Festival brings authors, book clubs together
Once again the Whistler Writers Festival (WWF) is offering some fresh literary tracks for attendees to enjoy.
Festival artistic director Stella Harvey, who founded the WWF in her living room 16 years ago, says this year the popular book-club portion of the festival is getting a new and lively twist.
For years the festival, Oct. 1215, has held seminars and events designed to help book-club members get the most out of meeting and talking about tomes. This year the twist is authors will actually be in attendance while people discuss their books.
“You never know when you program that it is going to work out, that it is going to resonate with people,” said Harvey. “We do a lot of experimentation because I don’t always want to provide the same kind of thing every year.”
This year’s book clubs will give authors, who usually toil in a solitary world, a chance to hear in person what readers think about their work.
“As a writer myself I have been to many, many book clubs. It is an interesting thing to hear people’s impressions of your book and to be asked questions,” said Harvey.
“I’ve been in a book club where someone really detested one of my characters and she was adamant about it,” added Harvey, with a big laugh. “She was really so angry, but it made for a good discussion.”
This year’s book-club events are divided into fiction and nonfiction works. First up is the fiction event with Frances Itani, a member of the Order of Canada and the award-winning author of 16 books. She will be on hand Oct. 12 for the Booklovers Workshop and Literary Salon I for a discussion of her new novel, That’s My Baby.
Itani, reached via email, said she has herself over the years sat in on 60 or 70 book clubs while they discussed numerous works of hers.
“People are welcoming. I love meeting the readers of my books, and readers of any books. And I like the questions and I enjoy listening to opinions,” said Itani, who is slated for other appearances at events during the WWF. “It’s pretty interesting to me to hear responses to my work. Seems to me that I learn something from every group I meet.”
Itani says she doesn’t find the on-the-spot situation anxiety inducing. That, she says, is reserved for the actual work.
“I am never nervous about meeting with book clubs. The activity is a far cry from writing ... and it’s writing that is the scary part — i.e. starting a new book from scratch immediately after the previous manuscript has been completed and sent to my publisher.”
The Booklovers Workshop and Literary Salon II on Oct. 14 will offer non-fiction with Doug Saunders and his new book, Maximum Canada: Why 35 Million Canadians are Not Enough.
A longtime international affairs reporter for the Globe and Mail newspaper, Saunders says the unpredictability of his job (he used to travel a lot) has precluded him from book-club membership, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t bumped up against the model in the past.
“I’ve been in neighbourhoods that are dominated by their book clubs. People’s marriages fall apart because of the affairs they have in their book clubs. I’ve had lots of book-club drama in the world around me,” said Saunders, who will also be taking part in other events at the WWF.
Despite his own lacking in group page-turning experiences, Saunders sees the club idea as a great way to make readers reach out in different directions and dive into different themes.
“One of the things I really like about book clubs is that it makes you disciplined to read books you might not have already read. I have to satisfy that by taking on book reviews,” said Saunders.
As for being a guest of honour at a book-club gathering, Saunders says he is always in.
“It is a room full of people who have read your book and maybe know it better than you do and have a very specific pointed interest in your book because they have usually had a big discussion on what books to include in their book club and they’ve chosen your book, so it is probably the most engaged and interested gathering of people you will ever have around your book,” said Saunders.
Saunders further adds that as a non-fiction writer the chance to wade in directly with readers isn’t that common.
His usual experiences are speeches and media interviews — situations where often the people he is addressing haven’t read the book he is promoting.
“Most author events for nonfiction books are sales pitches. You’re trying to persuade people to buy and read your book,” said Saunders. “A book club is different because it is people who have already read the book. Plus you get to drink a lot of wine and people treat you really well.”
If that isn’t enough to like, Saunders adds to the book-club pros list a strong take-away for him as a journalist.
“I find it extremely valuable in part because the sort of people who would be reading a non-fiction book by someone like me they tend to be people who know a lot of stuff. I’ve had book-club meetings around books of mine where I have come away with contacts and information that has been enormous help to my journalistic work,” said Saunders. “It is a networking opportunity.”
His latest book is right on the nose when it comes to topical discussions.
“Look, the question of whether we should triple our population again now like we did over the last 60 years is a big one around a lot of dinner tables. It is a major conversation point now. What are the ecological benefits of a higher population? What are the logistical difficulties of a higher population,” said Saunders, summarizing the theme of Maximum Canada.
“What are the housing challenges? ... A lot of it touches on things families are dealing with. How do we find housing in a good economy for our own children? Would having a higher population base help them?”
Saunders’ works are well-suited for discussion as he is a writer that doesn’t over-simplify and offer up an opinionated final resolve.
He likes to say he takes something people think is simple and then opens up the hood and shows them around the engine compartment, including the many moving parts.
“If there is a single, overarching method in books I write, it’s things are more complicated than you think they are,” said Saunders.
“That lends itself to a certain sort of book-club discussion.”
With almost 2,000 guests expected to gather, listen and meet with 60 authors and experts, discussion isn’t going to be a problem at the Coastal Mountain resort.
After all, who doesn’t want to talk about a good book?
The WWF is a wide-ranging and packed four days. Most authors make more than one appearance and special events abound.
Check out whistlerwritersfest. com for a complete schedule.