Vancouver Writers Fest kicks off on Granville Island
Posted October 16, 2023 10:43 pm.
Last Updated October 16, 2023 10:44 pm.
The Vancouver Writers Fest begins its celebration of the written word Monday on Granville Island in Vancouver’s False Creek.
The festival aims to “encourage readers of all ages to explore the power of storytelling, and books,” it states on its website.
Artistic Director Leslie Hurtig spoke to CityNews to share some of the events she thinks attendees should look out for.
“Book Banning in a Precarious Age” is a panel discussion taking place on Friday. Hurtig says she thinks it will be a particularly important conversation to have right now.
“Book banning is a huge topic south of the border, but unfortunately it’s creeping up into Canada as well,” she said. “So, we’ll be tackling this one with three authors who have books that have been challenged, one way or another.”
On a different, lighter note, of the festivals marquee events to be held on Thursday will be “Smells like: 90s Lyrics Night,” which Hurtig anticipates will be a “fun one.”
“Last year, we did an 80s event where we asked authors to come on stage and recite a song lyric as if it was serious poetry,” Hurtig said. “This year we’re jumping up to the 90s and we’re going to embrace everything from girl bands to boy bands to grunge.”
Hurtig says she’s also excited for Thursday’s event titled “CliFi: Fiction for Our Times,” which will feature three soon-to-be-published novels.
“There have been a great number of beautiful books being released, thoughtful, terrifying and poignant books on climate, and so we’re doing this one event on three novels that are coming out with climate as the backdrop,” Hurtig says.
The festival will feature 125 authors and 85 events, before it wraps up on Sunday.
-With files from John Ackermann
