside of people,” says Kevin Patterson. He served as a Canadian military medical officer for nine years, including time in Afghanistan, and his debut novel tackles how war affects everyone involved. Vietnam vet and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Robert Olen Butler focuses his 13th novel on war’s aftershocks—a marriage forged in the fervour of anti-Vietnamwar protests now cracking apart and a family fractured. Lynne Kutsukake’s novel, born from her family’s internment and her years as a librarian studying Japanese materials, centres on a young girl repatriated to post-war Japan, constrained by poverty and shame. Says Patterson: “What was seen, continues to be seen. What was done is done over and over again.” Come feel the aftershocks.

BLUE AND RED MAKE PURPLE (3)

A CONCERT WITH JENNIFER GASOI 10:30–11:30 AM WATERFRONT THEATRE $12.50 FOR CHILDREN/$20 FOR ADULTS

PERFORMANCE WORKS $20

GRANVILLE ISLAND STAGE $20

ROBERT OLEN BUTLER, LYNNE KUTSUKAKE, KEVIN PATTERSON MODERATOR: ALIX HAWLEY

GAIL ANDERSON-DARGATZ, JOAN CRATE, JENNIFER MANUEL, KATHERENA VERMETTE MODERATOR: KATHRYN GRETSINGER 10:30 AM

10:30 AM

AFTERSHOCKS

MELDING WORLDS

“Canada is hungry for stories from and about its first peoples,” says Katherena Vermette. Her novel focuses on the residents of Winnipeg’s tough North End, where the Métis-Mennonite writer lives. Gail Anderson-Dargatz’s novel slides between white and First Nations cultures knit together by environmental crises. Métis author Joan Crate heard about residential schools from family friends, but wanted to explore both sides of that history. Jennifer Manuel spent years as an activist for First Nations issues before writing her novel. Her narrator treads carefully: “Try to know the other, but never assume to know the other.” Four authors talk about crossing the cultural divide.

Bring your kids to Granville Island this morning for a great family outing that will have you and your little ones bouncing in your seats. Make Purple is a unique book and CD combination that takes young readers on a musical tour with jazz singer Jennifer Gasoi, the first Canadian children’s entertainer to win a Grammy. You’ll be introduced along the way to the history, instruments and unique characteristics of many different musical genres, like the blues or Dixieland jazz or Cajun. This morning the Waterfront will rock! (This event is repeated on Thursday, October 20 at 10am and 1pm)

Co-presented with the Vancouver International Children’s Festival.

Presented by Vancity. SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN 5–10 YEARS, FAMILIES AND CAREGIVERS

WRITING LIFE ANNE GIARDINI, JOY KOGAWA, JOHN METCALF MODERATOR: ANGIE ABDOU

2:00 PM PERFORMANCE WORKS $20

In writing her memoir, Joy Kogawa casts her view beyond the events of her own life toward catastrophes like the bombing of Nagasaki and the massacre by the Japanese imperial army at Nanking, and takes on some essential questions about the world along the way. Legendary editor John Metcalf has a roving eye that lands on literary matters, travel and criticism. Celebrated novelist Carol Shields died before she was able to author a memoir of her writing life. Thankfully her daughter and grandson, Anne and Nicholas Giardini, undertook the task on her behalf. This afternoon you’ll hear the stories behind the writers, the life events that made them who they are. Supported by the Canada Council for the Arts in celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Governor General’s Literary Awards and the 30th anniversary of the Public Lending Right Commission.

DELICIOUS SUSPENSE

EILEEN COOK, IAIN REID, AMY STUART 2:00 PM WATERFRONT THEATRE $20

Take comfort in the fact that you’ll be exiting the theatre in daylight, not darkness. Three authors who’ve written nail-biters will have you hanging on every well-placed word, and perhaps gripping onto your neighbour, too. Eileen Cook’s With Malice may be marketed to young adults, but in fact its twists and turns have no age limit. Iain Reid’s title I’m Thinking of Ending Things will immediately put you on edge—and rightly so. His thriller begins with a young couple driving to meet his parents on their secluded farm. And Amy Stuart’s Still Mine, “a deliciously disturbing debut” (Publisher’s Weekly), will set your heart racing. Plotting such fast-paced novels must have been a thrill in itself. Come hear how these pros get your heart racing. Presented by Simon & Schuster Canada.

H EAD E R L E FOTCTOB E R 2 2 SATURDAY,

DON’T FENCE ME IN ANNE FLEMING, BILLIE LIVINGSTON, KATHERENA VERMETTE, ANDREW WESTOLL MODERATOR: KEVIN CHONG

2:00 PM REVUE STAGE $20

If an author finds success in one genre, readers often wonder if he or she can move outside its bonds and be successful in another. This afternoon four authors show us how it’s done. Anne Fleming is best known for her fiction, but this year she’s published her first collection of poetry. Katherena Vermette won the Governor General’s Award for poetry in 2013. Now she’s turned her hand to fiction with The Break, a novel about a MétisAnishnaabe family in Winnipeg’s North End. Andrew Westoll, winner of the 2012 RBC Taylor Prize, describes his transition from non-fiction to fiction as “relatively seamless.” And Billie Livingston moves between short and long form fiction, children’s literature and poetry, as the content demands.

LOVE THROUGH ALL AGES

PETER BEHRENS, EIMEAR MCBRIDE MODERATOR: AISLINN HUNTER 5–6:30 PM PERFORMANCE WORKS $20

Winner of the Governor General’s award for The Law of Dreams, Peter Behrens’ new novel, Carry Me, glues together Billy and Karin in a complex, passionate and long-lasting love affair that ranges from the Isle of Wight to Frankfurt, Berlin and New Mexico. In Eimear McBride’s new novel, an 18-year-old Irish girl recently arrived to London falls into the arms of an older actor, “modesty flying everywhere.” It turns out to be a one-year tornado. Love isn’t always easy and not always fair. Come spend your evening basking in it.

Thank you to the Vancouver Writer’s Festival for your inspirational work with BC students and teachers. Meeting authors and exploring their work opens minds to new ideas and other worlds.

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A message from the BC Teachers’ Federation | bctf.ca

FREEMAN’S FAMILY GARNETTE CADOGAN, ALEXANDER CHEE, SHARON OLDS MODERATOR: JOHN FREEMAN

5–6:30 PM

WATERFRONT THEATRE $20

John Freeman first came to the Festival a few years ago as the author of a book of interviews with literary figures. He made such an impression in every event that we have invited him back every year since. Formerly the editor of Granta Magazine, he now edits a twice yearly literary anthology called, of all things, Freeman’s. The new edition focuses on the best new writing on family. Garnette Cadogan explains the nightmare of his history of names and how he came to love Garnette. Alexander Chee recalls the time he catered for a wealthy New York clan who treated a statue better than the family grandmother. And Sharon Olds recalls the power of parents and siblings to wound even when long parted.

HE A DRE DAY, R L EFT SATU O C TOB E R 2 2

THE INTERVIEWS DAVID BERGEN, ANOSH IRANI, SORAYA PEERBAYE HOST: MARSHA LEDERMAN

5–6:30 PM REVUE STAGE $20

The Globe and Mail’s Marsha Lederman has a knack for getting to the stories behind the books. Today she talks with Scotiabank Giller Prize winner David Bergen about his novel, Stranger. What compelled him to tell the story of a Guatemalan woman working at a fertility clinic who suffers in the fallout of her affair with an American doctor? Playwright and bestselling author Anosh Irani talks about his first novel in six years, The Parcel. Where did the voice of the “hijra,” or person belonging to the third sex, come from? And Griffin-shortlisted Soraya Peerbaye shares her journey of writing Tell: poems for a girlhood, linked poems that trace the events surrounding the murder of Reena Virk. You’ll enjoy how Lederman skillfully guides each conversation with these fascinating writers.

THE MUSEUM AT THE END OF THE WORLD

JOHN METCALF IN CONVERSATION WITH CAROLINE ADDERSON 8:00 PM STUDIO 1398 $20

Alice Munro says John Metcalf “comes as close to the baffling, painful comedy of human experience as a writer can get.” A Member of the Order of Canada, he has been writing and editing for more than 45 years, but The Museum at the End of the World is his first book of fiction in 26 years. This linked collection plays with various forms of comedy as he paints the life of one writer and his wife in the 20th century. His preferred approach to writing fiction is short stories because, he says, “you got to get it dead right. A beat or two off and it’s ruined.” Metcalf is a fierce advocate for good writing in Canada, and you’ll enjoy his no-holdsbarred conversation this evening.

THE POETRY BASH

ROBERTO ASCALON, LIZ HOWARD, CHRISTOPHER MERRILL, SHARON OLDS, SORAYA PEERBAYE, BILLY RAMSELL HOST: RACHEL ROSE

THE WAY WE ARE NOW

MARNI JACKSON, OWEN LAUKKANEN, JENNIFER MANUEL, ZOE WHITTALL MODERATOR: ANGIE ABDOU

8:00 PM

PERFORMANCE WORKS $26

WATERFRONT THEATRE $20

Vancouver’s Poet Laureate Rachel Rose has brought together a stellar lineup of poets tonight. Seattle-based Roberto Ascalon is known for his captivating spoken word performances. Liz Howard is this year’s youngest-ever winner of the Canadian Griffin Poetry Prize. Cultural diplomat Christopher Merrill is a political poet. The female body and female pleasure are at the heart Sharon Olds’ new work. Griffin-shortlisted Soraya Peerbaye’s latest collection bears brave witness to the 1997 murder of Reena Virk. And Ireland’s Billy Ramsell beguiles with his awardwinning verse. It’s the only poetry-reading event at this year’s Fest, so get your tickets early.

Sometimes the novelist is like an anthropologist, trying to understand the motives and implications of human behaviour that seem to have been ripped from the daily headlines. Celebrities like Meryl Streep and Neil Young wander into the action in Marni Jackson’s novel, as she reflects upon a culture where stars have invaded our psyches. Owen Laukkanan’s latest thriller centres on a young man who encourages other teenagers to take their own lives. Jennifer Manuel explores the growing awareness of a nurse retiring after 40 years in a remote West Coast First Nations community. Zoe Whittall’s fictional family is shocked and angry after the father, a teacher, is charged with sexual assault. Four fine writers talk about how to handle hot topics without getting burned.

Sponsored by Maureen and Larry Lunn.

A DISAPPEARANCE IN DAMASCUS

DEBORAH CAMPBELL IN CONVERSATION WITH ALISON BRODDLE 8:00 PM REVUE STAGE $20

In 2007, award-winning Canadian journalist Deborah Campbell travelled undercover to Damascus to report for Harper’s on the exodus of Iraqi refugees into Syria. Campbell’s resulting book, A Disappearance in Damascus, is far from what she expected to write. To help set up contacts, she hired Ahlam, a refugee—but, while under Campbell’s employ, Ahlam was kidnapped. Campbell realizes that Ahlam’s work may have led to her arrest by the Syrian secret police. Campbell looks for Ahlam for months, crucially aware that she runs the risk of ending up in one of Syria’s notorious jails herself. Tonight Campbell talks about the unshakeable friendship between two women from very different cultures, finding courage in the face of danger and reporting in the midst of violence and conflict.

H EAD E R L E FOTCTOB E R 2 2 SATURDAY,

37 Bringing great writers to Vancouver. MARNI JACKSON  Don’t I Know You? • Flatiron Books The former fiction editor for Walrus magazine and an award-winning journalist. FAITH ERIN HICKS  The Nameless City • First Second The Eisner Award-winning writer and artist of seven acclaimed graphic novels.

ROBERT OLEN BUTLER Perfume River • Grove Atlantic A Pulitzer Prize, National Magazine Award and F. Scott Fitzgerald Award-winner.

ALEXANDER CHEE Queen of the Night • Houghton Mifflin Harcourt A contributing editor at The New Republic and an editor at large at VQR. EILEEN COOK  With Malice • Houghton Mifflin Harcourt A leading Canadian Young Adult writer with a dozen novels to her name.

SARAH GLIDDEN Rolling Blackouts • Drawn & Quarterly The Ignatz Award-winning writer of How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less.

