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Welcome
Perseverance, secret of all triumphs. Victor Hugo
2016 is an extra special year. It’s our 15th anniversary, a cause for
celebration and reflection. As I look back, I think about the first
festival in 2002; we had 20 participants and one guest author,
gathered in my living room. Those who came from Vancouver and
beyond (2) and the guest author stayed in our spare rooms. We felt
like a family, all under one roof. I always thought it would remain
this way, small and intimate.
Our committed (and in my case, committable) group of volunteers
had other plans. Dreamers and doers they rolled up their sleeves,
applied for sponsorships and grants, experimented with different
formats, invited the very best (known and unknown) of Canadian
and international authors, refused to take rejection personally
(or at least didn’t let it stop them), and kept focused and driven
until everyone could see what they had known all along: build
an incredible event in the mountains and people will come. Their
efforts have resulted in the Whistler Writers Festival, the Whistler
Writer in Residence Program and the Whistler Authors in the
Schools program.
This year our theme is perseverance, which celebrates our
ongoing commitment to what we began.
Thursday October 13th will feature Comedy Quickies, a night of
bite-sized comedy that takes writers’ humorous humdingers to the
stage. Cash and prizes will be awarded for Best Comedy Writing,
and the Best Act will be chosen by our audience. Our special
guest is crowd favourite, spoken-word artist, Kevan “Scruffmouth”
Cameron.
On Friday night our Chefs’ Reception will feature star chefs James
Walt of Araxi fame and House of Q chef, Brian Misko. There will
be samples of appetizers to try and you’ll be able to meet these
authors and to hear them discuss their featured recipes and
books. The Literary Cabaret will follow the Reception. Hosted by
local scribe and musician Stephen Vogler, the night combines
readings from some of Canada’s best-loved authors, accompanied
by live music. This year’s cabaret features Nick Bantock (who
will read with Katherine Fawcett), Caroline Woodward, Billie
Livingston, Richard Van Camp, Cathie Borrie, Rosanna Deerchild,
Bill Richardson, Susan Juby, and Nathanial G. Moore.
Our Programs
The winners of the newly created Whistler Independent Book
Awards will be announced just before the Literary Cabaret and the
Poetry Award winner will be invited to read.
Writer in Residence Program with Susan Juby
Susan Juby will take up residence in Whistler this fall as the community’s official
Writer-in-Residence. Susan will work with writers on their own projects, starting in
mid-September with a potluck get-together and introductory meeting. Residency
participants will receive four one-on-one sessions with Susan to develop their
manuscript, and will attend weekly group lectures on various aspects of the
writing craft.
Our popular Saturday reading events are back, each featuring
authors of different genres: Poetry, Non-Fiction and Fiction. In
addition, we’ve kept two workshops for readers. The Literary
Salon, moderated by Genni Gunn on Friday afternoon, is designed
specifically for book clubs. The Saturday afternoon session will
feature Anne Giardini and Nicholas Giardini who will explore the
writing life and the advice provided by multi-award winning author,
the late Carol Shields. Our Saturday Thriller Writers’ Lunch reading,
moderated by Feet Banks, will feature authors RJ McMillan,
Joy Fielding, C.S. Reardon, Peter Robinson, Steven Price, and
the winner of the Whistler Independent Book Award for Crime
Fiction.
The residency forms the manuscript-intensive component of the Whistler
Writers Festival.
This program is made available through the support of the Resort Municipality
of Whistler, Community Enrichment Program and the Canada Council Author
Residency Program.
On Saturday night, a special main stage reading will see The Globe
and Mail’s Marsha Lederman in conversation with multi-award
winning author, Jane Urquhart.
Novice, emerging and experienced writers of all genres interested in taking
part in the residency should send an expression of interest to Stella Harvey at
[email protected]
Lederman will join us again on Sunday to host a reading event
featuring Ronald Wright and Deborah Campbell. Bill Richardson
will host the Sunday brunch and discussion with award winning
authors Emma Donoghue, Gary Geddes, Affinity Konar, Cea
Sunrise Person, Anosh Irani and Madeline Thien. For the early
risers and those who like a rousing and friendly debate, the
session Fiction versus Non-Fiction will explore what drives a writer
into either camp and will feature authors: Richard Van Camp,
Jennifer Manuel, Craig Davidson, Endre Farkas, and C.S. Reardon.
Authors in the Schools Program
Schools from Squamish, Whistler, Pemberton, and Mount Currie are given class
sets of featured authors’ books from a pool of award-winning local, First Nations
and Canadian writers. The authors then give presentations and have discussions
with the students, to inspire them to write, and tell their own stories. Genres have
encompassed fiction, non-fiction, short stories, poetry, picture books and graphic
novels. We are honoured to have hosted guest authors Richard Wagamese,
Katherena Vermette, Joseph Boyden, Patti Laboucane-Benson, Kelly Mellings,
Eric Walters, Sara Leach, Sue Oakey Baker, Stella Harvey and Katherine Fawcett in
the Authors in the Schools program. Kenneth Oppel, Richard Van Camp and Lisa
Moore will visit students in Sea to Sky schools in October 2016.
Our day-long publishing workshop on Friday October 14th is back.
Join us for a three-hour workshop in the morning to hone your
pitching skills, then put them to the test in the afternoon with
publishers, editors and agents who together represent all genres.
This growing festival is a labour of love for so many: the volunteers
who persevere and support it tirelessly; the community that has
rallied around it; and the participants who come year after year.
Thank you for your support. Welcome to Whistler and to our
festival. You are among family now.
Over 800 students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 participate in the program
each year, and we are grateful for the funding support of the Whistler Blackcomb
Foundation, the B.C. Arts Council, The Province of British Columbia, TELUS, and the
Whistler Writing Society.
Stella Harvey, Festival Director
2whistlerwritersfest.com
whistlerwritersfest.com 3
Schedule at a Glance
FRIDAY
THUR.
9AM
Schedule at a Glance
10AM
11AM
NOON
1PM
2PM
3PM
4PM
5PM
9:00AM - NOON | $60
W1: FROM DESK TO BOOKSTORE: FICTION AND POETRY
IN TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING
$60 | pg. 15
1:00AM - 4:30AM | $50
W2: SPEED DATING: PITCH YOUR BOOK/IDEA TO
PUBLISHERS, AGENTS AND EDITORS
$50 | pg. 15
4:00PM - 5:30PM
W3: YOU SHOULD WRITE
A BOOK
$32 | pg. 15
9PM
8:00PM - 10:00PM
R2: COMEDY QUICKIES
$22 | pg. 9
$20 Incl. a glass of wine | pg. 9
6:15PM - 7:30PM
R4: TASTING THE DIVINE:
COOKS WITH BOOKS
Fairmont
Chateau
Whistler
8:30AM - 10:30AM
W5: PARALLAX EDITING,
FOUR POWERFUL TOOLS
$32 | pg. 16
COFFEE BREAK
Refreshments available
$20 | pg. 9 | Audain Art Museum
8:30AM - 10:30AM
W4: WRITING FOR YOUNG READERS
$32 | pg. 15
SATURDAY
8PM
Show your Comedy Quickies
ticket at the Brewhouse
before the show for a
20% discount on food.
4:00PM - 5:30PM
R3: A LITERARY SALON FOR
READERS
Other
Locations
10:00AM - 11:30AM
R6: WRITERS OF
NON-FICTION
$15 | pg. 10
Whistler
Public
Library
SUNDAY
7PM
6:15PM - 7:00PM
R1: WHISTLER
INDEPENDENT BOOK
AWARDS’ RECEPTION
FREE | pg. 9
Maury
Young Arts
Centre
Fairmont
Chateau
Whistler
6PM
Fairmont
Chateau
Whistler
9:00AM - 10:30AM
W6: HOW TO WRITE A
PICTURE BOOK
FREE | pg. 16
9:30AM - 10:45AM
R12: FICTION VS
NON-FICTION?
$15 | pg. 13
11:00AM - 1:00PM
W7: WRITING YOUR OWN MEMOIR:
THE LIGHT AND DARK YEARS
$32 | pg. 16
2:30PM - 4:30PM
W9: POETRY WORKSHOP:
THE COURAGE TO RISE UP
$32 | pg. 17
11:00AM - 1:00PM
W8: STATE OF THE ART: MARKETING
YOUR MEDIA PROFILE
$32 | pg. 16
2:30PM - 4:30PM
W10: CHARACTER BOOTCAMP
$32 | pg. 17
11:30AM - 1:00PM
R8: RISING UP - POETRY
OF PROTEST
$15 | pg. 10
11:00AM - 12:15PM
R7: THE PLACES YA
FICTION DARES TO GO
FREE | pg. 10
11:00AM - 1:00PM
R13: BILL RICHARDSON IN
CONVERSATION
$38 Incl. brunch | pg. 13
1:00PM - 2:15PM
R9: THRILLER WRITERS
LUNCH
$32 includes lunch | pg. 10
3:00PM - 4:30PM
R10: WRITERS OF FICTION
$15 | pg. 11
8:00PM - 10:00PM
R5: THE LITERARY CABARET
$22 | pg. 10 | Maury Young Arts Centre
4:30PM - 6:00PM
W12: THE LIVES OF
WRITERS (For readers and
writers) $15 | pg. 17
8:00PM - 10:00PM
R11: MARSHA LEDERMAN IN
CONVERSATION - JANE URQUHART
$26 incl. a glass of wine & live music | pg. 11
2:30PM - 4:30PM
W11: WRITING WORKSHOP FOR
YOUNG WRITERS
FREE (Must be under 19) | pg. 17
2:00PM - 3:00PM
R14: IN
CONVERSATION
$15 | pg. 13
READING EVENTS
WORKSHOPS
Whistler Independent Book Awards
Recognizing excellence in
independent publishing
The Whistler Independent Book Awards, launched to coincide
with the 15th year of the Whistler Writers Festival, are open to
Canadian authors who have self-published a book or books in
the last five years. Authors from across Canada submitted titles
this year, making the awards a genuinely national affair.
