Waterfront Theatre

Part of the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival 2008.

Any child who has sat in the backseat of the family car while his or her parents chatter on about the history or geography of the countryside will delight in Marie-Louise Gay and David Homel’s stories of Max and Charlie and their ... (more)parents during their year-long adventures in the south of France. The culture of rural France seen through the eyes of two boys who would rather fly kites than dig for clams is both comic and educational.

Part of the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival 2008.

“You don’t belong here!” Throughout history,authors have told compelling stories of survival in dangerous times as one group pits itself against the other. From 15th century Spain when Jews were expelled, to young Muslims ... (more)today facing persecution in Afghanistan or in downtown Toronto, the courage to confront intolerance continues to be relevant. One of the best tools we have in the fight against
intolerance is to share our personal stories, that way we are able to see and care about the individual in the midst of the group.
$14 + $.50 facilit y surcharge / $7 for student groups

Any one of Shaun Tan’s illustrations is an art
piece in itself. Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas
was an artist before he married his artwork
with narrative. Two outstanding artists whose
skill and accomplishments have gained them
international acclaim discuss how to use
illustration to tell a tale, ... (more)whether it is a wordless
novel or a traditional Haida story. This is the
art of storytelling seen from the perspective of
visual elegance that readers will really enjoy.
$17 + $1 facility surcharge

Part of the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival 2008.

Jean Little has written more than 25 children’s
books. An extraordinary career in itself, her
work is even more amazing when readers who
have loved her stories hear of her struggles
as a child with a visual impairment trying ... (more)to fit
into a sighted world. Little has experienced the
cruelties of the classroom and playground, and
she talks with honesty and good humour about
the desire to belong while growing up with
a disability. Spend a morning with this warm
and reflective author who had the courage to
become what she always wanted to be—
a writer!
Suitable for grades 5 to 7
$14 + $.50 facility surcharge / $7 for student groups

Les retrouvailles d’un garçon et de son père
parti travailler dans le Nord n’ont pas lieu comme
prévues. Une fillette souffre d’une maladie
inconnue. Un jeune homme perd une jambe dans
un accident de ferme. Deux auteures, écrivant
avec humour et tact, présentent des personnages
auxquels ... (more)on s’identifie et qui, avec l’aide d’amis
nouveaux et anciens, parviennent à relever les
défis qui surgissent dans leurs vies.
Pour les élèves de la huitième à la douzième année
Cette activité sera présentée
exclusivement en français;
il y aura beaucoup de possibilités
d’interaction entre les élèves
et les écrivaines.
$14 + $.50 frais d’établissement /
$7 pour les groupes d’étudiants

Part of the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival 2008.

The immigrant experience is a theme in fiction of
which readers never tire. When relocation becomes
dislocation, when the hope of new opportunity
becomes the slap of racism, when the new land
and the old culture collide, we ... (more)get great stories.
From Newfoundlanders in the Albertan oilpatch, to
immigrants in the Montréal ghetto, from learning a
new language to the search to feel at home on foreign
soil, four writers, each of whom have “dislocated,” talk
about creating stories of immigration, emigration and
the search to feel at home in your own skin.
$17 + $1 facility surcharge

Gemini award-winner, author and scriptwriter
Susin Nielsen teams up with award-winning
Festival favourite, Sheree Fitch. Together they’ll
present an afternoon filled with energy and
enthusiasm. Nielsen, scriptwriter for Degrassi
Junior High and many other TV series, as well
as author of children’s ... (more)books and books for
young adults, brings to life quirky Ambrose, the
word nerd. Fitch, well known for her exceptional
work for younger readers, has written one
this time for older readers, featuring Minn, her
grandmother and a ghostly figure of the sole
shipwreck survivor off the Maritime
coast. The delight of writing, all types
and for all ages, will be evident to
all as the afternoon unfolds.
Suitable for grades 6 to 8
$14 + $.50 facilit y surcharge / $7 for student groups

Part of the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival 2008.

The true beauty of language is conveyed through sounds and rhythm; there
is no substitute for hearing authors read their work aloud. Five authors
from different countries will read in their mother tongues, while the English
translation ... (more)is projected on screen. Following the readings, the writers explore
the transformations that inevitably occur in translation, sometimes elegant,
sometimes humorous, often awkward. This is a rare opportunity to find out
what it feels like to put yourself in others’ words.
$17 + $1 facility surcharge

Part of the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival 2008.

Dans L’audition de Thomas, le plus récent roman de la série « Thomas »,
Thomas se voit offrir un rôle à la télévision, À CONDITION qu’il se fasse
couper les cheveux. Il réplique alors : « Sans mes cheveux longs, ... (more)je ne suis
pas moi. » Après en avoir discuté avec ses amis (et s’ils ne voulaient plus
être ses amis?) et ses parents, Thomas doit décider de l’importance que
revêt, pour lui, ce rôle à la télévision. C’est alors qu’il découvre les choses et
les personnes qui sont vraiment importantes à ses yeux.
D’autre part, il y a ce « Drôle de zèbre », personnage principal d’un roman
collectif écrit en collaboration avec les élèves de l’école Ducharme de Moose
Jaw. Qui est-il vraiment?
Pour les élèves de la quatrième à la septième année
Cette activité sera présentée exclusivement en français;
il y aura beaucoup de possibilités d’interaction entre les élèves
et les écrivaines.
$14 + $.50 frais d’établissement / $7 pour les groupes d’étudiants

Part of the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival 2008.

