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DTSTART;TZID=America/Edmonton:20251017T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Edmonton:20251017T210000
DTSTAMP:20260501T185023
CREATED:20250901T221522Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251008T151445Z
UID:4576-1760729400-1760734800@litfestalberta.org
SUMMARY:Feature: A Necessary Distance\, with Julie Salverson
DESCRIPTION:Tickets: $5 (student/low income)\, $15 (regular)\, Available HERE (Use promo code “LITFEST2025” to access student rate) \nIn conversation event with Julie Salverson to talk about her book\, A Necessary Distance: Confessions of a Scriptwriter’s Daughter. \nGeorge Salverson had written over a thousand radio plays for the CBC before he became the first television drama editor for the corporation. He wrote scripts for such beloved series as The Beachcombers and The Littlest Hobo\, but he kept very little of his writing\, being decidedly unsentimental about his work. So when his daughter Julie found a series of notebooks from a round-the-world trip he’d taken in 1963 to work on a documentary about world hunger\, she knew she’d found something important. But the writer of these notebooks is not the father she thought she knew. From there Julie Salverson traces a fascinating web of personal and political history\, of storytelling\, of culture and it’s shaping and of a man caught in a time of great change. \n  \nJULIE SALVERSON is a nonfiction writer\, playwright\, editor\, scholar and theatre animator. She is a fourth-generation Icelandic Canadian writer: her father\, George\, wrote early CBC radio and television drama and her grandmother Laura won two Governor General’s Awards (1937\, 1939). Julie’s theatre\, opera\, books and essays embrace the relationship of imagination and foolish witness to risky stories and trauma. She works on atomic culture\, community-engaged theatre and the place of the foolish witness in social\, political and interpersonal generative relationships. Salverson offers resiliency and peer-support workshops to communities dealing with trauma and has many years of experience teaching and running workshops. Recent publications include the book When Words Sing: Seven Canadian Libretti (Playwrights Canada Press\, 2021) and Lines of Flight: An Atomic Memoir (Wolsak & Wynn\, 2016).
URL:https://litfestalberta.org/event-1/feature-a-necessary-distance-with-julie-salverson/
LOCATION:Zeidler Hall\, 9828 101A Ave\, Edmonton\, AB
CATEGORIES:Feature
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Edmonton:20251017T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Edmonton:20251017T203000
DTSTAMP:20260501T185023
CREATED:20250915T213304Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251008T151509Z
UID:4617-1760727600-1760733000@litfestalberta.org
SUMMARY:Feature: Curling Rocks! with John Cullen
DESCRIPTION:Tickets: $5 (student/low income)\, $15 (regular)\, Available HERE (Use promo code “LITFEST2025” to access student rate) \nIn conversation event with curling legend John Cullen to discuss his latest book\, Curling Rocks!: Chronicles of the Roaring Game. \nDrawing on author John Cullen’s years of experience as both a stand-up comic and an elite curler\, Curling Rocks! offers a lighthearted\, expertly detailed look at a unique sport and its history\, from the most absurd curling fashions to the most sublime matches ever played. \nThe sport of curling continues to expand its global reach\, attracting new players and fans far beyond traditional strongholds. Yet\, even in Canada—a country with a long curling history and fifteen hundred clubs of its own—the game is often dismissed as an eccentric pastime. \nAccording to author John Cullen\, this is because curling is both inherently funny and chronically underestimated as a battle of skill and strategy. And Cullen is perfectly qualified to make this double-edged claim: not only is he a stand-up comic with many years of experience at the mic\, but he’s had years on the ice as an elite curler. \nBecause most previous books on curling have been either how-to guides or standard biographies of prominent players\, there has long been space for a reader-friendly overview of the “roaring game” (a nickname inspired by the sound of the forty-pound stone en route to its target). Curling Rocks! sets out to fill this gap with a lighthearted\, expertly detailed account of the sport\, ranging from the absurd to the sublime. Next to his observations on ill-fitting fashions and odd scandals—among them “Broomgate\,” when controversial new sweeping technology almost took out the curling world—Cullen offers insights on everything from the greatest matches ever played to the peculiar heartbreak that comes with losing. \nIn these inviting\, irreverent and often deeply personal essays\, Cullen finally gives the perplexing\, beloved game its due. \n  \nJOHN CULLEN has been a medal-winning semi-professional curler for more than twenty years. He has also worked as a teacher\, writer\, comedian and curling analyst\, earning acclaim from such outlets as Vulture\, Forbes\, The Economist and Esquire for hosting the highly popular podcast Broomgate: A Curling Scandal. He has made televised appearances as a stand-up comedian and is a returning guest on CBC Radio’s The Debaters. Cullen lives in Calgary\, AB.
