Vancouver writer Del Bucchia appears at True Confessions and Tall Tales, along with Hera Lindsay Bird and Leanne Dunic (Oct 20 at 8:30 p.m., Revue Stage).
This year’s Vancouver Writers Festival features dozens of guests, from essayists to memoirists to poets. Included amongst the national and international talent are many local pencil-pushers (though perhaps “laptop-luggers” or “café-dwellers” might be more accurate). Here are a few worth checking out, along with their events.
The 30th Vancouver Writers Festival runs Oct. 16-22. All events listed below take place on Granville Island. For tickets, visit writersfest.bc.ca, or click on event title.
David Chariandy—Chariandy’s debut novel Soucouyant was nominated for ten literary prizes and awards. When he’s not collecting awards, he teaches at Simon Fraser University. His 2017 book Brother, which was longlisted for the 2017 Scotiabank Giller Prize, is set in Chariandy’s hometown of Scarborough in the early ’90s. Chariandy is appearing at Let’s Talk About Class (Oct 21 at 10:30 a.m., Revue Stage, 1601 Johnston St.) and Writing Canada, along with Carol Bruneau, Dawn Dumont and Eliza Robertson (Oct 21 at 2 p.m., Performance Works, 1218 Cartwright St.)
Dina Del Bucchia—Del Bucchia is the author of three collections of poetry, Coping with Emotions and Otters (Talonbooks, 2013), Blind Items (Insomniac Press, 2014), and Rom Com (Talonbooks, 2015), written with Daniel Zomparelli. She also hosts Can’t Lit, a podcast on Canadian literature and culture, with Zomparelli. This fall, local publisher Arsenal Books is publishing her first collection of short stories, Don’t Tell Me What to Do. Del Bucchia is appearing at True Confessions and Tall Tales, along with Hera Lindsay Bird and Leanne Dunic (Oct 20 at 8:30 p.m., Revue Stage).
Mandy Len Catron—The Los Angeles Review of Books calls Catron’s latest, How to Fall In Love With Anyone, “A beautifully written and well-researched cultural criticism as well as an honest memoir.” And, in June, W Magazine included it in a list of 9 New Books to Read Right Now. Catron is appearing with Carrie Jenkins (see below) at That Thing Called Love (Oct. 17 at 6 p.m., Revue Stage).
Philosopher Carrie Jenkins writes about polyamory in her book What Love Is and What It Could Be. She’s one of the local writers appearing at this year’s Vancouver Writers Festival.
Robyn Harding—Harding is the author of the acclaimed 2017 thriller, The Party. Comparisons have been made to Herman Koch’s The Dinner, Christos Tsiolkas’s The Slap, and Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies. Harding is appearing at Top of the List with Kate Hilton and Jennifer Robson (Oct. 20 at 10 a.m., Waterfront Theatre, 1412 Cartwright St.).
Carrie Jenkins—Once you’ve finished How to Fall In Love With Anyone (Mandy Lee Catron), why not read Carrie Jenkins’ What Love Is and What Love Could Be? Vancouver author/philosopher Jenkins has written a book based on her The Metaphysics of Love Project. The Project “is an interdisciplinary investigation into the nature of romantic love… an exciting and experimental three-year collaboration involving philosophers and poets, with both academic and creative outputs.” Jenkins is appearing with Mandy Len Catron at That Thing Called Love (Oct. 17 at 6 p.m., Revue Stage).
