Welcome It is the function of art to renew our perception. What we are familiar with we cease to see. The writer shakes up the familiar scene, and, as if by magic, october 18 - 20, 2013 we see a new meaning in it.
Anais Nin (Author)
Welcome to the 12th annual Whistler Readers and Writers Festival. Each year we strive to bring the very best Canadian and international authors to Whistler for a weekend packed with readings, workshops and lots of opportunities for you to meet some of your favourite Welcome to the authors. This weekend provides a chance for readers and writers alike to renew and recharge. And what a beautiful 12th Annual place to get inspiration, tucked in the mountains listening Whistler Readers to and talking with your favourite authors. This year our opening night jazz and books gala hosted and Writers by local scribe, Stephen Vogler will include award-winning Festival. writer Patrick deWitt, Mary Swan, Peter Zuckerman, Janet Love Morrison, Roberta Rich and our 2013 Writer in Residence Ania Szado. The evening will see a fireside chat with guest authors who will also read snippets from their latest books. Our very own talented local musicians will provide music for both this event and Saturday night’s event.
2 Welcome (continued)
We’ve added three new Jane Silcott, Meg Tilley, Genni reading events, including Gunn and our very own Sue Is there any better time or one featuring poets, another Oakey-Baker. excuse to enjoy Whistler in showcasing crime and mystery the autumn and renew your writers, and a special Saturday Our signature workshops on literary pursuits? night main stage reading with journalism, memoir writing, Giller prize winning author, Will writing for young readers, and Welcome to our festival. Thank Ferguson, in conversation with writing historical fiction will you for your support. We can’t award winning broadcaster be back with new instructors do it without you. and best-selling author Jian and new material. We’ve also Ghomeshi, host of CBC’s added a publishing workshop Enjoy! Q. Jian will join us again on on Friday afternoon, which Sunday, October 20th to host will explore the various Stella Harvey, a brunch and discussion with publishing options available to Festival Director award winning authors Lisa a writer who has a completed Moore, Richard Wagamese, manuscript.
3 At every event and at literary Nega’s release, arguing that his festivals around the country, imprisonment was “a result of his PEN Canada asks that a place be peaceful exercise of the right to reserved for a writer who cannot freedom of expression”. On May be in attendance, someone who 2, 2013, however, following an can’t do what we are about to do: appeal and joint NGO statement, exercise our right, perhaps even Mr. Nega’s 18-year sentence our obligation, to speak out, and was upheld. Mr. Nega is the to be bold, active citizens. recipient of the 2012 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write We do this to remind audiences Award and has been designated of the responsibilities that come a “prisoner of conscience” by with the freedoms we enjoy, and Amnesty International. to honour the remarkable people who defend these embattled Ms. Reeyot Alemu, a well-known freedoms, often at great cost. high school English teacher and in Partnership The Whistler Readers and Writers journalist, is known for her critical Festival is proud to partner with articles on poverty and gender with PEN Canada PEN Canada again this year in equality. In January, 2012 under support of Mr. Eskinder Nega and Ethiopia’s strict anti-terrorism Ms Reeyot Alemu. laws, Alemu was sentenced to 14 years in prison (later reduced to On July 13, 2012, the Ethiopian five), because of her involvement journalist and blogger Mr. with free journalism in the Eskinder Nega [ESS-KIN-DUH country. In the spring of 2012, NAY-GUH] was sentenced to Ms. Alemu was diagnosed with a 18 years in prison for vague growth in her breast and in April terrorism charges related to this of the same year she underwent proclamation. surgery. After the surgery, Alemu was returned to jail without being Mr. Nega, who was educated in given proper recovery time. reeyot alemu the United States and carried In February 2013, Ms. Alemu’s a US passport, had voluntarily growth returned, but she was chosen to remain in Ethiopia denied proper medical attention. as a journalist, pursuing what In addition to this, Ms. Alemu was he saw as his duty to write and subjected to two weeks in solitary speak freely. This most recent confinement after refusing an arrest came in 2011 following the offer of clemency. publication of a column in which he questioned the Ethiopian If you would like to support PEN’s government’s claim that a number work on behalf of Eskinder Nega of recently detained journalists or Reeyot Alemu, please sign the were suspected terrorists. petition that will be circulated at the end of our opening event. eskinder nega After investigating his case, a UN panel called for Mr.
4 writer IN RESIDENCE PROGRAM Ania Ania Szado will take up residence in Whistler this fall as the Szado community’s official Writer-in-Residence. Living in the Alta Lake Station House, Szado will work with 12 writers on their own projects, starting in early October with a pot luck get-together and introductory meeting.
