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Fan of Books and Bards? Vancouver Writers Fest Is Nigh!

With over 88 diverse events, this year’s fest has something for everyone. Runs Oct. 17 to 23.

Tyee Staff 3 Oct 2016TheTyee.ca

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In her buzzy new book, The Natural Way of Things, Australia’s Charlotte Wood depicts a haunting camp where women are subjugated. See her at Vancouver Writers Fest.

This year at the Vancouver Writers Fest: everything from dystopian dreams to Canada’s past to reflections on two of the world’s most celebrated bards.

It’s the 29th year of the celebration of writers and writing, happening on Vancouver’s Granville Island between Oct. 17 and 23. There are over 88 diverse events of readings, interviews and performances, on everything from crime to poetry to non-fiction.

The festival starts on Oct. 17 with “Between the Pages: An Evening with the Scotiabank Giller Prize Finalists,” whose names were just revealed last week. The prize will welcome a writer into the ranks of previous winners such as Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro and Michael Ondaatje.

For lovers of dystopian fiction, spend an evening with Anna Smaill, M.G. Vassanji, Charlotte Wood and Michael Helm. In her new book, The Natural Way of Things, Wood depicts a haunting camp where women are subjugated, while Helm’s After James imagines a world with creativity drugs gone wrong.

If envisioning dystopia isn’t your thing, then explore the far corners of our real world with popular anthropologist Wade Davis. His new book Wade Davis: Photographs selects 150 images from his 40-year career of journeys around the world, with scenes of family, love and tradition.

While Davis’s evening event is already sold out, he’ll also partake in an event that defies the stereotype of writers as introverts chained to their desks. “Writer as Citizen,” a weekend event, also features Deborah Campbell, Christopher Merrill and Noah Richler.

Campbell’s new book, A Disappearance in Damascus, reflects on the vanishing of her friend and fixer while reporting abroad; poet Merrill has visited more than 30 countries engaging in cultural diplomacy on behalf of the U.S.; and Richler’s The Candidate keys off his run for Parliament during the last election.

Critically acclaimed writer Colson Whitehead, recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship genius grant, has a much-acclaimed new novel out which imagines the Underground Railroad as... well, a real underground railroad.

Some writers of Canadian classics in attendance are beloved children’s writer Kit Pearson, with a new book on a young Emily Carr, and Joy Kogawa, who recently completed her long-awaited memoir, Gently to Nagasaki.

Also participating are international-renowned Canadian names showcasing their latest titles: Emma Donoghue of Room fame has a new novel out called The Wonder; Guy Gavriel Kay will discuss his latest historical-fantasy Children of Earth and Sky borrowing from Renaissance Europe; and Life of Pi’s Yann Martel will rep his latest, The High Mountains of Portugal.

And did you know it’s the joint 400th death anniversary of Shakespeare and Cervantes? Both literary heavyweights died in 1616. Hisham Matar and Marcos Giralt Torrente from the famous writers’ home countries — and writers in their own right — will be hosting an event on “reimagining the masters.”

Altogether, it’s an impressive host of Canadian and international writers alike.

Click here to buy tickets.

Special pricing for students and seniors available.

The Tyee is pleased to be a media sponsor for the 2016 Vancouver Writers Fest.  [Tyee]

Read more: Media

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