Joseph Boyden (Through Black Spruce) will join a lineup of international literary stars –Alistair MacLeod, Amit Chaudhuri, Joan London and Elizabeth Strout – for the VIWF’s Tribute to Alice Munro event on October 18 at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage. Tickets are available through VancouverTix.com or at the Writers Festival box office. Event details.
David Sedaris Special Event
For post-Festival enjoyment, join David Sedaris, the man Entertainment Weekly describes as “the preeminent humorist of his generation”. Tickets are still available to the general public, but you can still do your bit for the VIWF by using the special code “writers” when you book. A portion of the ticket revenue will then come to the Festival. Call 604 280 3311 or visit www.ticketmaster.ca. Event details.
Guess the Giller!
The VIWF is pleased to partner with Scotiabank Giller Prize in the Guess the Giller contest. Select the finalist you think will win the prize to win a VIP trip for two to the 2010 Scotiabank Giller Prize Gala in Toronto. Details.
AWARDS
Alice Munro’s Too Much Happiness, Newfoundland writer Michael Crummey’s Galore and New Westminster writer Annabel Lyon’s The Golden Mean are among the fiction nominees for this year’s Governor General’s Literary Awards. Tim Wynne-Jones’ novel The Uninvited has been nominated in the Children’s Literature category. Winners will be announced November 17. Crummy will be appearing in events 39 and 59 at the Festival; Wynne-Jones will be appearing in events 13, 15, 22 and 43.
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/story/2009/10/14/gg-nominations.html
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/article/709986–nfld-author-gets-redemption-with-gg-award-nod
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/annabel-lyon-and-alice-munro-among-finalists-for-governor-generals-award-for-fiction/article1323197/
BOOKS & WRITERS
Geoff Pevere writes in The Star that Leon Rooke’s new story collection, The Last Shot, is filled with literary magic. Rooke will be appearing in events 37, 46, and 62 at the Festival.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/bookreviews/article/708228–leon-rooke-still-possesses-that-masterful-touch
The Star’s Barbara Carey describes Audrey Niffeneger’s Her Fearful Symmetry as a deliciously dark saga of obsessive love. Niffeneger will be appearing in events 7, 19, and 34 at the Festival.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/bookreviews/article/708257–a-deliciously-dark-saga-of-obsessive-love
The Globe’s Sarah Hampson interviews Bonnie Burnard on her latest novel Suddenly. Burnard will be appearing in events 9 and 20 at the Festival.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/giller-winner-draws-on-the-intimate-circles-of-home/article1320363/
Herta Müller writes that there is evidence that she is still under observation, twenty years after the end of the Ceausescu regime in Romania.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/oct/10/herta-muller-nobel-laureate-memoir
Elsewhere in the Guardian, an essay on why Herta Müller matters.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2009/oct/09/herta-muller-nobel-prize-literature
A recent issue of The Guardian includes the exclusive publication of a short story by Hilary Mantel, winner of the 2009 Man Booker Prize.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/oct/10/hilary-mantel-booker-short-story
And the Globe & Mail has an exclusive excerpt from Mantel’s award-winning Wolf Hall.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/im-on-my-way-then/article1318784/
The NY Times profiles A.S. Byatt, a novelist whose fiction comes from real lives. A great many real figures make walk-on appearances in her most recent book The Children’s Book.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/10/world/europe/10byatt.html?ref=books
The Vancouver Sun profiles Sarah Waters, who will be appearing in events 43 and 54 at the Festival.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Writing+says+great+Briton/2090451/story.html
Physician/writer Kevin Patterson suggests that soldier/physician/writer Ray Wiss’s FOB DOC is worth reading now and again a decade hence after the withdrawal from Afghanistan and “after second sight have done their work”.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/the-doctor-goes-to-war/article1318642/
Joan Thomas describes Nicholson Baker’s The Anthologist as “a meditation on poetry framed as a novel”, distilling “the essence of how poets live”.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/the-marinating-of-the-ancient-rhymer/article1318695/
Andrew Nikiforuk writes that Tim Flannery’s essay Now or Never doesn’t beat about the bush. Flannery, he says, wants to believe that the civilization that abolished slavery can do the same with oil and its carbon legacy. There is, however, little government leadership.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/last-chance-for-earth/article1318581/
Jim Bartley finds Lynn Crymble’s first novel, It Can Happen to You, funny and true.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/forty-and-not-so-fabulous/article1318661/
In the Globe & Mail’s Tuesday Essay, Crymble writes that the impacts of her MS make writing a perfect occupation for her.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/a-writers-disease/article1321775/
EVENTS
2009 CBC MASSEY LECTURE
Wade Davis offers a gripping and enlightening account of the urgent crisis facing human cultures and the rapid extinction of languages in his new book, The Wayfinders. Thursday, October 15 at 8:00pm. Tickets are $23/$13 plus service charges. Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, UBC. More information at www.chancentre.com.
