Oct. 17, 2012 - Issue #887: Dedfest
Litfest
Until Sun, Oct 28Various locations
litfestalberta.org
Edmonton's International Literary Festival has always reached beyond the usual associations of a writerly gathering: there are readings, sure, but Litfest does its celebration of non-fiction one better: it lets authors meet, makes them debate, share wine, finds them comparing ideas on panel chats, and helps develops in any assembled audience an appreciation for the powerful pens that reside both within and beyond the Edmonton city limits. What readings there are get bolstered by other performances that play into the themes of the evening.
And at 30-plus events happening over its 11-day span, it can also be daunting to find an entry point. So, as it begins to unroll its almost-two-week-long run, here's a scattering of entry points for your perusal:
Andrew Nikiforuk /
Fri, Oct 26 (7 pm)
Nikiforuk is the author of The Energy of Slaves, "A radical analysis of our master-and-slave relationship to energy and a call for change," as well as an award-winning journalist and author with a strong lean towards environmentalism. This Friday night event will focus itself around Slaves' subject matter, but he's also appearing as part of "Fauna," (Sun, Oct 28, Stanley A Milner) where he'll discuss battle against the northern pine beetle, and "Savouries" (Sat, Oct 27, Santa Maria Goretti Centre) where he'll join a trio of other authors in a mix of food, wine and academic conversation. (St Albert Public Library)
Shadows of Afghanistan /
Saturday, Oct 20 (7 pm)
Four authors of a political bent—Janice Williamson, Noah Richler, Paul Wells and Terry Glavin—join together to discuss the impact of Canada's peacekeeping time in Afghanistan, the evolution of our "peacekeeper" status after we've had a force in that country for more than a decade now. The conversation will be moderated by The Edmonton Journal's longtime feature writer Sheila Pratt. (Stanley A Milner Library)
Three Acts of Alberta Theatre, Part One: Setting the Stage /
Sun, Oct 21 (2 pm)
Anne Nothof, Professor Emerita at Athabasca University and editor of The Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia will act as a guide through the history of theatre in our fair Prairie province. Part One looks at the growth of community theatre and a radio play, with a follow-up next weekend discussing the rise of professional theatre and later developments. Both are totally free. (Strathcona County Library, Free)
Alexander McCall Smith /
Tue, Oct 23 (7 pm)
In a curious relaxing of Litfest's non-fiction focus, the author of the No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series commands the Winspear stage as one of the festival's big grabs. While his most well known body of work may be the Detective Agency series, he's also written a few other series in addition to a number of writings about bioethics, and holds the title of professor Emeritus at the University of Edinburgh, among other accolades. So there will be much to hear about from a master storyteller like this.
(Winspear, $25) vueweekly.com comments: powered by Disqus
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