The Word Vancouver festival is gearing up for its 2017 edition with a huge and inclusive lineup of authors, appearing at venues around town from September 19 to 24.

We asked a group of these acclaimed writers to tell us about their most memorable reading experiences. Which books shaped their imaginations early on? Which ones taught them the power of the written word?

Here’s what Leanne Dunic told us. Dunic is a Vancouver-based artist, writer, and musician, and the author of the debut novel To Love the Coming End. She’ll be reading from his work at 3:50 p.m. on September 24, on the Sunrise Suite stage outside the central branch of the Vancouver Public Library.

The author that comes to mind is Anaïs Nin, whose work shaped me as a person and as a writer. I loved her fearlessness in who she was, what she did, who she did. She challenged and changed my perspective on life and love and inspired courage in my artistic practice.

She and I also had bizarre similarities—for instance, we both wrote stories in which a character puts a finger inside of a chicken, and not through its beak.