Jointly produced by the Whistler Writing Society, Vivalogue
Publishing and the Vancouver chapter of the Canadian Authors
Association, the Whistler Independent Book Awards signal the
evolution of independent publishing. While the industry has
grown dramatically in the last decade, there have been no
juried Canadian awards recognizing exceptional quality in these
titles—until now.
Books from all finalists will be available for purchase during the
Festival; winning titles will be available at Whistler’s Armchair
Books for three months after the conclusion of the Festival.
Judges
Nominees and Honourable Mentions Selecting the longlist
from all the submissions received was the responsibility of
Vivalogue Publishing. Each author not chosen as a Nominee
received a detailed assessment of their work, ensuring that all
writers benefited from participating in the competition.
Finalists Nominees were judged by members of the Vancouver
branch of the Canadian Authors Association. Judges evaluated
the Nominees according to four criteria: Ideas/Organization/
Content, Style/Voice, Word Choice/Sentence Fluency and
Conventions/Production Values. The CAA’s detailed scoring
rubric determined the three finalists in each category.
Winners Two distinguished judges for each category made
the final selection of winners, to be announced at the Literary
Cabaret on October 14.
Fiction
Genni Gunn Author and translator, whose most recent novel,
Solitaria, was nominated for the 2011 Giller Prize
Stella Harvey Author of Nicolai’s Daughters and The Brink of
Freedom, and Director of the Whistler Writers Festival
Vivalogue was founded in 2010 to provide professional
publishing and editorial services to independent authors in both
print and electronic formats. Vivalogue also operates Tidewater
Festivals to offer resources and promotional opportunities to
independent authors. In addition to its work with self-publishing
authors, Vivalogue partners with trade publishers to produce
quality books for several imprints.
Non-fiction
J.J. Lee Author and broadcaster, whose debut book,The
Measure of a Man, was a finalist for the Governor General’s
Literary Award
Susan Oakey Baker Author of Finding Jim
The Vancouver Branch of the Canadian Authors Association
offers aspiring, emerging, and professional writers opportunities
and resources to hone their writing and business skills,
network with others, and thrive in a community of like-minded
professionals.
Poetry
Evelyn Lau Former Vancouver Poet Laureate and multi-awardwinning author
Mary McDonald Writer and poet
Crime Fiction
Linda L Richards Journalist, publisher and crime novelist (the
Kitty Pangborn and Madeline Carter series)
Katherine Fawcett Journalist and author (The Little Washer of
Sorrows)
6whistlerwritersfest.com
Finalists 2016
FICTION | NON-FICTION | CRIME FICTION | POETRY
BYRNA BARCLAY (Fiction)
The House of the White Elephant
Byrna Barclay is an award-winning author of novels,
short story collections and a playscript. The House of
the White Elephant, loosely based on her paternal
ancestry, is her tenth publication, She was awarded
the Saskatchewan Order of Merit in 2005.
D.F. BAILEY (Crime Fiction)
Bone Maker
D. F. (Don) Bailey is the author of seven novels
including The Finch Trilogy, which begins with Bone
Maker. He lives and writes in Victoria, BC.
KATH CURRAN (Fiction)
Before It Was Easy
Kath Curran’s work explores the complexity of
personal loyalties, the presence of absence in our
lives and the search for home. A native of
Vancouver, Kath lives and writes on Vancouver
Island.
R.E. DONALD (Crime Fiction)
Sundown on Top of the World
R.E. (Ruth) Donald writes the Hunter Rayne mystery
series featuring realistic characters and situations.
She has a BA from UBC, and currently lives on a
ranch in the South Cariboo.
SHAWN GALE (Fiction)
The Stories That Make Us
Shawn Gale writes on Canada’s West Coast. He is a
graduate of Fraser Valley Writers’ School and
Humber College’s School for Writers, His stories
have appeared in periodicals and anthologies in
Canada and the United States.
GERRY FOSTATY (Crime Fiction)
Stage Business
Gerry Fostaty was an actor, working on stage, in film,
and television for more than twenty years. He is
also the author of As You Were: The Tragedy at
Valcartier (non-fiction) published by Goose Lane
Editions. Gerry lives in the Toronto area.
MIJI CAMPBELL (Non-fiction)
Separation Anxiety: A Coming-of-Middle-Age Story
Miji Campbell is a writer and teacher. She has
received two National Magazine Award nominations
and a literary arts grant from the Alberta Foundation
for the Arts. Born and raised in Calgary, she now
lives in Red Deer.
GLORIA BARKLEY (Poetry)
Water Window Mirror
Gloria Barkley is a a widowed mother and cancer/
food additive survivor. Her poems have appeared in
literary magazines and anthologies. Her chapbook
Stemwinder was published in 1995. Gloria holds a
visual arts degree.
ORIOLE A. VANE VELDHUIS (Non-fiction)
For Elise: Unveiling the Forgotten Woman on the
Criddle Homestead
Oriole Vane Veldhuis pursued careers in teaching,
librarianship and the United Church ministry. She
felt a strong urge to research and record Elise’s
unique story in Britain, Germany and Canada.
GAIL SIDONIE SOBAT (Poetry)
How the Light Is Spent
Gail is a teacher, author, performer and speaker. She
is also the creator of YouthWrite®, camps for kids
who love to write just about anything. Her latest
work is the award-winning graphic novel, Jamie’s
Got a Gun, illustrated by Spyder Yardley.
MAGGIE ZIEGLER (Non-fiction)
The Road to Keringet
Maggie Ziegler is a writer, educator and
psychotherapist. Her writing has appeared in literary
journals, news magazines and professional
publications. She lives on Salt Spring Island.
ALAN WOODLAND (Poetry)
Out of the Mist
Alan Woodland is a writer, poet, performer, and
newspaper columnist. He has written three books,
and had his poetry featured on radio and television,
on several CDs, and in concerts and workshops. He
has been writing poetry since the age of eleven.
whistlerwritersfest.com 7
Reading Events
Jettison
STORIES BY
Nathaniel G. Moore
Choose from four part-time
creative writing options
in Vancouver, Whistler,
Surrey and online:
The Writer’s Studio
Now available online
and in Whistler
Apply by October 30
Stories / $20
978-1-77214-047-7
Nathaniel G. Moore follows up his
2014 ReLit Award win for Savage with
a diverse debut collection of short
fiction, featuring stories that dangle
somewhere between horror and
romance. Jettison is an all-you-can-eat
buffet of literary invention: you’ll be
glad you got an invite.
“it’s the demonic logic he applies to the story’s unwinding that grabs you by the
love handles.” — RM Vaughan, author of Spells
The Southbank Writer’s Program
Our summer program
Like the cryptic messages sent to the media by the real Zodiac Killer, Nathaniel G.
Moore's story is neither safe nor sorry."
— Ashley Little, author of Anatomy of a Girl Gang
Specialized creative
writing courses
Manuscript consultations
• available to the trade from pgc/raincoast •
www.anvilpress.com
sfu.ca/creative-writing
Reading Event 1
Whistler Independent Book Awards
Finalists Reception
October 13 | 6 – 7:30 p.m. | Maury Young Arts Centre | FREE
Meet some of the best independent authors in the country.
Finalists for the Whistler Independent Book Awards will read
from books nominated in four categories: Fiction, Non-fiction,
Crime Fiction and Poetry.
Moderators: Lynn Duncan and Kilmeny Denny
Reading Event 2
Comedy Quickies
A night of hair-trigger humour
featuring Kevan “Scruffmouth” Cameron.
Discover Great Stories at the Whistler Writers Festival
Presented by Mountain FM.
October 13 | 8 – 10 p.m. | Maury Young Arts Centre | $22
Give your funny-bone a workout during this night of bite-sized
comedy featuring Kevan “Scruffmouth” Cameron, and the
comedic stylings of eight Comedy Quickies writing finalists.
A panel of judges pre-select their favourite humourous
humdingers to bring to the stage. Cash and prizes will be
awarded for Best Comedy Writing, and the people’s choice
award will go to the Best Act of the evening.
Moderators: Ira Pettle and Brandon Barrett
The Performance
The Heaviness of Things That Float
The Lesser Blessed
Light Years
A N N E R I K SSO N
JE N N I FE R MAN UEL
R ICH A R D VA N CA MP
CA ROLINE WO O DWAR D
“…a masterful novel
from a gifted writer.”
“[Manuel’s writing is] astonishing
in its intimacy, delicate complexity
and sense of compassion.”
“First Nation noir madness
this book is, I love it, and I’m
sorta scared of it too.”
