2008 WRITERS FESTIVAL TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE
The 21st Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival will present 69 events from October 21 – 26, featuring a lineup of award-winning and bestselling authors from around the globe including Joseph Boyden, Andrew Davidson, Damon Galgut, Steven Galloway, Amitav Ghosh, Lorna Goodison, Linda Grant, Rawi Hage, C.C. Humphreys, Shane Koyczan, Donna Morrissey, Sharon Olds, Paul Quarrington, Jonathan Raban, Nino Ricci, Gillian Slovo, Kinnie Starr, Meg Wolitzer and Ronald Wright. For complete event information please visit our website at http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/2008festival. You can find ticket information at http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/2008festival/tickets.
Special Event
The Vancouver International Writers Festival and Penguin Group (Canada) present John Ralston Saul, the bestselling author of On Equilibrium and Voltaire’s Bastards discusses his new book, A Fair Country: Telling Truths About Canada.
7:30pm, Wednesday October 8
Frederic Wood Theatre
University of British Columbia
6354 Crescent Road
Special event ticket prices: $15/$13 Students and seniors. Vancouver Tix surcharges will apply to all tickets purchased through www.Vancouvertix.com or by phone. Tickets are now available through VancouverTix by calling 604-629-VTIX (604-629-8849). Tickets are also available at the Writers Festival box office (in person sales only), 1398 Cartwright Street. The Writers Festival box office charges a $1 surcharge per ticket. For more information call 604-681-6330.
Call for Volunteers
Volunteers who like to laugh and don’t mind a little physical work are needed Friday October 17, Monday October 20, Tuesday October 21, Monday October 27 and Tuesday October 28 during day-time hours to assist the production staff in setting up and tearing down venues. Duties involve moving chairs, signage, cables, assisting staff with pick-ups and deliveries; decorating etc. Must be able to lift some, carry some, walk across Granville Island, be patient and flexible and have a sense of humour. Production crews have a lot of fun, come join us!
Volunteers also needed with day-time availability Tuesday October 21 to Friday October 24, for shifts from box office to booksales and signings and beyond!
WE STILL NEED ANOTHER VOLUNTEER OR TWO WITH DAYTIME AVAILABILITY WHO SPEAKS FRENCH to assist with booksales and/or box office.
Please SUBMIT YOUR VOLUNTEER REGISTRATION online or contact volunteer co-ordinator Kathryn Fowler, kf*****@wr*********.ca or 604 681-6330 ext 101.
http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/community/volunteers
Literati
The Vancouver International Writers Festival presents Literati, its annual fundraising gala dinner. Join us at the Four Seasons Hotel on October 20 for an evening of festivity, food and literary laughs with Festival authors and host Gloria Macarenko. All proceeds benefit Spreading the Word, the Festival’s education program for BC schools. Tickets are $150 and can be purchased by calling 604 681 6330 ext 109. Corporate tables are also available – contact Ann McDonell at 604 681 6330 ext 104.
Writers’ Rooms
Writing is just one of many art forms Janet Marie Rogers engages in when in her vibrantly coloured writing space. Rogers is appearing in Billeh Nickerson’s annual Thursday night event at the Festival, event 33.
http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/community/rooms
American writer David Foster Wallace, perhaps best known for his 1996 novel Infinite Jest, died this past Friday. He was 46. The NY Times and Slate Magazine offer tributes to the author.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/books/15kaku.html?ref=books
http://www.slate.com/id/2200293/
Harper’s Magazine has made public its content penned by Wallace over the years.
http://www.harpers.org/archive/2008/09/hbc-90003557
John Metcalf on the Penguin Canadian Book of Short Stories and the reaction to it, the Salon des Refusés, which has roused the world of CanLit “from its habitual placid somnolence.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080913.BKREAD13/TPStory/Entertainment/Books
Local author Kevin Chong in this week’s Georgia Straight on how and why Vancouver writers have the worst of both worlds.
http://www.straight.com/article-162207/writers-work-against-city%3F%3Fs-shifting-backdrop
Introducing a website dedicated to finding a new way to publish short fiction: Joyland.
http://www.joyland.ca/home/new_york
AWARDS
What a list! Ten of the authors on the long list for this year’s Scotiabank Giller Prize will be appearing at the Vancouver International Writers Festival.
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/story/2008/09/15/giller-longlist.html
Nam Le, author of the short story collection The Boat, is on the short list for this year’s Dylan Thomas Prize. Le will be appearing in event #20 at the Festival.
