“Sometimes a slog can be beautiful.” Company article earlier this year and though they Chip Heath and Dan Heath wrote that in a Fast talking about us. were talking about the business world, they were the psychic payoffs that come with an exciting “Grit is tough,” they wrote, “because you don’t get wins to celebrate. In fact, you may never truly discovery or a shift in direction. You rarely get big winning. win... But slow, inch-by-inch, progress? It’s called
Welcome to call rs festival, our 10th anniversary of what we like Welcome to the 2011 Whistler Readers and Write imult ue, has grown into a multi-day, multi-ven Lit Grit. What started in a living room 10 years ago our own fear of failure, allowing ourselves to be artist event. Sticking it out has meant facing down such as grant cut backs and the changing face of vulnerable and tackling more concrete roadblocks the (the idea that you can achieve anything despite the publishing industry. Through foolhardiness t abou talk our loyal participants, we’re still here to odds), perseverance, passion and the support of ous festival. Our supporters continue to grow and it, and laugh about it, and organize another fabul years we’re here to deliver. they’ve asked us for more. And just as in previous developmental workshops for emerging and This year, we’re happy to offer a combination of create and push around your characters, panel experienced writers about such things as how to s a book last, and reading events with award discussions about why fiction matters or what make s, Scottish poet, John Glenday, and spoken word winning writers, Wayne Johnston and Miriam Toew ding own local writers will present at the festival, inclu artist, Barbara Adler. In addition, several of our al cca Wood Barrett and Stephen Vogler. The festiv Michel Beaudry, Leslie Anthony, Sara Leach, Rebe to te tribu ng events, 3 panel discussion, a breakfast this year will host 10 workshop sessions, 6 readi ce entitled Creative 5 Eclectic. icons of writing, and a spoken word performan Welcome to our 10th anniversary festival. It’s been another fabulous event. Stella Harvey Festival Director
quite the ride. We are so proud to be here to put
on
Festival at a Glance 1 2:00 - 3:00 pm READING EVENTreads from Squamish Lil’Wat Cultural Center, Whistler. Admission: $10
FRIDAY
Author Sherly Salloum
her Mildred Valley Thornton book
3:30 - 5:00 pm WORKSHOP 1 Guide All Aboard - a Travel tler Public Library
Whis c Places and Other Admission: FREE to Magi with Alma Alexander Destinations ts must be between 10 (participan old) and 17 years
2 5:00 - 6:00 pm READING EVENT t Me In ch of Coun
Book Laun Whistler Public Library Leach Admission: FREE with Sara
3 8:00 pm READING EVENT featuring: Opening Night Gala Squamish Lil’Wat Cultural Center, Madeline Sonik, Miriam Toews, Whistler. Admission: $20 Sileika, John Glenday, Antanas u, Randy Boyagoda, Angie Abdo ky. Moderator: Sarah Selec Stephen Vogler r write Local
8:30 - 10:00 am
SATURDAY
Aava Hotel Boardroom 1 Admission: $25
9:00 - 10:00 am
Aava Hotel Boardroom 2 Admission: $15
WORKSHOP 2
Getting Past the Fear: Writing from Real Life Stories with Madeline Sonik
PANEL DISCUSSION 1
Why Fiction Matters with Antanas Sileika and Randy Boyagoda, moderated by Sarah Selecky
10:00 - 10:30 am
COFFEE BREAK
10:30 - noon
WORKSHOP 3
Aava Hotel
Aava Hotel Boardroom 1 Admission: $25
10:30 - noon
Aava Hotel Boardroom 2 Admission: $25
Refreshments available at the Aava Hotel
So You Think it’s Kid’s Stuff..? Writing for Young Readers with Alma Alexander
WORKSHOP 4
Adventures in Adventure Writing -
navigating Creative Non-fiction, Literary Journalism and other ill-defined terms. with Leslie Anthony
Festival at a Glance
Noon - 1:15 pm
SATURDAY
PANEL DISCUSS ION 2:
Aava Hotel Admission: $25 Lunch included
Where Does the Tr ut
h Lie
This session include s writers: Madeline Sonik, Antanas Sile ika, and Leslie Anth ony representing non-fic tion and Angie Abdo u, Randy Boyagoda re presenting fiction moderated by: Step hen Vogler
1:15 - 3:30 pm
Aava Hotel Bo ardroom 1 Admission: $2 5
2:30 - 3:30 pm
Aava Hotel Boar droom 2 Admission: $15
WORKSHOP 5
How to Create and Push Around Your Characters w
ith Angie Abdou
READING EVEN T
With Poet John Gle nd
Moderator: Mary M
4
ay.
