Add a bottle of cheap wine this would be an accurate depiction of the average writer workshop.
The 8th annual Whistler Readers and Writers Festival has been announced for Sept 11-13, 2009 and yours truly will be there. Despite not being impressive enough of a name to make the press release, Mike Berard will indeed be a part of the festival. I will sit on a panel of speakers during He Read, She Read: The Battle of the Book Clubs. Apparently, my involvement in the until-now secret All Male Book Club has qualified me to do battle. I hope the other panelists are dumb and/or drunk or else I am in big trouble. All joking aside, I am honoured and stoked to be a part of this festival and invite all of you book nerds out there to get involved. The line-up of talent is astounding. See you there?
He Read, She Read: The Battle of the Book Clubs
The best compliment my brother ever paid me was to say, “she doesn’t write like a girl” (ditto for skiing, mountain biking, climbing). From chiclit to dicklit, and all the high and low brow genres in between, X and Y chromosomes can mark the spot, Nancy Lee, Lee Henderson, Mike Berard, CC Humphreys and Pam Barnsley lead a debate on the separation of the sexes when it comes to authorial perspective, the way males and females read, and whether mixed, girly or fight club book clubs are better. especially when it comes to book clubs and the different perspectives brought to bear on discussions by males and females. Saturday, September Twelfth 7:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. :: Location: Player’s Chophouse, Creekside :: $25
Whistler Readers and Writers Festival Press Release
June 12, 2009 Whistler, BC – More than twenty invited Canadian authors and editors will descend on Whistler this fall as special guests in a weekend-long siege of word-wielding and poetry-slinging at the eighth Whistler Readers and Writers Festival.
Guest writers include the 2009 Writers-in-Residence (who will spend the fall at Alta Lake Station House) – Wayne Grady (Tree) and Merilyn Simonds (The Convict Lover), as well as 2009 BC Book Prize winner, Lee Henderson (The Man Game), Vancouver author, Annabel Lyon (The Golden Mean) and Claire Mulligan, long listed for the Giller Prize for her book, The Reckoning of Boston Jim. Whistler writer Sara Leach will also be celebrating the publication of her first book, Jake Reynolds: Chicken or Eagle.
The Festival moves to Creekside this year, turning Whistler’s oldest neighbourhood into ground zero for a creative boot-camp that will allow writers at all levels of practice, from green circle to double black diamond scribblers, to learn some tricks, meet some legends, pitch stories, workshop their drafts, avoid push-ups, and generally enjoy a creative recharge. The Festival is also budget-friendly – with free sessions on offer, two and a half hour workshops at just $25, and a full Festival pass (not including the month-long residency) for $180.
Says Festival Director, Stella Harvey, “The Whistler Readers and Writers Festival is the most accessible way people can give their creative selves a boost. It also offers a one-day immersion in a choice of writing streams.”
With various sessions to choose from, participants can pick, mix and dabble their way through the program, or can follow a more intensive stream in Writing for Children, Writing for the Screen, Writing for Magazines, or the Technique Tune-up: Getting your Prose Lean, your Characters Mean (or meaningful), and your Writing Voice Tuned Up.
Also new for 2009, the Festival will bring together five of Canada’s leading magazine editors for The Pitching Mound, a lunch-hour session presented by the Association of BC Magazine Publishers. Audience members will walk away with a full belly, a full brain and a bag full of magazines for just $35. A limited number of aspiring magazine and non-fiction writers will have the chance to step up to the plate and go all-star, selling their best story ideas to James Little from Explore magazine, Leslie Anthony from Skier magazine, Sandro Grayson from Color magazine, Matt O’Grady from BC Business magazine and Charlene Rooke from Western Living magazine.
The festival program will be available for download at www.theviciouscircle.ca on Wednesday, June 17, 2009. Tickets can be purchased on line on the same day. All events will be taking place at Legends at Creekside, with the Saturday night Gala taking place at Players Chophouse. All day parking at Creekside is free.