URL:https://litfestalberta.org/event-1/feature-curling-rocks-with-john-cullen/
LOCATION:Muttart Theatre\, 7 Sir Winston Churchill Square\, Edmonton\, AB
CATEGORIES:Feature
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Edmonton:20251017T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/Edmonton:20251017T183000
DTSTAMP:20260501T185023
CREATED:20250903T000534Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251008T151604Z
UID:4588-1760720400-1760725800@litfestalberta.org
SUMMARY:Panel: On Language and Meaning (a.k.a. The Smartypants Panel)
DESCRIPTION:What is conscious and unconscious in how we utilize language? How do we use language to create meaning? For anyone who has a love for the construction and utilization of language\, this panel is a must-attend at this year’s festival! Lovingly referred to as The Smartypants Panel\, this event brings together language scientists and poets to talk all things related to language. \nFeaturing: Joel Katelnikoff\, Canisia Lubrin\, and Julie Sedivy\nModerator: Alice Major\nTickets: $5 (student/low income)\, $15 (regular)\, Available HERE (Use promo code “LITFEST2025” to access student rate) \n  \nJOEL KATELNIKOFF holds a PhD in literary theory from the University of Alberta. His book Recombinant Theory is a new approach to critical writing that applies cut-up techniques to the complete works of ten contemporary poet-theorists: Annharte\, Charles Bernstein\, Christian Bök\, Johanna Drucker\, Lyn Hejinian\, Steve McCaffery\, Erín Moure\, Sawako Nakayasu\, Lisa Robertson\, and Fred Wah. These cut-ups are then compiled into new essays\, each refracting the concepts of the original text while producing new lyrical and theoretical formulations. \nCANISIA LUBRIN’s work has been recognized with accolades including the Griffin Poetry Prize\, Windham-Campbell Prize\, and the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature. Born in St. Lucia\, Lubrin now lives in Whitby\, and is the poetry editor at McClelland & Stewart. \nJULIE SEDIVY is a writer and linguist whose work straddles scientific and literary worlds. Her book Memory Speaks (Harvard University Press) was shortlisted for two Alberta Literary Awards and was named by The Economist as one of the top five books about language in a “golden age” of language writing. She has contributed writing to outlets such as Nautilus\, Discover\, Scientific American\, the Literary Review of Canada\, LA Review of Books\, EuropeNow\, Aeon + Psyche\, and Politico. She is the co-editor (with Rona Altrows) of Waiting\, a collection of personal essays (University of Alberta Press)\, and the co-author (with Souad Shehab) of Ayah and the Big World Outside\, a forthcoming children’s book to be published by Orca Books in 2026. Her most recent book\, Linguaphile: A Life of Language Love (Farrar\, Straus & Giroux)\, was named by The New Yorker as one of the best books of 2024 and won the W. O. Mitchell City of Calgary Book Prize. Julie is a citizen of three countries.  \n Bluesky: @juliesedivy.bsky.social \nALICE MAJOR (Moderator) has published 12 collections of poetry and the essay collection: Intersecting Sets: A Poet Looks at Science. Among other creative projects\, she has been a participant in “Reimagining Fire”\, a project to bring visual artists\, writers and scientists together to create work related to climate change\, and was invited to read at the UN’s COP15 conference on biodiversity in Montreal.  \n Alice’s previous work has been recognized by the Pat Lowther and Stephan G. Stephansson poetry awards as well as a National Magazine Award Gold Medal. She also served as the City of Edmonton’s first poet laureate and has received the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Distinguished Artist Award as well as an honorary doctorate from the University of Alberta. Her work with the writing community has included founding the Edmonton Poetry Festival. \nWebsite: alicemajor.com\nIG: @alicemajor_poet 
URL:https://litfestalberta.org/event-1/panel-on-language-and-meaning-a-k-a-the-smartypants-panel/
LOCATION:Muttart Theatre\, 7 Sir Winston Churchill Square\, Edmonton\, AB
CATEGORIES:Panel
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Edmonton:20251016T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Edmonton:20251016T203000
DTSTAMP:20260501T185023
CREATED:20250901T215225Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251008T151618Z
UID:4575-1760641200-1760646600@litfestalberta.org
SUMMARY:Feature: Precarious: The Lives of Migrant Workers\, with Marcello Di Cintio
