In a Festival Season

Twenty-two years after it began in 1988, the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival has become an important event on the world literary calendar. Under the eye of artistic director Hal Wake, the festival brings together nearly 300 volunteers whose job, in part, is the care and feeding of 100 international and Canadian authors as well as thousands of book lovers who come to see their favorite authors and learn about new books and publishing trends.

The annual festival, which begins today, attracts over 14,000 visitors. It will run until October 24th featuring authors from Canada, the US, the UK, Italy, France, Ireland, Israel, Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines.

Participating authors in 2010 include four who have been nominated for this year’s Governor General’s award -- Sandra Birdsell, Emma Donoghue, Drew Hayden Taylor and Kathleen Winter -- and two who have been shortlisted for this year’s Giller Prize: Sarah Selecky and Kathleen Winter.

Also in attendance will be past nominees for the Booker Prize Ali Smith, Andrea Levy, David Mitchell, Andrew O’Hagan and Yann Martel, who won the Booker Prize in 2002.

Complete program details and ticket information are available at www.writersfest.bc.ca.