If you’ve been spending all of your reading time lately hunched over badly-photocopied journal articles or the arcane musings of long-dead academics, the International Festival of Authors is coming along at just the right time to drag you out into the wide written world.
From October 20 to 30, the IFOA is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre will be hosting over 70 authors from 20 countries as they read, reflect, and argue about writing, writers, and other wordy things. It’s one of the world’s most diverse, distinguished and diverting literary festivals. And, for you, students, it’s free.
The promotion is part of IFOA director Geoffrey Taylor’s efforts to develop the festival’s audience. “Statistically speaking, most people have never been to a reading,” he says, let alone to one of the author interviews or round-table sessions presented during the fest. Involving sponsors like Starbucks to underwrite the promotion is part of the IFOA’s efforts to “open it up a little bit.”
‘Opening it up’ is a long-standing IFOA tradition. Since its inception in 1980, the festival has made a point of presenting Canadian authors in a decidedly international literary context, and its audience of writers, publishers, and festival directors is also remarkably globe-spanning-“it’s like author’s camp,” says Taylor, an occasion for those in the word business to compare notes with kindred spirits from around the world.
The IFOA is also expanding its horizons in remarkable new ways. This year, for the first time, non-fiction writers will be fully integrated with their more fanciful peers, a move Taylor characterizes as “simply trying to program for our audience. People who read will read anything-cereal boxes, whatever.” The fiction/non-fiction distinction just doesn’t necessarily make a lot of sense from a reader’s perspective, he notes.
The IFOA will also be showcasing cartoonists, whose growing legitimacy in “mainstream publishing is very new.” But, Taylor adds, laughing, IFOA’s size and its history mean that “we are the establishment. If we do it, it’s okay.”
The IFOA’s current programming includes reading evenings, in which multiple authors share a stage, interview evenings in which authors talk to other authors about their work; and new ’roundtable’ events in which literati panels discuss issues of the writing life, such as “can writing be taught?”
Taylor hopes that the IFOA’s efforts to open up will make public readings more visible year-round. “When people are sitting around deciding what to do on a Wednesday evening, we want to be included” among the movies and the sports events as entertainment options, he says.
But why should students drag themselves out of their comfy spot in a corner of Robarts to hear a book they could read themselves without leaving the library? Part of the appeal, for many, is simply to breathe the same air as well-known authors. “Unlike in the film festivals, you actually get to see the people who made the art” at IFOA, says Taylor.
Perhaps to the benefit of those left shell-shocked and word-weary by mid-terms, the IFOA has events that pass for pop; this year’s line-up includes a talk about Kerouac, and a book launch with Christine Gore (yes, daughter of that Gore; the ex-vice-president’s daughter is appearing as a debut novelist). And if those colourful diagrams in first-year biology textbooks are your idea of book design, the appearances by Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Art Speigleman and revolutionary book-jacket/graphic designer Chip Kidd will be true learning experiences.
If you’ve spent the semester huddled alone in the hard light of a study carrel, it might be time to venture out to where the word lives: “It’s not for everyone,” says Taylor. “But everyone should give it a try at least once.”
The International Festival of Authors runs Oct. 20 to 30 at Harbourfront Centre. Students get in to IFOA events for free when they show ID (thanks to a sponsorship from a certain ubiquitous overpriced purveyor of caffeine), but you need to call ahead to book your tickets, as many events sell out in advance. Call (416) 973-4000 or visit www.readings.org.