Novels seem to get all the attention, but
many fiction writers launch their careers with
a collection of short stories. This sometimes
overlooked form allows the writer to engage
in literary ventriloquism, venture through time
and ... (more)space and inhabit the skin of others with
a freedom that novels can’t sustain. Lyrical or
satirical, saucy or sombre, the stylistic scope of
short fiction is the writer and reader’s delight.
To the following adjectives to describe the short
story—captivating, enthralling, compelling
and alluring—add satisfying when
in the hands of these five writers.
This event is sponsored by the
UBC Writing Centre.
$14 + $ .50 facility surcharge / $7 for student groups

Part of the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival 2008.

Take your mind to another realm with this eagerly awaited afternoon of
poetry. The Mini Poetry Bash is an annual favourite with students, teachers
and poetry fans alike. This year the Festival has invited exceptional
and award-winning ... (more)poets from the United States, the United
Kingdom and Canada who can conjure lasting images with the
flick of a phrase, bring a smile to your face or a tear to your eye.
Poetry is emotion compressed and we’ve squeezed some amazing
feelings into this hour-and-a-half experience.
$14 + $.50 facility surcharge / $7 for student groups

Part of the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival 2008.

The Beijing Olympics have brought unprecedented
attention to China from around the world.
Through the overwhelming media attention
focused on the Olympics, we get a tantalizing
glimpse of China as it is. But what of the China
that ... (more)was? The Cultural Revolution, Tiananmen
Square and the rise of capitalism have shaken,
shattered and shaped China—and the people
who lived through those years. Xiaolu Guo, Qiu
Xiaolong and Ting-xing Ye all grew up in China
and left their homeland over the past 20 years.
This evening, they talk about their childhoods,
their run-ins with the regime and their views
of their homeland from abroad. It’s sure to be
a fascinating conversation that will deepen
our understanding of one of the world’s most
powerful nations.
$17 + $1 facility surcharge

Part of the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival 2008.

The “West” brings to mind the clichés of
tumbleweeds and gunslingers. But you can
leave your boots and Stetson at home this
morning, because these writers will show you
the West as you’ve never seen it before. In
the ... (more)hands of four authors who have taken the
West as their canvas, it is flooding rivers and
raging fires, the harsh reality of trying to carve
out a community in a new landscape; it is the
challenging geography of the rain forest, the
Okanagan or the plains. The West has always
inspired myth-making, and these skilled writers
are creating new myths for modern times.
$15 + $.50 facility surcharge

Part of the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival 2008.

If a poem is the compression of experience, then a novel is the gradual unfolding of
events and emotions. If a poem demands the precise juxtaposition of images, then a
novel allows for a sprawling panorama of characters, incidents ... (more)and consequences. Anne
Simpson has won the Griffin Prize for poetry; Patrick Lane, a Governor General’s Award;
Daphne Marlatt has received numerous awards for her work, and all three poets have
leapt into the unknown world of the novel. How does a writer who has mastered the craft
of one form effectively adopt a totally different style? Are poets destined to write “poetic
novels”? Discover how these fine writers faced the challenges and made the leap.
$15 + $.50 facility surcharge

Part of the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival 2008.

In the words of Michael Ondaatje, Sharon Olds’ poetry is “pure fire in the
hands.” Olds has been writing for almost 30 years and her poetry has won her
a Guggenheim Fellowship and a National Book Critics’ Circle Award. ... (more)Her poetry
is filled with sensuality, humour, sprung rhythm and stunning imagery. She
expresses raw truths about domestic and political violence, sexuality, family
relationships and the body. Her new collection, One Secret Thing, completes
her cycle of family poems in a book that is intense and harmonic, playful with
language and rich with a new self-awareness and sense of irony.
$15 + $.50 facility surcharge

Part of the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival 2008.

Settle back this evening to hear seven fine writers
read from their new works. There’s definitely
more than enough in store here to introduce
you to some riveting and entertaining fiction
that you will want to explore further. ... (more)Canada’s
André Alexis reads from his long-awaited second
novel, and Italian Stefano Benni reads from his
satirical work. Amanda Boyden introduces her
multi-voiced tale, and Sheree Fitch presents
her premier novel for adults. Governor General’s
award-winner Nino Ricci reads from his new
book set in Montréal, Anne Simpson presents
her family saga, and Kevin Vennemann offers up
a book that straddles real and imaginative worlds.
Come and sample some great reads!
$17 + $1 facility surcharge

Part of the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival 2008.

This afternoon’s launch of emerge, the annual
anthology from Simon Fraser University Writers’
Studio, also provides a tantalizing taste from the
work of those who have participated this year in
the Writers’ Studio. Come ... (more)and hear from the new
voices of writers in our midst—18 new writers who
span four generations and write in the genres of
non-fiction, poetry, fiction and lyric prose.
$10 + $.50 facility surcharge

Full author listing: Kathryn Alexander, Christy Allen, Shary Bartlett, Devin Chan, Drew Clarke, Mark Feenstra, Joan Flod, Yael Harlap, Denyse Johnson, Carmen Joy King, Sonja Larsen, Lora McElhinney, Joni McKervey, Brian O’Neill, Insiya Rasiwala, Mandana Rastan, Dima M. Yassine, Daniel Zomparelli