acDonald
COFFEE BREAK
3:45 - 5:00 pm
Aava Hotel Boar droom 1 Admission: $25
3:45 - 4:45 pm
Aava Hotel Boar droom 2 Admission: $15
WORKSHOP 6
Revision: Making a Commitment to your Work with Sa ra h Selecky
PANEL DISCUSS IO
N3 What Makes a Book Last ... or Fade Fast. Art, Literature and Self-Publishing with Antana
s Sileika, Randy Boya goda and Miriam Toews. Mod erator: Stephen Vo gler
8:00 pm
TBA Admission: $10
READING EVEN T
5 Creative 5 Eclectic Special guest, Spoken word artis t: Barbara Ad
Host: Stephen Vogl
er.
ler.
Festival at a Glance 10:00 - noon
LIT GRIT TRIBUTE BREAKFAST
Aava Hotel Admission: $35 Includes breakfast
Miriam Toews, Wayne Johnston and 2011 Whistler Writer in Residence Sarah Selecky discuss their careers over breakfast and readings with moderator Andreas Schroeder.
1:00 - 2:30 pm
WORKSHOP 7
The Point Admission: $25
1:00 - 2:30 pm The Point Admission: $25
award-winning author, storyteller and columnist Michel Beaudry
WORKSHOP 8
Out of Chaos: Cultivating Calm with Mary MacDonald
2:30 - 4:30 pm
COFFEE BREAK
3:00 - 4:30 pm
WORKSHOP 9
The Point Admission: $25
3:00 - 4:30 pm The Point Admission: $25
8:00 pm Maxx Fish Admission: $10 Includes a drink
WRITER -IN RESIDENCE
Practice Makes Perfect with
Refreshments provided From Your Head to Paper
Writing Picture Books with Sara Leach
WORKSHOP 10
The Dirt Under Your Nails: Unearthing the Grit in Your Lit With Rebecca Wood Barrett
READING EVENT 6 PechaKucha
Prize and Giller Prize Nominee for the story Best New Writer of 2010 and Commonwealth Book ky will take up residence in Whistler this fall as collection This Cake is for the Party, Sarah Selec g in the Alta Lake Station House, Selecky will the community’s official Writer-in-Residence. Livin September 10th, 2011. She will also be one of work with writers on their own projects starting y Whistler Readers and Writers Festival. the guest authors featured at the 10th anniversar
genres interested in taking part in the residency Novice, emerging and experienced writers of all sending an email to Stella25@telus.net. program need to register with Stella Harvey by ne sessions with Sarah Selecky to develop their Residency participants will receive four one-on-o g. Once accepted, p lectures on various aspects of the craft of writin manuscript, and will also be able to attend grou a manuscript of no you plan to work on during the residency, plus writers must submit a short synopsis of the work nce of the first st 12th to enable Sara to review the work in adva more than 20 double spaced pages by Friday, Augu sessions and oneduction dinner where schedules for workshop meeting. The first meeting will be a pot luck intro on-one sessions will be determined. The residency forms the manuscript-intensive
component of the Whistler Readers and Writers
Festival.
Session Description in Detail
Session Description in Detail READING EVENT 1:
Author Sherly Salloum reads from her Mildred Valley Thornton book
Location: Squamish Lil’Wat Cultural Center, Whistler Date: Friday, October 14, 2011 Time: 2:00 - 3:00 pm. Admission: $10 Description: Sherly Salloum’s new book, The Life and Art of Mildred Valley Thornton, is the 4th book in our unheralded artists of BC series and for the first time tells the story of what Mildred Valley Thornton (1890 – 1967) accomplished in her life as an artist of landscape and portraits.