Novice, emerging and experienced writers of all genres interested in taking part in the residency program need to register with Stella Harvey by sending an email to Stella25@telus. net. Residency participants will receive four one-on-one sessions with Ania Szado to develop their manuscript, and will also be able to attend weekly group lectures on various aspects of the craft of writing. Each participant will also receive Ania’s book, Studio St-Ex. This is made possible through a Whistler Blackcomb Foundation grant.
Once accepted, writers must submit a short synopsis of the work they plan to work on during the residency, plus a manuscript of no more than 20 double-spaced pages, by Monday, September 2nd to enable Ania to complete a review in advance of the first meeting.
The residency forms the manuscript-intensive component of the Whistler Readers and Writers Festival.
5 festivalat a glance
This at-a-glance schedule will help you find all the events. For details see Session Descriptions in Detail starting on page 9. Guest Author Biographies can be found starting on page 14
October 18. 4:00 - 6:00 pm | FAIRMONT CHATEAU WHISTLER | ADMISSION $25 WORKSHOP 1 : You have a manuscript, now what? FRI Frank Edwards (Bungalow Books), Karen Haughian (Signature Editions), Janet Love Morrison (author), Sue Oakey-Baker (author), Stella Harvey (author). Moderator - Rebecca Wood Barrett.
October 18. 6:30 - 7:45 pm | MILENNIUM PLACE | ADMISSION FREE SUE OAKEY-BAKER BOOK LAUNCH FRI Sue Oakey-Baker launches her new memoir, Finding Jim.
October 18. 8:00 pm | MILENNIUM PLACE | ADMISSION $20 READING EVENT 1 : Opening Night Gala FRI Jazz & Books Gala with Mary Swan, Ania Szado, Patrick deWitt, Peter Zuckerman, Janet Love Morrison, and Roberta Rich. There will be live music featuring local musicians. Moderator - Stephen Vogler.
6 festival at a glance
October 19. 8:30 - 10:30 am | FAIRMONT CHATEAU WHISTLER | ADMISSION $25 Workshop 2 : From History to Story SAT Writing historical fiction with Ania Szado.
October 19. 8:30 - 10:30 am | FAIRMONT CHATEAU WHISTLER | ADMISSION $25 Workshop 3 : So ... you want to be a magazine SAT writer. Really? With Leslie Anthony
COFFEE BREAK 10:30 - 11:00 am
October 19. 11:00 am - 1:00 pm | FAIRMONT CHATEAU WHISTLER | ADMISSION $25 SAT Workshop 4 : Writing for Young Readers With Meg Tilley
October 19. 11:00 am - 1:00 pm | FAIRMONT CHATEAU WHISTLER | ADMISSION $25 Workshop 5 : Memoir Writing - Where to Begin? SAT With Jane Silcott
October 19. 1:00 - 2:00 pm | FAIRMONT CHATEAU WHISTLER | ADMISSION $25 Reading Event 2 : Crimes of Fiction SAT Showcases readings by writers of crime and mystery including: William Deverell, Robin Spano, E.R. Brown, and Ian Hamilton. Moderator - Feet Banks. Admission includes lunch.
October 19. 2:15 - 4:15 pm | FAIRMONT CHATEAU WHISTLER | ADMISSION $25 Workshop 6 : A Better Way to Revise SAT With Peter Zuckerman
7 festival at a glance
October 19. 2:15 - 4:15 pm | FAIRMONT CHATEAU WHISTLER | ADMISSION $20 READING EVENT 3 : Comes a Time: Past, Present, SAT Future. Poetry reading and panel discussion with Michael Crummey, Evelyn Lau, Rona Shaffran and Elizabeth Bachinsky. Moderator - Mary MacDonald.
October 19. 2:30 - 4:30 pm | WHISTLER PUBLIC LIBRARY | FREE Workshop 7 : Writing Workshop for young writers SAT With Meg Tilley. Must be under the age of 19 to attend.
October 19. 8:00 pm | FAIRMONT CHATEAU WHISTLER | ADMISSION $25 READING EVENT 4 : Jian Ghomeshi & Will Ferguson SAT Jian Ghomeshi in conversation wtih Giller Prize Wining author Will Ferguson. Admission includes a glass of wine and some beautiful music provided by our very own local musicians.
October 20. 11:00 am - 1:00 pm | FAIRMONT CHATEAU WHISTLER | ADMISSION $35 READING EVENT 5 : Closing Event Brunch with Jian Ghomeshi in conversation with Lisa Moore, Sue SUN Oakey-Baker, Jane Silcott, Richard Wagamese, Genni Gunn, and Meg Tilly. Admission includes brunch.
October 20. 8:30 - 10:30 am | WHISTLER MUSEUM | ADMISSION $15 PANEL DEBATE : Self-publish or perish? SUN Presented by Whistler Debates. Panel TBA.