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/story/2008/09/16/dylan-thomas-shortlist.html
FESTIVAL AUTHORS
The Toronto Star reviews Linda Grant’s Booker-nominated novel The Clothes on Their Backs, and determines that the novel’s greatest strength is its characterization. Grant is appearing in two events at the Festival.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/498480
Linda Grant writes in The Guardian on what if feels like to make the short list for the Man Booker Prize.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2008/sep/14/bookerprize
The Globe & Mail reviews the third and final book in Chris Humphreys’ young adult series The Runestone Saga. Humphreys will be appearing at the Festival with two new books, Possession for young adults, and Vlad: The Last Confession for adults.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080913.BKPOSS13/TPStory/Entertainment/Books
South African novelist Damon Galgut will be appearing in two events at the Festival. The Globe & Mail reviews his new novel Imposter here:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080913.BKGALG13/TPStory/Entertainment/Books
Quill & Quire reviews Donna Morrissey’s new novel What They Wanted and writes that this “novel is Morrissey, if not at her finest, then pretty darn close.” Morrissey will be appearing in two Festival events.
http://www.quillandquire.com/reviews/review.cfm?review_id=6172
Ivan E. Coyote talks with the Georgia Straight about The Slow Fix, the author’s latest collection of largely autobiographical stories. Coyote is appearing in three Festival events.
http://www.straight.com/article-162172/ivan-e-coyote
In Lee Henderson’s debut novel The Man Game, the man game itself, a wrestling competition between naked lumberjacks in the Vancouver’s early days, is a metaphor for many things. Read an interview with Henderson in the Georgia Straight.
http://www.straight.com/article-162170/man-game-puts-past-play
BOOKS & WRITERS
The NY Times and Slate Magazine review Phillip Roth’s novel Indignation, the narrator of which is a 19-year-old corpse.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/books/17kakutani.html?_r=1&ref=books&oref=slogin
http://www.slate.com/id/2199978/
Of Ian Rankin’s novel Exit Music, the last in his series featuring the Scottish police detective, Inspector John Rebus, the NY Times writes: “elegiac as it is [the novel] sustains the series’s cranky pleasures.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/books/15masl.html?ref=books
With his latest novel The Given Day, Denis Lehane “has written a majestic, fiery epic that moves him far beyond the confines of the crime genre,” writes the NY Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/18/books/18masl.html?ref=books
EVENTS
TO SEE THE SKY
Criminal lawyer, visual artist, and writer Christopher Nowlin will read from his satirical debut novel of Vancouver’s lead-up to the 2010 Games. Thursday, September 18 at 7:00pm, free. Spartacus Books (684 E. Hastings).
PATRICIA ROBERTSON
Join Green College’s 2008 Writer-in-Residence for a reading from her latest short story collection, The Goldfish Dancer: Stories and Novellas, and for an informal discussion about the creative process and how it manifests itself. Thursday, September 18 at 8:00pm, free. Green College, 6201 Cecil Gren Park Road, UBC. For more information, contact gc*********@ub*.ca.
DISJUNCT! PERFORMANCE SERIES
Kick off the fall season with poets Nathalie Stephens and Lisa Robertson. Friday, September 19 at 7:00pm. $5 doantion at the door. Spartacus Books (684 E. Hastings). More information at www.disjunctperformanceseries.blogspot.com/.
EXPLORING PROVERBS AND CLICHÉS
Anthony D’Addese, author of Proverbs, Saying, Clichés… A Multilingual Anthology explores and deciphers enigmatic sayings, aphorisms, and adages expressed in different languages. Friday, September 19 at 7:30pm, free. Italian Cultural Centre (3075 Slocan).
BRISINGR
Midnight launch at all three Kidsbooks locations of the third book in Chris Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle series. Friday, September 19 at 11:00pm. Complete information and purchase advance vouchers at www.kidsbooks.ca.
IKON SPEAKER SERIES
New York Times foreign correspondent, Dexter Filkins, will give a talk on his new book, The Forever War – a memoir from the front lines of the Iraq War that captures the human essence of the greatest conflict of our time. Sunday, September 21 at 7:00pm. Tickets: $18/$15. Capilano Performing Arts Theatre (2055 Purcell Way, North Vancouver). Box Office: 604.990.7810. More information at www.capcollege.bc.ca/theatre.
MARGARET VISSER
The CBC Radio Studio One Book Club is launching their fall season with the incomparable Margaret Visser on September 21st. Her new book The Gift of Thanks explores all aspects of gratitude. For all the details and to win tickets to this fascinating conversation, go to www.cbc.ca/bc/bookclub.
PAUL STEWART AND CHRIS RIDDELL
Release of their new book, Barnaby Grimes Curse of the Night Wolf. Tickets $5. Monday, September 22 at 7:00pm. Larson Elementary School (2605 Larson Road, North Vancouver). Also, Tuesday September 23rd at 7:00pm. Vancouver Kidsbooks (3083 West Broadway, Vancouver). For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.kidsbooks.ca.
VANCOUVER YOUTH POETRY SLAM
Featuring Tomy Bewick. Monday, September 22 at 7:00pm. Tickets: $3/$5. Cafe deux Soleils (2096 Commercial Drive). Call 604.215.9230 or visit http://vancouverpoetryhouse.com/programs/vanslam/ for more information.