All Aboard - a Travel Guide to Magic Places and Other Destinations with Alma Alexander
Location: Date/Time: Admission: Description:
Whistler Public Library Friday, October 14, 2011 3:30 - 5:00 pm. $25. Open to young readers and writers 10 to 17 Hogwarts to Narnia, Through the Looking Glass into Wonderland, and Tatooine to Mars, there are so many wonderful places where a story can take you. So let’s break out our rockets, airships, submarines, hot air balloons, horse-drawn carriages, or even Shanks’s Pony (come find out what that is, if you don’t know!) and we’ll find out together where we can go, who we can take along with us, and how best to get there.
READING EVENT 2:
Book Launch of Count Me In With Sara Leach
READING EVENT 3:
Opening night gala
WORKSHOP 1:
Location: Whistler Public Library Date/Time: Friday, October 14, 2011 5:00 - 6:00 pm. Admission: FREE Description: Local children’s author Sara Leach launches her newest book for 9-13 year olds. Come enjoy refreshments at the Whistler Public Library as Sara reads from Count Me In. Tabitha is less than thrilled at the prospect of hiking to Lake Lovely Water, near Squamish, with her cousins and her aunt. She’s not much of a hiker. And she’s pretty sure her cousins hate her. But even her cousin Ashley can’t blame Tabitha for every thing that goes wrong on the hike, especially when Tabitha turns out to have more tenacity and courage than anyone—even Tabitha herself—realized.
Location: Squamish Lil’Wat Cultural Center, Whistler Date/Time: Friday, October 14, 2011 8:00 pm. Admission: $20 Description: Guest authors, Madeline Sonik, Miriam Toews, Antanas Sileika, John Glenday, Angie Abdou, Randy Boyagoda, and Sarah Selecky in conversation with local writer Stephen Vogler. Each author will read and discuss their latest work.
Session Description in Detail WORKSHOP 2:
Getting Past the Fear: Writing from Real Life Stories with Madeline Sonik
Location: Aava Hotel Boardroom 1 Date: Saturday, October 15, 2011 Time: 8:30 - 10:00 am. Admission: $25 Description: In a supportive environment, you’ll experiment with autobiographical writing techniques and learn how to transform your real life stories into literary nonfiction. You’ll discuss technical aspects such as story structure and theme along with practical considerations, such as how you can write your truth without stepping on litigious toes. Bring pens and paper and be prepared to write!
PANEL DISCUSSION 1: Why Fiction Matters with Antanas Sileika and
Randy Boyagoda, moderated by Sarah Selecky
Location: Aava Hotel Boardroom 2 Date/Time: Saturday, October 15, 2011. 9:00 - 10:00 am. Admission: $15 Description: With reality being weirder and perhaps more enticing than fiction, does fiction still hold a place in our hearts? Writers Antanas Sileika and Randy Boyagoda discuss the future of fiction.
WORKSHOP 3:
So You Think it’s Kid’s Stuff..? Writing for Young Readers with Alma Alexander
Location: Aava Hotel Boardroom 1 Date/Time: Saturday, October 15, 2011. 10:30 am to noon Admission: $25 Description: Writing for young readers - be they middle-grade or YA has burgeoned in recent years, with hundreds of books and writers across all genres coming forward to offer their stories to this reading demographic. Some, at least, come rushing into it thinking that it must be a very easy gig - how hard can it be, writing for children? But it’s far from kids’ stuff. Writing for children demands honesty and a discipline that is actually far beyond the average requirements for an “adult” novel. It’s a whole new kind of labyrinth, and this workshop will serve, in part, as your metaphorical “bag of crumbs”, so you can mark which way you’ve come and which are the corridors that lead out into a successful accomplishment of writing and publishing a book for young readers.
