Program Guide in pdf - Vancouver International Writers Festival

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DARWIN’S BASTARDS
WILLIAM GIBSON, ANOSH IRANI, YANN MARTEL,
ADAM LEWIS SCHROEDER
HOST: ZSUZSI GARTNER
10 – 11:30 AM
GRANVILLE ISLAND STAGE
$17 / $8.50 STUDENT GROUPS
Zsuzsi Gartner has selected and edited a collection
of twenty-three short stories entitled Darwin’s
Bastards: Astounding Tales from Tomorrow. Today
she joins in conversation with four of the authors
included in the collection to talk about the genesis
of their speculative writing and breaking the bounds
of realism. “What if...?” becomes “and then...” in
these stories. From Yann Martel’s “We Ate the
Children Last” to Anosh Irani’s “Notes from the
Womb,” the collection shows that the Canadian
imagination can be as wildly inventive as any on
earth or off the planet, for that matter.
Suitable for Grades 10 to 12
and adults
COMIC BOOK CONFIDENTIAL
LYNDA BARRY, SARAH LEAVITT
10 - 11:30 AM
WATERFRONT THEATRE
$17 / $8.50 FOR STUDENT GROUPS
Who would have thought that the comic
book—usually the preserve of super-heroes and
evil villains—could be used to explore family life
and the deepest secret thoughts of teenagers?
Lynda Barry is one of the great contemporary
cartoon masters and her young comic book
characters run the gamut from Marlys (gifted
and exuberant) to Maybonne (concerned with
social justice and music) to Freddie (fascinated
with bugs and monsters). Sarah Leavitt’s new
graphic memoir, Tangles, reveals how Alzheimer’s
disease transformed her mother Midge—and her
family—forever. These talented writers and artists
use words and pictures to bring reality into focus
and offer insight into how to deal with what life
throws at us.
Suitable for Grades 10 to 12
and adults
37 RAW MATERIAL 38 RICHARDSON’S ROUNDUP 39
CHARLOTTE GRAY, JACK HODGINS, DON MCKAY, TERENCE YOUNG
10 – 11:30 AM
REVUE STAGE
$17 / $8.50 STUDENT GROUPS
“What use is technique if you haven’t yet
discovered what you have in your past, your
imagination, your present life, your relatives’
lives, your reading, your obsessions or your
imagination that offers you the stories that are
meant just for you to write?” Jack Hodgins has
said. This event explores the nuggets of raw
material that expand in the hands of gifted writers
to become creative non-fi ction, poems, short
stories or novels. Where do writers fi nd these
nuggets, and how do they know when these
ideas or facts are rich enough for them to spend
the next months or years developing? Along
with Hodgins, Charlotte Gray, Don McKay and
Terence Young answer these questions.
Suitable for Grades 10 to 12
and adults
WAYNE GRADY, MARC LEVY, MERILYN SIMONDS, CHEVY STEVENS
HOST: BILL RICHARDSON
10 –11:30 AM
PERFORMANCE WORKS
$17 / $8.50 FOR STUDENT GROUPS
The insatiably curious and entertaining Bill
Richardson returns to the Festival to chat up four
authors with three distinctly different new books.
Marc Levy is France’s number-one bestselling
author with more than 20 million copies of his
seven books sold around the world. Chevy
Stevens comes to the Festival with her debut
novel (and a contract for two more). Wayne
Grady and Merilyn Simonds, no strangers to the
Festival, have written a two-voiced narrative of
their travels through America. There’s nothing like
a Richardson interview to get to the hidden corners
of a subject and extract the very best anecdotes
and insights from these writers.
Suitable for Grades 10 to 12
and adults
40 LINE BY LINE 41
ON THE ROAD TO WRITE
JON PAUL FIORENTINO, M.T. KELLY, ERÍN MOURE, JOHN STEFFLER
HOST: RHEA TREGEBOV
10 – 11:30 AM
PTC STUDIO
$17/ $8.50 FOR STUDENT GROUPS
In poetry, we let language off the leash, according
to former Parliamentary Poet Laureate of Canada,
John Steffl er. Erín Moure, one of Canada’s
preeminent poets, holds a similar opinion, claiming
that even two words placed together can open up
a world. Together with M.T. Kelly and Jon Paul
Fiorentino, these four poets explore the shaping
of language at the level of the sentence rather
than the chapter, as fi ction writers do. These poets
will talk, as only poets can, about the concentration
of energy and meaning in the poetic form. Set
aside some time this morning to get excited by
words as building blocks and the surprise of new
meanings contained in familiar words. Come see
some of Canada’s best poets
at work and at play.
Suitable for Grades 10 to 12
and adults
DAVE BIDINI, DENISE CHONG, WAYNE GRADY,
MYRNA KOSTASH, DEREK LUNDY, MERILYN SIMONDS
HOST: ANDREAS SCHROEDER
1 – 2:30 PM
GRANVILLE ISLAND STAGE
$17 / $8.50 FOR STUDENT GROUPS
A good road trip is excellent fodder for stories
for years to come. But while most of us tuck
away our memories when we put away our
suitcases, these authors have turned their
wayfaring into writing. Wayne Grady and
Merilyn Simonds’ road trip into the heart of
America at the end of the Bush era contrasts
well with Derek Lundy’s motorcycle adventures
along both international borders of the US in a
post-9/11 atmosphere of heightened security.
Denise Chong takes the armchair traveller to
post-Tiananmen Square China, Myrna Kostash
looks to the Ukraine in search of roots and
religion, and Dave Bidini plays soccer with the
homeless in Australia.
Suitable for Grades 10 to 12
and adults
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