11:15 :: Margaret Atwood
The LongPen Launch of The Year of the Flood

Canadian literary icon Margaret Atwood will be headlining our Word On The Screen venue, reading from her highly anticipated new novel, The Year of the Flood, via a live broadcast from Toronto. Vancouver fans will be able to participate in the Q&A and have their own copy of The Year of the Flood signed by the author using LongPen technology.

Canada’s first live coast-to-coast book launch using the technology will broadcast Atwood in person from The Word On The Street Toronto to The Word On The Street festivals in Vancouver and Halifax. The interactive video broadcast will allow festival participants to engage in a question-and-answer session with the author. Atwood will sign books before the broadcast using the LongPen, allowing her to talk with each fan via a private video chat and to transmit a genuine, personalized autograph instantly to the interior pages of their copy of the book.

The book signing will be followed by a reading and question-and-answer session with the author from 12:00 to 1:00 pm. Free tickets to Atwood’s broadcast appearance will be available at 10:00 am outside the Alma VanDusen room (limit of two tickets per person). Seating is limited.

1:00 :: Live From Toronto!
The View from Out Here: A Trillium Book Award Panel

The Word On The Street Vancouver is pleased to present a live broadcast from Toronto’s Word On The Street, of The View From Out Here, a panel discussion with Dionne Brand (Land to Light On), Camilla Gibb (Sweetness in the Belly), Nino Ricci (Testament), and Jane Urquhart (Away), past winners of the Trillium Book Award.

In these authors’ four Trillium Book Award-winning works, they have given life to characters that are on the margins of their communities, whether they are newcomers to their lands and experiencing the pain of relocation or whether their actions and beliefs have branded them as outsiders. But, in order to create great works of fiction, how necessary is it for authors themselves to live the life of an outsider? Is it possible to provide fresh eyes, to give a significant view, without stepping beyond the perimeter of society?

Experience fiction through a writer’s eyes as four of our country’s finest literary talents unite for what is sure to be a riveting discussion.

3:00 :: William Jans
Getting There From Here and Stories Along the Way

Photographer and world adventurer William Jans will share tales of escapades and discoveries in far-flung countries and exotic locales. Over the past fifteen years Jans’ slide and video shows have become a Canadian phenomenon, touring major centres across the nation and drawing sell-out crowds. He has created images for clients throughout Canada, the U.S. and as far away as Malaysia, and photographed numerous interesting people including Michael J. Fox, Celine Dion and Bill Cosby. Jans was also one of the official photographers for the Dalai Lama.