articles
October 18, 2000
International Festival of Authors 2000
by Barbara Fletcher
|
FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS • Richler Roast October 18 • J.K. Rowling reading October 24 • Atwood Finale October 28 • Readings Schedule October 18-28 |
Well-known and promising new authors from around the world are converging in Toronto on October 18 for the 21st annual International Festival of Authors, part of the renowned Harbourfront Reading Series.
The 11-day festival -- which runs until October 28 -- promises engaging readings and activities involving 60 novelists, essayists, and poets from all over the globe including Canada, the U.K., Jamaica, Germany, Chile, New Zealand, India, Ireland, and other countries.
Audiences will be treated to readings from new works, lectures, tributes, onstage interviews, and interactions with authors.
The Festival kicks off with a Richler "roast": a tribute to Canada's cutting and comedic Mordecai Richler. Viewers can expect anecdotes and commentary from John Fraser, Barbara Gowdy, Peter Gzowski, Ted Kotcheff, Robert MacNeil, and Guy Vanderhaeghe.
U.K. author J.K. Rowling, of Harry Potter fame, will read to the largest audience at the Toronto SkyDome on Tuesday October 24 at 11:00 a.m. All other readings will take place in Harbourfront's Premiere Dance Theatre and York Quay Centre rooms.
Among the 70-plus events taking place, Festival-goers can select from readings from distinguished wordsmiths such as Mexico's Carlos Fuentes, the Ukraine's Oleh Lysheha, Britain's Maeve Binchey, and America's Ursula K. Le Guin -- as well as from new literary lights such as Colum McCann (Ireland), Martin Winckler (France), and Hikaru Okuizumi (Japan).
This year's Canadian authors include Margaret Atwood, Marie-Claire Blais, Elisabeth Harvor, Elizabeth Hay, David Helwig, Mark Anthony Jarman, W.P. Kinsella, Anne Michaels, Jeffrey Moore, Farley Mowat, Kenneth Oppel, Daniel Poliquin, David Adams Richards, Mordecai Richler, Spider Robinson, Josef Škvorecký, Jane Urquhart, Guy Vanderhaeghe, and Tim Wynne-Jones.
For the duration of the Festival, an empty chair at each reading will symbolize the absence of writers whose work has been silenced by their government or community. This year, PEN Canada and the Festival honour Ethiopian poet, songwriter, and journalist Tesfaye Deressa who could face the death penalty for supposed "violation of the Ethiopian Press Law."
Current Booker Prize nominee Margaret Atwood will make several appearances before closing the book on the International Festival of Authors on Saturday, October 28.
Related Links
• Harbourfront Reading Series
• Complete List of Authors