TALK TO YOUR CABBIE ON THE WAY TO LITFEST
Literary event kicks off with a dive into the secret lives of taxi drivers
Marcello Di Cintio wanted to tell a different kind of story with his latest book. The well-travelled Alberta author has written about people in far off places, but hit on the idea of writing about those on the move closer to home.
Di Cintio spent months interviewing and profiling taxi drivers for his new book, Driven: The Secret Lives of Taxi Drivers. He'll be sharing his process and publication stories at Litfest, the literary festival dedicated to non-fiction that kicks off on Thursday and runs until Oct. 24.
He's booked for two appearances at this year's festival. Hosted by Omar Mouallem, the first will have him talk about his inspiration for the book and why he wanted to document the lives of taxi drivers.
“I was curious about what I was missing by sitting silently in the back seat,” says Di Cintio. “We get in the back seat, we blurt out a destination and, more often than not, we dissolve into our phones, not acknowledging there's a human being in our intimate space.”
Di Cintio will also be presenting one of the festival's master classes where authors talk about their craft, an opportunity for new writers to glean wisdom from the experienced as they peel back the curtain on the writing process.
Edmonton author Richard Van Camp will be hosting a master class about storytelling, while Di Cintio will be talking about the art of profiling, using his recent book to provide lessons.
“Most of it comes with time — it's about being a good listener,” says Di Cintio. “You have to be a good audience for the people you are sitting down with. You laugh at their jokes even if they aren't funny. It's not about being insincere, it's about being engaged.”
After 15 years, Litfest has found a special place in the literary scene. It's one of the few festivals focused on non-fiction where audiences can go to see poets and authors working in the genre.
Organizers also make an effort to bring in a diverse range of authors, including up-and-coming writers.
Former federal cabinet minister Jody Wilson-raybould will be sharing from her new book, “Indian” in the Cabinet, and Mouallem extends his insights as a writer from his latest title, Praying to the West, to his new movie about burger royalty, The Last Baron.
“I do like to put out authors that maybe people in Edmonton haven't heard of before,” says Fawnda Mithrush, executive director of Litfest. “The festival can be such a great platform for elevating voices a lot of readers may not have come across earlier.”
Litfest will have a combination of in-person and virtual events. Times and tickets can be found at litfestalberta.org.
STARFESTNORTH of the city, literary fans will have the opportunity to meet old favourites and find new authors across a number of different genres.
The St. Albert Readers Festival, otherwise known as STARFEST, is hosting luminaries such as Two-spirit Oji-nêhiyaw author and poet Joshua Whitehead, comedy writer Morgan Murray and, making his second festival appearance in October, Mouallem.
Uzma Jalaluddin is speaking as part of a romance author's roundtable. The Toronto Star columnist and high school English teacher started pursuing a writer career about five years ago. Since then, she's carved out an impressive career in the genre, starting with her debut title, Hana Khan Carries on, which is being made into a film by Amazon.
Her latest, Ayesha at Last, is loosely based on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice but retold through the eyes of a Muslim family and protagonist. It won a number of awards, including the Cosmopolitan magazine Book of the Year in 2019.
As an avid reader and an Austenite, it made sense for her to adapt a favourite story for a visible minority audience.
“The idea of giving my first or second generation immigrant characters a happy ending really called to me,” says Jalaluddin. “When I look back on Austen, it's not just social commentary and satire that bring me back — she was one of the earliest writers who invented the idea of the romance novel.”
Jalaluddin will share a panel with Courtney Milan and Farah Heron, talking about the romance genre and answering audience questions. Interim STARFEST Director Michelle Steinhusen says it's important to have a wide variety of content for audiences to choose from.
“I was determined to bring that in because I'm a big believer that genre fiction is valid,” says Steinhusen.
This year's festival was originally scheduled to have a combination of virtual and in-person events, but organizers made the final decision to move all but one event online.
The St. Albert Public Library, which organizes STARFEST, has been slowly growing their ability to host online sessions for audiences and could be something they add to STARFEST even in non-pandemic years.
“A few years ago we did a Facebook livestream of one of our events and it worked well. Now that we are even more knowledgeable and set up, I can see us doing something like that. Taking advantage of bringing in an author virtually,” says Steinhusen.
The one in-person event will be a concert at the Arden Theatre in St. Albert, a concert and movie screening of Bye Bye Blues with director Anne Wheeler.
More information about STARFEST can be found at starfest.ca
All in-person events at both festivals will require proof of vaccination, documentation of a medical exemption, or proof of a privately-paid negative PCR or rapid test within 72 hours.