DESCRIPTION:Tickets: $5 (student/low income)\, $15 (regular)\, Available HERE (Use promo code “LITFEST2025” to access student rate) \nAward-winning author Marcello Di Cintio in conversation with LitFest board treasurer Danielle Paradis to talk about his latest book\, Precarious: The Lives of Migrant Workers. \nWinner of the 2024 Dave Greber Freelance Writers Book Award \nA series of profiles of foreign workers illuminates the precarity of global systems of migrant labor and the vulnerability of their most disenfranchised agents. \nIn 2023\, after weeks of investigation\, United Nations Special Rapporteur Tomoyo Obokata came to a scathing conclusion: Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker program is “a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery.” Workers complained of excessive hours and unpaid overtime; of being forced to perform dangerous tasks or ones not specified in their contracts; of being physically abused\, intimidated\, and sexually harassed; and of overcrowded\, unsanitary living conditions that deprived them of their privacy and dignity. \nIn Precarious: The Lives of Migrant Workers\, Marcello Di Cintio ranges across the country speaking to those who have come from elsewhere to till our fields\, bathe our elderly\, and serve us our Double Doubles\, uncovering stories of tremendous perseverance\, resilience\, and humanity\, but also of precarity and vulnerability. He shows that vast swathes of our economy depend on the work of people we don’t see\, while expanding our awareness of what migrant work now entails\, and revealing that our mistreatment of the most vulnerable among us diminishes our own dignity. \n  \nMARCELLO DI CINTIO is the author of six books\, including Walls: Travels Along the Barricades\, Pay No Heed to the Rockets: Palestine in the Present Tense\, and Driven: The Secret Lives of Taxi Drivers. He has also written for the Globe and Mail\, The Walrus\, The International New York Times\, and Canadian Geographic\, among others. He lives in Calgary. \nIG: @marcello.di.cintio\nBluesky: @marcellodicintio.bsky.social\nTwitter: @DiCintio \nDanielle Paradis (Host) is an Indigenous (Métis) magazine writer\, journalist\, editor\, educator\, and podcaster who lives in Treaty 6 (Edmonton\, Alberta). She has written for both local and international audiences. You can read (or hear) her work at Canadaland\, Chatelaine\, Toronto Star (Edmonton)\, Gig City\, BUSTLE\, Canadian True Crime Podcast\, and The Sprawl. Danielle covers politics\, arts and culture\, and Indigenous Issues. Danielle loves a good FOIP story and studied investigative journalism\, story-based inquiry method\, at the Centre for Investigative Journalism out of the UK. She teaches journalism\, focusing on advanced reporting and reporting on diverse communities at MacEwan University and Humber College. She also works for a non-profit\, Indigenous Friends Association\, that focuses on connecting traditional knowledge and digital technology for Indigenous youth. She also has a background as a literary editor for Other Voices\, and in-depth media experience on both television and radio.
URL:https://litfestalberta.org/event-1/feature-precarious-the-lives-of-migrant-workers-with-marcello-di-cintio/
LOCATION:Muttart Theatre\, 7 Sir Winston Churchill Square\, Edmonton\, AB
CATEGORIES:Feature
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Edmonton:20251016T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Edmonton:20251016T203000
DTSTAMP:20260501T185023
CREATED:20250901T215037Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251008T151632Z
UID:4574-1760641200-1760646600@litfestalberta.org
SUMMARY:Feature: Bloodied Bodies\, Bloody Landscapes\, with Laura Hall
DESCRIPTION:Tickets: $5 (student/low income)\, $15 (regular)\, Available HERE (Use promo code “LITFEST2025” to access student rate) \nIn Conversation event featuring Laura Hall speaking with University of Alberta associate professor Jordan Abel about her book Bloodied Bodies\, Bloody Landscapes: Settler Colonialism in Horror. \nTurning a lens on the dark legacy of colonialism in horror film\, from Scream to Halloween and beyond \nHorror films\, more than any other genre\, offer a chilling glimpse—like peering through a creaky attic door—into the brutality of settler colonial violence. While Indigenous peoples continue to struggle against colonization\, white settler narratives consistently position them as a threat\, depicting the Indigenous Other as an ever-present menace\, lurking on the fringes of “civilized” society. Indigenous inclusion or exclusion in horror films tells a larger story about myths\, fears\, and anxieties that have endured for centuries. \nBloodied Bodies\, Bloody Landscapes traces connections between Indigenous representations\, gender\, and sexuality within iconic horror classics