“…a remarkable eavesdrop into the
secret lives of lighthouse keepers…”
—Diana Gabaldon
—Sherman Alexie
—Gail Anderson-Dargatz
www.douglas-mcintyre.com
Meet publisher Howard White at the workshop
Speed Dating: Pitching Your Book/Idea to a Publisher/Agent/Editor
See program for the event details
Reading Event 3
A Literary Salon for Readers and
Book Clubs
Getting to the Heart of the Book: Beyond Like and
Dislike. With Genni Gunn.
October 14 | 4 – 5:30 p.m. | Fairmont Chateau Whistler | $20
Why do we like some books and not others? In this workshop for
readers, we will discuss ways to approach a book discussion that
gets to the heart of the book. We will look at the elements that
come together to create a great story. This session includes a
glass of wine.
Reading Event 4
Tasting the Divine: Cooks with Books
With James Walt and Brian Misko.
October 14 | 6:15 - 7:30 p.m. | Audain Art Museum | $20
Come meet chefs James Walt and Brian Misko at this fun
social event where the chefs dish about their books, and you
enjoy mouth-watering appetizers from each of their cook
books. Talk to them about their favourite recipes, discover new
recipes, engage in foodie repartee, and buy some of the hottest
cookbooks available today.
—Jules Torti, Vancouver Sun
www.harbourpublishing.com
Photo: Joern Rohde
Think AUTHOR
whistlerwritersfest.com 9
Reading Events
The Literary Cabaret
Presented by Vivalogue Publishing.
October 14 | 8 - 10 p.m. | Maury Young Arts Centre | $22
An innovative and exciting collaboration of live music and
readings. Featuring a reading by Nick Bantock with Katherine
Fawcett, Caroline Woodward, Billie Livingston, Richard Van
Camp, Cathie Borrie, Rosanna Deerchild, Bill Richardson,
Susan Juby, Nathanial G. Moore, and the winner of the Whistler
Independent Book Award for Poetry. The winners of the Whistler
Independent Book Awards in the categories of Fiction,
Non-Fiction and Crime Fiction will also be announced.
Moderator: Stephen Vogler
Reading Event 6
Writers of Non-Fiction
Presented by Burnt Stew Computing & Pasta Lupino.
October 15 | 10 - 11:30 a.m.
Fairmont Chateau Whistler | $15
A festival favourite, this event showcases the diversity that is
non-fiction writing, from memoir to biography, investigative
reporting to creative non-fiction. Panel and audience discussion
will centre around readings, and the process and approach
to bringing particular subject matter and experiences to
life. Featuring: Craig Davidson, Andrew Nikiforuk, Kevin
Patterson, Betsy Warland, Megan Williams and the Non-Fiction
winner of the Whistler Independent Book Awards.
Moderator: Leslie Anthony
Reading Event 7
The Places YA Fiction Dares To Go
October 15 | 11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Whistler Public Library | FREE
Time Magazine says, “We’re living in a golden age of young-adult
literature, when books ostensibly written for teens are equally
adored by readers of every generation.” So what’s the difference
between fiction for adults and for young adults? Is there anything
writers cannot talk about in YA fiction? Acclaimed author Susan
Juby (The Truth Commission), discusses the exciting landscape
of YA Fiction with award-winning authors Richard Van Camp
(The Lesser Blessed), Lisa Moore (Flannery) and Kenneth Oppel
(Silverwing Saga). Moderator: Susan Juby
Reading Event 8
Rising Up - The Poetry of Protest
October 15 | 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Fairmont Chateau Whistler | $15
Reading Event 10
Writers of Fiction
October 15 | 3 - 4:30 p.m. | Fairmont Chateau Whistler | $15
Join award-winning author, and moderator Genni Gunn as she
traverses the diverse themes and subjects of the guest authors’
books, including: a collision of mental illness and the death
of a killer whale; the reunion of an estranged family during
a sailboat race; the delicate dynamic between First Nations
communities and non-native outsiders; the journey of a couple
as they descend the Dease River in northwestern BC; and the
experiences of a young man leading up to the 1956 Hungarian
uprising. Feature authors are Ann Eriksson (High Clear Bell of
Morning), Jim Lynch (Before the Wind), Jennifer Manuel (The
Heaviness of Things that Float), Gillian Wigmore (Grayling), Endre
Farkas (Never Again), and the winner of the Whistler Independent
Book Award for Fiction.
This is the brave poetry of courage and of truth telling. Poetry
that speaks to change. Poets Rosanna Deerchild (calling
down the sky), Gary Geddes (The Resumption of Play), Steven
Heighton (The Waking Comes Late) and Miranda Pearson (The
Fire Extinguisher), invite us into places of questioning and of
being heard. Moderator: Mary MacDonald
Reading Event 9:
Thriller Writers’ Lunch
October 15 | 1 - 2:15 p.m.
Fairmont Chateau Whistler | $32 (includes lunch)
Feet Banks will plumb the secretive depths of thriller fiction
with five authors RJ McMillan (Black Tide Rising), Joy Fielding
(She’s Not There), C.S. Reardon (The Spanish Boy), Peter
Robinson (When the Music’s Over), Steven Price (Into That
Darkness) and the winner of the Whistler Independent Book
Award for Crime Fiction. Moderator: Feet Banks
Presented by The Grocery Store.
Reading Event 11
Marsha Lederman in conversation
with Jane Urquhart
Presented by Stonebridge at Whistler.
October 15 | 8 - 10 p.m.
Fairmont Chateau Whistler | $26 (includes a glass of wine)
The festival’s feature presentation sees Marsha Lederman in
conversation with Jane Urquhart, the award-winning author of
seven internationally acclaimed novels: The Whirlpool, which
received Le prix du meilleur livre étranger (Best Foreign Book
Award) in France; Changing Heaven; Away, winner of the Trillium
Award and a finalist for the prestigious International IMPAC
Dublin Literary Award; The Underpainter, winner of the Governor
General’s Award, a finalist for the Rogers Communications Writers’
Trust Fiction Prize, and long-listed for the Orange Prize in Britain;
The Stone Carvers, which was a finalist for The Giller Prize and the
Governor General’s Award, and longlisted for the Booker Prize; A
Map of Glass, a finalist for a Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best
Book; Sanctuary Line; and most recently, her new book A Number
of Things. After the presentation, meet Lederman and Urquhart
while our very own local musicians play some of their favourite
selections of jazz and blues.
Photo: Joern Rohde
Reading Event 5
Reading Events
Italian-Inspired Restaurant & Take Out
Spaghetti and Meatballs, Chicken Parmigiana and Lasagna are among the
old school favourites prepared daily, from scratch in our open kitchen.
Open daily for lunch, dinner & takeout
121–4368 Main Street / 604.905.0400 / pastalupino.com
10whistlerwritersfest.com
whistlerwritersfest.com 11
THE WHISTLER
WRITERS FESTIVAL
Emma
DONOGHUE
Jane
URQUHART
Changing the world
one book
one book
at a time.
Cea Sunrise
PERSON
Reading Event 12
Reading Event 14
With Richard Van Camp, Jennifer Manuel,
Craig Davidson, Endre Farkas, and C.S. Reardon.
With Ronald Wright and Deborah Campbell.
Fiction vs Non-Fiction? Really?
Changing the world
Kenneth
OPPEL
Reading Events
Deborah Campbell
Deborah
Campbell
Craig Davidson
Craig
Davidson
Joy Fielding
Joy Fielding
Anne
Giardini
Anne Giardini
Nicholas
Giardini
Nicholas
Anosh Giardini
Irani
Anosh Juby
Irani
Susan
Susan
Juby
Affi
nity Konar
Affinity
Konar
Billie
Livingston
Billie
JimLivingston
Lynch
JimPatterson
Lynch
Kevin
Kevin
Patterson
Steven
Price
Steven
Price
Peter
Robinson
Peter Robinson
Madeleine
Thien
Madeleine
Thien
Jane Urquhart
Jane
JohnUrquhart
Vaillant
John
Vaillant
James
Watt
JamesWright
Watt
Ronald
Ronald Wright
at a time.
October 16 | 9:30 - 10:45 a.m.
Fairmont Chateau Whistler | $15
It won’t exactly be arm-wrestling, but more like watching these
two meta-genres go head-to-head in a lively pas de deux
highlighting writing’s essential dichotomy. What drives a writer
into either camp? When do you choose how to tell a particular
story? How have these considerations shifted or blurred with
the rise of creative / literary nonfiction and historical fiction?
Panelists who work in one, the other, or both will discuss how
they perceive the strengths and pitfalls of each when it comes
to engaging readers. Audience members should come “armed”
with their own questions.
Moderator: Leslie Anthony
Reading Event 13
Marsha Lederman in Conversation
October 16 | 2 - 3 p.m
Fairmont Chateau Whistler | $15
How do we make sense of a complex world, and why should
we try to understand other cultures? Join the Globe and Mail’s
Western Arts Correspondent Marsha Lederman as she asks these
questions and more of historian, novelist and essayist Ronald
Wright, and award-winning writer Deborah Campbell. Wright’s
work explores the relationships between past and present,
peoples and power, other cultures and our own. His latest novel
is The Gold Eaters. Campbell is known for combining a culturally
immersive approach to fieldwork in places such as Iran, Syria,
Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Gaza, Qatar, Cuba, Mexico and Russia
with narrative storytelling. Her latest book A Disappearance in
Damascus is the true story of Campbell’s relationship with Ahlam,
an Iraqi woman working as a “fixer” for Western media in Syria as it
plunges into war.