DAVID DENBY Lit Up • Henry Holt & Co. A staff writer and former film critic for The New Yorker. For event listings, visit www.writersfest.bc.ca

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 AT 7:30PM FREDERIC WOOD THEATRE, UBC Tickets: $26 at writersfest.bc.ca

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Oct 20-24 Tickets + Info theCinematheque.ca

NOW IS THE WINTER OF OUR DISCONTENT GRANVILLE ISLAND BREWING ARE PROUD SUPPORTERS OF THE VANCOUVER WRITERS FEST

NOVEMBER 5-10, 2016

Music, film, cocktails, & more.

musiconmain.ca COMPOSER IN RESIDENCE: NICOLE LIZÉE

Generously sponsored by Christine Choi & Bryan Price

HE A E R LOEFT SU ND DAY, C TO B E R 2 3

ODES SHARON OLDS IN CONVERSATION WITH ELEANOR WACHTEL

10:30 AM

NEW SHOOTS KEVIN CHONG, EVELYN LAU, JEFF STEUDEL AND MORE

10:30 AM

WATERFRONT THEATRE $20

STUDIO 1398 $10

Sharon Olds’ book of poetry Stag’s Leap was one of 2012’s sensations. It won the Pulitzer Prize and the T.S. Eliot Prize for poetry. As Carol Ann Duffy, England’s Poet Laureate and the chair of the judging panel wrote: “This was the book of her career. There is a grace and chivalry in her grief that marks her out as being a world-class poet. I always say that poetry is the music of being human, and in this book she is really singing.” In a great start to Sunday morning, Eleanor Wachtel talks with Sharon Olds about her new collection, Odes, centred on the female body and female pleasures, from “Ode of Broken Loyalty” to “Ode to the Hymen,” for later broadcast on CBC’s Writers & Company.

Over 30 years ago, the Vancouver School Board and UBC’s Creative Writing Program joined together to foster creative writing in the city’s public schools—thus, New Shoots was born. Every September, New Shoots sends MFA Creative Writing students into Vancouver’s public high schools where they mentor young writers in poetry, fiction, playwriting, graphic forms and memoir. At this cross-generational event, New Shoots writers from the past and present take the stage to read their work and discuss finding a creative outlet early in life. Vancouver high school teacher and poet Jeff Steudel will join current New Shoots students and alumnae, such as writers Evelyn Lau and Kevin Chong.

EMERGE AUTHORS TO BE ANNOUNCED

1:30 PM

WATERFRONT THEATRE $10

Join us for the launch of emerge 2016, the annual anthology from Simon Fraser University’s Writer’s Studio. It provides a tantalizing taste of new work from those who have participated in the Studio this year. Come and hear from new voices in our midst—25 new writers who span three generations and who write in the genres of non-fiction, poetry, fiction and lyric prose. See writersfest.bc.ca in the fall for the announcement of the line-up.

SCREE FRED WAH IN CONVERSATION WITH COLIN BROWNE

1:30 PM STUDIO 1398 $20

At the age of 77, Fred Wah is still very much a working poet, actively writing and performing public readings. He’s been a fixture in Canada’s literary scene since the 1960s when, as a UBC student, he helped found the avant-garde poetry magazine Tish. Wah has published 17 books of poetry, received a Governor General’s Award, the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize and was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2012. He served as Parliamentary Poet Laureate from 2011 to 2013. This year Talonbooks released Scree: The Collected Earlier Poems, 1962-1991, which collects Wah’s concrete and sound poetry of the 1960s, his landscape-centric work of the 1970s, and his ethnicity-oriented poems of the 1980s. Join Wah as he casts his poetic eye over his evolution as an artist.

THE SUNDAY BRUNCH

DAVID BERGEN, CRAIG DAVIDSON, JIM LYNCH, RIEL NASON, CORDELIA STRUBE, AMY STUART HOST: BILL RICHARDSON 11:00 AM DOORS OPEN AT 10:30 AM PERFORMANCE WORKS $38

The Sunday Brunch is a hallmark of the Festival, one of the first events to sell out, and for very good reason: mimosas, croissants and coffee, not to mention readings by six fine authors whose work you may or may not have encountered, but who will leave you wanting more. Come with a friend, or make a new one, and raise a glass of bubbly to the exceptional lineup of literati set to take the stage. Vegetarian options are available. We are unable to accommodate all dietary restrictions.

THE AFTERNOON TEA ROBERT OLEN BUTLER, ADAM HASLETT, EIMEAR MCBRIDE, SHARON OLDS, SAM WIEBE, CLEA YOUNG HOST: PAUL GRANT

3:30 PM DOORS OPEN AT 3:00 PM PERFORMANCE WORKS $38

For those who enjoy a little indulgence on the weekend, this is the event for you. Sleep in, go for an autumnal stroll, then make your way down to Granville Island for freshly baked treats and authors galore. It’s an afternoon spilling with stories in all their glorious forms—short stories, gritty mysteries, poetry, family chaos and stories rich in language play and grand in scope. It might be brisk outside, but inside the tea will be hot, the Devonshire cream decadent and the stories scintillating! Sponsored by the Faris family in memory of Yulanda Faris Vegetarian options are available. We are unable to accommodate all dietary restrictions.

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HE A D E R LBEFT AU T HO I OG R AP H IES KAMAL AL-SOLAYLEE

ANTONIA BANYARD

SPECIAL EVENT, SEE PAGE 51 FOR MORE INFORMATION

BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENT 38

Kamal Al-Solaylee, an associate professor at the School of Journalism at Ryerson University, was previously a distinguished writer at The Globe and Mail. Al-Solaylee also worked at Report on Business magazine and has written features and reviews for the Toronto Star, National Post, The Walrus, Toronto Life, Chatelaine, eye weekly, the Literary Review of Canada and Elle Canada. Al-Solaylee’s bestselling memoir Intolerable was a finalist for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Nonfiction Prize, the Lambda Literary Award, Canada Reads, and won the Toronto Book Award. His new book is Brown—What Being Brown in the World Today Means (to Everyone). @KamalAlSolaylee, kamalal-solaylee.com ANDRÉ ALEXIS ONTARIO, EVENTS 13, 51, 55

André Alexis was born in Trinidad and grew up in Ottawa. He has been called a “master craftsman” for his novel Fifteen Dogs, which won the 2015 Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. He currently hosts CBC Radio's Skylarking, reviews books for The Globe and Mail, and is a contributing editor for This Magazine. His latest novel, The Hidden Keys, is based on a reading of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island and questions what it means to be honourable and faithful. GAIL ANDERSON-DARGATZ BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENTS 46, 67, 69

Gail Anderson-Dargatz’s style has been called “Margaret Laurence meets Gabriel García Márquez.” A two-time Scotiabank Giller-shortlisted author, Anderson-Dargatz has taught creative writing for more than a decade in UBC’s creative writing MFA program and currently mentors writers around the world through online forums. Her latest novel, The Spawning Grounds, is an intimate family saga that bridges First Nations and white cultures and is saturated with the history of the Thompson-Shuswap region of BC. @AndersonDargatz, gailanderson-dargatz.ca ROBERTO ASCALON UNITED STATES, EVENTS 18, 40, 78

Roberto Ascalon is a New York City-born poet, writer, arts educator and spoken-word performance artist. He is the recipient of the 2013 Rattle Poetry Prize. His teaching residencies have led to multi-media poetry exhibitions at the Seattle Art Museum, the Frye Art Museum and the Museum of History and Industry. Ascalon connects with audiences through universal narratives that encompass topics such as racism, first kisses, love, family and Spam. @RobertoAscalon PAULA AYER BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENT 38

Paula Ayer is an editor at Annick Press, where she has translated several children’s books from French as well as edited and artdirected books. She is the author of three children’s books: Ready, Set, Kindergarten!; Foodprints; and her latest collaboration with Antonia Banyard, Water Wow!, which offers a colourful infographic look at the many surprising and fascinating facts about water. Ayer holds a BFA in Drama from the University of Alberta and a Masters in Publishing from SFU. @paulaayer

Antonia Banyard emigrated from Zambia to Canada as a child. She has worked on both sides of the publishing desk—as a writer and editor—and her work has been published in literary magazines and anthologies in Canada, the US, England and Australia. Her children’s non-fiction book, Dangerous Crossings!, was published in 2007 and received an award nomination from the Canadian Children’s Book Centre. Banyard holds a Masters of Creative Writing from the University of Queensland. Her latest infographic book Water Wow! is co-written with Paula Ayer. PETER BEHRENS CANADA/UNITED STATES, EVENTS 58, 75

Peter Behrens’ first novel, The Law of Dreams, won the Governor General’s Literary Award for fiction in 2006. He has worked in Hollywood as a screenwriter and also writes short stories and essays, some of which have appeared in The Atlantic and The New York Times. He is currently a fellow at Harvard University’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Behrens’ third novel, Carry Me, is an unusual love story and a lucid meditation on Europe’s violent twentieth century. @phbehrens, peterbehrens.org DAVID BERGEN MANITOBA, EVENTS 77, 84

David Bergen is an award-winning author of seven novels and a collection of short stories. Bergen won the Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2005 for The Time in Between, which was also a Canadian bestseller. The Age of Hope was a Canada Reads finalist, and The Matter with Morris was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. His latest novel, Stranger, is a stirring tale that lays bare the bonds of motherhood, revealing just how far a mother will go to reclaim her stolen child. ERIN BOW ONTARIO, EVENTS 36, 43

Erin Bow is a physicist turned poet turned author of young adult novels. She has written six books: three novels, two volumes of poetry and a memoir. Plain Kate received Canada’s top award for children’s literature, the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award, and her third novel, The Scorpion Rules, was a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year. In her latest novel, The Swan Riders, a stunning follow-up to The Scorpion Rules, treacherous twists await the protagonist, Greta. @erinbowbooks, erinbow.com ROWAN HISAYO BUCHANAN UNITED KINGDOM, EVENTS 10, 13

Rowan Hisayo Buchanan is a Japanese-British-Chinese-American fiction writer and illustrator. She holds a BA from Columbia University and an MFA from the University of Wisconsin– Madison. In 2015, she received the Asian American Writers’ Workshop Margins Fellowship. Harmless Like You is Buchanan’s brilliant debut novel, which Chris Cleave has called “sublime—calm, profound, beautifully controlled and with startling splashes of colour.” The book follows the story of a Japanese-American artist in 1970s Manhattan and the biracial son she abandons. @RowanHLB, rowanhisayo.com

H EAD E R LBEI O FT AUTHO G R A P H I ES

ROBERT OLEN BUTLER Robert Olen Butler is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of 16 novels, six short-story collections, and a book on the creative process. His work has been translated into 19 languages and he has twice won the National Magazine Award in Fiction. In 2013, he received the F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Outstanding Achievement in American Literature. Butler teaches creative writing at Florida State University. Perfume River, his latest novel, examines family ties and the legacy of the Vietnam War through the portrait of a single North Florida family. @RobtOlenButler, robertolenbutler.com GARNETTE CADOGAN UNITED STATES, EVENTS 31, 76

Garnette Cadogan is a Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia, and a Visiting Scholar at the Institute for Public Knowledge at New York University. He is the editor-at-large of Nonstop Metropolis: A New York City Atlas (edited by Rebecca Solnit and Joshua Jelly-Schapiro) and is at work on a book on walking. DEBORAH CAMPBELL BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENTS 50, 68, 81

Deborah Campbell is an award-winning journalist who has spent the past decade reporting from such places as Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Colombia, Cuba and Russia. Much of her work involves living among the societies she covers. Her articles have appeared in Harper’s, The Economist, The Guardian, New Scientist, Foreign Policy and The Walrus. She currently teaches narrative non-fiction writing at UBC. A Disappearance in Damascus is Campbell’s latest book about the riveting true story of a remarkable relationship between two women in the shadow of the Syrian war. @deborahcampbell, deborahcampbell.org

LISA CHARLEYBOY BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENT 2

Lisa Charleyboy is a First Nations writer and social entrepreneur. She is the Editor-In-Chief of Urban Native Magazine, which focuses on pop culture with an indigenous twist. In 2013, Charleyboy was named one of three “Aboriginal Millennials to Watch” by The Huffington Post and was selected as a DiverseCity Fellow for 2013–2014. Her most recent works are Dreaming in Indian and Urban Tribes, both anthologies of the stories of contemporary Native American youth. @UrbanNativeGirl, lisacharleyboy.com ALEXANDER CHEE UNITED STATES, EVENTS 64, 76