Session Description in Detail WORKSHOP 4:
Adventures in Adventure Writing - navigating Creative Non-fiction, Literary Journalism and other “ill-defined” terms with Leslie Anthony
Location: Aava Hotel Boardroom 2 Date: Saturday, October 15, 2011 Time: 10:30 am to noon Admission: $25 Description: Many folks—even non-writers, as many blogs attest—enjoy writing about their passions. These days, adventure is a particularly popular passion. As with travel, writing and reading about adventure is rooted in a desire to share your experiences and share in the experiences of others. Even more than travel, however, adventure writing is an art being quickly watered down by the net and visual media. We’ll discuss where mundane/mainstream ends and adventure begins and analyze the latter in travel, action sports, recreation, popular science and even interpersonal relationships. Writing exercises will navigate Creative Non-fiction, Literary Journalism and other ill-defined terms. Of course we’ll probably do some stuff I haven’t thought of yet… because it will be an adventure.
PANEL DISCUSSION 2: Where Does the Truth Lie? Location: Aava Hotel Date: Saturday, October 15, 2011 Time: Noon to 1:15 pm. Admission: $25, includes lunch Description: Fiction and non-fiction writers duke it out to conclude: where the truth begins and ends and what you can get away with. This session includes writers: Madeline Sonik, Antanas Sileika, and Leslie Anthony representing non-fiction and Angie Abdou, Randy Boyagoda representing fiction. The session will be moderated by: Stephen Vogler
WORKSHOP 5:
How to Create and Push Around Your Characters with Angie Abdou
Location: Aava Hotel Boardroom 1 Date: Saturday, October 15, 2011 Time: 1:15 - 3:30 pm. Admission: $25 Description: People read for the company. At least, I do. I want real characters – believable, complex, flawed, and authentic. I want to be lost in their stories. I want to live within their skin. Once I have the characters, the rest of the story follows. This workshop will focus on developing people-on-the page as a starting place for writing fiction (short stories or novels). Participants will learn techniques for hooking readers and getting them right inside the skin of their characters.
Session Description in Detail
READING EVENT 4:
With Poet John Glenday. Moderator: Mary MacDonald
Location: Date: Time: Admission: Description:
Aava Hotel Boardroom 2 Saturday, October 15, 2011 2:30- 3:30 pm. $15 Poet John Glenday joins our local award winning poet, Mary MacDonald in conversation. John will also read from his latest work.
WORKSHOP 6:
Revision: Making a Commitment to your Work with Sarah Selecky
Location: Aava Hotel Boardroom 1 Date: Saturday, October 15, 2011 Time: 3:45 - 5:00 pm. Admission: $25 Description: If starting a new writing project takes courage, finishing it takes faith. When you commit to a rewrite, you aren’t saying that your story is a failure. Rather, the commitment to rewrite is a testament to your project’s value and potential.
A story gets better not just by polishing and refurbishing, improving a word choice here and an image there. It involves taking risks with the structure, re-envisioning, being open to new meaning itself. A second draft isn’t created simply by sitting down, starting on page one and tinkering and tightening every line until you reach the end. In a second draft, you are going to be dealing with chunks of new information, new characters and new structures. You’re going to experiment with the sound of your voice and style. Revision is hard work, but the good thing is that you can start to understand your story in your second draft. In this short workshop we will look at revising your already-completed first drafts. You will learn how to revise your work with the intent to relive it, so you access the depth of your story as you edit. There will be time to practice some techniques in class, so please bring: a passage from an author you adore, notepaper and pens, and a printed copy of the first draft of a piece of your writing.
PANEL DISCUSSION 3: What Makes a Book Last ... or Fade Fast.
Art, Literature and Self-Publishing
Location: Date/Time: Admission: Description:
Aava Hotel Boardroom 2 Saturday, October 15, 2011. 3:45 - 5:00 pm. $15 In an age of self-publishing when so many books are published every minute in North America and last about as long as bubble gum on the bookstore shelves, what constitutes timeless, classical writing? Antanas Sileika, Randy Boyagoda and Miriam Toews. Moderator: Stephen Vogler.
