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Below is a complete list of 2009 Kingston WritersFest Onstage Events. All events took place at the Holiday Inn Waterfront, 6th Floor, except for Margaret Atwood's The Year of the Flood, which was held at the Grand Theatre.
Note: Events are numbered for ticketing purposes only. Don't worry if the numbers skip: nothing is missing!
Margaret Atwood launches WritersFest with a unique stage performance featuring music by Los Angeles composer Orville Stoeber and her own original script. Based on her new novel, The Year of the Flood, an apocalyptic vision that takes place in the world of Oryx and Crake, the performance is narrated by Atwood and includes dramatic readings by Jim Garrard, Krista Garrett and Michelle Girouard, and songs by God's Gardeners, under the direction of Andy Rush.
| The Grand Theatre | Wednesday, September 23 | $16 in advance |
| 7:30 - 9:00 p.m. | $18 at the door |
Rush seats may be available 15 minutes before the performance.
Join Margaret Atwood at a private reception before the performance of The Year of the Flood. Ticket price includes a signed copy of the book, entrance and preferred seating to the performance, a brief talk by Ms. Atwood, and finger food inspired by the novel, including Zeb's Devilled Eggs, Secret Burgers, and Pigoon on the Moon. A fundraiser for the Community Harvest Working Group, dedicated to making healthy, local food accessible to residents of north Kingston.
| The Grand Theatre | Wednesday, September 23 | $125 |
| 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. |
An intimate onstage interview by CBC host Eric Friesen with crime novelist Howard Engel, who one morning woke to discover he could write, but no longer read the words he'd put on the page. Engel's memoir tells the story of his fight to overcome the bizarre effects of a stroke that pitted the creator of one of Canada's most beloved sleuths against the fascinating and impenetrable mysteries of the brain.
| Holiday Inn Waterfront | Thursday, September 24 | $10 |
| 6th Floor | 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. |
Former tank officer, helicopter pilot, and computer analyst Guy Thatcher presents an inspiring illustrated talk on the 700-kilometre pilgrimage and spiritual odyssey across northern Spain that is the subject of his book, A Journey of Days: Relearning Life’s Lessons on the Camino de Santiago.
| Holiday Inn Waterfront | Thursday, September 24 | $10 |
| 6th Floor | 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. |
Nothing quickens the pulse faster than a good mystery, and no one does it better on the page than Howard Engel and Louise Penny. Join these master puzzle-makers in an onstage conversation about murder and mayhem and two of Canada's favourite sleuths, the delightfully brilliant Benny Cooperman and the suave Inspector Gamache. Moderated by Therese Greenwood.
| Holiday Inn Waterfront | Thursday, September 24 | $10 |
| 6th Floor | 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. |
Mark Sinnett launches his new novel, The Carnivore, published by ECW Press. By invitation only.
| Sandra Whitton Gallery | Thursday, September 24 | Free |
| 253 Ontario Street | 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. | Invitation Only |
Whether caught in the hurricane of the century, washed ashore inside a whale, or struggling to emerge from a coma, male characters are once again seizing the literary spotlight. Listen to Joseph Boyden, Michael Crummey, and Mark Sinnett read from their work and explore the new male hero in conversation with local author Steven Heighton.
| Holiday Inn Waterfront | Thursday, September 24 | $10 |
| 6th Floor | 8:30 - 10:00 p.m. |
| Holiday Inn Waterfront | Friday, September 25 | $25 |
| 6th Floor | 11:45 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. |
CBC producer and author Karen Levine presents her award-winning and internationally acclaimed book, Hana's Suitcase, the true story of a Czech girl caught up in the Holocaust, and the Japanese teacher and students who made it their project to discover the truth about her life. Compelling and memorable for adults and young people.
| Holiday Inn Waterfront | Friday, September 25 | $10 |
| 6th Floor | 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. |
A Young Writers & Readers Event
In a frank and intimate onstage conversation, poet/essayists Susan Olding and Lorna Crozier discuss their memoirs of growing up in Ontario and Saskatchewan, their relationships with difficult parents, the minefield of female friendship, and the complex business of becoming women and writers.
| Holiday Inn Waterfront | Friday, September 25 | $10 |
| 6th Floor | 3:30 - 5:00 p.m. |
Come win one of a dozen great door prizes!
