Writing Talks
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11:00 ::
Join Ray Hsu, award-winning poet, as he leads a hands-on workshop on the basics of writing a love letter. Get your romance on and get it on paper. Ray will provide samples of successful love letters as well as a list of do’s and don’ts. This workshop is as much fun as it is cute! Bring pencil and paper.
12:30 ::
Whether you’re already a productive poet or a bard in the making, this fun, exercise-based workshop, which focuses on constrained writing techniques, will have you producing new works while reviewing some of the fundamental tricks of the writer’s trade. Bring a pen, some paper, and a mind open to possibilities.
1:30 ::
Writers from different genres will discuss the process of articulating the villain and the politics of a story. What role does politics play in the story? How does the writer select the villain, how complex is their character, are they sympathetic or diabolical? Do personal prejudices come into it when selecting the villain or the political perspective? Or does the potential audience influence the decisions. Stephen Miller will moderate the panel, comprised of Carmen Rodriguez (fiction), Dennis Bolen (fiction), Marcus Youssef (playwright) and Stephen Marche (books and magazines).
3:00 ::
Listen in as these professionals discuss assessing an idea for its suitability for a certain genre; doing the brainstorming and research to advance the idea; finding the angle, point of view, focus; making the pitch to the appropriate market; and what happens next. Daniel Wood is one of Canada’s best-known magazine writers, winner of 34 writing awards and author of 14 books. Lori Henry is a writer, author, blogger and publisher with a focus on travel; Heather Pringle is a Vancouver author whose fascination with archaeology leads her to strange places and peculiar encounters; Joel Bakan is an author, filmmaker and a professor of law at UBC. Ian MacKenzie is a media activist.
