Tickets are now available for the 18th annual WordFest: Banff-Calgary Writers Festival.
The festival starts Oct. 14 in Calgary with the WordFest Banff events running Oct. 18-20 with Scotiabank Giller Prize-winning author Joseph Boyden taking the stage in the Margaret Greenham Theatre Oct. 19 as part of the Banff Distinguished Author Series.
Boyden’s new novel, The Orenda, released Tuesday (Sept. 10) follows on the heels of his award-winning novels Three Day Road and Through Black Spruce.
Tickets for the Banff Distinguished Author Series Presents Joseph Boyden are $25 each; $21.25 for seniors and students. The evening begins at 7 p.m. with an introductory reading by Calgary author Deborah Willis.
Willis was the 2012-13 Canadian Writer-in-Residence at the University of Calgary’s Distinguished Writers Program.
WordFest executive director Jo Steffens said Monday, Canmore educator Jeff Horvath would interview Boyden on stage.
“I do know Jeff,” Steffens said, “and had this epiphany that he would be the perfect person to have an on-stage conversation with. He’s a huge Joseph Boyden fan and they share common hobbies, canoeing and the bush and I love conversations that get to the heart and bring out things you wouldn’t expect in an interview, and because he is so personable, knowledgeable and intelligent.”
Along with the Banff Distinguished Author Series, Banff WordFest will also present some new unique events, such as Ryeberg Live, in partnership with Ryeberg.com, that pairs writers with YouTube videos. According to Everett Wilson, WordFest communications co-ordinator, writers are asked to write an original essay based on the videos they find on YouTube.
“It’s an Interesting concept of taking random videos and things you might not discover and bringing writers and their creativity into the mix,” Wilson said.
Melding the literary and the digital worlds is a move Steffens said she has been undertaking to find ways to keep the festival relevant and interesting to a broad range of people.
“I’ve spent a long time thinking about and imagining what our festival could be and I have a background in traditional and digital media and because of that I have always looked to the future to what is going on and to the trends and thinking about ways people are reading and ways people can consume literature and what is offered at the festival, really trying to broaden the opportunity for literary programming and reach a younger audience,” she said.
And as younger readers are doing much of their reading and writing on computers and other electronic devices, Steffens said incorporating those platforms makes sense.
“It is really reaching people in the way they are being spoken to and want to receive the information,” she said.
Go to wordfest.com or for the Banff WordFest events go to banffcentre.ca for more information or to buy tickets.