Moderator: Marsha Lederman
Bill Richardson in Conversation
With Emma Donoghue, Gary Geddes, Affinity Konar,
Cea Sunrise Person, Anosh Irani, and Madeline Thien.
October 16 | 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Fairmont Chateau Whistler | $38 (includes brunch)
Satisfy your literary cravings with a conversation between
Bill Richardson and Emma Donoghue (Room), Gary Geddes
(Falsework), Affinity Konar (The Illustrated Version of Things),
Cea Sunrise Person (North of Normal), Anosh Irani (The Parcel)
and Madeline Thien (Dogs at the Perimeter).
Photo: Joern Rohde
MEET THESE AUTHORS AT
Armchair Books and
Armchair
Books
and
Penguin
Random
House
Canada
Penguin
Random
House Canada
welcome
these authors
to the
welcome
these
authors
to the
Whistler
Writers
Festival
Whistler Writers Festival
Armchair Books is located at
4205
Village Books
Square,
Armchair
isWhistler,
located atBC
604-932-5557
|
[email protected]
4205 Village Square, Whistler, BC
604-932-5557 | [email protected]
whistlerwritersfest.com 13
Workshops
Coming to the
Whistler Writers
Festival 2016
Workshop 1
From Desk to Bookstore: Fiction and
Poetry in Traditional Publishing
C.S.
REARDON
AUTHOR OF
The Spanish Boy
With Genni Gunn.
October 14 | 9 a.m. - noon
Fairmont Chateau Whistler | $60
This 3-hour workshop is designed to introduce you to the process
and the maze of getting published through traditional publishing.
Topics will include submission guidelines for fiction and poetry
to magazines, queries, submissions to agents and publishers,
contracts, editing and the author/editor relationship, revisions, and
making a living as a writer.
Workshop 2
Speed Dating: Pitch your Book/Idea
to Publishers, Agents and Editors
ENDRE
FARkAS
Think AUTHOR
Choose from four part-time
creative writing options
in Vancouver, Whistler,
Surrey and online:
Presented by Marquis Printing.
October 14 | 1 – 4:30 p.m. (with 20 min break)
Fairmont Chateau Whistler | $50
AUTHOR OF
Never, Again
The Writer’s Studio
Now available online
and in Whistler
Apply by October 30
The Southbank Writer’s Program
Our summer program
Specialized creative
writing courses
Manuscript consultations
sfu.ca/creative-writing
Find us Online at www.signature-editions.com
facebook.com/signatureeditions
@ SigEditions
Get smack-dab in front of publishing decision-makers for 15
minutes to pitch your book or story idea one-on-one, and receive
feedback. Don’t have a book to pitch? Take this opportunity
to ask questions about what the publishers are looking for.
Come prepared with a 5 minute pitch and/or questions for
the publishers, agents and editors. Meet Lynn Henry (Penguin
Random House), Shelly Tanaka (Groundwood), Rachel Letofsky
(Cook Agency), Tara Walker (Penguin Random House Kids),
Howard White (Harbour Publishing), Vici Johnstone (Caitlin Press),
Rodger Touchie (Heritage House), Pat Touchie (Touchwood), and
Carolyn Swayze (Carolyn Swayze Literary Agency). The session
includes up to two pitches of your choice, on a first-come, firstchoice basis.
whistlerwritersfest.com Workshop 3
“You Should Write a Book”
Three Ways to Start Writing that Book Everyone Says
You Should Write. With Megan Williams.
October 14 | 4 - 5:30 p.m.
Fairmont Chateau Whistler | $32
Megan Williams is an award winning, self-published author.
She doesn’t have a degree in literary-arts, she isn’t a journalism
student and three years ago, she didn’t know how to write a book.
What Megan did have, was a story to tell. Megan researched,
navigated and tested her way through writing and publishing her
first book. Taking the advice of others, and developing her own
set of tools, in two years, Megan was a published author. Knowing
the hardest part is figuring out ‘where’ to get started, Megan has
developed the ‘You Should Write A Book’ workshop series to help
other aspiring authors share their story. Take away: In this succinct
session, aspiring writers will leave with three practical tools and
processes to start writing their first book. Workshop 4
Writing for Young Readers
With Lisa Moore.
Presented by Vision Pacific.
October 15 | 8:30 - 10:30 a.m.
Fairmont Chateau Whistler | $32
“When you’re a teenager, everything is new. It’s like traveling
— everything is super bright and colourful and vivid when you
see it first,” says Lisa Moore, author of YA novel Flannery. In this
workshop on writing for young readers, Moore dives into how
to capture the intensity of the point of view of a teen through
writing tools of the trade: specific description, highly developed
characters, a plot that moves, and a sharply drawn voice.
15
Workshops
Workshop 5
Workshops
Workshop 7
Parallax Editing, Four Powerful Tools Writing Your Own Memoir: The Light
With Jennifer Manuel.
& Dark Years
October 15 | 8:30 - 10:30 a.m.
Fairmont Chateau Whistler | $32
Parallax is a term used in astronomy. It is when something seems
to shift its position because of how you look at it. It is also the key
to effective self-editing. This workshop offers four powerful ways
to look at your story from different perspectives, thereby shifting
your position on the narrative. Writers will learn how to: mark
places of narrative energy; survey the narrative real estate of their
story; map the emotional terrain; and measure narrative distance.
This is a hands-on workshop during which writers will map a few
pages of a short story or novel. Writers are then taught how to
interpret these maps and markings, as well as how to take the
next steps in the revision process. Workshop 6
How to Write a Picture Book
With Richard Van Camp.
October 15 | 9 - 10:30 a.m.
Whistler Public Library | FREE
Picture books are meant to be shared, read and sung to children.
Internationally-known, award-winning storyteller and author
Richard Van Camp gives advice on how to approach picture
books for babies and children, including: knowing and honouring
your audience; where ideas come from; finding the right rhythm;
working with an illustrator; and exploring the form and craft of
picture books. What you learn in this workshop could also be
applied to comics and the graphic novel. With Caroline Woodward.
October 15 | 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Fairmont Chateau Whistler | $32
Whether you want to leave an account of your life in words and
photographs for your descendants or begin the first in an ambitious
trilogy of literary memoirs or a long poem, script for stage or radio,
or children’s books, this workshop may be the spark to ignite your
own project. Memoir is a vehicle for reaching the universal from the
outpost of the personal so we will explore form, voice, ethical and
legal issues, narrative arc and finally, examine what really matters
about your own life. Bring lots of paper—or your laptop—and
prepare to write like blazes and to enjoy lively discussions too.
Workshop 8
State of the Art: Marketing Your
Media Profile
With Cathryn Atkinson.
October 15 | 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Fairmont Chateau Whistler | $32
What’s your story? Not the one you’ve written, but the one you
are? Do readers, media, agents and publishers know what you
want them to know about you? Through her work as arts editor
at Pique Newsmagazine, Cathryn found that many artists aren’t
making the most of connecting; this summer she started her
consultancy company ContentYou to help writers to understand
the digital and traditional media landscape. In this workshop
you will create a strategy to take control of your media profile whether looking for traditional publishers or self-publishing - learn
how to target the right people to get there, and explore questions
on the state of arts media in Canada and beyond.
16whistlerwritersfest.com
Workshop 9
Workshop 11
Poetry Workshop: The Courage to
Rise Up
With Kenneth Oppel. For youth 10 – 19 years.
Finding your poet’s voice with Miranda Pearson and
Mary MacDonald.
October 15 | 2:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Whistler Public Library | FREE (Must be aged 10-19)
October 15 | 2:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Fairmont Chateau Whistler | $32
At around twelve Kenneth Oppel decided he wanted to be a writer
(this came after deciding he wanted to be a scientist, and then an
architect). One summer holiday when he was fourteen, he started
on a humorous story about a boy addicted to video games. Colin’s
Fantastic Video Adventure was published in 1985, in Britain and
Canada and the U.S, and later in France. Oppel has written over 25
picture books, chapter books and books for young adults. He will
share his methods of research, writing and organization in helping
you to become a more effective writer.
The poet Adrienne Rich said, ‘Art means nothing if it simply
decorates the dinner table of the power which holds it hostage.’
Poetry can be written about anything, but it is always about
communicating, being heard, and exploring our questions. In this
workshop we will look at poems of protest – poetry born out of
struggle, poems that unsettle us, poems that speak to change,
poems that challenge the reader to make a difference. This
workshop will encourage anyone who has something to say – to
write their questions into a language and style called poetry – as a
way of being heard. This is a workshop for everyone, for the poet
within.
Workshop 10
Character Bootcamp
With Susan Juby.
October 15 | 2:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Fairmont Chateau Whistler | $32
Does your character have what it takes to star in your full-length
novel? This workshop will help you find out. We will review the
elements that unforgettable characters have in common and
learn a series of exercises and techniques that can take underperforming characters and make them stars.
whistlerwritersfest.com Writing Workshop for Young Writers
Workshop 12
The Lives of Writers: Carol Shields, A
Legacy
With Anne Giardini and Nicholas Giardini
October 15 | 4:30 - 6 p.m.
