Wordfest in Calgary
Every Fall, Calgary is treated to a rare opportunity meet and hear authors - new authors, tried and true authors, famous authors, more obscure authors and authors from other countries. This year Wordfest was from October 13 to 18 and hosted about seventy authors. This was the second year that I was a volunteer and I am hooked on this incredible experience. This was also my second year helping out in "Artist Liaison" in the Westin Hotel, where we meet and greet and register the authors. Among the authors I met this year were Lawrence "Larry" Hill, here to talk about his new book, The Illegal. I first met Larry three years ago when he was in town for the Bob Edwards awards and he is so lovely to talk with. I shared with him that I had never dreamed of a character from a book before I dreamed of Aminata from The Book of Negroes. Lorna Crozier, the award winning poet from Sydney, B.C. recommended an amazing shoe shop that I didn't know existed in Calgary! David Constantine was visiting from Oxford, U.K. and Drew Hayden Taylor had us in stitches. In the photo above you can see me with Wab Kinew who spoke about his memoir "The Reason Your Walk" in which he tells the story of First Nations people in Canada using his father's last year of life as the story arc. Word/Book festivals give the public an insider's view into the life of an author, what inspires them, what they struggle with as they write and how they come to share their life learnings with their audience. It is a privilege for me to be a part of this ambitious undertaking - and the Wordfest staff are so dedicated and hard working! My praise this year goes to Sandra Paire who headed up Artists Liaison.
Every Fall, Calgary is treated to a rare opportunity meet and hear authors - new authors, tried and true authors, famous authors, more obscure authors and authors from other countries. This year Wordfest was from October 13 to 18 and hosted about seventy authors. This was the second year that I was a volunteer and I am hooked on this incredible experience. This was also my second year helping out in "Artist Liaison" in the Westin Hotel, where we meet and greet and register the authors. Among the authors I met this year were Lawrence "Larry" Hill, here to talk about his new book, The Illegal. I first met Larry three years ago when he was in town for the Bob Edwards awards and he is so lovely to talk with. I shared with him that I had never dreamed of a character from a book before I dreamed of Aminata from The Book of Negroes. Lorna Crozier, the award winning poet from Sydney, B.C. recommended an amazing shoe shop that I didn't know existed in Calgary! David Constantine was visiting from Oxford, U.K. and Drew Hayden Taylor had us in stitches. In the photo above you can see me with Wab Kinew who spoke about his memoir "The Reason Your Walk" in which he tells the story of First Nations people in Canada using his father's last year of life as the story arc. Word/Book festivals give the public an insider's view into the life of an author, what inspires them, what they struggle with as they write and how they come to share their life learnings with their audience. It is a privilege for me to be a part of this ambitious undertaking - and the Wordfest staff are so dedicated and hard working! My praise this year goes to Sandra Paire who headed up Artists Liaison.