69 Governor General’s Award Party

Joan MacLeod British Columbia	John Pass British Columbia	Nino Ricci Ontario
John Vaillant British Columbia

Joan MacLeod, British Columbia

Joan MacLeod’s plays include Jewel, Toronto, Mississippi, The Hope Slide, and Amigo’s Blue Guitar, which won the Governor General’s Award. More recently, her plays Homechild and Another Home Invasion have been on Vancouver stages, while The Shape of a Girl, originally written for young audiences, continues to tour internationally. Joan teaches Writing at the University of Victoria.

Joan MacLeod’s appearance is made possible by the Canada Council for the Arts. Read more

John Pass, British Columbia

John Pass has had his work published widely in Canada, as well as in the US, the UK and Ireland. His most recent books, comprising the quartet At Large, are The Hour's Acropolis, Radical Innocence, Water Stair, shortlisted for the Governor General's Award, and Stumbling in the Bloom, winner of the Governor General's Award. He lives with his wife, writer Theresa Kishkan, on BC’s Sunshine Coast. His new poetry collection is crawlspace. Read more

Nino Ricci, Ontario

Nino Ricci’s first novel, the best-selling Lives of the Saints, garnered international acclaim and won a host of awards, including the Governor General’s Award and the Books in Canada First Novel Award. It was the first installment in a trilogy, rounded out by In a Glass House and Where She Has Gone, which was adapted for a television miniseries. Ricci’s next novel, Testament, won numerous awards. His latest is The Origin of Species, which earned him his second Governor General’s Award. Read more

John Vaillant, British Columbia

John Vaillant’s first book, The Golden Spruce, was a national bestseller and won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction, as well as several other awards. He has written for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Outside, National Geographic and The Walrus, among other publications. His latest book is The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival. He lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, with his wife and children. Read more

Host: Hal Wake
Sunday, October 23, 2011 - 8:00pm
Waterfront Theatre
$19

For decades the most significant recognition a writer can receive in Canada has been a Governor General’s award. On the 75th anniversary of the awards we bring together four acclaimed writers who will read from the books that won the coveted prize, and talk about what the reward has meant for their careers. They’ll also offer their frank opinions about literary prizes in general and what they contribute to our literary culture and whether we have relied too heavily on prizes to tell us what to read. Two-time winner for fiction Nino Ricci will be joined by John Pass (poetry), Joan MacLeod (drama) and John Vaillant (non-fiction). Come celebrate the GG’s and the end of the Festival with cake and conversation.

Tickets are still available and can be purchased at the door 45 minutes before the event begins.

This event is generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.

69 Governor General’s Award Party

2011 Festival