ZOE LANDALE
Join poet and first-place winner of the 2003 CBC Literary Competition for a poetry read from her new book, Once a Murderer. Wednesday, September 24 at 7:00pm, free. Peter J Peters Rm. West Vancouver Memorial Library (1950 Marine Dr.).
WHAT STIRS
Margaret Christakos launches her newest poetry book, What Stirs at two readings. Wednesday, September 24 at 7:00pm at the University of British Columbia, Green College Coach House with Nathalie Stephens. Also, Thursday, September 25 at 7:00pm at Emily Carr University South Building, Room 406 with Fred Wah. More information at www.chbooks.com.
EVELYN LAU
Evelyn Lau reads a selection of her poetry, including her recent book, Treble. Wednesday, September 24 at 7:30pm, free. Alma VanDusen Room, Lower Level, Central Library, 350 West Georgia Street. For more information please contact Vancouver Public Library at 604-331-3603.
SFU READING SERIES
SFU Library Noonhour Readings Series will present poets George Stanley & Indran Amirthanayagam reading from recent work. Thursday, September 25 at 12:30pm, free. Room 7100, W.A.C. Bennett Library, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby.
BOOK LAUNCH
Join Caitlin Press and Ronsdale Press for the launch of two books: A Well-Mannered Storm: The Glenn Gould Poems, by Kate Braid and Writing the West Coast: In Love with Place, edited by Christine Lowther and Anita Sinner. Featuring readings by Kate Braid, Darcy Dobell, Hannelore Evans, Betty Krawczyk, Joanna Robinson and David Tindall. Thursday, September 25 at 7:30pm, free. The Bistro at The Sylvia Hotel, 1154 Gilford Street. Book sales by Duthie Books. More information at in**@ca***********.com.
JEFFREY ALFORD
For everyone who devours cookbooks in bed and loves to travel the world following their appetites, the CBC Radio Studio One Book Club is very excited to present Jeffrey Alford with his new book Beyond the Great Wall: Recipes and Travels in the Other China on Sunday September 28. It’s a rich mix of recipes, photos and stories celebrating the most ethnically diverse regions of China. Jeffrey and his wife Naomi Duguid have won huge acclaim for their previous books, including Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet and Seductions of Rice, and this new book is just as stunning. Host Sheryl MacKay of North by Northwest will be joined by special co-host Tara Lee, the author of one of Vancouver’s most popular foodie blogs. For your chance to win free tickets to this delectable afternoon, go to www.cbc.ca/bc/bookclub.
THE WORD ON THE STREET
The Word On The Street is an annual one-day festival celebrating literacy and the written arts with hundreds of participating exhibitors, authors, and performers for literary readings, cookbook demonstrations, music, contests, panel discussions, and much more. Sunday, September 28 from 11:00am to 5:00pm, free. For complete details, visit http://www.thewordonthestreet.ca/vancouver.php.
Upcoming
MARK HOOLBOOM
Celebrate Learning presents The Steve Machine, the first novel by the acclaimed filmmaker. Thursday, October 2 at 12:00pm, free. Lilloet Room (Level 3) of the Irving K. Barber Learnng Centre (1961 East Mall).
ALCUIN SOCIETY’S 26TH ANNUAL BOOK DESIGN AWARDS
The Alcuin Society is pleased to announce that this year’s annual ceremony for the Society’s 26th annual Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada. Thursday, October 2 at 7:00pm, free. Also, two free limited admission book design-related workshops will be given by Peter Cocking, Celia King, and CS Richardson. SB 301, Emily Carr University, 1399 Johnston St., Granville Island. More information at www.alcuinsociety.com/awards.
AN EVENING WITH STEVEN GALLOWAY
Author will read from his Giller Prize-nominated novel The Cellist of Sarajevo. Thursday, October 2 at 7:00pm. Free but registration required. McGill Branch, Burnaby Public Library (4595 Albert St., Confederation Park, North Burnaby). For more information or to register phone 604-299-8955.
KEITH BILLINGTON
The author of House Calls by Dogsled presents a talk on his time as a nurse in the 1960’s in the Northwest Territories outpost of Fort McPherson, 1700 miles north of Edmonton. Friday, October 3 at 7:30pm, free. Peter Kaye Room, Lower Level, Central Library, 350 West Georgia Street. For more information please contact Vancouver Public Library at 604-331-3603.
Please email vi**@wr*********.ca if you would like to unsubscribe from this email list.
Produced by the Book News Collective: Hal Wake, Brenda Berck, Clea Young, Ann McDonell and Sandra Millard.
Hal Wake
Artistic Director
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2008 Festival – 21-26 October inclusive
Vancouver International Writers Festival
Suite 202, 1398 Cartwright Street
Vancouver, BC V6H 3R8
Canada
p: 604 681 6330 x102
f: 604 681 8400
e: hw***@wr*********.ca
w: www.writersfest.bc.ca