8 Most of our sessions are held in the session Farimont Chateau Whistler, but be DESCRIPTIONS sure to note the location for each event. There are a few venues away in from the hotel. Detail
Workshop 1: You Have a Manuscript, Now What
Location: Fairmont Chateau Whistler Date/Time: Oct 18, 2013 4:00 - 6:00 pm Cost: $25
Description: Frank Edwards (Bungalow Books), Karen Haughian (Signature Editions), Janet Love Morrison (author), Sue Oakey-Baker (author) and Stella Harvey (author) represent the wide array of publishing options from traditional publishing to epublishing and self-publishing. This workshop will discuss the options available to writers who have, or are close to having, a manuscript completed. Moderator: Rebecca Wood Barrett
9 Book Launch : Sue Oakey-Baker, Finding Jim session Location: Millennium Place DESCRIPTIONS Date/Time: Oct 18, 2013 6:30 - 7:45 pm in Cost: Free, cash bar Detail Description: Celebrate with local author Sue Oakey-Baker as she launches her first book, Finding Jim, at Millennium Place in Whistler, amidst some of her original paintings. Raise a glass, enjoy some live music, mingle with friends and flip through the first hardcover copies of this moving memoir of love, adventure, grief and hope.
Reading Event 1: Opening Night Jazz and Books Gala
Location: Millennium Place Date/Time: Oct 18, 2013 8:00 pm Cost: $20
Description: Authors Mary Swan, Ania Szado, Patrick deWitt, Peter Zuckerman, Janet Love Morrison, and Roberta Rich reading from their work and in conversation with local author, Stephen Vogler. Music will be provided by an array of talented local musicians.
Workshop 2: From History to Story - Writing Historical Fiction with Ania Szado
Location: Fairmont Chateau Whistler Date/Time: Oct 19, 2013 8:30 - 10:30 am Cost: $25
Description: Creating story from historical facts can be exhilarating, frustrating, and magical. How do you find and shape the story you should tell? Will you take a historical detail as inspiration for a speculative work; shed new light on a past event via an imagined or previously overlooked player; or stay rigorously true to the facts even as you write fiction? How will you proceed when the known facts are frustratingly scarce or overwhelmingly abundant? Join Ania Szado in discussion, insights and exercises to help you find your most fulfilling path in writing historical (and historically-inspired) fiction.
10 Workshop 3: So… You Want to Be A Magazine Writer. Really? with session Leslie Anthony DESCRIPTIONS Location: Fairmont Chateau Whistler in Date/Time: Oct 19, 2013 8:30 - 10:30 am Detail Cost: $25 Description: Sea changes are washing over the publishing world. Nevertheless, magazines—digital, print or a combination—remain the standard-bearer of middle ground between Twitter-fast news and shelf- hugging books in our communication landscape. Despite shrinking real estate (fewer titles, fewer issues, shorter stories), opportunity remains for those who can successfully shoulder the increasing demands of magazine journalism—demands that often involve bridging the digital and print worlds, as well as those of other media (film, photo, audio). This workshop explores magazine writing in the information age, and how to approach a milieu in flux. Print and digital examples from science/nature/ environment and travel/adventure writing—as well as their intersection— will be used for exercises, comparison and discussion. Participants will learn that these days, breaking into magazines (we’re not talking robbery, though you should come away with money in your pockets) might be all about breaking out. Workshop 4: Writing for Young Readers Workshop 5: Memoir Writing: Where to with Meg Tilley Begin? with Jane Silcott Location: Fairmont Chateau Whistler Location: Fairmont Chateau Whistler Date/Time: Oct 19, 2013 11:00 am - 1:00 pm Date/Time: Oct 19, 2013 11:00 am - 1:00 pm Cost: $25 Cost: $25 Description: Young adult fiction is one of the Description: To say you’re writing your memoirs fastest growing and most exciting areas in can sound pretentious – and feel daunting – literature and it is currently undergoing a but telling the stories of your life in ways that renaissance in both quantity and quality. Find engage, inform, and entertain is anything but. A out why so many readers date their most memoir piece can be about your favourite pair powerful reading experiences back to the of shoes, your cat, the time your father locked books they read as teenagers and why the teen you in the outhouse, or the time you and your years offer writers such fertile ground. In this siblings had a birthday party for a stuffed fox. It workshop we will briefly survey the history of can be short or long, serious or funny, or both. young adult literature, look at what YA books Join memoirist Jane Silcott in this light-hearted have in common, and talk about the challenges and serious, pen-on-the-page workshop that and opportunities faced by those who write for helps get you started then shows you how teens. to find the clues in your writing that tell you where to go next.
