Next Thursday (October 16), a special event sponsored by the upcoming Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival will place the written word at the service of women and children suffering in crises around the world. Launching the new book I Live Here (Pantheon, $34), the coauthors-Canadian actor Mia Kirshner (The L Word), author J. B. MacKinnon (Dead Man in Paradise), and creative directors Michael Simons and Paul Shoebridge (Adbusters)-will talk about the blend of stories, journals, and images they’ve created to give voice to victims of war in Chechnya, globalized economics in Mexico, the AIDS epidemic in Malawi, and ethnic cleansing in Burma. Before heading to the event (which starts at 7:30 p.m. at the Waterfront Theatre on Granville Island), you can get a taste of the full, multiplatform range of this project at www.i-live-here.com/. Also worth noting at the Writers Fest: organizers have just added a second event with iconic author Ursula K. Le Guin, after the original one sold out in short order. The new date is 5 p.m. October 25, at the Waterfront Theatre. See www.writersfest.bc.ca/ for details.