Friday, October 23
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 The Tightrope
Marie-Claire Blais |
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*The programming details of this event have changed since the Festival Program was printed: Three authors take the stage to demonstrate convention-defying feats of fiction. While BC author Michael Turner gives his characters no names, identifying them only by their actions, Leon Rooke gives magic realism his own southern gothic twist. Quebec’s Marie-Claire Blais is known for her challenging stream-of-consciousness style. There’s a fine line between an invitation and a challenge to the reader—join us for a morning of exuberant, energetic envelope-pushing. Advance ticket sales have now ended for this event. Tickets will be available for purchase at the door one hour before the event starts. |
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Coming of Age
Cynthia Flood |
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*The programming details of this event have changed since the Festival Program was printed: “Coming of age” stories have been a staple of literature through the decades and continue to fascinate us as both readers and writers. No matter the terrain the voyage of self-discovery crosses—difficult and unusual family relations, socially conservative eras such as the 1950s, extraordinary political and historical circumstances or a brick-walled educational system—it’s a journey that has shaped us all. These four authors from a range of generations and backgrounds talk about their shared fascination with the formative years and how each avoided falling into the clichés of writing about them. Advance ticket sales have now ended for this event. Tickets will be available for purchase at the door one hour before the event starts. |
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This event is sponsored by HarperCollins Canada Ltd. |
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Family Fugue
Michael Crummey |
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No miniatures here. These three ambitious and accomplished novelists paint on the large canvas of family relationships over generations. Ashok Mathur’s novel, narrated by a child yet to be born, begins in 1899 and follows three generations from central India to contemporary life in the United Kingdom and North America. Michael Crummey’s Galore is set in remote and isolated Newfoundland, home and anchor to two families’ secrets, disputes and alliances through two centuries. Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer has written a family tragedy of Greek proportions spanning three generations in northern Ontario. Rich, sprawling, grand-scale family sagas have always been popular, and with good reason. Advance ticket sales have now ended for this event. Tickets will be available for purchase at the door one hour before the event starts. |
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Richardson’s Roundup
Brian Brett |
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Festival favourite Bill Richardson returns to chat up three entertaining authors who have recently published personal non-fi ction. There’s nothing like a Richardson interview to get to the hidden corners of a subject and to extract the best stories from writers. Brian Brett, Karen Connelly and Lorna Crozier engage in a far-ranging conversation with the insatiably curious Richardson. |
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This event is sponsored by Douglas & McIntyre Publishing Group |
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Playing with Real People
Kate Braid |
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Aristotle himself is the narrator of The Golden Mean, Annabel Lyon’s tale of war, political intrigue, ambition and the philosopher’s pupil, Alexander the Great. Renowned pianist Glenn Gould pours out his inner heart to a fan going deaf in the fictional narrative A Well-Mannered Storm: The Glenn Gould Poems by Kate Braid. And Christopher Columbus—or at least a fellow in a Spanish insane asylum who believes he is Columbus and can tell the “truth” of how he obtained ships from Spanish royalty—takes centre stage in Thomas Trofimuk’s Waiting for Columbus. Thorough research by these three writers into their historical figures is plainly evident but is only a starting point for great leaps of imagination and style. Take the leap with them! Advance ticket sales have now ended for this event. Tickets will be available for purchase at the door one hour before the event starts. |
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Building Blocks, Starting Blocks
Joseph Boyden |
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How do you assemble the elements of fiction into a creative work? The basic building blocks are character, plot, setting and dialogue. But some writers start with plot, some start with a voice (or two) in their head, some start with a theme and fit characters to it. Whatever the dominant element, the other parts also have to work in concert. Four writers talk about where they begin, how to continue, what their biggest struggles are, the effects of living for so long with imaginary people and the “ah ha!” moments that make it all worth while. Advance ticket sales have now ended for this event. Tickets will be available for purchase at the door one hour before the event starts. |
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This event is sponsored by the UBC Writing Centre |
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Lurk
Anne DeGrace |
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Psychics, crumbling mansions, threatening clues, hidden chambers, forbidden love and perhaps even aliens—these are the makings of a great afternoon with a book. Come hear three novelists whose latest works will more than satisfy your need for chills. But not only do Sarah Waters, Anne DeGrace and Tim Wynne-Jones write great suspense, they also dig beneath the surface of daily life and family connections to show that intrigue and mystery lurk in the corners of the ordinary—a post-war English house, a rural Nova Scotia fishing village, a northern Ontario cottage—as well as the extraordinary.
Advance ticket sales have now ended for this event. Tickets will be available for purchase at the door one hour before the event starts. |
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The Mini Poetry Bash
Kate Braid |
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The Mini Poetry Bash is an annual favourite with students, teachers and poetry fans alike. This year the Festival has gathered a bevy of poets to show off the power of the well-chosen word. Six Canadians (and one bass) who can conjure lasting images with the flick of a phrase will wow you with readings and reaffirm why poetry matters, in case there was ever any doubt. |
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Those Who Can, Teach
Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer |
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George Bernard Shaw famously said, “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.” Three skilled writers, who are also skilled teachers, challenge that idea. Writing becomes a more disciplined act when she is forced to explain it to students, says Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer, who in her early years as a writer swore she would never teach. How does teaching help the creative process? Does teaching add to the excitement about words, or is it a time-stealer and energy thief? And what about that age-old question, can the creative process be taught? Join this wide-ranging discussion about how teaching makes writers and writing makes teachers. |
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The Literary Cabaret
C.R. Avery |
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What happens between Sal Ferreras, his chameleonic band Poetic License and the authors who take the stage tonight is quite simply magic. This wildly popular event blends music and literature in ways that can only be described as breathtaking. Audiences are guaranteed a sensory spectacular, an evening of jaw-dropping talent on all fronts. Don’t miss out on the fun—buy your tickets early; they’re sure to go quickly.
This event is sold out. |
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Seth in conversation with Douglas Coupland
Douglas Coupland |
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Twenty-one years ago, Douglas Coupland commissioned illustrator and graphic novelist Seth to illustrate a magazine piece. He’s been a huge fan ever since. Designer, cartoonist, writer, and illustrator, Seth is known for his New Yorker magazine covers, for designing all 25 volumes of The Complete Peanuts, and will be even more admired for George Sprott, a lovingly produced graphic novel published this year. Coupland and Seth are fascinated by popular culture—both retrospective and prospective—visual icons and the quirky points of departure from the ordinary that lead to new insights and even revelation. This is one of those events where you will be able to say, “I was there.” |
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An Intimate Evening with Marie-Claire Blais
Marie-Claire Blais |
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Québécoise literary icon, winner of numerous international literary prizes, Companion of the Order of Canada, Marie-Claire Blais has published more than 25 books, won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction four times, and garnered a following around the world. Since the early 1960s, Blais has produced a body of work that includes novels, poetry, theatre plays, radio dramas and autobiography and has blazed new literary paths, with experimental language, method and form. This is a rare opportunity to hear one of Canada’s greatest living authors, up close. Advance ticket sales have now ended for this event. Tickets will be available for purchase at the door one hour before the event starts. |
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