FALL BOOK HARVEST
Featuring live presentations, free autographs, displays, door prizes, activities, a book sale, and appearances by authors and illustrators Fiona Bayrock, Rachelle Delaney, Melanie Jackson, Oliver Neubert, Cynthia Nugent, Sheri Radford, and Gillian Richardson. Friday, October 16 at 1:30pm, free. North Vancouver City Library (120 W. 14th.).
AMANDA NAHANEE
Join Vancouver Public Library’s inaugural First Nations Storyteller-in-Residence Amanda Nahanee for storytelling from her culture and history. Friday, October 16 at 3:00pm, free. Carnegie Theatre, Carnegie Branch (401 Main Street). For more information, contact Vancouver Public Library at 604-331-3603.
ROBSON READING SERIES
Readings by Pasha Malla (The Withdrawal Method) and Chris Hutchinson (Other People’s Lives). Monday, October 19 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore Library, Robson Square, 800 Robson Street. More information at www.rsquare.bookstore.ubc.ca.
FRANCIS MANSBRIDGE
Author presents Hollyburn: The Mountain and the City, the first book to explore the rich and diverse history of Hollyburn. Monday, October 19 at 7:30pm, free. Alma VanDusen Room, Lower Level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia. For more information please contact Vancouver Public Library at 604-331-3603.
BOOK LAUNCH
Readings by Susan Telfer (House Beneath) and award-winning Saskatchewan writer Anne Campbell (Soul to Touch). Monday, October 19 at 7:30pm, free. Level 3 meeting room, Central Branch, Vancouver Public Library (350 W. Georgia Street). Information at www.hagiospress.com.
BETH ROWLES SCOTT
Author presents her new book Pinch Me: A Long Walk from the Prairies. Tuesday, October 20 at 7:30pm, free. Meeting room, level 3, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. For more information please contact VPL – Popular Reading Library at 604-331-3691.
MICHAEL BYERS
Launch of author’s new book, Who Owns the Arctic?. Wednesday, October 21 at 7:00pm. RSVP to lo*****@dm*******.com. Fairmont Lounge, St. John’s College ( 2111 Lower Mall, UBC).
MARIATU KAMARA
The Pacific Arbour Speak Series presents Mariatu Kamara, activist and author of The Bite of the Mango, a memoir about her experiences as a war victim in Sierra Leone. Wednesday, October 21 at 7:30pm. Tickets $12/$10. Kay Meek Centre (1700 Mathers Ave., West Vancouver). For more information, phone 604-913-3634.
SATELLITES OF LOVE
John Sampson and Christine Fellows, songwriters known for their literary approach to their work, will discuss with Meryn Cadell about their creative processes. Wednesday, October 21 at 8:00pm, free. RM C300, Robson Square Theatre, 800 Robson St.
PATTI GULLY
Reading by the author of Sisters of Heaven. Thursday, October 22 at 2:00pm, free. Lillooet Room, Irving K. Barber Learning Centre (1961 East Mall, UBC). More information at 604.827.4366.
THEO FLEURY
Theo Fleury answers questions about his life and career in the NHL and signs copies of his autobiography Playing With Fire. Thursday, October 22 at 7:00pm. Chapters at Metrotown (4700 Kingsway). For more information, phone 604.431.0463.
AUTHOR GALA EVENT
Diana Gabaldon, Jack Whyte, Terry Brooks, Michael Slade, Meg Tilly, Richelle Mead, and Richard Scrimger read from their latest works. Thursday, October 22 at 7:00pm. Chapters Surrey (12101 72nd Ave., Surrey). For more information, phone 604.501.2877.
1001 (ACTUALLY 2) LITERARY NIGHTS
Read your work at one of the open mic nights at the Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival. 7 minute readings in poetry, fiction and nonfiction. Friday, October 23 and Saturday, October 24 from 6:30 to 8:00pm, free. Open mic signup at 6:00pm. Agro Cafe, 1363 Railspur Alley, Granville Island. Hosted by the Federation of BC Writers.
SURREY INTERNATIONAL WRITERS’ CONFERENCE
17th annual conference featuring trade show, workshops and agent interviews. October 23-25, 2009. For complete information, visit www.siwc.ca.
ALCUIN WAYZGOOSE 2009
A celebration of the fine press printing in British Columbia. Saturday, October 24 from 10am to 4pm, free. Alice MacKay room, Lower Level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia. For more information please contact VPL – Special Collections at 604-331-3778.
Upcoming
BOOK LAUNCH
Chris Hutchinson, Joe Denham and Gillian Jerome launch new books. Wednesday, October 28 at 7:00pm. Heritage Hall, 3102 Main Street.
ON EDGE READING SERIES
Reading by poet Ken Belford, author of Fireweed and The Post Electric Caveman. Thursday, October 29 at 7:00pm, free. SB406, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Granville Island.
Produced by the Book News Collective: Hal Wake, Clea Young, Brenda Berck, Ann McDonell and Sandra Millard.
To unsubscribe, please visit http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/community/booknews.
Hal Wake
Artistic Director
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2009 Festival – 18-25 October inclusive
Vancouver International Writers Festival
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Vancouver, BC V6H 3R8
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