FFWD Weekly
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Bookends
by Maureen McNameeThe lineup for this year’s PanCanadian WordFest will be made public next week, but the organizers are dangling a carrot with the early announcement that Mordecai Richler will be one of the main attractions.
Richler, a longtime and well respected Canadian voice with an entertaining and insightful perspective, will be the Banff Distinguished Author for none other than the second annual Banff Distinguished Author Series, sponsored by the Banff Centre for the Arts with added assistance from the Writers’ Trust of Canada. The author of 10 novels and numerous screenplays and essays, he has received the Governor General’s Award for Fiction on two occasions, won the 1997 Giller Prize for Barney’s Version, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize.
Richler will be joined by two of the country’s acclaimed new voices: Barb Scott of Calgary and Todd Babiak of Edmonton. Scott’s collection of short stories, The Quick, won the W.O. Mitchell City of Calgary Book Prize and the Howard O’Hagan Award for Short Fiction. Babiak’s debut novel is Choke Hold, the story of a young man who struggles between the need to defend himself and the urge to put violence aside.
PanCanadian WordFest: Banff-Calgary International Writers Festival celebrates its fifth anniversary this year. The events take place between October 11 and 15, at locations in Banff and Calgary – watch for details next week.
The Alberta invasion of promising new authors continues at Pages Books on Kensington with another new voice set to take centre stage. Pearl Luke, who has lived throughout Alberta and currently resides in Calgary, will read from her debut novel, Burning Ground, on Thursday, September 7 at 7:30 p.m. The story is about a woman who spends her summers in a fire tower scanning the scenery for signs of smoke – generally a very quiet and solitary experience, although that may not have been the case this summer – and discovers herself.
The Alexandra Writers’ Centre Society is ready for the fall season with workshops in a variety of genres, including Writing Erotica and Your Life Story (presumably two different topics, although both may apply to some). Fall registration is Friday, September 15 – call 264-4730, e-mail awcs@writtenword.org, or visit the Web site at www.writtenword.org/awcs.
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