Alexander Chee’s debut novel, Edinburgh, received critical acclaim and won numerous awards. His writing has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, Tin House, Slate and he is a Contributing Editor at The New Republic. Chee has taught writing at Wesleyan University, the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and Columbia University. His latest novel, The Queen of the Night, is a national bestseller and a New York Times Editor’s Choice, and tells the story of one woman’s rise from circus rider to courtesan to worldrenowned diva. @alexanderchee, thequeenofthenight.com

9781459814905 • $20.00 hardcover

UNITED STATES, EVENTS 71, 87

s up Bestselling author Margriet Ruurs team eous gorg this in r Bad Ali ar Niz with Syrian artist k. dual-language (English and Arabic) boo “As an author, a picture book seemed to be the ideal vehicle to raise awareness— and, ideally, resources—to help refugees arriving in this country.”—Margriet Ruurs

Partial proceeds from every book sold will be donated to resettlement agencies. In addition, the author will be donating her royalties to help settle more refugees. For more information: www.steppingstonesthebook.com

HE A D E R LBEFT AU T HO I OG R AP H IES ANN Y.K. CHOI

WADE DAVIS

ONTARIO, EVENTS 6, 13

BRITISH COLUMBIA/UNITED STATES, EVENTS 45, 68

Originally from South Korea, Ann Y.K. Choi immigrated to Canada in 1975. She is a graduate of the Humber School for Writers and the Creative Writing Certificate Program at the University of Toronto. She is currently completing an MFA in Creative Writing from the National University in San Diego, California. In 2012, she received the Marina Nemat Award. Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety is Choi’s “explosive and heartfelt debut” (Toronto Star), a bittersweet coming-of-age story set in Toronto’s Korean community in the 1980s. @annykchoi, annykchoi.com EILEEN COOK

Wade Davis has been described by David Suzuki as “a rare combination of scientist, scholar, poet and passionate defender of all of life’s diversity.” Davis is an internationally bestselling author, a former Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society, and a member of the NGS Council of Explorers. He has written 17 books and holds degrees in anthropology and biology, as well as a PhD in ethnobotany, all from Harvard University. He has two new books this fall: Cowboys of America and Wade Davis: Photographs, a selection of 150 of Davis’s favourite photographs from his forty-year career. @authorwadedavis, daviswade.com DAVID DENBY

BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENTS 39, 73

Eileen Cook is a multi-published author with novels translated into eight different languages. Her books have been optioned for film and television. Cook grew up in a small town in Michigan, living in Boston and Belgium before settling in Vancouver. She is a popular speaker at conferences both in the US and Canada and is currently an instructor with SFU’s The Writer’s Studio program. Her latest book, With Malice, is a chilling psychological thriller about a teenage girl who cannot remember the last six weeks of her life. @Eileenwriter, eileencook.com

UNITED STATES, EVENTS 16, 24, 31

David Denby is the bestselling author of Great Books and a staff writer and former film critic for The New Yorker. His reviews and essays have also appeared in The New Republic, The Atlantic and New York Magazine. He holds a BA from Columbia University and Masters in Journalism from Stanford. In his latest book, Lit Up, Denby installs himself in tenth-grade English classes at three public schools to see if—and how—teenagers can be turned into serious readers. @RealDavidDenby,

david-denby.com

IVAN COYOTE EMMA DONOGHUE

BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENTS 6, 32, 41, 53

Ivan Coyote is the award-winning author of 11 books, and the creator of four short films as well as three CDs that combine storytelling with music. Coyote is a seasoned stage performer and over the last 18 years has become an audience favourite at music, poetry, spoken word, and writer’s festivals from Anchorage to Amsterdam. Tomboy Survival Guide is Coyote’s latest funny and moving memoir told in stories, in which the author recounts the pleasures and difficulties of growing up in the Yukon. @ivancoyote, ivanecoyote.com JOAN CRATE

ONTARIO, EVENTS 9, 13

Born in Dublin in 1969, Emma Donoghue is an award-winning writer best known for her 2010 novel Room, which was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize and an international bestseller. Room was also adapted into a film, for which Donoghue wrote the screenplay, that was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay. She holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge. Donoghue’s latest masterpiece is The Wonder in which a small Irish village is mystified by what appears to be a miracle but may actually be murder. @EDonoghueWriter, emmadonoghue.com ANNE FLEMING

ALBERTA, EVENTS 65, 69

Joan Crate was born in Yellowknife and was brought up to be proud of her First Nations heritage. She taught literature and creative writing at Red Deer College, Alberta, for over twenty years. Her first novel, Breathing Water, was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book Award of Canada. Black Apple, Crate’s latest book, is a dramatic and lyrical coming-of-age novel about a young Blackfoot girl who grows up in the residential school system on the Canadian prairies. joancrate.com CRAIG DAVIDSON ONTARIO, EVENTS 53, 84

Craig Davidson has published four books of literary fiction, including Rust and Bone, which was made into a Golden Globenominated film, and Cataract City, which was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and was a national bestseller. He has also published a number of thrillers and horror novels under the pseudonym Nick Cutter. Precious Cargo is Davidson’s latest, a memoir about one year spent driving a bus for children with special needs. Quill and Quire called it “the best kind of memoir: light-hearted ... erudite, eye-opening, and thought-provoking.” @TheNickCutter, craigdavidson.net

BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENT 74

Anne Fleming’s first book, Pool-Hopping and Other Stories, was a finalist a Governor General’s Award. In the past she has hosted a radio show, played defense for the Vancouver Voyagers women’s hockey team and worked for CBC television and The Georgia Straight. She currently teaches creative writing at UBC’s Okanagan campus. Her first poetry book is poemw, a collection of poems about daily things— graffiti, hair, seagulls, second-hand clothes—and rarer things—dead crows, baked mice, ski accidents and Judith Butler. @anne_flem, annefleming.ca JOHN FREEMAN UNITED STATES, EVENT 76

John Freeman was the editor of Granta until 2013. His books include How to Read a Novelist and Tales of Two Cities. He is the current executive editor at the Literary Hub and teaches at the New School and New York University. The first issue of his new magazine, Freeman’s: Arrival, was published in 2015 and was featured at the Festival. The second issue, Freeman’s: Family, is a collection of the most amusing, heartbreaking and probing stories about family life emerging today. @FreemanReads

H EAD E R LBEI O FT AUTHO G R A P H I ES JENNIFER GASOI QUEBEC, EVENTS 37, 42, 70

Jennifer Gasoi is a Grammy Award-winning and two-time Junonominated musician. She performed for two consecutive years at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival and has released two self-produced children’s albums. Since moving to Montreal in 2002, she has established herself as one of the hottest children’s entertainers in the city. Blue and Red Make Purple—Gasoi’s first children’s book—teaches children about a variety of musical styles. It includes suggestions for engaging activities and a CD. @JenniferGasoi, jennifergasoi.com

ANNE GIARDINI, NICHOLAS GIARDINI BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENTS 56, 72

Thirteen years after the death of multi award-winning author Carol Shields, Anne and Nicholas Giardini (Shields’ daughter and grandson) have co-edited Startle and Illuminate, a collection of Shields’ correspondence with writers and advice about writing—the best possible guide to the writing process. Anne Giardini has published two novels and is currently working on a third. She is also a lawyer and the current Chancellor at SFU. Nicholas Giardini has a degree in Psychology and is a committed reader who enjoys books that explore character and self-perception. @Aegiardini, @Npgiardini SARAH GLIDDEN UNITED STATES, EVENTS 19, 50

Sarah Glidden is a cartoonist and illustrator who works primarily in non-fiction and reportage comics. Her debut book, How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less, landed on several best of the year lists, including Entertainment Weekly; earned a YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens distinction; and won an Ignatz Award for “Promising New Talent” in 2008. Her latest work is Rolling Blackouts: Dispatches from Turkey, Syria, and Iraq, a nonfiction graphic novel in which Glidden follows reporters across the Middle East, learning about journalism and storytelling. @sarahglidden, sarahglidden.com YAA GYASI UNITED STATES, EVENTS 49, 58

Yaa Gyasi was born in Ghana and raised in Huntsville, Alabama. She holds a BA in English from Stanford University and an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she held a Dean’s Graduate Research Fellowship. Homegoing is Gyasi’s wildly ambitious debut novel, tackling some 250 years of history across two continents. It sets itself the daunting task of tracing the legacy of sorrow that slavery has left on eight generations of one family—a book Ta-Nehisi Coates has called “an inspiration.” TEVA HARRISON ONTARIO, EVENTS 53, 60

Teva Harrison is a writer and graphic artist who was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer at the age of 37. In-Between Days is her new critically acclaimed graphic memoir of what it means to live with the disease, a combination of comic illustrations and short personal essays. It was named one of the most anticipated books of 2016 by The Globe and Mail, which also named the author one of “16 Torontonians to Watch.” She writes comics that appear regularly in The Walrus. @robotpilot, tevaharrison.com

HE D E RR LBEFT AU A THO IO G R AP H IES ADAM HASLETT UNITED STATES, EVENTS 57, 87

Adam Haslett is the author of the New York Times bestselling short story collection You Are Not a Stranger Here, which was a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award finalist. His books have been translated into 18 languages, and his work has appeared in The Financial Times, Esquire, New York Magazine, The New Yorker and The Guardian, among others. His most recent novel is Imagine Me Gone, a story of a family facing the question: how far will we go to save the people we love the most? adamhaslett.net

A VANCOUVER WRITERS FEST SPECIAL EVENT PRESENTED BY

MICHAEL HELM ONTARIO, EVENTS 11, 14

Michael Helm is the author of The Projectionist, a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, as well as In the Place of Last Things and Cities of Refuge, both finalists for the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. His writings on fiction, poetry and photography have appeared in North American newspapers and magazines, including Brick, where he serves as editor. He teaches English at York University. After James is his latest novel, a genrebending work that captures the dystopian strangeness of our current world. FAITH ERIN HICKS BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENT 4

Faith Erin Hicks is a writer and artist based in Vancouver. She worked in the animation industry for several years before transitioning into writing and illustrating comics full time in 2008. She has published 11 graphic novels and in 2014 won an Eisner Award for The Adventures of Superhero Girl. Her latest project is the first book of The Nameless City trilogy, the story of an unlikely friendship between a girl named Rat and Kai, whose country has just conquered Rat’s city. @FaithErinHicks, faitherinhicks.com LIZ HOWARD ONTARIO, EVENTS 63, 78

Liz Howard’s Infinite Citizen of the Shaking Tent won the 2016 Griffin Poetry Prize, the first time a debut collection has won the award. The book was also a finalist for the 2015 Governor General’s Award for Poetry. Howard holds an Honours Bachelor of Science with High Distinction from the University of Toronto and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. Her poetry has appeared in Canadian literary journals such as The Capilano Review, The Puritan and Matrix Magazine. @ParabolicOcelot CHRIS HUMPHREYS BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENT 36

Chris Humphreys is a bestselling author, an actor and a swordsman. He was born in Toronto and grew up in the UK, and has acted on stages all over the world. Humphreys has written various historical novels and many young-adult books, including both series and stand-alone novels. His books have been published in more than ten languages and have won numerous awards, most recently the 2015 Arthur Ellis Prize for Plague. His latest works are Fire, a follow-up novel to Plague; and The Hunt of the Dragon, a follow-up to The Hunt of the Unicorn. @HumphreysCC, cchumphreys.com

AN EVENING WITH

BEV SELLARS THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 AT 7:30PM NORMAN ROTHSTEIN THEATRE 950 W 41ST AVE, VANCOUVER UNCEDED TERRITORY OF THE MUSQUEAM, SQUAMISH AND TSLEIL-WAUTUTH FIRST NATIONS

TICKETS $26 AT WRITERSFEST.BC.CA

H EAD E R LBEI O FT AUTHO G R A P H I ES ANOSH IRANI BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENTS 64, 77

Anosh Irani is a bestselling author whose previous work has been shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize, Canada Reads and the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. He was born in Bombay and moved to Vancouver in 1998. His play Bombay Black was a Dora Award winner for Outstanding New Play and his anthology The Bombay Plays was nominated for the Governor General’s Award for Drama. The Parcel is his powerful new work about a transgender sex worker in the red-light district of Bombay who is given an unexpected task. anoshirani.com MARNI JACKSON ONTARIO, EVENTS 26, 55, 79

Marni Jackson is a journalist, broadcaster and non-fiction writer, author of the Canadian bestselling The Mother Zone: Love, Sex and Laundry in the Modern Family. She has formerly worked as senior editor at The Walrus and columnist at the Globe and Mail. Her writing has also appeared in Rolling Stone and London Sunday Times. Don’t I Know You? is Jackson’s first work of fiction, a powerful exploration of our curiously intimate relationship to celebrities. @mburkejackson, marnijackson.com AMY JONES ONTARIO, EVENTS 26, 57

Amy Jones won the 2006 CBC Literary Prize for Short Fiction. She is a graduate of the Residency MFA Creative Writing Program at UBC, and her fiction has appeared in Best Canadian Stories and The Journey Prize Stories. She is currently associate editor at The Walleye. We’re All in This Together is Jones’ debut novel, a story about a dysfunctional family whose matriarch survives plummeting over a waterfall, a feat captured on a video that goes viral. @amylaurajones

GUY GAVRIEL KAY ONTARIO, EVENT 29

Guy Gavriel Kay is the international bestselling author of 13 novels and a book of poetry. He has been awarded the International Goliardos Prize for his contributions to fantasy literature and won the World Fantasy Award for Ysabel in 2008. In 2014 he was named to the Order of Canada. His work has been translated into more than 25 languages. Children of Earth and Sky, his latest novel, evokes a world inspired by the conflicts and dramas of Renaissance Europe. @guygavrielkay, brightweavings.com JOY KOGAWA BRITISH COLUMBIA/ONTARIO, EVENTS 59, 72

Joy Kogawa is the award-winning author of three novels, seven collections of poetry, and two books for children. Born in Vancouver in 1935 to Japanese-Canadian parents, Kogawa was forced to move to Slocan, BC during World War II, an injustice she addresses in her acclaimed novel Obasan. Kogawa has worked tirelessly to educate Canadians about the history of Japanese-Canadians and is a long-time activist in the areas of peace and reconciliation. In 2010, the Japanese government honoured her with the Order of the Rising Sun. Gently to Nagasaki is her long-awaited memoir. joykogawa.ca

HE A D E R LBEFT AU T HO I OG R AP H IES

2016VWFad-Alexis.qxp_Layout 1 2016-06-20 3:46 PM Page 1

AFFINITY KONAR A P P E A R I N G AT T H E F E S T I V A L

ANDRÉ ALEXIS AUTHOR OF THE 2015 S COT I A B A N K G I L L E R P R I Z E W I N N E R FIFTEEN DOGS AND A NEW NOVEL T H E H I D D E N K E YS C H B O O KS .CO M

The Robert Coupe Collection at Simon Fraser University Library

UNITED STATES, EVENTS 61, 65

Affinity Konar is the author of The Illustrated Version of Things. She holds a BA in English from San Francisco State University and an MFA in fiction from Columbia University. Her latest novel, Mischling—called “one of the most harrowing, powerful, and imaginative books of the year”—is a story of resiliency about twin sisters fighting to survive the evils of World War II. Konar is of Polish-Jewish descent and currently lives in Los Angeles. GORDON KORMAN UNITED STATES, EVENTS 20, 35

Gordon Korman wrote his first novel, This Can’t Be Happening at Macdonald Hall!, when he was only 12 years old. To date, he has written more than 75 middle-grade and young-adult novels, including four titles in the number one New York Times bestselling 39 Clues series. Korman’s books have been translated into close to 30 languages and have sold over 25 million copies worldwide. His latest novel is Slacker, the story of a video gameobsessed eighth grade gamer who is forced to create a fake Positive Action Club to get his parents off his back. @gordonkorman, gordonkorman.com

MICHAEL KORYTA UNITED STATES, EVENTS 48, 67

Michael Koryta is the New York Times bestselling author of 11 suspense novels. His work has been praised by Stephen King, Michael Connelly, Lee Child, Dean Koontz and James Patterson among many others, and has been translated into more than 20 languages. Koryta is a former private investigator and newspaper reporter. Rise the Dark is his latest novel, a follow-up to Last Words, marking the return of private investigator Mark Novak to Montana in pursuit of the man who murdered his wife. @mjkoryta, michaelkoryta.com ALICE KUIPERS SASKATCHEWAN, EVENTS 5, 39

Morris, William. The Story of the Glittering Plain. 1894.

Books by and about William Morris (1834-1896), English artist, designer, novelist, typographer, and socialist activist.

LIBRARY

To visit, contact SFU Library Special Collections at 778.782.8842

Alice Kuipers is the award-winning author of four young-adult novels and two picture books. Her debut novel, Life on the Refrigerator Door, was named a New York Times Book for the Teen Age and won various awards, including the Saskatchewan First Book Award. Kuipers was born and raised in London. She currently lives in Saskatoon with her partner, Yann Martel, and their four children. Her new picture book is Violet and Victor Write the Most Fabulous Fairy Tale. @AliceKuipers, alicekuipers.com

MONICA KULLING ONTARIO, EVENTS 7, 44

Simon & Schuster Canada welcomes our authors to

Vancouver Writers Fest

Erin Bow ◆ Joan Crate ◆ Ann Y. K. Choi ◆ Amy Stuart ◆ Richard B. Wright ◆ Genevieve Von Petzinger ◆ Iain Reid

Monica Kulling is the author of more than 40 award-winning books for children, including the popular Great Idea series, stories of inventors. The third book in the series, In the Bag! Margaret Knight Wraps It Up, was nominated for the 2012 Governor General’s Award for illustration. Kulling studied Creative Writing at the University of Victoria, where a course in children’s literature awoke her interest in children’s books. Her latest works are the picture books Happy Birthday, Alice Babette and On Our Way to Oyster Bay, both stories inspired by real-life characters and events. monicakulling.com

H EAD E R LBEI O FT AUTHO G R A P H I ES

LYNNE KUTSUKAKE ONTARIO, EVENTS 46, 71

A third-generation Japanese-Canadian, Lynne Kutsukake earned a Masters in East Asian Studies from the University of Toronto and studied Japanese literature in Japan, eventually becoming a librarian in Toronto. Her short fiction has appeared in The Dalhousie Review, Grain, The Windsor Review, Ricepaper and Prairie Fire. She was a finalist for the Journey Prize in 2010. The Translation of Love is her first novel, an emotionally gripping portrait of postwar Japan, where a newly repatriated girl must help a classmate find her missing sister. @LynneKutsukake OWEN LAUKKANEN/OWEN MATTHEWS BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENTS 22, 79

A graduate of UBC’s Creative Writing program, Owen Laukkanen spent three years travelling to casinos all over the world, from the most luxurious casinos of Monaco to the sketchiest card rooms of Atlantic City, working as a professional poker reporter before turning to fiction. He currently writes critically acclaimed crime thrillers under the name Owen Laukkanen—the latest of which is The Watcher in the Wall—and young-adult novels under Owen Mathews—the latest of which is The Fixes, a wicked, irreverent story of rich kids run amok. @OwenMatthewsYA, theowenmatthews.com

Meet our authors at

The Vancouver Writers Fest

DANIEL J. LEVITIN SPECIAL EVENT, SEE PAGE 38 FOR MORE INFORMATION

Daniel J. Levitin is the James McGill Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience at McGill University and is dean of the College of Arts and Humanities at the Minerva Schools at Keck Graduate Institute. Before becoming a neuroscientist, he was a record producer with gold records to his credit and a professional musician. He is the author of three bestselling books, This is Your Brain on Music, The World in Six Songs, and The Organized Mind. His latest, A Field Guide to Lies, is the “must-have book about how to analyze who and what to trust in the age of information overload.” @danlevitin, daniellevitin.com

Andrew WESTOLL

David BERGEN

Emma DONOGHUE

CATHERINE LEROUX QUEBEC, EVENTS 55, 61

Catherine Leroux was born in 1979 in the Northern suburbs of Montreal. After holding various diverse jobs (telephone operator, shepherdess, bartender, librarian) she became a journalist and devoted herself to writing. Her first novel, Marche en Forêt, was a finalist for the Prix des Libraires du Québec. The Party Wall is her second novel and English-language debut, a book that shifts between and ties together stories about pairs joined in surprising ways. The novel has won the prestigious France-Québec prize and has been selected for Indies Introduce Summer/Fall 2016.

FP O : AD

ASHLEY LITTLE BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENTS 6, 10

Ashley Little’s Anatomy of a Girl Gang won the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, was longlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and has been optioned for television. Her new novel, Niagara Motel, introduces us to 11-year-old Tucker Malone and his mother—a narcoleptic touring stripper—who move from motel to motel until one night tragedy occurs. Little holds an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC and was recently chosen as Wilfrid Laurier University’s 2017 Edna Staebler writer-in-residence. ashleylittle.com

Owen MATTHEWS

Kenneth OPPEL

Kit PEARSON

HE A D E R LBEFT AU T HO I OG R AP H IES BILLIE LIVINGSTON

YANN MARTEL

BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENT 74

SASKATCHEWAN, EVENTS 46, 54, 66

Billie Livingston is the author of three novels, short stories, including the Danuta Gleed and CBC Bookie award-winning collection Greedy Little Eyes, and poetry. Her novel One Good Hustle was a Globe and Mail Best Book, longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and nominated for the Canadian Library Association’s Young Adult Book Award. Lynn Coady has called Livingston’s latest novel, The Crooked Heart of Mercy, “a stirring meditation on faith, grief and the eternal human project of forgiving ourselves our sins.” Livingston lives in Vancouver. @billieliving, billielivingston.com

Yann Martel received international acclaim for Life of Pi, a global bestseller that won the 2002 Man Booker Prize and which became an Oscar-winning film. Born in Spain to Canadian parents, Martel studied philosophy at Trent University, worked at odd jobs—tree planter, dishwasher, security guard—and travelled widely before turning to writing. Part quest, part ghost story, part contemporary fable, The High Mountains of Portugal is a haunting exploration of great love and great loss, taking the reader on a road trip through twentieth century Portugal. @WriterYann, yannmartel.ca HISHAM MATAR

JIM LYNCH UNITED STATES, EVENTS 57, 84

The Seattle Times has said Jim Lynch “observes like a journalist and writes like a poet.” Lynch is the award-winning author of four novels, two of which (The Highest Tide and Border Songs) have been adapted for the stage. He has worked as a journalist for several North American newspapers, receiving various national honours including the Livingston Young Journalist Award. His latest creation, Before the Wind, is a grand saga of a sailing-obsessed family that The Toronto Star called “breathtaking, emotionally satisfying, and genuinely surprising.” jimlynchbooks.com ALAIN MABANCKOU UNITED STATES, EVENTS 15, 47

Born in 1966 in the Republic of the Congo, Alain Mabanckou is an award-winning novelist, poet, and essayist whose wordplay, philosophical bent and often absurd sense of humour have made him known as “the African Samuel Beckett.” In 2012, he won the prestigious Grand Prix de la Littérature, and in 2015 he was a finalist for the Man Booker International Prize. He currently spends his time between Paris, the Republic of the Congo, and Los Angeles, where he teaches literature at UCLA. His new memoir is The Lights of Pointe-Noire, a dazzling meditation on home-coming and belonging. @amabanckou, alainmabanckou.com Alain Mabanckou’s appearance is made possible by the Consulat Général de France à Vancouver. JENNIFER MANUEL BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENTS 69, 79

Jennifer Manuel’s short fiction has appeared in PRISM International, The Fiddlehead, Room and Little Fiction. Author Diana Gabaldon describes Manuel’s writing as “astonishing in its intimacy, delicate complexity, and sense of compassion.” A long-time activist for First Nations rights, Manuel taught elementary and high school in the lands of the Tahltan and Nuu-chah-nulth peoples. The Heaviness of Things that Float is Manuel’s compelling debut novel, a deft exploration of the delicate dynamic between First Nations communities and settlers. @jenniferlmanuel, jenmanuel.ca

UNITED KINGDOM, EVENTS 12, 17

Hisham Matar was born in New York City to Libyan parents and spent his childhood in Tripoli and Cairo. His first novel, In the Country of Men, won six international literary awards and has been translated into twenty-eight languages. His second novel, Anatomy of a Disappearance, was named one of the best books of the year by The Guardian and the Chicago Tribune. His new book, The Return, is a memoir of his journey home to his native Libya in search of answers to his father’s disappearance. Matar lives in London and in New York City, where he teaches at Barnard. @hishamjmatar Hisham Matar’s appearance is made possible by the British Council. EIMEAR MCBRIDE IRELAND, EVENTS 75, 87

Eimear McBride’s debut novel, A Girl is a Half-formed Thing, was published in 2013, catapulting the author to international recognition. McBride’s novel is “subversive, passionate, and darkly alchemical. Read it and be changed,” writes Eleanor Catton. The book won the 2013 Goldsmiths Prize and the 2014 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction, and was shortlisted for the 2014 Folio Prize. The Lesser Bohemians, McBride’s new novel is a captivating story of the passion and innocence of an all-consuming love affair. FRANCESCA MELANDRI ITALY, EVENTS 10, 13

Francesca Melandri is a screenwriter, novelist and documentary filmmaker born in Rome. Eva Sleeps is her English language debut, a critically-acclaimed bestseller translated into most European languages, soon to be a motion picture directed by Edoardo Winspeare, and Elle magazine’s Book of the Year. Melandri’s novel is a sweeping modern story about family, forgiveness, and conflict. Paola Contardi, member of the jury of Elle’s Best Novel prize called it “a powerful lyrical fresco in which personal and public histories are intertwined.” Francesca Melandri’s appearance is made possible by the Istituto Italiano di Cultura in Toronto, and in association with the Consulate General of Italy in Vancouver.