like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13th. The savage killer\, the romantic and doomed Indian\, the feral “mad woman”—no trope or archetype escapes the shadowy influence of settler colonialism. In the end\, horror both disrupts and uncovers colonial violence—only to bury its victims once more. \n  \nLAURA HALL grew up in N’Swakamok (Sudbury\, Ontario). Laura’s parents\, Shirley (Mohawk) and Dave Hall (English-Canadian) instilled in her a deep love for spooky storytelling. After moving to different cities in Ontario for University and graduate studies\, Laura now resides in Ottawa with their children and partner and works as a professor in Sociology at Carleton University. Currently\, Dr. Hall is working on horror fiction and storytelling workshops with support from federal grants and a general focus on arts-based research and Indigenous wellbeing.  \n  \nJORDAN ABEL (Host) is a queer Nisga’a writer from Vancouver. He is the author of The Place of Scraps (winner of the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize)\, Un/inhabited\, and Injun (winner of the Griffin Poetry Prize). NISHGA won both the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize and the VMI Betsy Warland Between Genres award\, and was a finalist for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction\, the Wilfrid Eggleston Award for Nonfiction\, and the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize. Abel’s latest work–a novel titled Empty Spaces–  was published by McClelland & Stewart and Yale University Press\, and was the winner of the Governor General’s Award for fiction as well as the winner of a Banff Mountain Book Award. Abel completed a Ph.D. at Simon Fraser University in 2019\, and is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta where he teaches Indigenous Literatures\, Research-Creation\, and Creative Writing.
URL:https://litfestalberta.org/event-1/feature-bloodied-bodies-bloody-landscapes-with-laura-hall/
LOCATION:Rice Theatre Lobby\, 9828 101A Ave\, Edmonton
CATEGORIES:Feature
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Edmonton:20251016T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/Edmonton:20251016T183000
DTSTAMP:20260501T185023
CREATED:20250901T214850Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251008T151644Z
UID:4572-1760634000-1760639400@litfestalberta.org
SUMMARY:Showcase: Laberinto Press
DESCRIPTION:Tickets: $5 (student/low income)\, $15 (regular)\, Available HERE (Use promo code “LITFEST2025” to access student rate) \nJoin us for a journey through the anthologies from Edmonton-based Laberinto Press. \nIn a largely primarily anglophone and Anglo-centric publishing industry\, Laberinto Press has won the recognition of its peers for delivering outstanding works from writers whose first language is not English\, and World Literature in translation. Their books have received rave reviews. This “Little Press That Could” continues making strides. Meanwhile\, they continue tapping into diaspora authors living in Canada. \nFeaturing: Luciana Erregue-Sacchi\, Mila Philipzig\, Kathryn Lennon\, Sandro Silva\, Cedric Usman\, and Phany Peña T \nMila Bongco-Philipzig is a writer\, visual artist\, and community organizer. She has published five bilingual (Filipino-English) children’s books. She also translated two children’s books from Filipino to German\, which were included in the Frankfurter Buchmesse (2022)\, the largest book fair in the world. Mila has poetry\, short stories\, and essays published in various magazines\, anthologies\, and podcasts in the Philippines\, Canada\, and Germany. In 2021\, Mila was a featured artist for Edmonton Arts Council’s Asian Heritage Month\, and the first featured reader for Edmonton Public Library’s Multilingual Storytime. She is currently the coordinator for the Writer’s Guild of Alberta’s Horizon Writers Circle mentorship program for BIPOC writers and serves as the lead for the People of Colour Committee in Stantec. In addition to writing and painting\, Mila organizes cultural community events\, runs long distance\, and is an active advocate for inclusion\, human rights\, and social justice. \nLuciana Erregue-Sacchi is an award winning publisher (Laberinto Press)\, art historian\, translator\, author (Of Mothers and Madonna\, Polyglot 2023) and cultural worker. Luciana has presented at LitFest\, Edmonton Poetry Fest\, and Banff Centre. Her work and translations have appeared in academic publications\, Polyglot Magazine\, AGNI\, and others and she has been featured on CBC Edmonton\, Radio Canada\, Quill and Quire\, Literary Review of Canada\, Westword\, and Edmonton Journal. She is an activist for freedom to read and an advocate for hyphened Canadian