The 35th annual Vancouver Writers Festival includes many members of the Jewish community among the more than 115 authors from across Canada and around the globe who will join the events on Granville Island and elsewhere Oct. 17-23.<\/p>\n
The festival will celebrate the five shortlisted Scotiabank Giller Prize finalists; engage in conversations with Booker Prize-winner Douglas Stuart, as well as Canadian superstars Heather O\u2019Neill, Billy-Ray Belcourt and Wayne Johnston. It\u2019ll host conversations between emerging Canadian and American poets, novelists and memoirists, and feature flagship favourites like the Literary Cabaret, Sunday Brunch and Afternoon Tea.<\/p>\n
The guest curator of this year\u2019s festival is 2021 Scotiabank Giller Prize winner Omar El Akkad, who has invited a wide range of authors, including Noor Naga (Egypt), Elamin Abdelmahmoud (Ontario) and Threa Almontaser (United States) \u2013 and many others \u2013 to join him for six conversations that focus on home, identity and storytelling<\/p>\n
Among the Jewish community members participating in the festival are M\u00e9ira Cook, with her adult-young adult crossover novel, The Full Catastrophe<\/em>, in Mecca, Mitzvah and Milestones, and in Wry Humour for Modern Life; Tilar J. Mazzeo (Sisters in Resistance: How a German Spy, a Banker\u2019s Wife and Mussolini\u2019s Daughter Outwitted the Nazis<\/em>) speaks with Marsha Lederman (Kiss the Red Stairs: The Holocaust, Once Removed<\/em>); Sarah Leavitt facilitates a workshop led by University of British Columbia\u2019s creative writing department; and Guy Gavriel Kay (All The Seas of the World<\/em>) takes part in Fabulous Historical Fantasy.<\/p>\n Lederman is one of the authors participating in the The Power of Story: Live Recording for CBC\u2019s The Next Chapter, she hosts Generational Fiction: Stories of Lineage, History and Things Passed Down, and moderates Bestseller to Blockbuster. Actor, theatre critic and UBC professor emeritus Jerry Wasserman moderates Building Suspense, on writing thrillers, and Dr. Gabor Mat\u00e9 talks with Globe and Mail<\/em> reporter Andrea Woo about his latest book, The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness and Healing in a Toxic Culture<\/em>.<\/p>\n Festival tickets ($25) can be bought online at writersfest.bc.ca<\/a> or at the event venue, starting 45 minutes prior to the performance. There are discounts offered for regular events to seniors (10%) and youth under 30 (50%).<\/p>\n