11 Reading Event 2: Crimes of Fiction with William Deverell, Robin session Spano, E.R. Brown, and Ian Hamilton DESCRIPTIONS Location: Fairmont Chateau Whistler Date/Time: Oct 19, 2013 1:00 - 2:00 pm in Cost: $25 includes lunch Detail Description: Some of Canada’s newest writers of crime and mystery share the stage with their seasoned counterparts to read and discuss their crimes of fiction with local writer and moderator Feet Banks. Enjoy lunch as you listen to stories of crime and mayhem.
Workshop 6: A Better Way to Revise with Peter Zuckerman
Location: Fairmont Chateau Whistler Date/Time: Oct 19, 2013 2:15 - 4:15 pm Cost: $25
Description: What makes a writer successful? It’s not who you know, who you are or what you’re writing about. Those matter, but something else matters much more: how well you revise. Most of us use the wrong approach. A better way is to triage: Deal with the major problems before you deal with the minor ones. In this workshop, for fiction and non-fiction writers and editors, you’ll learn how to identify the weakness in your manuscript, figure out which weaknesses to fix first, and learn how to fix those weaknesses or what to do when you’re stuck. We’ll look at everything from the first draft to the final product.
Reading Event 3: Comes a Time: Past, Present, Future with Michael Crummey , Evelyn Lau, Rona Shaffran and Elizabeth Bachinsky
Location: Fairmont Chateau Whistler Date/Time: Oct 19, 2013 2:15 - 4:15 pm Cost: $20
Description: The kingdom of poetry is no ordinary time. Poets have their own personal sense of time. How does the poet re-claim time past? Bend time? Shed light on a time? Or re-invent time? Is time real or imagined? Poets Michael Crummey , Evelyn Lau, Rona Shaffran and Elizabeth Bachinsky in conversation about where poetry comes from and what is a poet’s time.
12 Workshop 7: Writing Workshop for young writers with Meg Tilley session Location: Whistler Public Library DESCRIPTIONS Date/Time: Oct 19, 2013 2:30 - 4:00 pm in Cost: Free (must be under 19 years of age to attend) Detail Description: Learn to use your writerly wiles to lure readers in and never let them go! In this workshop, Meg Tilley will give a brief reading from her book and she will talk about the basic elements that go into creating a page turner, including character development, voice, plot, setting and scene building.
Reading Event 4: cBC’s Jian Ghomeshi in conversation WITH giller Prize Winning Author, Will Ferguson
Location: Fairmont Chateau Whistler Date/Time: Oct 19, 2013 8:00 pm Cost: $25 includes a glass of wine and beautiful music.
Description: The festival’s feature presentation sees award winning broadcaster and best selling author, Jian Ghomeshi in conversation with travel writer and Giller prize winning novelist, Will Ferguson. Listen in on the conversation and hear Will read from his novel, 419, as you enjoy a glass of wine, then meet Jian and Will while our very own local musicians play some of their favourite selections of jazz and blues.
Reading Event 5: Jian Ghomeshi in Panel Debate: Self-publish or Perish? Presented by Whistler Debates conversation with Lisa Moore, Sue Oakey- Baker, Jane Silcott, Richard Wagamese, Location: Whistler Museum Genni Gunn, and Meg Tilley. Date/Time: Oct 20, 2013 2:00 - 3:30 pm Cost: $10 Location: Fairmont Chateau Whistler Date/Time: Oct 20, 2013 11:00 am - 1:00 pm Description: Boutique, big box, or by yourself? Cost: $35 includes brunch High-powered agent or DIY? Paperback or paperless? With the publishing world in flux, Description: Grab a mouthful and mindful with this debate-format panel discussion will tackle awarding winning authors Lisa Moore, Sue how aspiring wordsmiths can produce the best Oakey-Baker, Jane Silcott, Richard Wagamese, product, reach the broadest audience, and Genni Gunn, and Meg Tilley. Come enjoy ultimately, make enough coin to write another brunch and listen in on Jian Ghomeshi’s chat day. Panel TBA. with these authors. The authors will also be enticed to read from their new books.
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GUEST authors leslie anthony elizabeth bachinsky
There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.
