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A Recipe for Reading: Vancouver Writers Fest

Featured • October 20, 2020 • Ariel Hudnall

Rain has returned to BC and our most comfortable blankets and sweaters are out of storage. Tea and cocoa beckon, as do our bookshelves. And here at Read Local BC, we think there’s no better way to celebrate the best season for reading than with local online offerings from Vancouver Writers Fest, running now through Sunday, October 25, and all pay-what-you-can.

Not sure what to sample? We’ve got the perfect menu for you.

A Recipe for Anything

We are pleased to support local authors and partner with the Vancouver Writers Fest for A Recipe for Anything, streaming tonight at 7:30pm PT. The perfect appetizer for what is certain to be a week of powerful, inspiring and hopeful literary events, A Recipe for Anything also features some of BC’s most-discussed books of the season.

From VWF: Anything can happen during a pandemic lockdown. In kitchens there are unprecedented bouts of baking. On computer screens there are virtual concerts and online choir practices. On balconies and front porches pots are banged, and songs are sung across alleys and courtyards to honour and connect with each other. In the streets we gather worldwide for demonstrations that shine the spotlight on systemic racism, and reveal the potential for revolution in all of our hearts. How do we navigate through all of this, and greet an unknowable future? Join this array of exceptional writers and thinkers—Jillian Christmas (The Gospel of Breaking; Arsenal Pulp Press), Cicely Belle Blain (Burning Sugar; Arsenal Pulp Press), andrea bennett (Like a Boy But Not a Boy; Arsenal Pulp Press) and Lorna Crozier (Through the Garden; McClelland & Stewart)—as they bring us some of their very own recipes, blueprints, or to-do lists for these times.

Hosted by 2020 Guest Curator Ivan Coyote, author of Rebent Sinner (Arsenal Pulp Press).

The Literary Cabaret

Streaming this Saturday, October 24 at 8:00pm PT, The Literary Cabaret is Vancouver’s premiere books and music experience. Be sure to tune in with season’s most decadent food and your favourite party attire.

From VWF: This year there’s no limit to how many people can experience this magical coalescence of author readings and improvised songs. At the helm of these fusions is Sally Zori: our new Musical Director bringing energy and originality to the proceedings with their band, Sally Zori & the Allegories. A transgender Iraqi raised in the United Arab Emirates and different parts of Canada, Sally is a session musician, percussionist, and content creator. They have played stages and theatres in North America, Europe, and Australia with different bands, orchestras, musicals, theatre shows, and (one new years eve in 2008) was the percussionist for Aretha Franklin. And now, we’re proud that Zori will grace our virtual Festival stage, too.

You’ll hear Griffin-poetry prize winning Billy-Ray Belcourt sharing from A History of My Brief Body (Hamish Hamilton); our Spoken Word Curator and lauded poet Jillian Christmas preaching The Gospel of Breaking; multi-award-winning author and comedian Charles Demers reading from his work of crime fiction, Primary Obsessions (Douglas & McIntyre); and Aislinn Hunter, exceptional poet and novelist who shares her most recent title, The Certainties (Knopf Canada).

The Afternoon Tea

Top off your literary week with a spot of tea, your favourite scone, and a much-awaited six-course meal of readings with The Afternoon Tea, streaming Sunday, October 25 at 3:00pm PT.

From VWF: One of the Festival’s signature events year after year, The Afternoon Tea returns in digital format! Bring your favourite scones and tea and sidle up for an afternoon steeped in words, including readings from celebrated international and Canadian authors making this year’s Must Read lists: Caroline Adderson (A Russian Sister; HarperCollins Canada); Francesca Ekwuyasi (Butter Honey Pig Bread; Arsenal Pulp Press); Will Ferguson (The Finder; Simon & Schuster Canada); Michelle Good (Five Little Indians; HarperCollins Canada) Kevin Spenst (Hearts Amok; Anvil Press); and Jack Wang (We Two Alone; House of Anansi). Relaxing, jovial and always an instant sell-out and book club favourite, this year’s Afternoon Tea remains an intimate, delectable affair.

Want to check out even more local authors? Here’s some more highlights from this year’s offerings (and don’t forget––order from a Vancouver bookstore by Sunday, and you can get a 15% discount on any book on VWF’s 2020 list!)