Fairmont Chateau Whistler | $15
In the course of her extraordinary career, which included the
novels The Stone Diaries, Larry’s Party, The Republic of Love
and Unless, as well as poetry, short stories, biography and plays,
Carol Shields was unfailingly encouraging of other writers. Author
Anne Giardini, Shield’s daughter, presents Startle and Illuminate,
a writing book on craft written in Carol’s own words. This essential
work, drawn by her daughter and grandson Nicholas Giardini from
decades of correspondence with other writers, essays, notes,
comments, criticism and lectures, is a last gift from one of our
finest writers.
Moderator: C.S. Reardon
17
Guest Authors
NICK BANTOCK is known throughout the
world for his art, his writing, and particularly,
his marriage of the two. He was schooled in
England and holds a BA in Fine Art (painting).
He has been credited with creating a new genre
in literature with his incredibly popular cult
series, Griffin & Sabine, which was on the New
York Times bestseller list for over two years. His works have been
Anne Duke
Born in 1976, FEET BANKS was raised in Northern
BC without electricity and his first friend was a
rooster named Houdini. At age 12 his parents
moved him to Whistler to live the dream. He
studied writing and film at the University of
Victoria before returning home to continue
living the dream while making stupid little horror
movies with his friends. He is the founding editor of Mountain
Life Magazine, the co-creator of the Heavy Hitting HorrorFest
and his “Notes from the Back Row” movie column in the Pique
Newsmagazine has been running weekly since 2003. Feet loves
naps, fishing, drive-in movie theatres and finding new ways to stir
the pot. His latest passion project is a web-zine about pie.
CATHIE BORRIE briefly tried her hand at theater
school, trained as a nurse, holds a BSN from
the University of British Columbia and a Master
of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University. She has a law degree from the University of
Saskatchewan and received her Certificate in
Creative Writing from the Writer’s Studio at Simon
Fraser University under the expert tutelage of Betsy Warland. Her
work was shortlisted in The CBC Literary Awards in 2005, 2006,
and 2009. She continues to write, and performs theatrical readings
from The Long Hello. See more at: www.cathieborrie.com
KEVAN “SCRUFFMOUTH” CAMERON is an
international spoken word artist, writer and
performer in the “edu-tainment” industry. A
graduate of Simon Fraser University and former
soccer pro, Kevan is co-editor of The Great Black
North: Contemporary African Canadian Poetry.
He is currently working on many writing projects
with the purpose of pursuing justice because Black Lives Matter,
developing original art in the International Decade For People of
African Descent, and recognizing Canada’s 150th anniversary with
creativity.
18whistlerwritersfest.com
short-listed for the Man Booker and Orange Prizes; it went on to
sell over two million copies. Donoghue scripted the film adaptation
by Lenny Abrahamson starring Brie Larson, which won the 2015
Toronto International Film Festival People’s Choice Award and was
nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
CRAIG DAVIDSON was born and grew up in St.
Catharines, Ontario, near Niagara Falls. He has
published three previous books of literary fiction:
Rust and Bone, which was made into an Oscarnominated feature film of the same name, The
Fighter, and Sarah Court. Davidson is a graduate
of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and his articles
and journalism have been published in The National Post, Esquire,
GQ, The Walrus, and The Washington Post, among other places. He
lives in Toronto, Canada, with his partner and their child.
ROSANNA DEERCHILD has been storytelling for
more than 20 years, most recently as host of CBC
Radio One’s Unreserved, a show that shares the
stories, music and culture of Indigenous Canada.
Rosanna is a veteran broadcaster, having worked
at APTN, CBC, Global and NCI-FM, where she
hosted All My Relations. She has also hosted
The (204) and the Weekend Morning Show on CBC Radio One and
appeared on CBC Radio’s DNTO. She is an award-winning author
and poet. Her debut poetry collection this is a small northern town
shares her reflections of growing up in a racially divided place. It
won the 2009 Aqua Books Lansdowne Prize for Poetry. Her second
book, calling down the sky, is her mother’s Residential School
survivor story.
EMMA DONOGHUE writes in many genres
including theatre, radio drama, and literary
history, but is best known for her fiction, both
historical (Slammerkin, The Sealed Letter, Astray,
Frog Music) and contemporary (Stir-Fry, Hood,
Landing, Touchy Subjects). Her seventh novel,
Room, won the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize
and the Commonwealth Prize (Canada and Caribbean) and was
whistlerwritersfest.com Gary Geddes
DEBORAH CAMPBELL has reported from Iran,
Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, the UAE, Qatar,
Israel, Palestine, Cuba, Mexico and Russia.
Winner of three Canadian National Magazine
Awards, her work has appeared in Harper’s, The
Economist, Foreign Policy, The Guardian, New
Scientist, The Walrus and other publications.
She teaches at the University of British Columbia. www.
deborahcampbell.org
ANN ERIKSSON is the author of four previous
novels: Decomposing Maggie (Turnstone,
2003), In the Hands of Anubis (Brindle & Glass,
2009), Falling From Grace (Brindle & Glass,
2011) and High Clear Bell of Morning (Douglas &
McIntyre, 2014). Eriksson lives on Thetis Island,
British Columbia, with her husband, poet Gary
Geddes. You can read more about her at: www.anneriksson.ca.
ENDRE FARKAS was born in Hungary and
is a child of Holocaust survivors. He and his
parents escaped during the 1956 uprising and
settled in Montreal. His work has always had a
political consciousness and has always pushed
the boundaries of poetry. Since the 1970s, he
has collaborated with dancers, musicians and
actors to move the poem from page to stage. Still at the forefront
of the Quebec English language literary scene — writing, editing,
publishing and performing — Farkas is the author of eleven books,
including Quotidian Fever: New and Selected Poems (1974-2007).
He is the two-time regional winner of the CBC Poetry “Face Off”
Competition. His poetry book, Blood is Blood, with Carolyn Marie
Souaid, was a winner in the ZEBRA international poetry festival for
“Best Film For Tolerance”. Never Again is the title of Endre’s new
novel.
Anastasia Chomlack
Dave Barnes
CATHRYN ATKINSON is an award-winning
journalist and screenwriter, with experience as
a staff and freelance editor and writer with The
Guardian, The Financial Times, The Globe and
Mail and many others over a 28-year career in
Canada and the UK. She has been the arts editor
at Pique Newsmagazine in Whistler since 2013.
Writer, actor and stand-up comedian, BRANDON
BARRETT has long been fascinated with the
stories we tell. As an award-winning journalist
for Whistler’s signature publication, Pique
Newsmagazine, he’s had the rare opportunity
to uncover some of those stories, and even spin
some of his own yarns in the process. A graduate
of Carleton University, Brandon relishes the chance to shine a light
on Whistler’s burgeoning comedy scene — five minutes at a time.
Kevin Kelly
translated into thirteen languages and over five million have been
sold worldwide. This April, he will release the final volume in Griffin
and Sabine’s story, THE PHAROHS GATE: Griffin and Sabine’s Lost
Correspondence, along with a special 25th anniversary edition of the
first book, GRIFFIN & SABINE: An Extraordinary Correspondence.
www.nickbantock.com
LESLIE ANTHONY is a Whistler-based
writer, editor, biologist and occasional
filmmaker. A former editor at Powder, Bike
and SKIER magazines, he currently oversees
editorial for prestigious Mountain Life Annual and
continues his residence on the masthead of a
global litany of ski and outdoor publications. At
home, Anthony writes broadly about travel, adventure and science
subjects ranging from imaginary monsters to disappearing insects
in titles like Canadian Geographic, Canadian Wildlife and explore.
The author of two previously acclaimed titles, Snakebit and White
Planet, his latest book is The Aliens Among Us: How invasive
species are transforming the planet—and ourselves.
J.L. Campbell
Guest Authors
KATHERINE FAWCETT was born in Montreal,
raised in Calgary, has lived in Japan, Canmore
and Yellowknife, and now calls Pemberton home
with her husband and two children. She began
her career as a sports writer before venturing into
freelance journalism and commercial writing, and
eventually turning to fiction. Her award winning
short stories have been published in WordWorks, Event, FreeFall,
subTerrain and Other Voices. A music teacher, classical pianist and
violinist, Katherine also loves a good fiddle jam. The Little Washer of
Sorrows is her first book of fiction which is a finalist for 2016 Sunburst
Award for short fiction.
19
Guest Authors
Guest Authors
ANNE GIARDINI, Carol Shields’s daughter, has
published two novels, The Sad Truth about
Happiness and Advice for Italian Boys, and
is working on a third. Anne is an executive, a
board director and a lawyer, and is the eleventh
chancellor of Simon Fraser University.
NICHOLAS GIARDINI is one of Carol Shields’s
twelve grandchildren. A committed reader, he enjoys books
that explore character and self-perception. Carol Shields died
when Nicholas was eleven. He remembered her as a warm and
intense person. While carrying out research for this book in the
archives, reading letters, lectures and notes, he came to know his
grandmother as a person and began to understand more fully the
role she played in the world of ideas, and in the lives of her friends,
fellow writers and readers.
GENNI GUNN is a writer, translator and musician.