Session Description in Detail READING EVENT 5:
Creative 5 Eclectic Special Guest Spoken Word Artist: Barbara Adler
Location: TBA Date: Saturday, October 15, 2011 Time: 8:00 pm. Admission: $10 Description: Creative 5 Eclectic is the open mic cabaret at which anything goes … for five minutes. Sing, dance, rant, read, hoot, toot, pluck, plead … The festival takes on local author and musician Stephen Vogler’s brainchild and throws in some special festival guests. Special guest: Spoken word artist: Barbara Adler. Host: Stephen Vogler
Lit Grit Tribute Breakfast with Wayne Johnston, Miriam Toews and Sarah Selecky
Location: Date: Time: Admission: Description:
Aava Hotel Sunday, October 16, 2011 10:00 am to noon $35 - includes breakfast Come join the festival’s first ever guest author, Andreas Schroeder break bread and interview literary icons, Miriam Toews and Wayne Johnston and our 2011 writer in residence Sarah Selecky.
WORKSHOP 7:
Practice Makes Perfect with Michel Beaudry
Location: Date: Time: Admission: Description:
The Point Sunday, October 16, 2011 1:00 - 2:30 pm. $25 Good writing is all about good craft. More importantly, good writing only comes with proper practice. There are no substitutes. Join award-winning author, storyteller and columnist Michel Beaudry for a spirited session of writing aerobics designed to inspire and excite your imagination. A hands-on seminar for anyone interested in improving their creative writing skills (don’t forget your paper and pens!), Beaudry’s session will take advantage of the great outdoors (weather permitting) so as to allow participants a chance to explore other writing environments.
WORKSHOP 8:
Out of Chaos: Cultivating Calm with Mary MacDonald
BREAKFAST:
Location: The Point Date: Sunday, October 16, 2011 Time: 1:00 - 2:30 pm. Admission: $25 Description: Poetry is a search for new ways of looking at things. Sometimes wildly incompatible things. In this workshop the participants will have an opportunity to connect people, places, and events in unpredictable ways. It is always interesting to see what emerges. The workshop is geared towards all poets; novice and experienced. All that is required is the desire to take your writing somewhere it has not been before.
Session Description in Detail WORKSHOP 9:
From Your Head to Paper—Writing Picture Books with Sara Leach
Location: The Point Date: Sunday, October 16, 2011 Time: 3:00 - 4:30 pm. Admission: $25 Description: So you want to write for kids? Here’s your chance to take those ideas that have been floating around and turn them into the first draft of a picture book manuscript. Through a series of exercises, participants will develop characters, setting and conflict, map out a plot, and write, write, write.
WORKSHOP 10:
The Dirt Under Your Nails: Unearthing the Grit in Your Lit with Rebecca Wood Barrett
Location: The Point Date: Sunday, October 16, 2011 Time: 3:00 - 4:30 pm. Admission: $25 Description: Bland sentences, forgettable characters, stagnant plots. These are the blunders in craft writers sweat to avoid. And yet, there they are, leaching the riches out of your short story or novel. In this workshop you’ll be given an attack list of tips and tools to dig deep into your fiction, and recognize when you’ve grasped the good stuff - the real dirt. Through in-class writing exercises you’ll have a chance to put what you’ve learned into practice.
READING EVENT 6:
PechaKucha Night
Location: Maxx Fish Date: Sunday, October 16, 2011 Time: 8:00 p m. Admission: $10 includes a drink Description: Drawing its name from the Japanese term for ‘chit-chat’, PechaKucha is a mix of show-and-tell, open mic night and happy hour. It has become the forum for ideas on design, architecture and has swept the world in just four years, taking place in over 400 cities globally. For more information about PechaKucha Whistler visit www.pecha-kucha.org/night/whistler.
