Program Guide in pdf - Vancouver International Writers Festival

42
CHARLOTTE GRAY
ONTARIO, EVENTS 31, 38
Charlotte Gray, one of Canada’s pre-eminent biographers,
has won many awards for her writing, most notably the
prestigious Pierre Berton Award for a body of historical
writing. She is currently the Chair of Canada’s National
History Society. Her new book, Gold Diggers: Striking it Rich
in the Klondike, tells the story of the legendary Yukon Gold Rush of 1896
through the lives of six extraordinary individuals and offers a colourful and
entertaining journey into a world gone mad for wealth.
© GARY OTTLEY © TERENCE BAILEY
© KOBI KALMANOVITZ
© VALBERG IMAGING
DAVID GROSSMAN
ISRAEL, EVENTS 32, 36
David Grossman is the leading Israeli writer of his
generation. He is the author of seven internationally
acclaimed novels and two powerful journalistic accounts, as
well as a number of children’s books and a play. Grossman
has been presented with numerous awards, including
Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters (France). He lives with his wife and
children in a suburb of Jerusalem. His emotionally wrenching new novel is
Until the End of the Land.
SARA GRUEN
CANADA/UNITED STATES, SPECIAL EVENT
Canadian author Sara Gruen is the author of the awardwinning
#1 bestselling novel Water for Elephants, as well
as Riding Lessons and Flying Changes. Gruen was born
in Vancouver and raised in London, Ontario. She studied
English literature at Carleton University in Ottawa. In order
to write her latest novel, Ape House, Gruen studied linguistics and a system
of lexigrams so she could communicate directly with the bonobos living at the
Great Ape Trust in Des Moines, Iowa.
GENNI GUNN
BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENTS 59, 62
Genni Gunn is a writer, musician and translator. Her books
include two novels, Tracing Iris and Thrice upon a Time; two
short story collections, Hungers and On the Road; and two
poetry collections, Faceless and Mating in Captivity. Gunn’s
works have been fi nalists for the CBC Literary Awards in all
three categories (fi ction, personal essay and poetry) and have been nominated
for numerous other awards. Her new novel is Solitaria.
PAUL HARDING
UNITED STATES, EVENTS 51, 55, 65
Paul Harding has an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop
and has taught writing at Harvard and the University of Iowa.
He spent most of the 1990s as the drummer for the band
Cold Water Flat before turning to writing. He lives near Boston
with his wife and two sons. Tinkers, his fi rst novel, won the
2010 Pulitzer Prize for fi ction—a rare accomplishment for a debut novelist.
© DOMINICO SPOSATO
© ALEXANDRA ROCKINGHAM
RICHARD HARVELL
UNITED STATES, SPECIAL EVENT
Richard Harvell was born in New Hampshire, USA, and
studied English literature at Dartmouth College. He now lives
in Basel, Switzerland, with his wife and son. The Bells is his
fi rst novel.
MICHAEL HELM
ONTARIO, EVENTS 35, 59
Michael Helm is the author of The Projectionist, a fi nalist
for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, In the Place of Last Things,
a fi nalist for the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and a
regional Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Book and,
most recently, Cities of Refuge. His writings on fi ction,
poetry and photography have appeared in North American newspapers and
magazines, including Brick, where he serves as editor. He teaches at York
University in Toronto.
JACK HODGINS
BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENTS 38, 63
Jack Hodgins has written seven novels and three story
collections, including Spit Delaney’s Island and The Invention
of the World. Hodgins’ fi ction has won the Governor General’s
Award, the Canada-Australia Prize, the Commonwealth Prize
(Canada and the Caribbean) and the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize,
among others. In 2009 he was appointed to the Order of Canada. He lives in
Victoria, BC, where, until recently, he taught writing at the University of Victoria.
His new novel is The Master of Happy Endings.
© DARREN STONE
ANOSH IRANI
BRITISH COLUMBIA, EVENTS 34, 37, 47
Anosh Irani was born in Bombay and moved to Vancouver
in 1998. He is the author of the acclaimed novels The
Cripple and His Talismans and The Song of Kahunsha. His
play, Bombay Black, won the Dora Mavor Moore Award in
2006 for Best New Play or New Musical, and his latest play,
My Granny the Goldfi sh, performed to enthusiastic reviews at the Arts Club
Theatre in Vancouver this past spring. His new novel is Dahanu Road.
© TUSHNA SHROFF
REBECCA JAMES
AUSTRALIA, EVENTS 15, 25
Rebecca James’ fi rst young adult novel, Beautiful Malice,
has received international acclaim and prompted critics to
suggest she might be the next J.K. Rowling. Beautiful Malice
is a gritty psychological thriller for teenage readers in which
people, motives and circumstances are never what they
seem. James lives in Armidale, Australia with her partner and their four sons.
Rebecca James’ appearance is made possible by the Australian Council for the Arts.