H EAD E R LBEI O FT AUTHO G R A P H I ES

CHRISTOPHER MERRILL UNITED STATES, EVENTS 31, 68, 78

Christopher Merrill has published six collections of poetry including Watch Fire, winner of the Academy of American Poets’ Lavan Award; several edited volumes; and five books of non-fiction. His writing has been translated into 25 languages. He serves on the US National Commission for UNESCO, and in April 2012 President Obama appointed him to the National Council on the Humanities. Merrill directs the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa and in the past has held the William H. Jenks Chair in Contemporary Letters at the College of the Holy Cross. Boat is his most recent collection of poems. @CLMerrill, christophermerrillbooks.com

Christopher Merrill’s appearance is made possible by the US Consulate in Vancouver. JOHN METCALF ONTARIO, EVENTS 72, 80

John Metcalf is the author of more than a dozen works of fiction and non-fiction and has been called “one of the most colourful and passionate voices in Canadian literature.” He was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada in 2004 for his extensive literary contributions to this country. Metcalf was Senior Editor at The Porcupine’s Quill until 2005 and is now Fiction Editor at Biblioasis. The Museum at the End of the World, a linked collection of stories and novellas, marks his return to fiction since his 1986 book Adult Entertainment. LISA MOORE

Publishing top-notch literary works by writers from across Canada for twenty years www.pedlarpress.com

NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR, EVENTS 6, 22, 26

Lisa Moore is the acclaimed author of February and Alligator. She is a three-time nominee for the Scotiabank Giller Prize (2002, 2005 and 2013), the winner of the 2006 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and she was longlisted for the 2013 Man Booker Prize. Moore’s intimacy with her native city and province has made her one of Newfoundland’s (and Canada’s) most important contemporary writers. Flannery, her most recent novel and her first for young adults, follows Flannery Malone, a 16 year old Newfoundlander, through her rapidly fading childhood. @Lisa_D_Moore RIEL NASON NEW BRUNSWICK, EVENTS 61, 84

Riel Nason’s debut novel, The Town That Drowned, won the 2012 Commonwealth Book Prize, the Margaret and John Savage First Book Award, and was longlisted for the 2013 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Her short fiction has appeared in The Malahat Review, Grain, The Dalhousie Review and Room. Nason has worked as a professional antique dealer and for more than a decade wrote a column on collectibles for New Brunswick’s Telegraph-Journal. Her second novel is All the Things We Leave Behind, a story of absence and adolescence. @RielNason, rielnason.com EMILEE NIMETZ BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENTS 18, 40

Emilee Nimetz is a multi-talented creator: a spoken-word performance artist, dancer, choreographer, actor and singer. As a graduate of Sheridan College’s Musical Theatre Performance Program and the Banff Centre’s Spoken Word Residency, Nimetz has performed as a poet and actor across Canada and the US. She is the author and solo artist of the forthcoming play, How To Build a Home. Nimetz was Vancouver’s Individual Poetry Slam Champion in 2014, a finalist in the Canadian Individual Poetry Slam in 2015 and her work has been featured on Button Poetry. @emileenim, emileenimetz.com

A VANCOUVER WRITERS FEST SPECIAL EVENT

Bestselling author

Kamal Al-Solaylee speaks on his new book

What being brown in the world means today (for everyone) Wednesday, September 28 at 7:30pm Revue Stage, Granville Island Tickets: $26 at writersfest.bc.ca

HE A D E R LBEFT AU T HO I OG R AP H IES SHARON OLDS

SUSAN PERLY

UNITED STATES, EVENTS 76, 78, 82, 87

ONTARIO, EVENTS 55, 64

Sharon Olds is one of contemporary poetry’s leading voices. Winner of several prestigious awards, including the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award, Olds is known for writing intensely personal, emotionally scathing poetry, which graphically depicts family life as well as global political events. Olds holds a PhD in English from Columbia University and currently teaches in the Graduate Creative Writing Program at NYU. Her latest work is Odes, a collection of odes centered around the female body and female pleasures. @Old_Sharon KENNETH OPPEL ONTARIO, EVENT 23

Kenneth Oppel is the author of numerous books for young readers. His award-winning Silverwing trilogy has sold over a million copies worldwide and been adapted into an animated TV series and stage play. Airborn won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Children’s Literature; its sequel, Skybreaker, was a New York Times bestseller and was named Children’s Novel of the Year by the The Times. His new novel is Every Hidden Thing, billed as Romeo and Juliet meets Indiana Jones. @kennethoppel, kennethoppel.ca

KEVIN PATTERSON BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENTS 19, 50, 71

Kevin Patterson grew up in Manitoba and put himself through medical school by joining the Canadian army. Now a specialist in internal medicine, he practices in the Arctic and on the coast of British Columbia. His first book, The Water In Between, was a New York Times Notable Book and an international bestseller. Country of Cold, his debut short fiction collection, won the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize in 2003. News From the Red Desert is his latest book, a definitive novel of the Afghanistan war, which Hannah Moscovitch has called “authentic, suspenseful and gritty.” @kevinlpatterson KIT PEARSON BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENT 25

Kit Pearson is an award-winning, critically acclaimed Canadian children’s author. Pearson was born in Alberta and spent her childhood between Edmonton and Vancouver. After receiving her Library degree from UBC, she worked as a children’s librarian for a decade. She later obtained an MA at the Simmons College Center for the Study of Children’s Literature in Boston. In 2014, Pearson received BC’s Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence. Her latest book is A Day Of Signs And Wonders, inspired by the childhood of Emily Carr. kitpearson.com SORAYA PEERBAYE ONTARIO, EVENTS 77, 78

Soraya Peerbaye’s first collection of poetry, Poems for the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names, was nominated for the Gerald Lampert Award. Her poems have appeared in Red Silk: An Anthology of South Asian Women Poets and the anthology Translating Horses. Peerbaye has been the Dance Officer at the Toronto Arts Council and prior to that the Equity Officer at the Canada Council for the Arts. Her latest work is Tell: poems for a girlhood, a collection partially based on the Reena Virk murder case. sorayapeerbaye.ca

Susan Perly has worked as a journalist, war correspondent and radio producer for the CBC. In the early 1980s her Letters from Latin America for Peter Gzowski’s Morningside reported from locales such as El Salvador, Guatemala and Chiapas. During the Iran-Iraq war she broadcast Letters from Baghdad and produced many documentaries for the weekly program Sunday Morning. Her second and latest novel is Death Valley, a sexy, fast-paced tale The Toronto Star has called “hypnotic in its weirdness,” about a war photographer who has seen too much. STEVEN PRICE BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENTS 11, 65

Steven Price is the author of two award-winning poetry books, Anatomy of Keys, winner of the Gerald Lampert Award and named a Globe and Mail Best Book of the Year; and Omens in the Year of the Ox, winner of the ReLit Award. He holds an MFA in poetry from the University of Virginia and currently teaches poetry and fiction at the University of Victoria. By Gaslight is his second novel, a riveting, atmospheric portrait of two men that moves from the diamond mines of South Africa to the battlefields of the Civil War. BILLY RAMSELL IRELAND, EVENTS 64, 78

Billy Ramsell has published two collections of poems: Complicated Pleasures (2007) and most recently The Architect’s Dream, shortlisted for the Irish Times Poetry Now Award; a collection that takes our online world as its starting point. He was awarded the Chair of Ireland Bursary for 2013 and a Poetry Ireland Writer in Residency Bursary in 2015. His recent work has appeared in Poetry London, Poetry Review, Poetry, Magma, and Poetry Ireland Review. Ramsell lives in Cork, Ireland, where he co-runs an educational publishing company. billyramsell.ie Billy Ramsell’s appearance is made possible by Culture Ireland. IAIN REID ONTARIO, EVENTS 64, 73

Iain Reid is the author of two critically acclaimed, award-winning books of non-fiction. His work has appeared in various publications, including The New Yorker, The Globe and Mail and the National Post. In 2012, Reid was named by The Globe and Mail as a top-five up-and-coming Canadian author, and in 2015, he received the RBC Taylor Emerging Writer Award. I’m Thinking of Ending Things is his first novel, a book that explores the depths of the human psyche, questioning consciousness, free will and the value of relationships. @reid_iain, iainreidauthor.com

NOAH RICHLER ONTARIO, EVENTS 53, 68

Noah Richler made documentaries and features for BBC Radio for 14 years before returning to Canada in 1998. He was the books editor and then the literary columnist for the National Post, and has contributed to numerous publications in Canada and Britain, including The Walrus, The Globe and Mail, The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph. During the 2015 federal elections, with no political experience and little money, Richler ran as a candidate for the NDP in the Toronto–St. Paul’s district, an experience he recounts in sizzling detail and hilarious frankness in his latest book, The Candidate. @knowwhereyouare, Noahrichler.com

H EAD E R LBEI O FT AUTHO G R A P H I ES

ROBBIE ROBERTSON SPECIAL EVENT, SEE PAGE 62 FOR MORE INFORMATION

Robbie Robertson was the guitarist and principal songwriter in The Band. He grew up in Toronto and on the Brantford Six Nations Reserve before heading to Arkansas to join Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks. He has produced many movie soundtracks for Martin Scorsese, including Raging Bull, and others, and continues to record as a solo artist. His most recent record, How to Become Clairvoyant, came out in 2011. Robertson is also one of the coauthors of the children’s book Legends, Icons & Rebels. His new memoir, Testimony, is the “moving story of the profound creative friendship between five young men who forged one of the most influential bands of all time.” @r0bbier0berston, robbie-robertson.com

Our Students Make Our Name

WRITING

“The help I received from my UVic advisors went above and beyond. I can’t thank them enough.”

PETER ROBINSON ONTARIO, EVENTS 13, 48

Peter Robinson is a bestselling, award-winning crime writer best known for his Inspector Banks mystery series, which has been called “among the best detective fiction in the world” (Edmonton Journal). Several of the Inspector Banks novels have been adapted for television. He has also written two collections of short stories and three standalone novels, the most recent of which is the bestseller Before the Poison, winner of the Arthur Ellis Award. When the Music’s Over is the 23rd book in Robinson’s mystery series, which follows the investigation into the sexual abuse of an adolescent girl by a celebrity. inspectorbanks.com

BA, BFA, MFA Programs in Fiction, Poetry, Screenwriting, Playwriting & Creative Nonfiction

— Yasuko Thanh, MFA & Journey Prize winner Photo by Helene Cyr

Apply by December 1 for the Master’s program, March 31 for the Bachelor’s program.