Ernest Hemingway feet banks e. r. brown
michael crummey william deverell
Leslie Anthony acclaimed Mountain Life He is author of Snakebit: Annual, and continues his Confessions of a Herpetologist Leslie Anthony is a Whistler- residence on the masthead and White Planet: A Mad Dash based writer, editor, biologist of a global litany of ski through Modern Global Ski and occasional filmmaker and outdoor magazines. Culture. with too few fingers in At home he writes broadly too many pies. Former about travel, adventure and Elizabeth Bachinsky Managing Editor of Powder science subjects ranging magazine, he remains the from imaginary monsters Elizabeth Bachinsky is the longtime Features Editor of to fossil smuggling in titles author of five collections of Canada’s SKIER magazine, like Canadian Geographic, poetry: Curio (2005), Home Editorial Director of the Canadian Wildlife and Explore. of Sudden Service (2006), God
14 Guest authors
Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. ~ Anton Chekhov
of Missed Connections (2009), 2003. Known as Whistler’s Commonwealth Writers’ Prize I Don’t Feel So Good (2012) enfant terrible, Feet loves for Best Book. Under the Keel is and The Hottest Summer in naps, fishing, drive-in movie his first collection of poetry in Recorded History (2013). Her theatres and finding new ways a decade. He lives in St. John’s, work has been nominated for to stir the pot. Newfoundland. numerous awards, including the Pat Lowther Award, the E.R. Brown William Deverell Kobzar Literary Award and the Governor General’s Award E.R. Brown is a Vancouver William Deverell has worked for Poetry. She was born writer whose short stories as a journalist and a lawyer, in Regina, raised in Prince have been published and is the founder and now George and Maple Ridge, BC, nationwide and dramatized Honourary Director of the B.C. and now lives in Vancouver, by the CBC. His first novel, the Civil Liberties Association. He where she is an instructor of BC-based crime thriller Almost is the creator of CBC’s long- creative writing and the Editor Criminal, was launched in April, running television series, of Event Magazine. in Canada, the US and the UK. Street Legal, which has aired The Globe and Mail said it’s internationally in more than Feet Banks “funny and twisted in the same 50 countries. He is also the vein as Breaking Bad (but very recipient of multiple literary Born in 1976, Feet Banks was Canadian on the crime) with awards, including the Seal raised in Northern BC without tons of great Lower Mainland Prize, the Book of the Year electricity and his first friend vibe. This is Brown’s debut and Award, the Dashiell Hammett was a rooster named Houdini. it’s an auspicious one.” Award for literary excellence, At age 12 his parents moved and the Arthur Ellis prize in him to Whistler to live the Michael Crummey crime writing. His novels have dream. He studied writing been translated into fourteen and film at the University of Michael Crummey is the languages and sold worldwide. Victoria before returning home author of four books of poetry, to continue living the dream and a book of short stories, Patrick deWitt while making stupid little Flesh and Blood. His first novel, horror movies with his friends. River Thieves, was a finalist for Patrick deWitt was born on He is the founding editor of the Scotiabank Giller Prize, Vancouver Island in 1975. He Mountain Life Magazine, the his second, The Wreckage, is the author of the critically co-creator of the Heavy Hitting was a national bestseller acclaimed novel The Sisters HorrorFest and his “Notes from and a finalist for the Rogers Brothers, which won the the Back Row” movie column Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. Governor General’s Literary in the Pique Newsmagazine has His most recent novel, the Award for Fiction and the been running weekly since bestselling Galore, won the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction
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GUEST
authors patrick dewitt frank b. edwards
Spontaneous is what you get after the seventeenth draft.
John Ciardi will ferguson jian ghomeshi
genni gunn ian hamilton
Prize and was shortlisted for Camden House, the book arm pair had produced 38 books the Man Booker Prize and the of Harrowsmith and Equinox together. Faced with the Scotiabank Giller Prize. He magazines. For several years slump in printed book sales, lives in Portland, Oregon. he specialized in illustrated, Frank switched exclusively to non-fiction “coffee table ebooks focusing on illustrated Frank B. Edwards books” about Canada, natural projects for the iPad for both history and gardening. In children and adults. www. Writer/editor Frank B. Edwards 1989, he moved full-time into bungalobooks.com moved from the magazine illustrated children’s books to the book business in 1985 at Bungalo Books with his when he became publisher creative partner, cartoonist and editorial director of John Bianchi; by 2002, the
16 Guest authors
If you tell me, it’s an essay. If you show me, it’s a story. ~ Barbara Greene
