Vancouver Writers Fest reveals 2013 lineup highlights

According to the figures, nonfiction books have weathered the storms in the publishing industry better than their fiction-based siblings. So it’s perhaps not surprising to see the Vancouver Writers Fest putting new emphasis on stories from “real life”, as it’s widely known.

In an announcement today, the fest is offering a glimpse of what’s in store for this year’s edition of the six-day, late-October event, in advance of revealing the complete roster and schedule on its website this Friday (August 16).

The newly broadened nonfiction segment will bring to town writers as varied as investigative journalist and Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser, the New Yorker’s George Packer (with his latest, The Unwinding), literary critic John Freeman, and Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout, whose upcoming book A House in the Sky describes her harrowing year-and-a-half-long kidnapping in Somalia.

Alongside will be a distinguished crowd of novelists and storytellers, creating 80-plus events, a new record for the Writers Fest. Canadian stars such as Margaret Atwood, Joseph Boyden, Anne Carson, Douglas Coupland, Lisa Moore, and Michel Tremblay will be joined by an international contingent including Iran’s Sahar Delijani and Italy’s Viola Di Grado, not to mention acclaimed English surrealist-satirist Will Self and New York’s Marisha Pessl (whose anticipated new novel Night Film arrives next week).

Reminding everyone that it doesn’t all have to be about staring at print on a page or screen will be playwright Tomson Highway, with a cabaret performance, as well as comedian and improv specialist Colin Mochrie.

Keep an eye on the Writers Fest’s website for complete details.