A literary lemonade stand. A QR code poetry scavenger hunt. Vancouver’s streets are coming alive with readers and writers at WORD Vancouver, a free literary arts festival, happening on September 26th- 30th in various venues around the city.
“Our festival was founded to celebrate book lovers of all ages and backgrounds bringing established authors together with readers, and publishers with emerging writers,” writes Bonnie Nish, Interim Festival Director in her opening letter.
Kicking off on Wednesday, September 26th, Banyen Books & Sound and Word Vancouver present a book launch for Ken Klonsky’s book, “Freeing David McCallum: The Last Miracle of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter,” which tells of how he and Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, worked to help free a wrongfully convicted man.
On Thursday, September 27th, Pandora’s Collective hosts a special-edition of their famed Twisted Poets Literary Salon, featuring local poets Angela Rebrec, Al Rempel, and Kim Clark, and the writers who brave the stage for the open mic.
Then on Friday, September 29th, two community groups, The Historic Joy Kogawa House and the Asian Canadian Writers Workshop, unite to present a panel discussion, “Opening New Frontiers: The Art of Self-Publishing & Traditional Publishing,” with authors, William Tham, Vincent Ternida and Cynda Yeasting.
Word Vancouver is also offering free drop-in writing workshops at the Carnegie Community Centre on Saturday, September 29, in partnership with the Vancouver Public Library. Emerging and established writers can perfect their reading performance, dive into the practice of journalling, or explore the healing properties of creative writing.
And finally, Word Vancouver then culminates in a one-day celebration of the printed word in the blocks surrounding Vancouver Public Library’s Central Branch on Sunday, September 30th. Enthusiasts can discover the full offering of local magazines and literary journals at the exhibitor tents, or attend a reading by featured authors and poets.
The complete schedule of events is available at WordVancouver.ca.
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