She has published three novels: Solitaria
(Signature Editions), nominated for the Giller
Prize 2011; Tracing Iris, made into a film titled The
Riverbank; and Thrice Upon a Time, finalist for the
Commonwealth Prize. She has also published
two story and two poetry collections, one of
which was a finalist for the Gerald Lampert Poetry Award. Her
two poetry translations of Dacia Maraini were finalists for the John
Glassco Prize and the Premio Internazionale Diego Valeri. She has
also written the libretto for the opera Alternate Visions, produced in
Montreal in 2007, and showcased at the Opera America Conference
ANOSH IRANI has published three critically
acclaimed and award-winning novels: The
Cripple and His Talismans (2004), a national
bestseller; The Song of Kahunsha (2006), which
was an international bestseller and shortlisted for
Canada Reads and the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize;
and Dahanu Road (2010), which was shortlisted
for the Man Asian Literary Prize. His play Bombay Black won the
Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play (2006), and
his anthology The Bombay Plays: The Matka King & Bombay
Black was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award. The
Parcel by Anosh Irani is a dynamic book set in India, the protagonist
a transgendered character living in the red light district. SUSAN JUBY’S most recent novels are Republic
of Dirt, winner of the 2016 Leacock Medal for
Humour and The Truth Commission, winner of
the BC Book Award/Sheila A. Egoff Children’s
Literature Prize. Her novels have been published
all over the world and nominated for many
awards, including the Amazon/Books in Canada
First Novel Award and an Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of
America. She is the author of the bestselling Alice, I Think, named
one of the essential 40 Young Adult novels by Rolling Stone
Magazine and adapted into a CTV/Comedy Network television
series. Susan holds a Master of Publishing degree from Simon
Fraser University and teaches at Vancouver Island University.
AFFINITY KONAR is the author of The Illustrated
Version of Things. She received her MFA from
Columbia University and lives in Los Angeles.
MARSHA LEDERMAN is the Western Arts
Correspondent for The Globe and Mail, based in
Vancouver. She covers literature, visual art, film,
television, music, theatre, dance, cultural policy,
and related issues. Before joining The Globe,
Marsha worked for CBC Radio, mostly in Toronto,
where she held a variety of positions, including
National Arts Reporter. Going way back, Marsha worked for many
years in private radio as a reporter, news anchor and talk show host.
Marsha was born in Toronto and has lived in Vancouver since 2007.
She is still trying to learn how to ski.
Braden Haggerty
LYNN HENRY is the Publishing Director at Knopf
Canada, a division of Penguin Random House
Canada, where she oversees the imprint and its
distinguished list of award-winning Canadian
and international literary voices. Books she has
worked on, including those by Rawi Hage, Lisa
Moore, Thomas King, Wade Davis, Alison Pick,
Marina Endicott, MG Vassanji, David Adams Richards, Margaret
Atwood and Paula McLain, have been bestsellers and won
numerous awards in Canada and internationally. She is currently
publishing new works by Canadian writers Sheila Heti, Madeleine
Thien, Craig Davidson, Miranda Hill, Pasha Malla and Kathleen
Winter alongside international writers such as Hisham Matar, Sarah
Bakewell, Edmund de Waal, Orhan Pamuk, Sunjeev Sahota and
Kevin Barry.
Glen D’Mello
Meg Shields
GARY GEDDES has written and edited more than
forty-five books of poetry, fiction, drama, nonfiction, criticism, translation, and anthologies and
won more than a dozen national and international
literary awards, including the Commonwealth
Poetry Prize (Americas Region), the Lieutenant
Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence, and
the Gabriela Mistral Prize from the government of Chile, awarded
simultaneously to Octavio Paz, Vaclav Havel, Ernesto Cardenal,
Rafael Alberti, and Mario Benedetti.
Grace Lynch
STEVEN HEIGHTON is a critically acclaimed
novelist and poet. His novels include Afterlands, a
New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, and
The Shadow Boxer, a Publishers Weekly Book of
the Year. His collections of poetry include Stalin’s
Carnival, winner of the Gerald Lampert Memorial
Award for Poetry; The Ecstasy of Skeptics, a
finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award, poems from which
won a gold National Magazine Award and the Petra Kenney Prize;
The Address Book; and Patient Frame, poems from which won the P.
K. Page Award and a National Magazine Award.
RACHEL LETOFSKY is a graduate from both the
Humber Creative Book Publishing Program and
the University of Toronto, where she specialized
in English literature. She began working for The
Cooke Agency in 2010 and is now an Associate
Agent. While at the conference, she will be
acting as eyes and ears for the Cooke agents and
will be seeking submissions of literary, historical and genre fiction
(fantasy, science fiction, horror, mysteries), middle-grade, young
adult and women’s fiction and adult non-fiction in the categories
of biography, lifestyle, self-help and narrative-driven memoir.
For her own list, Rachel is actively seeking ground-breaking and
heart-breaking middle grade and YA titles in all genres as well as
exquisite literary fiction. In non-fiction, Rachel is looking for narrativedriven memoirs, and anything quirky and life affirming. Rachel is
particularly committed to working with unpublished authors in a
focused, collaborative and hands-on manner.
@rachelletofsky | cookeagency.ca
VICI JOHNSTONE is the publisher at Caitlin Press.
Before diving headlong into the “world of words”
she worked in theatre, radio, television, film and
digital media. In 1999, she returned to BC and
began working as a producer for Basis Applied
Technology where she managed projects for The
Learning Company, Disney Interactive and Mattel
Interactive. In 2002, Harbour Publishing hired her to work first as
their production manager and then as general manager. Vici bought
Caitlin Press in 2008 and is the publisher, editor and designer.
Gabriela Michanie
in Vancouver, May 2013. She is an inveterate traveler, and her
experiences are reflected in her most recent book, Tracks: Journeys
in Time and Place (Signature Editions, 2013).
JOY FIELDING is the New York Times bestselling
author of Someone Is Watching, Charley’s Web,
Heartstopper, Mad River Road, See Jane Run
and other acclaimed novels. She divides her time
between Toronto and Palm Beach, Florida.
BILLIE LIVINGSTON is the author of three novels,
short stories, including the Danuta Gleed and
CBC Bookie award-winning collection Greedy
Little Eyes, and poetry. Her previous novel, One
Good Hustle, a Globe and Mail Best Book, was
longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and
nominated for the Canadian Library Association’s
Young Adult Book Award. Her short story, “Sitting on the Edge of
Marlene,” has been adapted as a feature film. She lives in Vancouver.
JIM LYNCH is the author of four novels set in
Western Washington with his latest creation,
Before the Wind. New York Times reviewer Janet
Maslin picked his most recently published novel,
Truth Like the Sun, as one of her 10 favorite
books of 2012. That novel was also a finalist for
the Dashiell Hammett Prize, given to the best
literary crime fiction in North America. Lynch’s first novel, The
Highest Tide (2005), won the Pacific Northwest Bookseller Award,
was performed on stage in Seattle and became an international
bestseller after it was featured on England’s Richard and Judy
television show. His second novel, Border Songs (2009), was also
adapted to the stage and won the Washington State Book Award
as well as the Indie’s Choice Honor Book Award.
www.jimlynchbooks.com.
BBQ BRIAN MISKO is a pitmaster and a
storyteller, and he’s one of the best. He and his
House of Q team have been crowned Grand
Champion at many barbecue competitions.
In 2014 alone, he has earned the inaugural
Canadian BBQ Society national Team of the Year,
been crowned twice Grand Champion, and been
selected to represent Canada at the Jack Daniels World Invitational
BBQ Championship. BBQ Brian’s new cookbook titled Grilling with
House of Q is gathering rave reviews and fans meanwhile educating
cooking enthusiasts on how to be creative at the grill. BBQ Brian can
be seen providing “BBQ Tips” on Global BC’s Morning News, giving
demos on trade show stages, and developing new products for his
House of Q line of BBQ sauces and rubs.
John MacDonald
RACHEL (R.J.) MCMILLEN is the author of three
books, with a fourth, Green River Falling, just
released by Touchwood Editions in May, 2016.
Dark Moon Walking, the first book in the Dan
Connor mystery series, was nominated for both
the Arthur Ellis Award and the Kobo Emerging
Writers award in the Genre (Mystery) category.
Her poetry has appeared in numerous publications, including the
recently released anthology All Our Words Needed Saying. She
has written numerous magazine articles, including several cover
stories, and for many years had a weekly newspaper column. Rachel
currently teaches Creative Writing in Guadalajara, Mexico.
ANDREW NIKIFORUK has been writing about the
oil and gas industry for more than two decades
He was one of the first journalists in North
America to document the devastating effects
of hydraulic fracturing on rural communities.
He is the author of multiple nonfiction books,
including Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of
a Continent, winner of the prestigious Rachel Carson Environment
Book Award; Saboteurs: Wiebo Ludwig’s War against Big Oil, winner
of Canada’s Governor General’s Literary Award for Nonfiction; and
Empire of the Beetle: How Human Folly and a Tiny Bug Are Killing
North America’s Great Forests, finalist for the Shaughnessy Cohen
Prize.
KENNETH OPPEL is the Governor General’s
Award–winning author of the Airborn series
and the Silverwing Saga, which has sold over a
million copies worldwide. His most recent novels
are Half Brother, winner of both the Canadian
Library Association Book of the Year for Children
Award and the Young Adult Book Award; This
Dark Endeavour, finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award;
and Such Wicked Intent, finalist for the CLA Young Adult Book
Award. Canada’s nominated author for the 2014 Hans Christian
Andersen Award. He lives in Toronto with his wife and three children.
22whistlerwritersfest.com
KEVIN PATTERSON grew up in Manitoba, and
put himself through medical school by joining
the Canadian army. Now a specialist in internal
medicine, he practices in the Arctic and on
Vancouver Island. His first book, a memoir
called The Water in Between, was a Globe Best
Book and an international bestseller. Country
of Cold, his debut short fiction collection, won the Rogers Writers’
Trust Fiction Prize as well as the inaugural City of Victoria Butler
Book Prize. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed novel,
Consumption, and co-editor of Outside the Wire: The War in
Afghanistan in the Words of its Participants.
CEA PERSON’S bestselling first book, North
of Normal (HarperCollins), chronicles her
wilderness childhood and dramatic move into a
decades-long modeling career at age thirteen.
She makes regular appearances to speak
about her unique life, and also teaches memoir
writing. After living in such cities as New York,
Los Angeles, Paris, Munich and Milan, she is now happily settled
in Vancouver with her husband and three children. Her second
memoir, a follow-up to North of Normal entitled Nearly Normal,
will be released by HarperCollins in January 2017. She is currently at
work on her first novel. www.ceaperson.com
MIRANDA PEARSON was born in Kent, England
and moved to Canada in 1991. Her poetry
has been published widely in literary journals
and anthologies, and she is the author of four
collections, The Fire Extinguisher, Prime, The
Aviary and Harbour. The Fire Extinguisher was
nominated for the 2016 Dorothy Livesay Prize
and Harbour was nominated for the same prize in 2010. Miranda
lives in Vancouver, where she teaches and edits poetry and works in
Community Mental Health.
IRA PETTLE, B.A, M.Ed, children’s entertainer
extraordinaire, is thrilled to be joining the
ranks of the Whistler Writers Festival. With a
Master’s degree in Education and over 20 years
performing, producing, and teaching theatre, Ira
is truly a master in his field. Having worked with
hundreds of thousands of kids, teens, and adults,
whistlerwritersfest.com his experience is second to none. This year, Ira is back co-producing
and directing Comedy Quickies, The Whistler Writers Festival’s first
comedy writing contest set to stage.
Centric Photography
Lawrence Melious
LISA MOORE is the bestselling author of the
novels February, longlisted for the Man Booker
Prize, and Alligator, a finalist for the Scotiabank
Giller Prize. Flannery is her first book for young
readers. NATHANIEL G. MOORE is the author of six books
including Savage 1986-2011, (Anvil Press) winner
of the 2014 ReLit Award for best novel. He has
served as an editor at The Danforth Review,
Broken Pencil magazine and as a columnist for
Open Book:Toronto. His writing has appeared in
The Globe and Mail, This Magazine, The National
Post, The Georgia Straight and Prism International. His latest book
is Jettison (Anvil Press) his debut collection of short fiction. He lives
on the Sunshine Coast where he works full time as a book publicist.
Please visit www.jettison.ca JENNIFER MANUEL is the author of the novel,
The Heaviness of Things That Float. A longtime activist in Aboriginal issues, Manuel taught
elementary school in the lands of the Tahltan and
Nuu-chah-nulth peoples. She lives on Vancouver
Island where she runs the TRC Reading
Challenge in an effort to get people to read the
Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report.
Mark Raynes Roberts
Nick Caumanns
MARY MACDONALD is a poet and writer with a
Ph.D. from UBC. She has written poetry for ballet,
public art, and libretto. Her work has appeared
in Room Magazine and Pique Newsmagazine.
Her chapbook, Going In Now, was published in
2014 by NIB Publishing. She is a member of the
Whistler Writing Society.
Guest Authors
Nathalie Marsh
Guest Authors
STEVEN PRICE is the author of two awardwinning poetry books, Anatomy of Keys (2006),
winner of the Gerald Lampert Award, and Omens
in the Year of the Ox (2012), winner of the ReLit
Award. His first novel, Into That Darkness, was
published by Thomas Allen to acclaim in 2011. He
lives in Victoria, B.C.
C.S. REARDON’S family roots are deeply
embedded in Halifax, Nova Scotia, although
she spent most of her professional life outside
that city and province. Her love of history and
journalism coincided as a Senior Producer on
the episode “Battle For A Continent” for the
monumental CBC series Canada: A People’s
History. During her time as Senior Producer and Executive Producer
of the CBC’s flagship investigative program the fifth estate, the
show won countless national and international awards. During her
time at the CBC, Reardon worked with some of the best writers and
journalists in the country. In 2010, she returned to her family roots to
live in Halifax to begin her writing career. The Spanish Boy is the title
of Reardon’s new novel.
BILL RICHARDSON is a Vancouver-based writer
and broadcaster. He has hosted numerous shows
on CBC Radio, including Saturday Afternoon at
the Opera and In Concert. Most recently he has
collaborated with composer and singer Veda
Hille in the creation of Do You Want What I Have
Got? — A Craigslist Cantata, which was staged at
the Factory Theatre in Toronto. His books include Bachelor Brothers’
Bed & Breakfast, which won the Stephen Leacock Medal for
Humour, and After Hamelin, a novel for children that was a winner
of the Silver Birch Award. His latest book, The First Little Bastard to
Call me Gramps is published by House of Anansi Press.
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CAROLYN SWAYZE is the president of Carolyn
Swayze Literary Agency, where she represents
authors of literary fiction and nonfiction for adults
and children. She has been guiding the careers
of some of Canada’s top literary talent since 1994.
The Swayze Agency welcomes submissions
from emerging and established authors of fiction
for adults, new adults and children, as well as narrative non-fiction,
memoir and biography. We’re looking for strong literary fiction, a
small selection of commercial fiction (women’s, crime), young adult
and middle grade fiction. Narrative non-fiction in the areas of history,
science and natural history, politics, pop culture, lifestyle and food
are of particular interest. We do not represent poetry, science fiction,
fantasy,horror, screenplays, religious or self-help.
SHELLEY TANAKA is an editor, writer, teacher
and translator. She is the author of more than
twenty books for children and young adults,
including seven titles in the award-winning I Was
There series. Her books have been translated
into nine languages, and she has won the Orbis
Pictus Award, the Mr. Christie’s Book Award, the
Science in Society Book Award and the Information Book Award.
Shelley is the long-time fiction editor at Groundwood Books and has
edited more than a dozen Governor General’s Award-winning titles.
She teaches creative writing at Vermont College of Fine Arts, in the
MFA program in writing for children and young adults.
PAT TOUCHIE has been the publisher of
TouchWood Editions (formerly Horsdal &
Schubart) since 1998. During that time she has
built on the company’s origins as a non-fiction
regional publisher and today publishes a range
of contemporary lifestyle books, cookbooks,
biography, crime fiction, and works closely
with her Associate Publisher, Taryn Boyd, who also oversees
TouchWood’s literary imprint, Brindle & Glass. Pat is a former
business teacher at Capilano College and spent a decade as VP of
Marketing with Self-Counsel Press and partner of Self Counsel Inc.
in the US. She is a former board member of ABPBC. TouchWood
currently publishes about 24 titles per year and the full list can be
viewed at touchwoodeditions.com.
RODGER TOUCHIE is the president of the
Heritage Group of Publishers (Heritage House,
TouchWood Editions, Rocky Mountain Books)
and Greystone Books and has been the
publisher of Heritage House since 1995. He is a
past president of the Association of Canadian
Publishers and ABPBC and has taught in the
SFU MPub program. Heritage House publishes primarily books
on contemporary subject matter, non-fiction Canadiana, the
Amazing Stories series, travel guides, and a limited number of
“books for young Canadians.” Rodger is also the author of four
best-selling non-fiction books including Bear Child: the Life and
Times of Jerry Potts and Edward Curtis, Above the Medicine Line.
Heritage publishes about 28 titles per year and full list is at www.
heritagehouse.ca
24whistlerwritersfest.com
JANE URQUHART’S previous novels are The
Whirlpool, Changing Heaven, Away, The
Underpainter, The Stone Carvers, A Map of
Glass, The Night Stages, and Sanctuary Line, all
of which have been published internationally.
She is also the author of Storm Glass (stories),
and three books of poetry. A national bestselling
author, Urquhart has received numerous awards and honours,
including the Governor General’s Award for Fiction, the Trillium
Award, the Habourfront Festival Prize, and Le prix du meilleur livre
étranger (Best Foreign Book Award) in France. Urquhart’s new book
A Number of Things will be coming out in the fall of 2016.
Mark Raynes Roberts
MADELEINE THIEN is the author of the story
collection Simple Recipes, which was a finalist
for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, a Kiriyama
Pacific Prize Notable Book, and won the BC
Book Prize for Fiction; the novel Certainty,
which won the Amazon.ca First Novel Award;
and the novel Dogs at the Perimeter, which
was shortlisted for Berlin’s 2014 International Literature Award and
won the Frankfurt Book Fair’s 2015 Liberaturpreis. Her story “The
Wedding Cake” was shortlisted for the prestigious 2015 Sunday
Times EFG Short Story Award. The daughter of Malaysian-Chinese
immigrants to Canada, she lives in Montreal.
RICHARD VAN CAMP is a proud member
of the Tlicho Dene from Fort Smith, NWT.
An internationally renowned storyteller and
bestselling author, Richard has published 20
books in 20 years with The Lesser Blessed being
his very first in 1996. The novel is now a feature
film with First Generation Films. Richard was
awarded Storyteller of the Year for both Canada and the US by the
Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers. You can visit
Richard daily on Facebook, Twitter and at www.richardvancamp.com.
Mark Mushet
PETER ROBINSON is the recipient of numerous
awards for his Inspector Banks novels, including
the prestigious Grand Prix de Littérature Policière
for the French translation of In a Dry Season,
the Edgar Award for the short story “Missing in
Action,” Denmark’s Palle Rosenkrantz Award,
and several Arthur Ellis Awards for Best Novel.
In 2002, he was awarded the Dagger in the Library by the British
Crime Writers’ Association. Robinson was born in Yorkshire, England,
and immigrated to Canada after graduating from the University of
Leeds. In 2010, he was given the Crime Writers of Canada’s Derrick
Murdoch Award for his outstanding contribution to crime fiction,
the Harbourfront Festival Prize for a body of work, and he was also
awarded an honorary degree by the University of Windsor.
Guest Authors
Babak Salari
Guest Authors
STEPHEN VOGLER is the author of Only in
Whistler: Tales of a Mountain Town and Top of
the Pass: Whistler and the Sea-to-Sky Country,
both published by Harbour. He has written radio
documentaries and commentaries for CBC
Radio’s Ideas, DNTO and Outfront programs,
and contributed to Explore Magazine, Hobo
Magazine, The Globe and Mail, and the Georgia Straight among
other publications. Stephen is also a songwriter and musician who
performs solo and with bands Some Assembly Required and The
Hounds of Buskerville. He is the founder of The Point Artist-Run
Centre in Whistler. www.stephenvogler.com
TARA WALKER is the Publisher of Penguin
Random House Canada Children’s Publishing
Group, which comprises four imprints: Tundra
Books, Doubleday Books for Young Readers,
Puffin and Razorbill. She got her start in children’s
publishing more than twenty years ago at Kids
whistlerwritersfest.com Can Press where she worked for sixteen years as an editor before
joining Tundra Books as Editorial Director in 2011. Tara has had the
pleasure of working with some of Canada’s most accomplished
writers and illustrators for children, including Mélanie Watt, Susin
Nielsen, Kyo Maclear, Isabelle Arsenault, Linda Bailey, Ashley Spires,
Julie Morstad, Cybèle Young, Shane Peacock, Frank Viva, Stéphane
Jorisch and the Fan Brothers. For many years she oversaw the
beloved Franklin the Turtle series and acquired and edited the bestselling Scaredy Squirrel series. This past year, she had four books
shortlisted for a GG award: Mélanie Watt’s Bug in a Vaccuum, Kyo
Maclear and Marion Arbona’s The Good Little Book, Susin Nielsen’s
We Are All Made of Molecules and Dan Bar-el’s Audrey (cow).
She also has upcoming books by Commander Chris Hadfield and
Lemony Snicket.
JAMES WALT, Executive Chef, is one of the
country’s leading chefs, cookbook author and
“farm-to-table” pioneers. Walt continues to
inspire his guests, creating compelling regional
cuisine based on local, sustainable ingredients.
A graduate of the Stratford Chefs School, his
impressive culinary career spans some of
British Columbia’s leading restaurants including a four-year tenure
at Sooke Harbour House and as opening chef to sister restaurant
Blue Water Cafe in Vancouver. James was also Executive Chef to
the Canadian Embassy in Rome, Italy; an experience that helped
shape the way he cooks today. James is Whistler’s only chef to
cook at the celebrated James Beard House in New York City
where he has performed on three separate occasions. He lives in
nearby Pemberton where he works closely with local farmers and
producers and personally selects the freshest ingredients featured
on the Araxi menu.
BETSY WARLAND has published 12 books
of poetry, creative nonfiction, and lyric prose
including her best-selling 2010 book of essays
on writing, Breathing the Page—Reading the
Act of Writing. In 2013, Warland created a new
publishing template: an interactive salon that
features excerpts from her manuscript Oscar
of Between, guest writers and artist’s work and lively comments
from salon readers. In March of 2016, Oscar of Between: A Memoir
of Identity and Ideas launches Caitlin Press’ new imprint, Dagger
Editions.
25
Guest Authors
HOWARD WHITE was raised in a series of
camps and settlements on the BC coast and
never got over it. He is still to be found stuck,
barnacle-like, to the shore at Pender Harbour,
BC. In the early 1970s he started editing the
bestselling series Raincoast Chronicles and
founded the award-winning book publishing
company Harbour Publishing. In 2013 he also became the
publisher of the famed Canadian press Douglas & McIntyre.
White’s own books include A Hard Man to Beat (biography),
The Men There Were Then (poems), Spilsbury’s Coast (biography),
The Accidental Airline (biography), Patrick and the Backhoe
(children’s), Writing in the Rain (essays) and The Sunshine Coast
(travel). He has been awarded the Order of BC, the Canadian
Historical Association’s Career Award for Regional History, the
Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, the Jim Douglas Publisher of
the Year Award, and an Honorary Doctorate of Laws Degree from
the University of Victoria. In 2007, White was made an Officer of the
Order of Canada.
GILLIAN WIGMORE is the author of three
books of poems: soft geography (Caitlin Press,
2007), winner of the 2008 ReLit Award, Dirt
of Ages (Nightwood, 2012), and Orient (Brick
Books, 2014), as well as a novella, Grayling,
(Mother Tongue Publishing, 2014). Her work has
been published in magazines, shortlisted for
prizes and anthologized. She lives in Prince George, BC.
MEGAN WILLIAM’S first book, Our Interrupted
Fairy Tale, is a real-life love story, uniquely
told from both Megan and her partner, Chad
Warren’s perspectives. The story details
the raw intimacies of being young, in love
and in a serious relationship with someone
fighting an incurable blood cancer. After its
release in February 2014, Our Interrupted Fairy Tale landed on
several Chapters Indigo bestseller lists throughout B.C., and is
the recipient of the Hyack Teen Reads Award. Megan’s second
book, Don’t Call The Office, is coauthored with her nine-year-old
stepdaughter, Madison. What started as an idea on the drive home
from school has evolved into a brightly illustrated, humorous
children’s book that Madison and Megan have loved working on
together - while eating cheesecake. CAROLINE WOODWARD is the author of
Disturbing the Peace (Polestar, 1990), which
was nominated for the Ethel Wilson BC Book
Prize, Alaska Highway Two-Step (Polestar,
1993), which was shortlisted for an Arthur Ellis
Award for Best First Mystery, Penny Loves
Wade, Wade Loves Penny (Oolichan, 2010)
and two children’s books that have also been nominated for many
prizes. Her most recent book, Light Years: Memoir of a Modern
Lighthouse Keeper (Harbour, 2015), is a BC Bestseller and a finalist
for the Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award. She lives on the
Lennard Island Lightstation with her husband, Jeff George.
CERTAIN PUBLISHER IS
TURNING 50 NEXT YEAR
Historian, novelist, and essayist RONALD
WRIGHT is the award-winning author of ten
books of fiction and nonfiction published in
16 languages and more than 40 countries.
Much of his work explores the relationships
between past and present, peoples and power,
other cultures and our own. A Short History of
Progress was the best-selling book in the 50-year history of the
prestigious CBC Massey Lecture Series, winning the Libris Award
for Nonfiction Book of the Year. His latest novel, The Gold Eaters, is
published by Hamish Hamilton/Penguin Canada and Riverhead/
Penguin USA.
Visit anansi50.com for the latest news
and details about the logo design contest.
COVER PHOTO CREDITS: *1 Jeremy Koreski, *2 Howard Fry, *3 James Loewen, *4 Norman Wong,
*5 Michael Schoenholtz, *6 Kristina Laukkanen, *7 Lisa Sakulensky, *8 Don Hammond,
*9 Mark Raynes Roberts, *10 Monica Miller, *11 Anastasia Chomlack, *12 Joe Passaretti,
*13 Braden Haggerty, *14 Grace Lynch, *15 Ted Rhodes, *16 Cedar Bowers, *17 Nathalie Marsh,
*18 Mark Mushet, *19 Frances Raud, *20 Carol Loewen, *21 Prudence Upton, *22 Barbara Stoneham.
26whistlerwritersfest.com
ANANSI PUBLISHES VERY GOOD BOOKS
Made possible with the support of the Ontario Media Development Corporation.
WWW.ANANSI50.COM
Thank You
The Whistler Writing Society would like to thank its sponsors for their generosity.
Without their continued enthusiasm and support, this festival would not be possible.
The Canada Council for the Arts and the Roadmap for Canada’s Official Languages 2013-2018
Education, Immigration, Communities.
We acknowledge the financial support of the Province of British Columbia.
Contact us at [email protected] for more information on supporting the
2017 Whistler Writers Festival through sponsorship or advertising opportunities in the program guide.