DEANNA RODGER UNITED KINGDOM, EVENT 30

http://writing.uvic.ca

Deanna Rodger is an international performer and facilitator. Recently featured as one of Elle UK magazine’s ‘30 inspirational women under 30’, she is a former UK Poetry Slam Champion and has written and performed commissions everywhere, from Buckingham Palace to BBC Iplayer. Rodger co-curates two leading spoken word events, Chill Pill and Come Rhyme With Me, and is a member of Keats House Poetry Collective. @DeannaRodger, deannarodger.co.uk

Deanna Rodger’s appearance is made possible by the British Council. MARGRIET RUURS BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENT 7

Margriet Ruurs is the author of more than 30 award-winning books for children. She holds a Masters Degree in Education from SFU and was a recipient of the International Reading Association’s Presidential Award for Reading and Technology for her studies on the use of technology in teaching reading and writing to children. She is editor of KIDSWWWRITE, an online magazine that publishes writing by children and conducts author visits and writing workshops at international schools around the world. Her latest work is the picture book Stepping Stones, a story about the Syrian refugee crisis. @margrietruurs, margrietruurs.com

ELLEN SCHWARTZ BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENTS 8, 25

Ellen Schwartz is the acclaimed author of 12 books for children, including picture books, juvenile fiction, young-adult fiction and nonfiction, and educational books. Stealing Home, her first novel about baseball, was chosen as a 2007 “Top 10 Sports Books for Youth” by Booklist magazine as well as being nominated for the Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award. She currently teaches Creative Writing at SFU and Douglas College. Heart of a Champion is her latest novel, a story about two Japanese-Canadian brothers, baseball and World War II. ellenschwartz.net

Think AUTHOR Choose from four part-time creative writing options in Vancouver, Surrey and online: The Writer’s Studio Application deadline October 31 The Southbank Writer’s Program Specialized courses Manuscript consultations

sfu.ca/creative-writing

HE A AU T HO D E R LBEFT I OG R AP H IES BEV SELLARS

CORDELIA STRUBE

SPECIAL EVENT, SEE PAGE 46 FOR MORE INFORMATION

ONTARIO, EVENTS 61, 84

Bev Sellars was first elected chief of the Xat’sull (Soda Creek) First Nation in Williams Lake, British Columbia, in 1987. She has spoken out on behalf of her community on racism and residential schools and on the environmental and social threats of mineral resource exploitation in her region. Sellars’ first book, They Called Me Number One, spent 40 weeks on the B.C. Bestsellers list in 2013 and 2014. Her new book, Price Paid, “is a candidly told personal take on the history of Aboriginal rights in Canada and Canadian history told from a First Nations point of view.”

A critic once described Cordelia Strube as the “antidote to Canlit niceties,” as she is known for her novels about families struggling with crisis and chaos. Strube is an accomplished playwright and the author of nine critically acclaimed books. Winner of a CBC Literary Prize and a Toronto Arts Foundation Award, she has been nominated for the Governor General’s Award and the Trillium Book Award. On the Shores of Darkness, There Is Light is Strube’s latest novel, a masterful blend of comedy and tragedy that delves into contemporary family life. cordeliastrube.weebly.com

MARIA SEMPLE

AMY STUART

UNITED STATES, EVENTS 26

ONTARIO, EVENTS 73, 84

Maria Semple worked for 15 years in television in Los Angeles before writing her first novel, This One is Mine. Her television credits include Arrested Development, Ellen, Mad About You, Beverly Hills, 90210 and Saturday Night Live. Her second novel, Where’d You Go, Bernadette, was a national bestseller. Her latest work is Today Will Be Different, a hilarious, heart-filled story about reinvention and sisterhood. mariasemple.com OLIVE SENIOR JAMAICA/ONTARIO, EVENTS 44, 67

Olive Senior is a prize-winning author of 13 books of fiction, poetry and non-fiction. Her short-story collection Summer Lightning won the inaugural Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Book, and her poetry collection Over the Roofs of the World was a finalist for the 2005 Governor General’s Literary Award for poetry. The Pain Tree is Senior’s new collection of stories, which recently won the 2016 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean literature. Senior conducts writing workshops internationally and is on the faculty of the Humber School for Writers. @olivesenior, olivesenior.com

AARON SIMM BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENTS 18, 40

Aaron Simm is a spoken-word artist, playwright, improviser and hip-hop artist from Winnipeg, Manitoba, currently living in Victoria. He is a two-time Winnipeg Poetry Slam Grand Champion and a two-time Individual Champion. He has been a featured artist at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word and was the co-founder of the Winnipeg Spoken Word Festival. Simm has shared his poetry on stages all across Canada and recently toured his latest full-length production, Places to Wait, a one man love/hate letter to the city of Winnipeg. @aaronsimm, placestowait.com

ANNA SMAILL NEW ZEALAND, EVENTS 14, 28

Anna Smaill is a classically trained violinist who left formal musical training to pursue poetry. Born in Auckland in 1979, she holds two MA degrees (Creative Writing and English Literature) as well as a PhD in contemporary American poetry from University College London. Her first book of poetry, The Violinist in Spring, was listed as one of the Best Books of 2006 by The New Zealand Listener. Her debut novel is The Chimes, a story about what might happen if the written word were replaced with music. The novel was longlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize. @AnnaESmaill, annasmaill.com

Anna Smaill’s appearance is made possible by Creative New Zealand.

Amy Stuart’s 2016 debut novel, Still Mine—a taut psychological thriller that investigates a young woman’s disappearance—was an instant national bestseller in Canada and has recently been published in the US. Winner of the 2011 Writers’ Union of Canada Short Fiction Competition, Stuart’s writing has previously appeared in newspapers and magazines across Canada. In 2012, she received an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC. Stuart lives in Toronto and is working on the sequel to Still Mine. @AmyfStuart, amystuart.ca MADELEINE THIEN QUEBEC, EVENTS 11, 28, 58, 64

Madeleine Thien’s novels and stories have been translated into 25 languages, and her essays have appeared in Granta, The Guardian and Al Jazeera. She has taught literature and fiction in Canada, China, Germany, Nigeria, the US, Zimbabwe, Singapore and Japan. In 2013, she was named SFU’s Writer-in-Residence. Her latest novel, Do Not Say We Have Nothing, takes us inside an extended family in China, showing us the lives of two successive generations: those who lived through Mao’s Cultural Revolution and the children of the survivors who became the students protesting in Tiananmen Square in 1989. @madeleinethien, madeleinethien.com MARCOS TORRENTE SPAIN, EVENT 17

Marcos Giralt Torrente was born in Madrid in 1968 and is the author of three novels, a novella, and a book of short stories. He was writer-in-residence at the Spanish Academy in Rome, the Künstlerhaus Schloss Wiepersdorf, and the University of Aberdeen, and was part of the Berlin Artists-in-Residence Programme in 2002-2003. He is the recipient of several distinguished awards, most importantly the Spanish National Book Award in 2011. His works have been translated into French, German, Greek, Italian, Korean and Portuguese. The End of Love is his first book to appear in English. Marcos Giralt Torrente’s appearance is made possible by the Spanish Embassy in Ottawa. VIKKI VANSICKLE ONTARIO, EVENTS 5, 22, 44

Vikki VanSickle is the author of the acclaimed Clarissa books and is frequently referred to as “Canada’s Judy Blume.” She is a popular children’s literature blogger and often called upon to speak about kids’ books for radio panels, conferences, and as Lainey Gossip’s YA mentor. VanSickle holds an MA in Children’s Literature from UBC. Currently she balances writing with her duties as the Marketing and Publicity Manager for Young Readers at Penguin RandomHouse Canada. If I Had a Gryphon is her latest book, a raucous rhyming read-aloud about fantastical beasts in everyday situations. @vikkivansickle, vikkivansickle.wordpress.com

H EAD E R LBEI O AUTHO FT G R A P H I ES

M.G. VASSANJI

GENEVIEVE VON PETZINGER

ONTARIO, EVENTS 14, 47

BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENT 52

M.G. Vassanji is the author of six novels, two collections of short stories and two works of non-fiction. He has twice won the Scotiabank Giller Prize, as well as the Governor General’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction and the Commonwealth Prize. Vassanji grew up in Kenya and Tanzania, and received a BSc from MIT and a PhD in Nuclear Physics from the University of Pennsylvania before moving to Canada. In 2005, he was made a member of the Order of Canada. His latest work is Nostalgia, a novel about a future where eternal life is possible and identities can be chosen. mgvassanji.com

Genevieve von Petzinger studies cave art from the European Ice Age and has built a unique database that holds more than 5,000 signs from almost 400 sites across Europe. Her work has appeared in popular science magazines such as New Scientists and Science Illustrated. A National Geographic Emerging Explorer of 2016, she has been a TED fellow in 2011 and 2013–2015; her 2015 TED talk has more than two million views. The First Signs is von Petzinger’s new book, the first-ever exploration of the little-known geometric images that accompany most cave art found at sites around the world.

KATHERENA VERMETTE

ROY HENRY VICKERS BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENTS 5, 8, 21

Roy Henry Vickers is a renowned carver, painter, and printmaker whose Eagle Aerie Gallery in Tofino, BC, has become a provincial landmark. Vickers is also a recognized leader in the First Nations community and a spokesperson for recovery from addictions and abuse. In 1998, he was appointed to the Order of British Columbia and, in 2006, to the Order of Canada. Peace Dancer is his latest collaboration with Robert Budd, a children’s book in which he has illustrated the story of a flood in the Tsimshian village of Kitkatla. @RHVickers, royhenryvickers.com

FRANK VIVA ONTARIO, EVENTS 4, 35

Frank Viva is an award-winning illustrator and designer, whose first picture book, Along a Long Road, was a finalist for the Governor General’s Award for Illustration and was named one of The New York Times’ 10 Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2011. His art appears regularly in The New York Times and on the cover of The New Yorker. Viva runs a branding and design agency in Toronto and has been president of the Advertising & Design Club of Canada. Sea Change is his latest graphic novel, a warm, funny and innovatively designed coming-of-age story. @VIVAandCO, vivaandco.com

Douglas & McIntyre

www.douglas-mcintyre.com

ELEANOR WACHTEL

MANITOBA, EVENTS 69, 74

Katherena Vermette is a Métis writer of poetry, fiction and children’s literature. Her first book, North End Love Songs, won the 2013 Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry, and pays tribute to Winnipeg’s toughest and most notorious neighbourhood: the North End. In addition to writing, Vermette is also an indigenous activist and has worked extensively with marginalized groups and at risk-youth. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC. The Break is her first novel, a powerful intergenerational family saga set, once again, in Winnipeg’s North End. @katherenav, katherenavermette.com

DISCOVER Authors at the VANCOUVER Writers Festival

ONTARIO, EVENT 27

Eleanor Wachtel is one of the Englishspeaking world’s most respected and soughtafter interviewers. She worked in various broadcasting roles before co-founding and hosting what would become her flagship show on CBC Radio, Writers & Company. The Best of Writers & Company celebrates the show’s 25 year anniversary and presents her conversations with legendary authors like Jonathan Franzen and Alice Munro, who share their views on process, the writing life and the hazards of literary fame. Wachtel is a member of the Order of Canada and has received eight honorary degrees.

