This is a big year and it just keeps getting bigger for St. Albert.
As the city continues through the last few months of celebrating its sesquicentennial, the public library is getting ready to set out the chairs and uncork a few bottles when it launches its inaugural St. Albert Readers Festival, a.k.a., STARFest.
Starting next Thursday, the 10-day festival will feature a program of readings, meet-and-greet sessions, and what will certainly be a lot of lively discussion with six well-known Canadian authors.
This means that public services manager Heather Dolman has started to wear a new hat as the festival's director.
STARFest is being run not in conjunction with Edmonton's LitFest but with its blessing and support. The big differences are that LitFest runs Oct. 12 to 23 and is focused on non-fiction authors.
LitFest's organizers were gracious enough to give Dolman access to its contact list. That's how Marni Jackson and Charles Foran came to be on the slate.
"If you can partner with others, it just makes sense. It's a very expensive event to put on if you're going to try to do it by yourself," Dolman admitted.
For that reason, the library is selling tickets to each author appearance, something that they don't usually do. Sales are going well, especially for the Will Ferguson event. That is likely due to his popularity as a humourist and to the $5 price tag, a nominal fee when you consider that the admission to most LitFest events is more than that. A gold LitFest pass costs $250.
"It can often be difficult to get people out to these authors events," Dolman said, "They're great authors and they deserve a great audience. For the people of St. Albert, what they can get from them in turns of learning and literacy, they have a lot to offer."
Here's a brief look at the list of speakers:
The Writing Life: On Being Canadian and Becoming a Writer, with Will Ferguson
How did Will Ferguson get into the publishing game, first as a travel writer and now as a novelist? The popular humourist and three-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour will read from his new collection, Canadian Pie, and talk about his previous books.
Whether you read the books or not, the titles themselves are enough proof of the man's literary funny bone: Why I Hate Canadians? How to Be a Canadian, Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw, and Hitching Rides with Buddha.
He also garnered the Pierre Berton Award from Canada's National History Society.
Klondike Days, with Charlotte Gray
English-born Gray will share her experiences of researching and writing Gold Diggers: Striking It Rich in the Klondike as seen through the eyes of six characters.
The former magazine editor and newspaper columnist came to Canada in 1979 to work as a political commentator, book reviewer and magazine columnist before turning to biography and history including a look at the life of Alexander Graham Bell.
Her books have won popular and critical acclaim. When she isn't writing and appearing at speaking engagements, she acts as a political and cultural commentator on radio and TV. She's the current chair of Canada's History Society and publisher of the magazine Canada's History.
Host Paula Simons looks forward to what will surely be an engaging evening.
"I think that she does a magnificent job of straddling the line between popular history and academic history, of providing Canadians with stories that are rigorously researched but yet told in an accessible and charming voice," Simons said.
"She doesn't fall into the error of some popular historians past who put a little too much emphasis on popularity and not quite enough on history!" she laughed. "She's the kind of writer who will take the time to dig through original source documents, but also have a novelistic ability to tell stories that are full of characters and narrative that can really capture the popular imagination."
The Economics of Happiness: Building Genuine Wealth, with Mark Anielski
Edmonton author Anielski says that it's better to feel good than to have a thick wallet. The University of Alberta business professor's book called The Economics of Happiness tries to redirect the public's focus on accumulating money and material wealth to trying to work toward what makes life better.
His inspiration came from Robert Kennedy, who criticized the gross domestic product, which measures all the cash flow in an economy but fails to measure what really matters: family, the environment and other real factors.
A Night of Mystery, with Gail Bowen
Mystery fans will delight in taking in this sneak peak at Bowen's new Joanne Kilbourn novel due to be released next spring. These stories set in the prairies are popular with library patrons. So are the six TV movies (with Wendy Crewson) that have been produced based on the books.
The fictional Kilbourn is a widow, a mom, a political analyst and a university professor investigating crime in Saskatchewan.
The real Bowen has written several stage and radio plays, and previously won the Crime Writers of Canada Arthur Ellis Award.
Mordecai: The Life and Times, with Charles Foran
Host Todd Babiak promises that this will be a lively session. There will be wine and, if things get too stale there might be some impromptu entertainment.
"We might take our shirts off and wrestle … or breakdance," he said, tongue firmly planted in cheek. "Whatever feels natural, we'll do it. Mordecai sure was a naughty fellow himself. In a situation like this, he would probably insult the audience."
Foran, a well-established writer, has published 10 books including four novels and is a regular contributor to national and international magazines. He also co-wrote the TV documentary Mordecai Richler: The Last of the Wild Jews. His work has won him a number of awards including the 2011 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction.
"If there was a Foran Fan Club, I would be in it," Babiak said. "I really loved the Mordecai book. To read the book and then to speak to him about it will be a lot of fun."
Home Free: an Intimate Conversation with Marni Jackson
Dolman says that she'll be at all of the events, not just as an organizer, but also as an interested observer. She has read each author and enjoyed them all. She's particularly keen on what Marni Jackson has to say about Home Free: the Myth of the Empty Nest.
"Her latest one is about kids leaving the nest … and it's a sad thing. She's writing from the perspective of the parents – her particularly – and having a hard time with it. Her first one was about having her first child and being a parent and all that's involved with that."
"It's good stuff – very readable."
