Once upon a time, there was a writers' festival in our fair city. The annual Victoria Literary Arts Festival had its ups and downs. But people liked it. However, stymied by faltering leadership, it fizzled after a last gasp in 2004.
A shame? Oh yes. Well, there's good news, book-loving friends. A shiny new edition, the Victoria Writers Festival, makes its grand debut next Friday and Saturday at Camosun College. It looks like a terrific event, stuffed with local writers and boasting a trendy new appendage: the Pacific Comic Arts Festival.
The roster of writers attests to the south Island's surplus of literary talent, including Giller Prize-winning Esi Edugyan, Ronald Wright, Bill Gaston, Jan Zwicky, Brian Brett, Arleen Par脙漏 and Susan Musgrave. Also invited is a gaggle of gifted writers making a name for themselves: Steven Price, Matthew Hooton, Daniel Griffin and Yasuko Thanh. Tickets to individual events are a bargain - just $10.
The festival is spearheaded by a collective led by Sara Cassidy, a Victoria writer and daughter of the late novelist Carol Shields, who won a Pulitzer Prize for The Stone Diaries. Cassidy is assisted her team members, the writers Julie Paul and John Gould, as well as Lloyd Chesley, co-owner of Legends Comics.
For Cassidy, it wasn't a question of whether to have an annual writers festival in Victoria. That, for her, was a given.
"It's like being hungry," she said, "and there's no good food in the house,"
The Victoria Writers Festival offers readings, writing slams, workshops, comic-book discussions and the first Carol Shields Lecture, this year given by Ron Wright, the novelist, historian and essayist. The schedule and ticket details are at victoriawritersfestival.com.
Cultural festivals typically have humble beginnings. A person says, "Hey, we should have this." From this seed, a tree grows.
Such is the case with the Victoria Writers Festival. One day last fall, Cassidy invited Paul and Gould for a drink. The theme of the evening: How about a new literary festival for Victoria?
"I said, 'OK, a beer. Sounds simple enough,' " Paul said with a smile.
You can initiate something, but without community support, such events wither on the vine. Cassidy and Paul say there's been an "outpouring" of support for the Victoria Writers Festival. They've enlisted 40 volunteers, ranging from the carpenter who's building a screen for a stage presentation to a retiree who agreed to be a driver, picking up posters and delivering books.
Victoria businesses and other organizations, including some sponsors of the old literary festival, have also been enthusiastic. Camosun College jumped aboard as the venue sponsor. The Victoria Regent Hotel agreed to host visiting writers.
The old literary festival had a budget of $150,000 - a fair-sized amount, at least by cultural-industry standards. In this regard the Victoria Writers Festival is a more modest affair. It received a $4,000 sa国际传媒 Council grant. Most of the support is in-kind.
Chesley says a literary festival is a "absolutely a no-brainer" for this city, surely one of the most writerly towns in North America. He's absolutely right. Kudos to hard-working Cassidy and her team for taking on this formidable task.
"It's been missed," she said. "I don't know how so much time could have gone by."