Guest Authors Biographies
Guest Authors Biographies
r e l d A a r a b r a B
teller and musician. She has toured internationBarbara Adler is a Vancouver-based writer, story Fugitives. Her storytelling and travel project, The ally as a solo performer, and as a member of The s all over British Columbia, making her the first B.C. Memory Game has brought her to small town s the Fort Nelson Community Theatre. She work spoken word artist to see their name in lights at ty’s Socie enia ophr Schiz as the emcee for the B.C. extensively with youth as an arts educator, and on is mashing her words with music she writes passi ReachOut Psychosis tour. Barbara’s newest Fort Nelson and beyond, she is on a oneand plays on the 120-bass piano accordion. From polka has ever done to you. woman mission to make you forget anything that
r, and filmmaker. Formerly a ManagLeslie Anthony is a Whistler-based writer, edito tor at SKIER magazine, and Editor at ing Editor at POWDER magazine, Creative Direc he currently resides on the mastaward-winning PEAK PERFORMANCE JOURNAL, oor magazines, and his writing aphead of several North American ski and outd ages. He also writes broadly about pears annually in nine countries in seven langu from imaginary monsters to fossil travel, adventure and science subjects ranging ns of a Herpetologist and White smuggling. He is the author of Snakebit: Confessio Culture. His upcoming book is Planet: A Mad Dash through Modern Global Ski ey through the Father-daughter The Kid in the Green Canoe: A Meditative Journ Wilderness
Leslie Anthony
Saskatchewan. For the past Angie Abdou was born and raised in Moose Jaw, s on her fiction and teaches decade, she’s lived in Fernie, BC where she work novel, The Bone Cage, was the English Lit classes at the local college. Her first reading series, a finalist in official read for the first One Book One Kootenay wan Book of the Year. Her CBC’s 2011 Canada Reads, and the 2011-2012 MacE dy about ski culture. new novel, The Canterbury Trail, is a black come
Angie Abdou for both YA and NotAlma Alexander is a novelist who has written ages worldwide. Her So-YA readers, with work published in 14 langu n, Changer of Days, books include Secrets of Jin Shei, Hidden Quee age, Spellspam, Cyberthe(YA) Worldweavers trilogy (Gift of the Unm west of the United mage), and others. She lives in the Pacific North husband, two preStates, just south of the Canadian border, with her sumptuous cats, and assorted visiting wildlife.
Alma Alexander
Guest Authors Biographies since he first landed a job here as a dewyMichel Beaudry has been spinning Whistler yarns years, Beaudry has entertained readers faced ski pro in the early 1970’s. Over the last thirty all things edgy. His adventure-and-travel around the world with his quirky, lyrical tales on from SKI, Powder, BIKE and Transworld features have appeared in publications ranging Sports Illustrated. His stories and columns Snowboarding to Men’s Journal, GQ, Outside and Germany and Scandinavia. He was a perenhave been published in the US, France, Japan, the late 1980’s, and landed his first National nial Western Canada Magazine Award winner in story of solo-climber Peter Croft. In 1997 Magazine citation for 1989’s Vertical Dancer, the later, he received the inaugural Northern he won the prestigious Harold Hirsch. Two years on Canada. He was honoured yet again Lights Award for the best international travel story rians Association’s Ullr award for his book, in 2003, when he won the International Ski Histo Whistler – Against All Odds.
y r d u a e B l e h c Mi
is a professor of American Studies at Randy Boyagoda, writer, critic, and scholar, ared in publications including The Ryerson University in Toronto. His writing has appe Post, and The Globe and Mail. His first New York Times, Harper’s, The Walrus, National published to national acclaim and novel, Governor of the Northern Province, was y turns his prodigious talents to longlisted for the 2006 Scotiabank Giller Prize. Rand Kandy, the tin pot tyrant at the heart foreign lands and the remarkable story of Sam to bad luck and low prospects of his sophomore novel, Beggar’s Feast. Born poor a century later, the wealthy and inin a remote Ceylon village in 1899, Kandy dies years of influence leaving it forever fluential headman of the same settlement, his transformed.