literature. \nKathryn Lennon 君妍 is a poet\, community planner\, and the co-founder and co-editor of Hungry Zine. She was born and raised\, and resides in Edmonton/Amiskwacîwâskahikan. Her poetry has been published in Canthius\, Polyglot Magazine\, Living Hyphen\, and the Globe and Mail\, and included in anthologies: Reimagining Fire: the Future of Energy (Durvile & UpRoute)\, Back Where I Came From (Book*hug Press)\, and Beyond Touch Sites (Laberinto Press). \nSandro Silva is a Brazilian & Canadian citizen. Co-founder of Dona Ana Films & Multimedia\, he produced international award-winning documentaries and acted as a local producer for the Brazilian components of international productions. Before working in the arts\, Sandro worked as a copyright lawyer in São Paulo.  After moving to Canada\, Sandro has written\, directed\, and produced various documentary shorts for CBC’s Creator Network since the fall of 2021. He was part of the 2021 Hot Docs DOC Accelerator program\, the 2023 Hot Docs Podcast Creators Lab\, and a selected protégé for the 2021 Own Voices Alberta mentorship designed by the Alexandra Writers’ Centre Society. Sandro was also selected as part of the Telus Storyhive 2021 Black Creators Edition\, where he wrote\, directed\, and produced his latest documentary short “Retraining the Brain” (2023). Sandro is working on his first memoir book and has several podcasts and feature documentary projects in production for 2025. \nCedric Usman is a Filipino-Canadian self-taught contemporary abstract artist from Sherwood Park\, Alberta. He draws deep inspiration from nature\, particularly bodies of water. His art invites viewers to reflect\, feel inspired\, and perhaps even meditate on the fluid movements and flow within his creations. Cedric loves to make colours blend and dance by harnessing the forces of air and gravity. He is also a self-taught musician\, intuitively exploring the handpan to create space for contemplation\, reflection\, and emotional self-expression. \nEstephanía Peña-Torres (she/her): Phany\, an Edmonton-based artist\, immigrant\, and member of the BIPOC community\, is determined to immerse herself in her dancing skills and artistic creation. She has practiced several dance techniques\, prominent among them are: Polynesian dance\, classical ballet\, and a few contemporary styles. She understands art as a communication channel that the artists use to express themselves\, make a point\, or encourage the audience to wonder about a topic. Having said this\, she is committed to using her artistic knowledge and talents to tell stories and draw attention to topics that are important in today’s context.
URL:https://litfestalberta.org/event-1/laberinto-press-showcase/
LOCATION:Muttart Theatre\, 7 Sir Winston Churchill Square\, Edmonton\, AB
CATEGORIES:Showcase
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Edmonton:20251016T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Edmonton:20251016T133000
DTSTAMP:20260501T185023
CREATED:20250901T184430Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251008T151659Z
UID:4568-1760616000-1760621400@litfestalberta.org
SUMMARY:Online Feature: The Silence of Falling Snow with Kristjana Gunnars
DESCRIPTION:Tickets: $5 (student/low income)\, $15 (regular)\, Available HERE (Use promo code “LITFEST2025” to access student rate) \n  \nOnline event featuring Kristjana Gunnars in conversation with University of Alberta’s 2025-26 Writer in Residence\, Cody Caetano\, to discuss her memoir\, The Silence of Falling Snow. \n  \nFrom an innovator of autofiction comes a meditation on grief\, care\, Buddhism\, and artmaking.  \n‘This is a story. It is a story about someone accompanying another to the last gate.’ \nYears ago\, Kristjana Gunnars took her husband back to his home in Oslo to die. Through the dark\, cold days\, she tends to his needs as she feels her own self disintegrating. Later\, as she looks back to this slow departure of the man she loved\, she weaves together threads from her own life\, reflections on the thoughts of Gautama Buddha\, discussions of Renaissance art\, and considerations of contemporary artists. \nEngaging with thinkers as varied as Ingmar Bergman and Jacques Derrida\, Henry David Thoreau\, and Ursula K. Le Guin\, Gunnars — one of the earliest practitioners of “autofiction” — crafts a new kind of hybrid text\, with elements of memoir\, lyrical essay\, Buddhist teachings\, poetics\, art theory\, and meditation. \nThe Silence of Falling Snow is a deep dive into grief\, the way we circle around it\, dipping in and out of the pain\, finding comfort in art and philosophy and religion where we can. It’s an intellectual cabaret\, a Buddhist primer\, and a