A message from LitFest:
Canada's original nonfiction festival, Edmonton's own LitFest, returns this fall with an invitation to engage with writers who share true stories. Here's what this year's festival has to offer:
- Oct. 15: The festival opens with Paul Myers, author of John Candy: A Life in Comedy, in conversation with Donna Coombs-Montrose, Edmonton's historian laureate.
- Oct. 16: Kristjana Gunnars discusses her memoir, The Silence of Falling Snow, with Cody Caetano, the University of Alberta's writer-in-residence.
- Oct. 16: Laura Hall explores her book, Bloodied Bodies, Bloody Landscapes: Settler Colonialism in Horror, with writer and professor Jordan Abel.
- Oct. 16: Marcello Di Cintio unfolds his investigation, Precarious: The Lives of Migrant Workers, with journalist and educator Danielle Paradis.
- Oct. 17: Poet Alice Major moderates "The Smartypants Panel" on language and meaning, featuring literary theorist Joel Katelnikoff, poet Canisia Lubrin, and linguist Julie Sedivy.
- Oct. 17: Curler and comic John Cullen dives into his book, Curling Rocks!: Chronicles of the Roaring Game.
- Oct. 17: Julie Salverson unpacks her book, A Necessary Distance: Confessions of a Scriptwriter's Daughter, based on the notebooks of CBC's first TV drama editor.
- Oct. 18: Poet laureate Medgine Mathurin moderates a panel discussion on publishing multilingual, multicultural, and hyphenated authors with representatives of Living Hyphen, The Polyglot, Laberinto Press, and Hungry Zine.
- Oct. 18: Graphic memoirists Teresa Wong and Sarah Leavitt discuss their respective memoirs, All Our Ordinary Stories: A Multigenerational Family Odyssey and Something, Not Nothing: A Story of Grief and Love.
- Oct. 19: The annual Brunch & Learn Panel explores wholeness, wellness, and healing with Chyana Marie Sage, Quill Christie-Peters, and Kate J. Neville, in a discussion moderated by Naomi McIlwraith over brunch made by Chef Holly Holt.
- Oct. 19: The Memoir Hour will hear from Vinh Nguyen, Dan Rubinstein, and Sarah Boon in a discussion moderated by Jessica Truong of Chúng Ta Cùng Nhau.
The festival also includes showcases for Laberinto Press, Agatha Press, The Polyglot and Daaira House, and the Edmonton Heritage Stories Anthology, as well as a cabaret of buzzed-about books.
If that weren't enough, there are also workshops with Julie Sedivy, Justine Abigail Yu, and Amber Dawn, as well as partnered events with the Centre for Literatures in Canada, the Nonfiction Story Slam, and the Edmonton Arts Council.
And on Oct. 26, there's a coda of sorts at the Art Gallery of St. Albert with David Garneau and Wendy McGrath on ekphrastic writing, which marries visual art with literary work.
Everybody reads nonfiction — join us, won't you?
For tickets and more information, visit litfestalberta.org.