Readings by Governor-General Award finalist Mariko Tamaki from her graphic novel Skim, Edgemont writer turned novelist Jennifer Cowan reads from the highly acclaimed earthgirl, and by local author Maureen Garvie from her new young adult novel, Amy By Any Other Name, the story of a north-end girl who awakes from an accident with someone else's brain. Garvie and Tamaki chat about what makes a good young adult book, with lots of help from the audience. Moderated by Shelley Tanaka.
| Holiday Inn Waterfront | Friday, September 25 | $10 |
| 6th Floor | 3:30 - 5:00 p.m. |
A Young Writers & Readers Event
One of the hottest documentaries at this year's HotDocs film festival in Toronto, Inside Hana's Suitcase draws on the same true story as the book. Maclean's declared the film "a masterful weave of art and artifact." Catch this screening, two months before theatre release, and stay for the discussion when author Karen Levine joins filmmaker Larry Weinstein to explore the adaptation of stories for page and screen. Takes place at Chernoff Auditorium, 90 Bader Lane, Queen's campus. Moderated by Clarke Mackey.
| Chernoff Auditorium | Friday, September 25 | $10 |
| Queen's University | 4:00 - 6:30 p.m. |
Local luminaries face off as they defend one of the ten books nominated for the Ontario Library Association’s prestigious Evergreen Award. A no-word-play barred, flip-the-page battle in which defenders attempt to win over the audience to their choice in the wildly popular Kingston Reads competition. Come join in the fun and help choose the winner. Hosted by Eric Friesen. For more information, visit www.kfpl.ca/kingstonreads.
| Holiday Inn Waterfront | Friday, September 25 | Free Event |
| 6th Floor | 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. | No ticket required |
What do Lucy Maud Montgomery, Glenn Gould, and René Lévesque have in common? They are all extraordinary Canadians, and the subject of new biographies by Jane Urquhart, Mark Kingwell, and Daniel Poliquin, who discuss how these remarkable figures helped shape the face of Canada. Moderated by Charlotte Gray.
| Holiday Inn Waterfront | Friday, September 25 | $10 |
| 6th Floor | 8:30 - 10:00 p.m. |
The fabulously irreverent poet Billeh Nickerson acts as master of ceremonies for this after-hours cabaret of out-there poetry, short fiction, and genre-busting nonfiction. Nova Scotia poet Jeanette Lynes, Doug Wright Award-winner Mariko Tamaki and Montreal author of Stripmalling, Jon Paul Fiorentino join local poet Jennifer Londry, flash-fiction blogger D. J. Berger, and new novelist Andrew Binks for a night on the edge.
| Holiday Inn Waterfront | Friday, September 25 | $10 |
| 6th Floor | 11:00 p.m. - 12:30 a.m. | Cash Bar |
From the front lines of Canadian verse, renowned poet Lorna Crozier discusses the lyric life with Trillium Award winner and Griffin Prize finalist Kevin Connolly, Dorothy Livesay Award-winner Karen Solie, and Gerald Lampert Award finalist David O'Meara.
| Holiday Inn Waterfront | Saturday, September 26 | $10 |
| 6th Floor | 12:30 - 2:00 p.m. |
Why do we pamper some animals (our pets) and give so little thought to the humane slaughter of the animals we eat (as bacon and burgers)? As Erika Ritter puts it in The Dog by the Cradle, the Serpent Beneath, "How can any of us claim to love what we kill, either with kindness or a captive-bolt pistol?" Equine aficionado Lawrence Scanlan joins Erika in a conversation that ranges through science, literature, and history to find answers to this age-old paradox.
| Holiday Inn Waterfront | Saturday, September 26 | $10 |
| 6th Floor | 2:30 - 3:30 p.m. |
Emily Schultz, Gil Adamson, and Kim Echlin, all refuse to be bound by the chains of genre: novels, poems, short fiction, creative nonfiction, they do it all. Adamson brings her debut novel, The Outlander; Schultz comes with her sophomore work, Heaven is Small, and Echlin reads from her third novel, The Disappeared. Jeanette Lynes, who moderates the event, celebrates a double-barrelled year with both a poetry collection, The New Blue Distance, and her first novel, The Factory Voice.
| Holiday Inn Waterfront | Saturday, September 26 | $10 |
| 6th Floor | 2:30 - 3:30 p.m. |
Anne Michaels, author of Fugitive Pieces and winner of Britain’s prestigious Orange Prize, America’s Lannan Award, and, closer to home, the Trillium Prize, joins author and CBC host Bill Richardson to talk about her long-awaited and much-praised second novel, The Winter Vault. Be there for a fascinating and free-ranging onstage conversation with one of Canada's most celebrated writers.
| Holiday Inn Waterfront | Saturday, September 26 | $10 |
| 6th Floor | 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. |
| Holiday Inn Waterfront | Saturday, September 26 | $10 |
| 6th Floor | 8:00 - 10:30 p.m. | Cash Bar |