pointillist portrait of grief – above all\, it’s the consoling and invigorating reflection we need in this moment. \n  \nKRISTJANA GUNNARS was born in Iceland and has lived in Canada since 1969. She served as Professor of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta\, and as Guest Professor at the University of Trier in Germany and the University of Iceland. She lived on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia for twenty years while pursuing a career in the arts (painting)\, as well as writing. She is the author of numerous books (see websiteskristjanagunnars.com and kristjanagunnarswritings.com for details). Her latest books are The Scent of Light (Coach House\, Toronto) and Ruins of the Heart (Angelico\, New York). She has published a number of chapbooks\, the latest being 112th Street Notebook (akinoga\, Baltimore) and At Home in the Mountains (Junction\, Toronto). Her work has appeared in numerous anthologies and journals in Canada\, the U.S.\,and Europe. \n  \nCODY CAETANO is the author of Half-Bads in White Regalia (Canada: Hamish Hamilton Canada\, 2022)\, winner of two Indigenous Voices Awards\, shortlisted for the Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction\, and longlisted for the Toronto Book Award\, the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour\, and Canada Reads. An off-reserve member of Pinaymootang First Nation\, his mother’s family is from the Manitoba Interlake and his father’s family emigrated to Canada from the Azores in the 1960s. He works as a literary agent at CookeMcDermid. \n  \n   \nThis event is presented in partnership with the Writers’ Guild of Alberta and the University of Alberta’s WIR program
URL:https://litfestalberta.org/event-1/the-silence-of-falling-snow-online-event-with-kristjana-gunnars/
LOCATION:Online
CATEGORIES:Feature
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Edmonton:20251015T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Edmonton:20251015T213000
DTSTAMP:20260501T185023
CREATED:20250901T183518Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250917T032125Z
UID:4565-1760554800-1760563800@litfestalberta.org
SUMMARY:Partnered Event: Nonfiction Story Slam
DESCRIPTION:Wednesday\, October 15\nDoors\, 7:00 pm\, Stories\, 7:30pm\n9910\, downstairs at The Common \nTen tellers. Five minutes. One winner. Let the game of truth begin! Sign-up at 7pm\, slam at 7:30pm. Free to attend; arrive early! Space is limited. \nMore info HERE! \n  \nThis event is presented in partnership with Edmonton Story Slam
URL:https://litfestalberta.org/event-1/nonfiction-story-slam/
LOCATION:9910\, 910 109 St NW\, Edmonton
CATEGORIES:Partnered Event
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Edmonton:20251015T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Edmonton:20251015T193000
DTSTAMP:20260501T185023
CREATED:20250829T013736Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251008T151718Z
UID:4555-1760551200-1760556600@litfestalberta.org
SUMMARY:Feature: John Candy: A Life in Comedy\, with Paul Myers
DESCRIPTION:Tickets: $5 (student/low income)\, $15 (regular)\, Available HERE (Use promo code “LITFEST2025” to access student rate) \nAuthor Paul Myers in conversation with Edmonton’s Historian Laureate\, Donna Coombs-Montrose.  \nFrom the bestselling author of Kids in the Hall: One Dumb Guy\, the definitive biography of John Candy—a heartwarming portrait of one of comedy’s most beloved and enduring stars. \nFrom his humble beginnings in sketch comedy with the Toronto branch of Second City\, to his rise to fame in SCTV and Hollywood film classics like Planes\, Trains and Automobiles\, The Great Outdoors\, and Uncle Buck\, John Candy captivated audiences with his self-deprecating humour\, emotional warmth\, and gift for improvisation. Now\, for the first time since Candy’s tragic death\, bestselling biographer Paul Myers tells the full story of the man behind the laughs. \nDrawing on extensive research and exclusive interviews with many of Candy’s closest friends and colleagues\, including Dan Aykroyd\, Chevy Chase\, Tom Hanks\, Ron Howard\, Steve Martin\, Catherine O’Hara\, Martin Short\, and many more\, John Candy: A Life in Comedy celebrates the comedian’s unparalleled talent\, infectious charm\, and generosity of spirit. Through ups and downs\, successes and failures\, and struggles with anxiety and self-doubt\, Candy faced the world with a big smile and a warm demeanour that earned him the love and adoration of fans around the world. \n  \nPAUL MYERS is a Canadian writer and musician living in Berkeley\, California. His previous books include The Kids in the Hall: One Dumb Guy\, which was the source for the Canadian Screen Award-winning documentary The Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks from Amazon Studios\, and the critically acclaimed A Wizard a True Star: Todd Rundgren in the Studio; It Ain’t Easy: Long John Baldry and the Birth of the British Blues; and Barenaked Ladies: Public Stunts\, Private Stories.   \nSocial media: IG: @pulmyears X: @pulmyears Bluesky: pulmyears.bsky.social         \n  \nDONNA COOMBS-MONTROSE is a Community Activist and History Advocate who has resided in Edmonton\, Alberta for over 25 years.  Since coming to Edmonton she has served on the board of CARIWEST – Western Carnival Development Association – from 1999-2017\, including the last 10 years as its President. Her core intent was to raise the contributions of Caribbean immigrants to building this society.  She has also served as founding member of the Alberta Labour History Institute (ALHI) from 1999 and continues to serve as a Director.  Her passion for documenting oral histories – the narratives that fuel communities – has resulted in scores of interviews of African-American pioneers\, African-Canadians\, diaspora residents\, community members on the ground of transforming society in health\, labour\, education\, professional occupations\, culture being included in ALHI’s online sites at albertalabourhistory.org/blackcommunities.   \nCoombs-Montrose is also a Founding Member of the Caribbean Women Network\, an Elder to CCACH (Council of Canadians of Caribbean and African Heritage) which is devoted to tutoring and programming for diaspora students grades 1-12\, an active member of Congress of Black Women\, WAWT (When African Women Talk) CURC (Council of Union Retirees of Canada) and several other organizations.  She has contributed to the ECAMP Virtual Museum “And Still I Rise: A Blace Presence in Alberta\, Late 1800s to 1970s\, The Jasper Place Project (jasperplacehistory.org)\, West Indian Diary and other community projects.  Book chapters in several edited volumes also bear her name. \nThe recipient of a Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Medal in 2022\, Donna Coombs-Montrose is currently serving as Historian Laureate for the City of Edmonton for the 2024-2026 term and sits on the Board of the Edmonton Historical Council. \n  \n \nThis event is presented in partnership with the Edmonton Heritage Council. \n  \n 
URL:https://litfestalberta.org/event-1/feature-john-candy-a-life-in-comedy/
LOCATION:Maclab Theatre\, 9828 101A Ave
CATEGORIES:Feature
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Edmonton:20251015T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Edmonton:20251015T130000
DTSTAMP:20260501T185024
CREATED:20250806T161416Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250921T232811Z
UID:4542-1760529600-1760533200@litfestalberta.org
SUMMARY:Partnered Event: Close Encounters of the Native Kind with Cody Caetano
DESCRIPTION:Date and Time: Wednesday\, October 15\, 12:00 – 1:00 PM\nLocation:  Henderson Hall\, Rutherford Library South 1-17\, University of Alberta\nTickets: Free event with no registration / tickets required \nClose Encounters of the Native Kind explores boundaries between storytelling traditions\, material and speculative realities\, and what’s said and unsaid in the growing native literary tradition. This talk maps the evolution of this tradition through a framework of waves: from reflection and refraction to diffraction and\, now\, to a fourth wave of interference. This new wave of Indigenous literature is defined by its transcendence of material realism\, in exchange for a more embodied\, phenomenological truth. Through a lens that is both critical and personal\, and informed by my dual role as a writer and literary agent\, the talk examines how this shift challenges the market’s expectations of an “Indigenous Voice.” \n  \nCODY CAETANO is the author of Half-Bads in White Regalia (Canada: Hamish Hamilton Canada\, 2022)\, winner of two Indigenous Voices Awards\, shortlisted for the Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction\, and longlisted for the Toronto Book Award\, the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour\, and Canada Reads. An off-reserve member of Pinaymootang First Nation\, his mother’s family is from the Manitoba Interlake and his father’s family emigrated to Canada from the Azores in the 1960s. He works as a literary agent at CookeMcDermid. \n  \n\nThis event is presented in partnership with the Centre for Literatures in Canada | Centre de littératures au Canada
URL:https://litfestalberta.org/event-1/cody-caetano-event/
LOCATION:Henderson Hall\, 114 and\, 88 Ave NW\, Edmonton\, AB
CATEGORIES:Partnered Event
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