What: Fourth Annual Victoria Festival of Authors
Where: Various venues, including Metro Theatre, Vic Theatre and Greater Victoria Public Library (Broughton St.)
When: Oct. 3 through Oct. 6
Admission: $15-$25 daily at (workshops are extra)
Victoria and the surrounding area boast an abundance of literary talent, a great deal of which will be on display this week during the fourth annual Victoria Festival of Authors.
鈥淲e鈥檙e blessed with a lot of local authors, from Victoria to Sidney to some of the Gulf Islands,鈥� said Vanessa Herman, the festival鈥檚 artistic director. 鈥淭hey are always happy to be in Victoria and participate, whether they have a book out or not. It鈥檚 always nice to have that support.鈥�
Victoria writers have been on an astonishing run of awards and nominations of late. Many appearing at the festival have been given national recognition in recent months.
Steven Price made the Giller Prize short list this week for his book Lampedusa, while Monique Gray Smith won a PMC Indigenous Literature Award this month for Tilly and the Crazy Eights. In June, Eve Joseph, who is also appearing at the festival, won the biggest cash prize for poetry in Canada, the Griffin Poetry Prize, for Quarrels.
Books by Sara Cassidy (Scallywag on the Salish Sea) and University of Victoria graduate Richard Van Camp (May We Have Enough to Share) are on the Book Publishers of B.C.鈥檚 bestseller list.
鈥淭here is so much talent concentrated in Victoria,鈥� Herman said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know whether the city produces it or attracts it, because of the beautiful climate. It鈥檚 probably both. With both the University of Victoria and Camosun College, we鈥檝e got a good system here.鈥�
The festival hosted a sold-out gala on Wednesday at the Victoria Arts Council Gallery on Store Street, with appearances by established local writers Van Camp, Kayla Czaga, Julie Paul and Yasuko Thanh.
Nineteen events and workshops are scheduled throughout the remainder of the festival, with a roster of more than 40 writers appearing at venues ranging from the Metro Theatre and Vic Theatre to the Greater Victoria Public Library and This is Good Workshop Studio in Chinatown.
A returning favourite from last year is the nature walk set for Sunday morning at the Mary Lake Nature Sanctuary in Highlands.
Attendees will be led by writers Marilyn Bowering, Ariel Gordon, Michael Kenyon and Sonnet L鈥橝bb茅, who will read stories inspired by the environment. Only in Victoria can a literary festival take patrons outside in October without the fear of snow, Herman said with a laugh. 鈥淟ast year was the first year we hosted it, and it was sold out and everybody raved about it.鈥�
Due to the limited availability of certain authors last year, the festival was spread over seven days. It has returned to a five-day schedule in 2019, which means more events happen concurrently.
But with more than 1,000 people expected to take in the festival, opportunities abound. Herman and her team have made every effort to schedule a range of events and activities, including authors鈥� events for children and youth, a new addition to this year鈥檚 festival. Several of those events are free and open to the public 鈥� an increasing focus for the festival, according to Leah Fowler, board president for the Victoria Festival of Authors Society.
鈥淓ducationally, reading with a child for just 20 minutes a day gives them 5,000 hours of literacy instruction before they start school,鈥� Fowler wrote in an email.
鈥淪tatistics show those children do better in school and throughout their whole lives, including increased economic, relational and health qualities all the way to later average mortality rates. Children who learn to write have a lifelong tool for personal agency, capability and communication.鈥�
Fowler said it鈥檚 important that many of the youth-oriented events take place at the Greater Victoria Public Library on Broughton Street.
鈥淟ibraries seem to be among our last bastions of democracy, where every person is welcome and can participate meaningfully. The Victoria Festival of Authors helps populate new territories in the country of our hearts, adds friends to the inner library of our skulls, and cultivates extra inner light as we all head into a darker time of year.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 wait for these authors this year to sit down with our reader audiences and let the words sing and dance and celebrate.鈥�
