- The Word On The Street (Sept. 28-30): Friday programming at Banyen Books & Sound, 6: 30-8 p.m., and Historic Joy Kogawa House, 7: 30-9: 30 p.m.; Saturday programming at the Carnegie Centre, 10 a.m.-9 p.m., and Vancouver Public Library central branch, 9: 30 a.m.-5: 30 p.m.; and Sunday programming (main festival day) at Library Square and the CBC Plaza, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Free. Full schedule and info: thewordonthestreet.ca/vancouver.
THE 18th edition of The Word On The Street kicks off tonight in Vancouver, boasting three days of diverse programming tailored to appeal to all literary tastes as well as ages.
Billed as a "book and magazine extravaganza," the free, family-friendly festival is held annually in Vancouver as well as Toronto, Kitchener, Lethbridge, Saskatoon and Halifax.
"It's a festival gathering to celebrate reading and writing," says North Vancouver resident Val Mason, the festival's general manager. Mason, who also serves as general manager of the B.C. Book Prizes, has been involved with The Word On The Street for the last three years. She's worked in arts management for 25 years, including previously serving as managing director of Presentation House Theatre.
The Word On The Street takes a unique approach in its celebration of the written word.
"The intent is that people come and have fun," says Mason, adding what separates it from some other literary festivals is its accessibility.
"Number one, it's a free community event," she says. "Anyone can come and access it regardless of their economic circumstances, even their language skills. We very much focus on trying to make sure that there are things that are accessible to anyone no matter what their literacy abilities are. It's got a larger family focus, I think, than is typical of literary events."
Featured writers include Annabel Lyon, W.P. Kinsella, Yasuko Thanh, Billie Livingston, Arthur Black, George Bowering, Brian Calvert and Chris Cannon (The Canada Party), Anakana Schofield, Kevin Chong, Peter Bagge, George Murray, Carmen RodrÃguez, Meredith Quartermain, Rachel Hartman, Hiromi Goto, Andrew Nikiforuk, Sylvia Olsen, Katherine Monk and Caroline Adderson.
Initially a single day event, last year The Word On The Street, which attracts an estimated 35,000 people annually, was expanded to three days, seeing organizers branch out beyond their homebase - the interior and exterior spaces surrounding the main branch of the Vancouver Public Library. The change has allowed them to offer more programming, form new community partnerships as well as continue to grow their audience.
Based on last year's success, festival organizers have again partnered with the Carnegie Centre, a relationship they're very excited about, for a host of activities on Saturday.
"That's getting us into the Downtown Eastside community and providing access to our programs to a lot of people who might not even feel comfortable venturing over to the downtown library - it's outside of their community and their comfort zone, possibly," says Mason. "That opened up a very new audience base for us."
Programming highlights include: a chapbook making workshop; an environment-themed poetry workshop with Christine Leclerc; the Great Type Up, seeing volunteers on hand to type up and edit participants' work; a session on live readings with Hal Wake; an open mic poetry night; and a chance to view the Hope in Shadows exhibit in the Third Floor Gallery.
The Vancouver Public Library is also playing host to an event Saturday, Writing Rights - Writing, Translation, and Copyright/Gens de Plumes - Création, Traduction et Droits, presented by the Canada Council for the Arts and Canadian Heritage.
Tonight, Peter Zuckerman and Amanda Padoan will read from their book, Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day, at Banyen Books & Sound. As well, Marcus Youssef and James Long will be in attendance at Historic Joy Kogawa House for a presentation of Youssef's works, Winners and Losers and How Has My Love Affected You?
"The more partnering you do as an organization, we find the more your network spreads in terms of who you can market the festival to, who you can get to assist you in marketing, help getting the word out," says Mason. "All the programming that we do on those additional two days, we sought partnerships so that we could achieve those things."
The main festival day is Sunday and offerings are extremely diverse, an attempt to offer something for everyone. "That's a major criteria for us in terms of our programming mandate," says Mason.
The diversity mandate pertains to: cultural diversity, in terms of featuring authors from a range of backgrounds, and the festival features events in English, French and Spanish; showcasing emerging and known authors; as well as diversity in terms of literary genre.
"Whatever your particular area of interest is, hopefully there's at least one book there that excites you a little bit to maybe meet the author and maybe even pick up the book," says Mason.
New this year is an initiative entitled The Unwritten Word, which speaks to Mason and her peers' emphasis on accessibility.
"The Unwritten Word is about the traditions of speaking and telling stories without them being written down," she says.
Under the umbrella of The Unwritten Word, they're presenting a youth poetry slam, as well as a panel on traditional oral storytelling. "That form of oral speaking, of stories and communicating, I think, is something we thought was important to embrace, especially in this day and age," says Mason.
They're also offering visual displays and, thanks to a partnership with Vancouver New Music and the Vancouver Soundwalk Collective, Word On The Street will feature Soundwalks every hour, seeing tour guides take festival-goers on a walk of the grounds.
"They encourage you to stop in various places and hear what you're listening to in a different kind of way," says Mason.
Soundwalks will be offered on the hour, from noon to 4 p.m., from the information tent on Homer Street.
Some other 2012 festival highlights include a reading by former West Vancouver resident and actor Jackson Davies, from his new book Bruno and the Beach: The Beachcombers at 40, inspired by his years starring in the show.
A number of North Shore writers are being featured at this year's festival, including poets Susan Steudel (New Theatre) and Russell Thornton (Birds, Metals, Stones and Rain) and children's author Robert Heidbreder (Noisy Poems for a Busy Day).
Festival visitors can also attend various panels and workshops, engage in children's activities, or browse the exhibitor tables, ranging from booksellers and publishers to educational institutions to organizations focused on literacy. Tables typically sell out months before the festival.
"Clearly anyone who does exhibit there has found that it's a successful event for them," says Mason. "I think there's just that affirmation that this is a valuable tool. It just means they can come face to face with their audience. They get to interact with them and talk about what it is they do and why they do it."
Throughout its run, The Word On The Street offers an opportunity for those featured, as well as those who attend, to engage with their peers.
"That's always kind of reassuring and inspiring because you're not alone in your love of books and reading and literacy and you do feel much more a part of a larger community," says Mason.