WILL FERGUSON Jian ghomeshi libretto for the opera Alternate Visions, produced in Montreal Three time winner of the Jian Ghomeshi is an award- in 2007, and showcased at the Leacock Medal, award-winning winning broadcaster, writer, Opera America Conference in novelist and travel writer, musician and producer. He is Vancouver, May 2013. She is Will Ferguson is the author the host and co-creator of the an inveterate traveler, and her of more than a dozen books national daily talk program, Q, experiences are reflected in ranging from budget travel on CBC Radio One and CBC her most recent book, Tracks: guides to works of literary TV. Since its inception in 2007, Journeys in Time and Place fiction. Q has garnered the largest (Signature Editions, 2013). audience of any cultural affairs As a teenager he lived and program in Canada and has Ian Hamilton worked in Ecuador, South become the highest-rated America, as part of CWY show in its morning time slot Ian Hamilton is the author (roughly equivalent to the in CBC history. Q is also now of The Water Rat of Wanchai, Peace Corps). He spent five broadcast across the United The Disciple of Las Vegas, The years in Japan, first on the States, on PRI. Wild Beasts of Wuhan, The Red Amakusa Islands south of Pole of Macau, and The Scottish Nagasaki and then later on the Genni Gunn Banker of Surabaya. The Water Kyushu mainland. Rat of Wanchai was a winner Genni Gunn is a writer, of the Arthur Ellis Award for He has walked across translator and musician. She Best First Novel, an Amazon. Northern Ireland in the has published three novels: ca Top 100 Book of the Year, rain, and has hitchhiked the Solitaria (Signature Editions), an Amazon.ca Top 100 Editors’ length of Japan, following nominated for the Giller Prize Pick, an Amazon.ca Canadian the springtime “Cherry 2011; Tracing Iris, made into a Pick, an Amazon.ca Mysteries Blossom Front” that washes film titled The Riverbank; and and Thrillers Pick, a Toronto across Japan every year. His Thrice Upon a Time, finalist for Star Top 5 Fiction Book of the travels have taken him from the Commonwealth Prize. She Year, and a Quill & Quire Top 5 Indonesia to Argentina. And has also published two story Fiction Book of the Year. in 2010, he was named the collections, and two poetry head writer on the Vancouver collections, one of which was a Stella Harvey Olympics Closing Ceremonies, finalist for the Gerald Lampert penning material for the likes Poetry Award. Her two poetry Stella Harvey was born in of William Shatner, Martin translations of Dacia Maraini Cairo, Egypt and moved Short and Michael J. Fox. were finalists for the John to Calgary as a child with Glassco Prize and the Premio her family. In 2001, she In 2012, he won the Giller Internazionale Diego Valeri. founded the Whistler Writers Prize for his novel 419. She has also written the Group, also known as the
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GUEST authors stella harvey karen haughian
It’s not a good idea to put your wife into a novel; not your latest wife anyway.
Norman Mailer evelyn lau lisa moore
janet love morrison mary macdonald
Vicious Circle, which each She currently lives with her (Creative Writing) and teaching year produces the Whistler husband in Whistler, but visits at Concordia University in Readers and Writers Festival her many relatives in Greece Montreal, Karen Haughian under her direction. Stella is often, indulging her love of decided to audit an undergrad a fiction writer whose short Greek food and culture and publishing class — which stories have appeared in The honing her fluency in the resulted in the formation of a Literary Leanings Anthology, language. Nicolai’s Daughters is publishing company. Originally The New Orphic Review, her first published novel. named Nuage Editions, Emerge Magazine and The the press began in 1986 Dalhousie Review. Her non- Karen Haughian as a 16-person publishing fiction has appeared in Pique collective, although by 1987 Newsmagazine, The Question While she was working on her it was a three-person press. and the Globe and Mail. master’s degree in English It was the very first desktop
18 Guest authors
Honest criticism is hard to take, particularly from a relative, a friend, an acquaintance, or a stranger. ~ Franklin Jones
publisher in Quebec, and put of non-fiction, and a novel. (Canada and the Caribbean), out two to four books a year Runaway: Diary of a Street and was a national bestseller. for the next five years. Since Kid, published when she was Her story collection Open was 1991 the press has operated 18, was made into a CBC a finalist for the Scotiabank as a sole proprietorship run movie. Lau’s prose books have Giller Prize and a national by Karen Haughian and has been translated into a dozen bestseller. She lives in St. published eight to ten titles languages worldwide. Her John’s, Newfoundland a year. In 1997 the press poetry has been selected for moved to Winnipeg and in inclusion in the Best American Janet Love Morrison 2000 was renamed Signature Poetry and Best Canadian Editions. Karen is committed Poetry anthologies, as well as Janet Love Morrison is to discovering and developing receiving a National Magazine an author, editor, and a new Canadian writing of Award. You Are Not Who You Goodwill Ambassador for literary merit, regardless of Claim won the Milton Acorn Friends to Mankind (www. genre, and the press publishes People’s Poet Award, Oedipal friendstomankind.org), an many first-book authors and Dreams was nominated for the international non-profit works with them to develop Governor-General’s Award, foundation that works with their craft. Karen edits all and Living Under Plastic won individuals, corporations and prose titles in-house, while the Pat Lowther Award for philanthropic organizations poetry and drama are handled best book of poetry by a towards the betterment of by outside editors. In the 26 woman in Canada. Evelyn is humanity. She was born in years of running the press the 2011-2014 Poet Laureate Toronto, Canada and grew she has read thousands for the City of Vancouver. up in Port Coquitlam, near of manuscripts and edited Vancouver, BC. She spent a lot hundreds of books. Lisa Moore of her life travelling around These days Karen lives in the world doing a variety of Winnipeg with her husband, Lisa Moore is the acclaimed jobs while living in Switzerland, also a publisher (but the rivalry author of February, which was Israel, India, Japan, and is generally friendly), and their longlisted for the Man Booker Malaysia. “Refugees, children, teenaged son. Prize, selected as one of The taxi drivers, fellow travellers, New Yorker’s Best Books of work colleagues, family, Evelyn Lau the Year, was a Globe and Mail friends, Master Dhyan Vimal, Top 100 Book, and won the His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Evelyn Lau was born in 2013 Canada Reads contest; and so many, many more Vancouver in 1971. She is and Alligator, which was a remarkable people have the author of five previous finalist for the Scotiabank been my teachers. From volumes of poetry, two short Giller Prize, won the the Himalayas, to the Alps; story collections, two works Commonwealth Fiction Prize from the Andes to the Rocky
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GUEST authors susan oakey-baker roberta rich
Tomorrow may be hell, but today was a good writing day, and on the good writing days nothing else matters. rona shaffran jane silcott Neil Gaiman
robin spano mary swan
Mountains; I have encountered mary macdonald thrives on collaboration and this planet and I write to has written poetry for opera, honour the courage of those Mary MacDonald is a poet, ballet and public art. who have met life challenges writer, and child psychologist, and rose to be the best they living a sometimes wildly Susan Oakey-Baker can be. They have sparked the incompatible life, in Whistler belief in me that when we all and Vancouver, B.C. “I really Susan Oakey-Baker is a rise to be the best we can be, believe we are more than one teacher, guide, painter, writer humanity will rise to be the thing – one idea, one passion, and holds degrees in French best it can be.” one talent – and have a great literature and Language fondness for pairing poetry Education. She has twenty with all forms of art.” She years of outdoor experience,
20 Guest authors
I think all writing is a disease. You can’t stop it. ~ William Carlos Williams
having spent time ski touring, Rona Shaffran charitable board work, Rona mountaineering, rock climbing, Shaffran devotes time to canoeing, kayaking, whitewater Born and raised in Montreal, writing and to travel, and is at rafting and biking all over Quebec, Rona Shaffran lives work on a second manuscript the world. She has worked in Ottawa, Ontario. Ignite that includes poetry and as a nationally certified (Signature Editions, 2013) is prose. hiking guide in Africa, Nepal her first published collection and North America and has of poetry. It tells the book- Jane Silcott guided more than 100 people, length story of remarkable ranging in age from sixteen things that can happen in a Jane Silcott’s award-winning to eighty-five, to the top of broken relationship between writing has been called Africa’s highest peak, Mount a man and a woman, healed fearless, honest, crisp, Kilimanjaro, for the Alzheimer by a physical process of self- compelling, and cheeky. Her Society of British Columbia. discovery. debut collection of memoirs, Her photographs and writing Everything Rustles, about have been published in Pique A member of the board of middle age, marriage, loss, and magazine, the Alpine Club directors of the Tree Reading laundry rooms was published of Canada Gazette and the Series, one of Canada’s this spring with Anvil Press. Canadian Alpine Journal. She longest running poetry She lives in Vancouver with her grew up in Vancouver and venues, Rona recently retired family and teaches for the UBC now lives in Whistler, British as its co-director. She now Writing Centre and the SFU Columbia, with her husband, co-directs a new, occasional Southbank Writing Program. Joe, and their six-year-old son, poetry reading series in Sam. Ottawa, called RailRoad. Rona Robin Spano graduated from the Humber Roberta Rich School for Writers and the Robin Spano grew up in Banff Centre Writing Studio. downtown Toronto and Roberta Rich divides her Her poems have appeared now lives in Lions Bay, time between Vancouver in Canadian literary journals, B.C. She studied physics at and Colima, Mexico. She is in an illustrated chapbook university but dropped out a former family law lawyer. in Canada and Australia, to travel North America on Her first novel, the bestselling and in several collaborative her motorcycle, waitressing The Midwife of Venice, has chapbooks. She has won in various cities and towns been published to acclaim in honourable mention for the while trying to write her first thirteen territories, including John Newlove Poetry Award. novel. When she’s not lost in the U.S., the UK, Germany, fiction, she loves to get outside Spain and Brazil. Visit Roberta Retired several years ago snowboarding, hiking, boating, at www.robertarich.com from federal government and and riding the curves of the
21
GUEST authors ania szado meg tilly
If you can tell stories, create characters, devise incidents, and have sincerity and passion, it doesn’t matter a damn how stephen vogler richard wagamese you write.
