Whether in books
or movies or check-out line conversations, stories are our stock-in-trade, the way we humans connect
with one another and understand
ourselves.
Writers continue to create wonderful stories, and that’s our reason for being at
THIN AIR. This September, we roll out
our seventeenth edition. We’ve got writers of wild imagination, probing intellect, keen wit, and
refreshing verbal dexterity. It’s going
to be an exciting, and full, week.
From Monday to
Friday, September 23-27, the spotlight shines on a host of writers at the Manitoba Theatre for Young
People at The Forks. You can hear the
readings, have the writer sign the copy of the book you just bought during the intermission (we’ve got
books for sale right on the stage), and
even enjoy a glass of wine (we’ll even have a bar on stage, too).
It’s hard to talk about highlights when there’s so
much great stuff going on, but one of
the standouts has got to be Andrew
Pyper, who’ll be reading Friday night. Andrew is a terrifically
good writer who writes really scary
books. His latest, The Demonologist, is
already a bestseller and has picked up rave reviews. It’s a suspenseful, frightening tale of very real
devils, of demons who walk among us, and
the evil that human beings can inflict. It’ll have you checking over your shoulder.
On the other side of the emotional spectrum, we have
Cassie Stocks on Tuesday night. Her book, Dance, Gladys, Dance, has something otherworldy too, but it aims to
make you laugh. Cassie’s got an
interesting backstory. After doing a variety of jobs (actor, aircraft cleaner, hydroponic pot factory
caretaker), she ended up taking a degree
in Professional Writing. She won a fiction writing contest and before you know it, she picked up the Stephen
Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour for
her first novel: we call it DGD around the office. Anyway, Gladys happens to be a ghost, which
complicates things.
All the Mainstage
events are arranged around some creative theme, one devised by Festival Director Charlene Diehl.
So, Monday night is called “Dancing
Lessons.” Charlene quotes the late, great George Carlin, who said that “Those who dance are considered
insane by those who cannot hear the
music.” Keep that in mind when you hear our team of writers read about stories that show how art, travel,
families, and movies can be a source of
solace or a means of escape.
It’s a great line-up, but you’ll really want to check out
Andrew Steinmetz. His book, This Great Escape: The Case of Michael Paryla, is an inventive family memoir about his
cousin who escaped the Nazis, growing up
in Canada, before returning to Germany to work as an actor, including a bit part in the Steve McQueen war
movie “The Great Escape.” You’ll
probably never come across another book quite like it.
And Thursday night
has local treasures Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan. Performance artists as well as writers,
they’re here with their book Bedtime Stories for the Edge of the World, a collection of rambunctious, ripping yarns.
Definitely not for children, but if you
listen in, you’ll learn a thing or two. And
Wednesday is our annual Poetry Bash, this year featuring the return
of former Winnipeg Jon Paul Fiorentino.
If you've never heard him read, he'll
shake up your idea of what a poetry reading can be.
Tickets are $12
($10 for students and seniors). There’s also a Festival Pass for $40. You can find all the details at our
website (www.thinairwinnipeg.ca
www.thinairwinnipeg.ca) or in our
nifty paperback which you can find all
over the place, including The Forks. (The festival has got events all around town, too.)
Bruce Symaka, Audience Development Coordinator Winnipeg
International Writers Festival
