Books & Ideas Audio

Elif Batuman, Mona Awad and Anakana Schofield delight in a sold-out evening of whip-smart, hilarious and unapologetically audacious conversation, a highlight from the 2019 season of the Vancouver Writers Fest. MFA student Samantha falls down a surreal rabbit hole, captivated by a mysterious cult in Awad’s Bunny. Wry and laugh out loud funny, Elif Batuman’s Pulitzer Prize finalist The Idiot was praised as “addictive” by Miranda July. Giller Prize shortlisted Anakana Schofield balances black comedy and compassion in Bina, a tour de force beloved by literary powerhouses, including Rachel Cusk and Eden Robinson. Moderated by The Globe & Mail's Western Arts Correspondent Marsha Lederman, these women incisively discuss the craft of comedy and writing independent, self-assured protagonists.

Award-winning journalist, author and CBC Massey Lecturer Tanya Talaga's Seven Fallen Feathers investigated the startling deaths of seven Indigenous students in Thunder Bay. Her research has won prestigious awards and, perhaps most importantly, garnered widespread public awareness. In a 2019 conversation with Festival of Literary Diversity Artistic Director Jael Richardson, Talaga discusses these difficult but necessary investigations, the challenge of writing for change and how she continues to find hope while confronting the hardest of truths.

Award-winning journalist Desmond Cole’s The Skin We’re In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power has been an incisive and revealing work on policing, racial profiling, antiblackness and Indigenous injustice in Canada. While addressing bias, ignorance and willful disregard from those in power, the book heralds the deeply inclusive leadership of #BlackLivesMatterTO and Black activists across the country. Originally recorded February 19, 2020, Cole was joined by Vancouver Arts curator and activist Barbara Chirinos for a lively, intimate discussion on Black activism and resilience.

The Handmaid's Tale author and global sensation Margaret Atwood joins celebrated author Cherie Dimaline to discuss The Testaments, writing process and place in an exceptional event recorded at the Chan Centre for Performing Arts. In a conversation that reached far beyond the borders of Gilead, this event was like no other with Ms. Atwood; one that touched on a myriad of topics, from personal to political. In a brilliant sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, Atwood answers questions that have tantalized readers of The Handmaid's Tale for decades. Margaret Atwood's sequel picks up the story fifteen years after Offred stepped into the unknown, with the explosive testaments of three female narrators from Gilead. This event was organized in collaboration with the Canada Council for the Arts to celebrate the finalists and winners of the Governor General’s Literary Awards, and was presented in partnership with the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts and Tourism Vancouver.

International bestseller author Malcolm Gladwell sits down with CBC Host Lisa Christiansen in a gripping discussion of history, psychology and scandal, bringing to light how bad we are at making sense of people. Originally recorded at The Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver, BC.

Lindy West is known for her fierce, funny and forthright analyses of contemporary culture. During a special event at the Vancouver Writers Fest, West speaks with Secret Feminist Agenda host and professor Hannah McGregor about her instant bestseller The Witches Are Coming, feminism, misogyny and meme culture.

By combining African history, mythology and his own rich imagination, Man Booker prize winning author Marlon James captivated the world with his bestselling fantasy novel Black Leopard, Red Wolf. In a conversation with Scotiabank Giller Prize winner Ian Williams, James shares his theories on writing across genres, the importance of reading diversely, and how stories live on in the minds of readers long after a writer’s work has finished.