Jennifer Manuel The Heaviness of Things That Float

@EleanorWachtel

FRED WAH BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENT 86

Fred Wah is the author of seventeen books of poetry and the winner of the 1985 Governor’s General Award for poetry for Waiting for Saskatchewan. He was born in 1939 in Swift Current, Saskatchewan to parents of Swedish and Chinese origin, and grew up in rural BC. Wah’s writing has been sustained by two interests: racial hybridity and the local. Studying English and Music at UBC in the early 1960s, he was one of the founding editors of the influential TISH poetry newsletter. Scree collects Wah’s groundbreaking early work from the 1960s to the 1980s. @fjwah, fredwah.org

Wade Davis Wade Davis: Photographs

Harbour PublIsHIng

www.harbourpublishing.com

LINDY WEST UNITED STATES, EVENT 31

Lindy West is a Seattle-based writer, editor, and performer whose work focuses on pop culture, social justice, humor, and body image. In 2015 she wrote and recorded a story for This American Life about confronting an Internet troll who impersonated her dead father. She also was listed as “Internet’s Most Fascinating of 2015” by Cosmopolitan.com, and helped launch the viral #ShoutYourAbortion hashtag in defense of women’s reproductive rights. Her memoir Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman, released earlier this year, has received extensive praise from personalities like Lena Dunham and Ira Glass. @thelindywest, lindywest.net

Roy Henry Vickers Peace Dancer see program for event details

HE A DREI A R ML EFT IN MEMO 56

AU TH O R B I O G RAPH I ES

As we prepare for a Festival made possible by authors, supporters and volunteers, we pay tribute to those recently passed who are an integral part of the Festival and Canada’s literary community. Our condolences go to the family of Jab Sidhoo: well-respected businessman, East Indian Carpets founder and long-time Vancouver Writers Fest supporter. Mr. Sidhoo’s continued generosity will be remembered by the Festival. We remember Austin Clarke: the multi-award winning author who regularly visited the Festival. Winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize, Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, Toronto Book Award, and a Member of the Order of Canada, Clarke made an indelible contribution to Canadian and world literature with 11 novels, eight short story collections, two poetry collections and five memoirs. We look back to his magnetic presentations at the Festival fondly. Canada lost D.G. Jones in 2016. Poet, essayist and translator, Jones is widely recognized as a seminal figure in Canadian poetry. He was respected as a teacher and thinker, not only through his poetry but also his literary criticism. Ellen Seligman’s editing made a significant, outstanding contribution to Canadian literature. The legendary editor worked with some of the country’s most prominent authors – from Margaret Atwood to Leonard Cohen to Rohinton Mistry – and edited 23 Governor-General Literary Award winners, four Man Booker Prize winners, and six Scotiabank Giller Prizes. Her exacting standards and creative vision has helped to shape hundreds of books and authors’ careers. Beloved publisher, author, bookseller Mel Hurtig passed away in August 2016. A stalwart of Canadian culture, Hurtig opened Edmonton’s first independent bookstore, published dozens of books, and penned more. His contribution to literature, politics and discourse have been acknowledged with multiple awards and great respect across the country. He will be dearly missed by everyone at the Festival.

ANDREW WESTOLL ONTARIO, EVENTS 54, 74

Andrew Westoll is an award-winning narrative journalist and internationally published author. A former biologist and primatologist, Westoll’s writing explores our relationship with the natural world. His second book, The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary, was a national bestseller and winner of the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction. The Jungle South of the Mountain is his debut novel, a story of loss and redemption in the jungles of South America. Westoll holds an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC and currently teaches at the University of Toronto Scarborough. @ADWestoll, andrewwestoll.com COLSON WHITEHEAD UNITED STATES, EVENTS 49, 58, 62

Colson Whitehead is the New York Times bestselling author of Zone One, a Pulitzer Prize finalist and a recipient of MacArthur and Guggenheim fellowships. He is a Harvard alumnus and has taught at many prestigious universities, including Princeton, NYU and Columbia. Whitehead has authored eight book-length works and his reviews, essays and fiction have appeared in The New York Times and The New Yorker. His latest novel, The Underground Railroad, chronicles a young slave’s trials as she makes a desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South. @colsonwhitehead, colsonwhitehead.com Colson Whitehead’s appearance is made possible by a generous donation from Bonnie Mah. ZOE WHITTALL ONTARIO, EVENTS 57, 79

Zoe Whittall’s debut novel, Bottle Rocket Hearts (2006), made the CBC Canada Reads’ Top 10 Essential Novels of the Decade and was named a Best Book of the Year by The Globe and Mail. Whittall has published three novels, three books of poetry and currently works as a freelance TV writer and journalist in Toronto. Her writing has appeared in the Walrus, The Globe and Mail and the National Post. The Best Kind of People is her latest novel, the story of an All-American family on the brink of collapse. @zoewhittall, zoewhittall.com SAM WIEBE BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENTS 48, 87

Sam Wiebe’s debut novel, Last of the Independents, won an Arthur Ellis Award and the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize and has been called “a literary achievement.” His short stories have appeared in Thuglit, subTerrain and Criminal Element’s The Malfeasance Occasional e-collection, among others. His latest novel is Invisible Death, the beginning of a gritty private-eye series set in Vancouver, which Owen Laukkanen has called “a gripping, wrenching, brilliant piece of fiction, quite possibly the definitive Vancouver crime novel.” @sam_wiebe, samwiebe.com

JAB SIDHOO

AUSTIN CLARKE

D.G.JONES

ELLEN SELIGMAN

MEL HURTIG

H EAD E RR LBEI O FT AUTHO G R A P H I ES PETER WOHLLEBEN GERMANY, EVENT 3

Peter Wohlleben spent more than 20 years working for the forestry commission in Germany before leaving to put his ideas of ecology into practice. He now runs an environmentally-friendly woodland in Huemmel, Germany, and also teaches and writes about woodlands and nature conservancy. His latest book, and English-language debut, is the international bestseller The Hidden Life of Trees, a collection of fascinating stories, supported by the latest scientific research, that reveal the extraordinary world of forests and illustrate how trees communicate and care for each other. peter-wohlleben.de Peter Wohlleben’s appearance is made possible by the Goethe-Institut. CHARLOTTE WOOD AUSTRALIA , EVENTS 14, 33

The Australian newspaper has described Charlotte Wood as “one of our most original and provocative writers.” She is the author of five novels and two books of non-fiction. Her latest novel, The Natural Way of Things, won the 2016 Stella Prize, the 2016 Indie Book of the Year and Novel of the Year, and has been shortlisted for the 2016 Miles Franklin among other awards. The novel has been described as a “gripping, starkly imaginative exploration of contemporary misogyny and corporate control, and of what it means to hunt and be hunted.” @charlottewoodau, charlottewood.com.au XUE YIWEI QUEBEC, EVENTS 28, 67

Xue Yiwei is an award-winning Chinese-Canadian writer and an author of 16 books. He holds an MA in English Literature from the University of Montreal, and a PhD in Linguistics from Guangdong University of Foreign Studies. Yiwei has taught Chinese literature at Shenzhen University and has also been a visiting scholar at the City University of Hong Kong. Shenzheners, his first book in English, presents stories inspired by the young city of Shenzhen, a market town north of Hong Kong that in 1980 served as an experiment in introducing capitalism to Communist China. ALISSA YORK ONTARIO, EVENTS 54, 65

Alissa York was born in 1970, in Athabasca, Alberta, to Australian immigrant parents. She is best known for her 2007 novel Effigy, which was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. York’s writing has appeared in The Guardian, Brick, The Globe and Mail and Canadian Geographic. She has lived all over Canada and earned a living as a waitress, florist, bookseller and actor before discovering writing was her passion. The Naturalist is her latest novel, which Miriam Toews has called one of the “few other books on my shelf that remind me how to live.” alissayork.com CLEA YOUNG BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENT 87

Clea Young’s stories have been included in The Journey Prize Stories three times. Originally from Victoria, she moved to Vancouver in 2003 to complete an MFA at UBC. Her work has appeared in Event, Grain, The Fiddlehead, The Malahat Review, Prairie Fire and Room. Young is also the Artistic Associate at the Vancouver Writers Fest. Zoe Whittall has called Teardown, Young’s first collection of stories, “an absolutely addictive read.”

YE A R - R O UN D FEST I VA L IN FO

Meet annick’s

amazing authors

Lis Lisaa oy yboy leyb Ch arle Char

Spreading the Word WHAT IS SPREADING THE WORD? Spreading the Word is the Vancouver Writers Fest’s educational program, offering students from K–12 the opportunity to interact with celebrated writers from across the globe both in the classroom and at the Festival. These events are engaging and interactive, inspiring children to become life-long readers! SPREADING THE WORD INCLUDES... • 34 weekday Festival events featuring exciting, engaging • • • •

discussions and presentations with authors from Canada and around the world 6,000 student attendees from the Lower Mainland, the Sunshine Coast and Vancouver Island Reading with Writers: 20 events where professional writers visit under-resourced schools in the Lower Mainland to engage oftenvulnerable students in important discussions Writer in Residence: Authors connect annually with two outlying BC communities offering workshops at schools and community centres during week-long residencies Youth Writing Contest: An opportunity for young writers (grades 8–12) to get published (see page 59 for contest details)

IMPACT ON KIDS IN OUR COMMUNITY: “This presentation was probably one of the most engaging ones I’ve seen in my entire high-school career! It definitely made me interested in writing a novel in the future.”—Grade 11 student, Semiahmoo Secondary (Surrey) “My favourite part was when the author read to us. I loved the book, it was so fun!”—Grade 3 student, Lord Roberts Annex (Vancouver) Spreading the Word is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Chris Spencer Foundation, RBC Foundation and the R.J. Nelson Family Foundation. Learn more at writersfest.bc.ca/youth.

niaa toni An Anto ardd nyar Ba Bany

Paula Ayer annick press annickpress.com

available from your favourite bookstore

YEAR-RO UN D F EST I VA L IN FO

Writing Contests THE 18TH ANNUAL VANCOUVER WRITERS FEST POETRY AND SHORT STORY CONTEST Submit your finest prose and poetry to the Festival’s Poetry and Short Story Contest. THE REWARDS:

Prizes are awarded to the top two entries in poetry and fiction. 1ST PRIZE –Fiction:

Tuition for a 6 week online writing course offered by the UBC Department of Creative Writing (valued at $300) + $300 cash prize 2ND PRIZE –Fiction: $350 1ST PRIZE –Poetry: $500 2ND PRIZE –Poetry: $350

First prize winners will be published in subTERRAIN magazine and on the Festival website. Enter online at writersfest.bc.ca/writingcontest Contest closes at 5:00 pm on Sunday, October 23, 2016.

In cite Incite is a free reading series curated by the Vancouver Writers Fest and presented in partnership with the Vancouver Public Library. Incite offers intimate conversations with authors every second Wednesday from January to May. Featured authors include world-famous best-sellers and newly published talents from the West Coast and beyond. Hosted at the VPL’s central branch, Incite provides a highly accessible opportunity for all members of the city’s community to engage with writers and ideas. Previous authors include Yann Martel, Nick Bantock, Chris Cleave, Bif Naked, Micah White, John Vaillant, Lynn Coady and Guy Gavriel Kay. The 2017 Incite series lineup will be announced in December 2016. With thanks to the Vancouver Public Library, the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association, the R.J. Nelson Family Foundation and the Vancouver Courier.

SPREADING THE WORD YOUTH WRITING CONTEST What’s your story? Grab a pen and get writing! You could have your work published and win a cash prize. The contest is open to all young writers enrolled in grades 8–12 in British Columbia. THE REWARDS:

Prizes are awarded to the top two entries in poetry and fiction. 1ST PRIZE IN EACH CATEGORY –$300 2ND PRIZE IN EACH CATEGORY –$200

Prize winners’ works will be published in The Claremont Review, a magazine that showcases aspiring young writers, and on the Festival website. Enter online at writersfest.bc.ca/youthwritingcontest Contest closes at 5:00 pm on Sunday, October 23, 2016.

I VA N C OYO T E TOMBOY SURVIVAL GUIDE

ASH LEY LITTLE NIAGARA MOTEL

Ivan Coyote’s latest book maps their journey through treacherous gender landscapes and a maze of labels that don’t quite stick.

The latest from Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize winner Ashley Little, about a young boy’s odyssey to find his father, a barkeep named Sam Malone.

See Ivan and Ashley in person at the VWF!