W. Somerset Maugham
rebecca wood barrett peter zuckerman
local highways in her big, black Award for short fiction and is Ploughshares, Harvard Review, pick-up truck. She is married to a the author of the novella The Zoetrope and Harper’s Magazine. man who hates reading. Deep, a finalist for the Canada/ She lives with her family in Caribbean Commonwealth Prize Guelph, Ontario. Mary Swan for Best First Book, and the collection Emma’s Hands. Her Ania Szado Mary Swan’s first novel, The work has appeared in several Boys in the Trees, was a finalist Canadian literary magazines Ania Szado’s novel Studio for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and anthologies, including Saint-Ex (Viking Canada/ in 2008 and for the Amazon Malahat Review and Best Knopf USA) is a national First Novel Award. She is the Canadian Stories, as well as in bestseller, and is forthcoming winner of the 2001 O. Henry American publications such as in Italy, Russia and Poland.
22 Her debut novel, Beginning Of Richard Wagamese Review. She enjoys the fizz of was (Penguin Canada), was collaboration, and this year she regionally shortlisted for the Richard Wagamese is one and Lisa Fernandez co-wrote Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. of Canada’s foremost Native and co-directed the short Her short fiction has appeared authors and storytellers. Working comedy Designer Genes, a 72 Hr. in a range of literary magazines as a professional writer since Filmmaker Showdown Finalist. and the anthology All Sleek and 1979 he’s been a newspaper Rebecca also teamed up with her Swimming (Orca). Ania holds columnist and reporter, radio husband to write the play The an MFA in Creative Writing and television broadcaster and Cell, which was performed at the from the University of British producer, documentary producer Chairlift Revue. Columbia, and an AOCA from and the author of thirteen titles Ontario College of Art. She lives in from major Canadian publishers. Peter Zuckerman Toronto, and is the 2013 Writer in His new novel, Indian Horse Residence for Whistler, BC. Visit arrived in February 2012. He will Peter Zuckerman is a non-fiction her website at www.aniaszado. publish two novels in 2013; his writer. He has received some of com. second Orca Press Rapid Reads the most prestigious recognitions novel, Him Standing, and a new in American journalism. In 2005, Meg Tilly literary novel, Medicine Walk, with he was one of the youngest McClelland & Stewart. He has people ever to win a Livingston Meg Tilly’s newest book is A twice won the Native American Award, the largest, all-media, Taste of Heaven, a cozy debut Press Association Award general reporting prize in middle-grade novel about young and the National Aboriginal America. Among the dozens friendship. She is the author of Communications Society Award of other awards his reporting four other novels and is also for his newspaper columns. has received is the National an award-winning actor. She Currently, his series One Native Journalism Award, given by the appeared in The Big Chill, among Life runs as a radio commentary Scripts Howard Foundation for other films, and starred in Global and newspaper column in both the best newspaper writing TV’s Bomb Girls. Canada and the U.S. and was a in the United States; and the weekly television commentary on Blethan Award, given for the best Stephen Vogler CFJC-TV 7 in Kamloops, BC from journalism in the northwest. PBS 2007 to 2010. profiled Zuckerman in an hour- Stephen Vogler is the author long documentary, “In a Small of Only in Whistler: Tales of a Rebecca Wood Barrett Town,” and Harvard University’s Mountain Town and Top of the Nieman Foundation for Pass: Whistler and the Sea-to- Rebecca Wood Barrett, BAA Film, Excellence in Journalism profiled Sky Country, both published by MFA Creative Writing, wrote Zuckerman as part of a series Harbour Publishing. He has and illustrated her first book about courageous reporting. written radio documentaries and when she was seven. (A very Zuckerman has served as visiting commentaries for CBC Radio’s good year). Since then she has faculty at the Poynter Institute, Ideas, DNTO and Outfront become an avid genre-crosser, the St. Petersburg, Florida- programs, and contributed to and her diverse body of work based journalism organization, Explore Magazine, The Globe includes creative non-fiction, and he has taught journalism and Mail, and Vancouver’s web copy, postcard stories, at universities and professional Georgia Straight among other feature magazine and online seminars. He is a resident of publications. Stephen hosts articles, short films, feature films, the Falcon Art Community and Creative 5 Eclectic, a monthly plays, television advertising, a teacher at the Attic Institute. arts open mic night, and is the infotainment, short fiction and a Zuckerman lives in Portland, founder of The Point Artist- children’s chapter book. Her short Oregon. Run Centre in Whistler. www. fiction has been published in stephenvogler.com Room, Pique and The Antigonish
23 The Vicious Circle would like to thank our sponsors for their generosity. Without their continued enthusiasm and support, this festival would not be possible. e thank You
need Our event partner, The Fairmont Chateau Whistler has a special ACCOMMODATION ? rate for this event. For reservations, contact The Fairmont Chateau Whistler quoting the Whistler Readers and Writers Festival for the weekend of October 18-20, 2013. TELEPHONE : 604 938 8000