Randy Boyagoda
in 1952. His first collection, The John Glenday was born near Dundee, Scotland, Award and his second, Undark, Apple Ghost won a Scottish Arts Council Book most recent collection, was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation. His ty Recommendation and was Grain (Picador, 2009) is also a Poetry Book Socie the Griffin Poetry Prize. He is a shortlisted for both the Ted Hughes Award and In 1990/91 he was appointed judge for the 2011 National Poetry Competition. University of Alberta. He is the Scottish/Canadian Exchange Fellow, based at currently lives near Loch Ness Board member of the Scottish Poetry Library and in the Scottish Highlands.
John Glenday John’s area of Newfoundland. Wayne Johnston was born and raised in the St. dian of Paradise, The Custo His #1 nationally bestselling novels include The quited Dreams, which was an Navigator of New York and The Colony of Unre film. Johnston is also the international bestseller and will be made into a oir, Baltimore’s Mansion. He author of an award-winning and bestselling mem lives in Toronto.
Wayne Johnson
Guest Authors Biographies Sara Leach is a children’s author and teacher-lib rarian living in Whistler. Her books include Sounds of the Ferry, Mountain Mach ines, Jake Reynolds: Chicken or Eagle? and the newly released, Count Me In. Sara has attended every Whistler Readers and Writers festival since its inception, and is considering titling her next book Everything I Ever Needed to Know Abou t Writing I Learned From the Vicious Circle.
Sara Leach
Mary MacDonald is a poet, writer, and child psych ologist, living a sometimes wildly incompatible life, in Whistler and Vancouver, B.C. “I really believe we are more than one thing - one idea, one passion, one talent - and have a great fondness for pairing poetry with all forms of art.” She thrives on collabora tion and has written poetry for opera, ballet and publ ic art.
Mary MacDonald
Sheryl Salloum
Sheryl Salloum was born and raised in British Columbia. Sheryl graduated from Simon Fraser University with an English major and Early Childhood minor. She has taught in the public school and college systems. A freela nce writer for over twenty years, Sheryl has published articles in numerous Canadian maga zines and newspapers. Her areas of interest include Canadian art, culture and histo ry, and children’s issues. In 1995, Sheryl published Underlying Vibrations: The Photograp hy and Life of John Vanderpant (Horsdal & Schubart). That book was a finalist for the Hube rt Evans Non-Fiction BC Book Prize. In 1987, Sheryl published Malcolm Lowry: Vancouver Days (Harbour Publishing). She and her husband have one daughter. They live in Vancouver.
Andreas Schroeder has made his living as a freela nce writer for over 40 years, writing poetry, fiction, nonfiction, translations, journalism and literary criticism. His 24 books include SHAKING IT ROUGH (nonfiction), DUST -SHIP GLORY (novel), FILE OF UNCERTAINTIES (poetry), THE ELEVENTH COMMANDMENT (tran slation) and THE MENNONITES IN CANADA (history). Schroeder has also published 5 popu lar collections of outrageous scams and hoaxes, among them SCAMS, SCANDALS & SKUL DUGGERY, and CHEATS, CHARLATANS & CHICANERY, all of which were originally broadcast in shorter form on CBC Radio’s BASIC BLACK SHOW. He contributed to this acclaimed Saturday morning show for some 12 years as its “resident crookologist”. Schroeder has won, or been nominated for, a host of literary awards, including the Governor-General’s Award (nonfiction), the Sealb ooks First Novel Award, the Stephen Leacock Award, the Arthur Ellis Award, and the Canadian Association of Journalists’ Best Investigat ive Journalism Award. His nonfiction books for youn g adult readers have twice received the Ontario Libra ry Association’s Red Maple Award. Since 1999 he has also held the Maclean-Hunter Chair in Creative Nonfiction in UBC’s Creative Writing Department. Schroeder’s most recent book is RENOVATING HEAVEN, a fictionalized account of his adolescent years growing up in the Fraser Valley. It was nom inated for the 2009 Ethel Wilson Fiction Award in this year’s BC Book Prizes competition.