ARSENAL PULP PRESS arsenalpulp.com

TH A N KS TO OU R DO N O R S

COLLECTOR’S EDITION BENEFACTOR ($10,000+) Moh Faris, Reema Faris Ramona Chu and Yasmeen Strang in loving memory of Yulanda Faris Maureen & Larry Lunn

CLASSIC EDITION BENEFACTOR ($5,000+) Jonathan Burke

BESTSELLER EDITION BENEFACTOR ($2,500+) Bonnie Mah Carol McClelland Kip Woodward Sandy Jakab & Bob Lesperance

SPECIAL EDITION BENEFACTOR ($1,000+) Alison Broddle Janice & Doug Dalzell Judy Gale Crissy George Anne Giardini Mike Gray Sally Harding Colin Harris Richard Johnston Shirley Lew Joan McEwen & Irwin Nathanson McCarthy Tétrault Foundation Harvey McKinnon Tracey McVicar Ebie & Ian Pitfield Linda Robbins Marsha Sibthorpe Colette & Marvin Storrow (QC, LLD) John Thiessen Bruno Wall & Jane Macdonald John & Susan Webster Paul Whitney Eagranie Yuh

LIMITED EDITION FRIEND ($500+) Yaseen Al-Salam Richard & Virginia Angus Jo Baxendale Peter M. Brown

Jane Estey Diana Filer Gayle Friesen Marilyn Goebel Leslie Hurtig Ken Jaremco Trudy Jaskela Patricia Laidley Todd Martin Carolyn McCool Sheahan & Gerald McGavin Angela McWhirter William & Margaret New Debra Nordheimer Roberta Rich Mary Robertson Rob Sanders Tracy Sherlock Ian & Jane Strang Deborah Torkko Rhea Tregebov Hal Wake Rosalie Walls Yosef Wosk

Nicole & Jason Nozick Nicole Nozick Helen Rose Pauls Kit Pearson Mark Raymer Carol Roberts Kathryn Shoemaker Donald Shumka Jane Slemon Diane Stuart Shannon Taylor Susan Van Blarcom Fernanda Viveiros Ian Weir Merrill & Roberta Wittman in honour of Stephen Hayden Rob Wildeman Jori Woodman William Woodson Andrew Woolridge Katherine Wreford

FIRST EDITION FRIEND ($250+)

Angie Abdou Stephen Aberle Cathy Abrossimoff Leslie Absher Caroline Adderson Elisa Aisenstat Leslie Alexander Beth Allard Janet Allwork M. Catherine Alpaugh Sky Andrews Simone Artaud Monique Badun Kim Baird Justin Barton Birgit & Robert Bateman Gillian Beattie John Bell Cheryl Berge Strachan Birnie Larry Bisaro Russel Black Ray Boucher Michael Brady Kate Braid Brian Brett Diane Bridges Brenda Brown Maura Brown Michele Buchignani Sherry & Allan Buium Florence Bullock Susan Cajiga Ann Carroll David Chariandy Jeff Charpentier Stephen Chatman Hazel Chee Jane Cherry

Janice Abbott David Allard Margaret Atwood Sal Audia Martha Baldwin George & Donna Battye Fund Darren Bold Cathleen Boyle Curtis Bremner Andy Broderick Ruth Brodie Cameron Burke Carina Calitz Murray Campbell Judith Coffin Jennifer Conkie Lynn Copeland Ann Cowan Patrick Dunn Corinne Durston Shelley Ferris Janet Fretter Shirley Gee Ian Gill Jim Girard Zoe Grams Stephanie Hollis Susan Knott Alice Laberge Lorey Lasley Sabrina Liak Brian MacNeil Dave Mason Jane Mortifee Susin Nielsen

NEW EDITION FRIEND ($100+)

Isobel Cole Peter Colenbrander David Conlin Chris Connal Clare Crosthwait Patricia Curtis Don Davidson Lauren Davis Ralph Davis Barbara Dawson Roxanne DeMeyer Margaret Dickson JoAnn Dionne Laura Dochtermann Mary Doherty Deb Durocher Anne Elliott Paul Evans Ruth Faber Verian Farnsworth Susan Fielden Nancy Flight Cynthia Flood Lorne Folick Lily Fong Sharlene Ford Bruce Forster Fran Franklin Mark French Elee Gardiner in memory of John Asfour Sandra Garossino Nancy Garrett Nicole Geyer David Gibbs William Gibson Lianne Gulka June Harrison Alison Hart Karin Hartner Elizabeth Hay William Hay Robert Heidbreder Judy Helliwell Richard Hopkins Roderick Houeben Ann Howe Violet & Grant Hughes Tom Hunter Valerie Hunter Peter Jackson Sharon Jeroski Faune Johnson Elizabeth Jones Heather Kennedy Phyllis Kenney Linda King Dolya Konoval Beverley Kort Fiona Lam Beryl Lamb Denny Lang William Laurie Vincent Le Alma Lee

Marshall Letcher Jocelyn Lewis Jim Littleford Karin Macaulay Andy & Georgina Macdonald Elizabeth MacKenzie Linda MacKinley-Hay Judith MacPherson Patricia Manly Marcia Marchenski Carl May Kelsey McDermott Marlene McDonald Ann McDonell Dylan McKay Gordon McKee Sharon McKibbon Berwyn McKilligan Kathryn McNaughton Mary McPhail Pam McPhail Dayna Miller Alexandra Montgomery Jeanette Mracek NWM Private Giving Foundation Cheryl Neighbour Terri Newell Carol Newson Tessa Nicholl Caroline North Peggy Olive Marcelle O’Reilly Nora Osborne Roberta Pascoe Robin Pascoe Brian Paterson Ed Pawson Talea Pecora Brenda Peterson Rene Pichette Joseph Planta Beverley Price Lynda Prince Susan & Lonnie Propas Nicole Racette Dorothy Randall Judy Richardson Elise Roaf Sylvia Roberts Curtis Ronning Jenny Rootman Shirley Rudolph Michelle Rupp Karin Saghdejian Anita Salchert Debbie Schachter Minna Schendlinger Scott Shepherd Alex Shorten Karen Shuster Veronica Singer Roy Sinn Helen Smith

Kevin Spenst Ann-Marie Spicer Lynda Spratley Kristin Stockley Sharon Street Nardia Strydom Gloria Sully Eve Szabo Ronnie Tessler Peggy Thompson Camilla Tibbs Rebecca Toolan in honour of Evelyn Huberman Carol Tulpar Sheila Van De Velde Olga Volkoff Julia Wallis Jerry Wasserman Susan Wasserman Beverley Watt Irene Watts Jennifer Webb Wendy Webber Ray Weremczuk Lynn Westwick Valerie White Glynis Whiting Gordon Wilcox Elaine Williamson Martha Wintemute Sandi Witherspoon Sabine Wood Don Wright Jack Wright Ronald Wright Laura Yazedjian Patricia Young

BEQUEST Beth Coleman

THE ALMA LEE LEGACY FUND The Festival’s endowment fund celebrates the accomplishments of Alma Lee, the Festival’s founder. Revenue from this fund provides stable funding for the Festival, helps us offer Spreading the Word programs for schools and allows us for plan for the future.

LEAD DONORS: Colin & Helen Harris Jab Sidhoo Yosef Wosk The Vancouver Sun Cynthia Woodward Development Fund Sandra Garossino Sheahan & Gerald McGavin Rudy & Patricia Noth Megan Abbott Douglas Coupland Yulanda & Moh Faris Anne & Tony Giardini Scott Griffin KMC Foundation Caroline Lawrence Bonnie Mah Joanne & David McDonald Tracey McVicar Brenda & Michael O’Keefe Ebie & Ian Pitfield Rod & Laurie Scheuerman Helen Shore Yasmeen & Andrew Strang Thomas Allen & Sons Ltd. W.A.U. Nicoll Robertson Charitable Foundation Trust John Welson Jan Whitford & Michael Stevenson

Donations received between July 10th, 2015–June 30th, 2016. Thank you for your generous support. We make every effort to be accurate. Please call us if you have any questions about this list, 604.681.6330.

WORLD LITERATURE

THERE’S MORE THAN ONE WAY TO SEE THE WORLD.

PRESENTS

The World Literature program at SFU is proud to support the 2016 Vancouver Writers Fest and our Writer-In-Residence

“Friesen has the knack of drawing out the very best in every individual. For the audience it is the pleasure of overhearing an intimate conversation that is always fascinating and never boring. His warm presence is a welcome addition to any event.”— ANGEL A

Greystone Books is proud to bring internationally best-selling author, Peter Wohlleben, to the Vancouver Writers Festival

greystonebooks.com

Saskatchewan Festival of Words

Tuning In Writer/Broadcaster Bill Richardson

Canadian artists in conversation with host Eric Friesen

ANOSH IRANI

Emily Molnar

Artistic Director, Ballet BC

July 13-16, 2017 Moose Jaw

SEPTEMBER 28, 2016 @ 10:30am

Judith Forst

Mezzo-soprano/voice teacher NOVEMBER 30, 2016 @ 10:30am

Bill Richardson

Writer/broadcaster FEBRUARY 1, 2017 @ 10:30am

www.festivalofwords.com

Janina Fialkowska

Classical piano virtuoso MARCH 29, 2017 @ 10:30am

Vancouver Academy of Music, Kits Point

Moose Jaw SURPRISINGLY UNEXPECTED

604.873.4612 musicinthemorning.org TICKETS:

For more information about our dynamic program, visit:

www.sfu.ca/worldlit

A VANCOUVER WRITERS FEST SPECIAL EVENT

Literary agents Non-fiction book publishing experts Self-publishing consultants Passionate Writers Fest supporters

s t r at e g i c p u b l i s h i n g www.pagetwostrategies.com

ROBBIE ROBERTSON On the 40th anniversary of The Band’s legendary The Last Waltz concert, Robbie Robertson finally tells his own spellbinding story of the band that changed music history, his extraordinary personal journey, and his creative friendships with some of the greatest artists of the last half-century.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6 7:30PM @ THE VOGUE TICKETS: $45 (Incl. Signed Book)

WRITERSFEST.BC.CA

BIBLIOASIS READ INDEPENDENTLY NEW TITLES IN STORES NOW ELEANOR WACHTEL The Best of Writers & Company Unforgettable interviews with fifteen of the world’s greatest authors | Paperback $22.95

W JOHN METCALF

The Museum at the End of the World

A new collection of novellas from one of Canada's most celebrated stylists | Paperback $19.95

W CATHERINE LEROUX The Party Wall

A groundbreaking novel translated from the French by Lazer Lederhendler | Paperback $19.95

For more information about these and other books, visit our website at biblioasis.com

Price Paid The Fight for First Nations Survival Bev Sellars Price Paid: The Fight for First Nations Survival u ntangles truth from the many myths about Aboriginal people in Canada and addresses misconceptions still widely believed today. The s econd book b y award-winning a uthor Bev Sellars, Price Paid is based on a popular presentation Sellars often gave to treaty-makers, politicians, policymakers, and educators. The book begins with an overview of the tremendous contributions aboriginal peoples have made to the rest of the world. It documents the dark period of regulation by racist laws during the twentieth century, and then discusses new emergence in the twenty-first century into a re-establishment of Indigenous land and resource rights. The result is a candidly told personal take on the history of Aboriginal rights in Canada and Canadian history told from a First Nations point of view. “We are a people with special rights guaranteed us by promises and treaties. We do not beg for those rights, nor do we thank you … we do not thank you for them because we paid for them… and God help us, the price we paid was exorbitant. We paid for them with our culture, our dignity, and our self-respect. We paid and paid and paid …” —Chief Dan George (Geswanouth Slahoot), Tsleil-Waututh Nation $24.95 | 144 pages | ISBN 978-0-88922-972-3 | Softcover with black-and-white illustrations

Bev Sellars’s VWF event is on September 22nd!

They Called Me Number One Secrets and Survival at an Indian Residential School Bev Sellars In the first full-length memoir to be published about St. Joseph’s Mission at Williams Lake, BC, Sellars tells of three generations of women who attended the school, interweaving the personal histories of her grandmother and her mother with her own. Awards for Bev Sellars’s They Called Me Number One: Secrets and Survival at an Indian Residential School I 2014 George Ryga Award for Social Awareness in Literature, winner I 2014 Burt Award for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Literature, third prize I 2014 Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize (B.C. Book Prizes), shortlisted I More than 40 weeks on the B.C. bestsellers list “Sellars tells a story of programming and deprogramming, of being engrained with the powerful myth of white superiority at home and school, and of the years-long process of unspooling that myth through self-help books, university education, and political activism … While Sellars’s memoir celebrates the triumph of returning from the brink, it is also a stark condemnation of historical and extant paternalistic policies and the personal tragedies these policies continue to breed.” —Canadian Literature $19.95 | 256 pages | ISBN 978-0-88922-741-5 | ebook also available www.talonbooks.com

READ LOCAL BC