Andreas Schroeder
Guest Authors Biographies Cake Is for the Party was a Sarah Selecky’s breakout debut collection This listed for the Commonwealth finalist for the 2010 Scotiabank Giller Prize, short Frank O’Connor Short Story Prize for Best First Book, and longlisted for the Walrus, Geist, Prairie Fire, Award. Her stories have been published in The ology. She earned her MFA in The New Quarterly, and The Journey Prize Anth bia and has been teaching Creative Writing at the University of British Colum lly lives in Toronto with her creative writing for more than ten years. She usua as Writer-in-Residence. husband, but this fall, Sarah is living in Whistler
y k c e l e S h a r a S
fiction and many newspaper and magazine Antanas Sileika is the author of four books of d and the Leacock Award for Humour as well articles. Short-listed for the Toronto Book Awar Book” of the year, he is the director of the as having one of his novels declared a “Globe Best recent novel (Thomas Allen, 2011), was Humber School for Writers. Underground, his most Globe and Mail. The novel is a love story set in called a “rare and compelling chronicle” by the late forties. the underground anti-Soviet resistance of the
Antanas Sileika
r. Her work Madeline Sonik is a teacher, writer, and edito zines, maga als, journ in has been published extensively e Ston de: inclu s and academic anthologies. Her latest book (stos Bone Sightings (poetry), Arms (a novel), Drying the novel). ren’s (child ys bunn Dust the ries), and Belinda and aEduc in PhD a and ng She has an MFA in Creative Writi of ient recip the tion, both from UBC. She has also been teaches at numerous awards, prizes, and fellowships. She the University of Victoria
Madeline Sonik
Miriam Toews is the zing Luck; A Boy of Good Breeding; author of four previous novels: Summer of My Ama rnor General’s Literary Award for A Complicated Kindness (winner of the 2004 Gove Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize), fiction) and The Flying Troutmans (winner of the She lives in Toronto. and one work of non-fiction, Swing Low: A Life.
ews o T m a i r i M
Guest Authors Biographies Writing) is a writer, filmmaker Rebecca Wood Barrett, (BAA Film, MFA Creative BC. She is a two-time finalist in and creative writing teacher living in Whistler, tler Stories films First to Go the 72 Hour Filmmaker Showdown, and her Whis tler Film Festival. Wood Barrett’s Down and Bear Essentials screened at the Whis onish Review, Room and Pique short stories have been published in The Antig Select Awards’ Postcard Jam Newsmagazine. She is the winner of the Whistler Long Fiction. Wood Barrett is contest and the Sea to Sky Literary Contest for currently working on her second novel.
Rebecca Wood Barrett Tales of a Mountain Town and Top of Stephen Vogler is the author of Only in Whistler: published by Harbour Publishing. the Pass: Whistler and the Sea-to-Sky Country, both entaries for CBC Radio’s Ideas, DNTO He has written radio documentaries and comm re Magazine, The Globe and Mail, and Outfront programs, and contributed to Explo publications. Stephen hosts Creative and Vancouver’s Georgia Straight among other the founder of The Point Artist-Run 5 Eclectic, a monthly arts open mic night, and is Centre in Whistler. www.stephenvogler.com
Stephen Vogler
The Vicious Circle would like to thank our sponsors for their generosity. Without their continued enthusiasm an d support, this festival would not be possi ble.
DESIGN STUDIO Websites, graphics, printed material
goodwinstudios.com
Sheraton Cavalier Calgary Hotel Salomon Mountain View Accommodations The Fairmont Chateau Whistler Scandinave Spa Team Whistler Heli Hansen Patina Home Interiors Teppan Village Glasswurks Design The Fix Bicycle Products Inc.
Bruce and Heather Hall Marcelle Armatage Katherine Fawcett Sue Oakey Libby McKeever Sara Leach Leslie Anthony Stephen Vogler The North Face Mary MacDonald
Do you need accommodation? tel, Our event partner, the Aava Whistler Ho has a special rate for this event.
You can visit www.aavawhistlerhotel.com for information on the hotel.
For reservations contact Kate Dickson at Kate@whistler.com quoting Whistler Readers and Writers Festival to enjoy a special rate of $89/night for the weekend of October 13-16.