The 26th annual International Festival of Authors wrapped up this past Saturday at Harbourfront Centre, bringing one of the festival’s most successful years to a close. By placing the focus on young writers of fiction and the flourishing graphic novel genre, this year’s IFOA (which took place from October 19 to 29 at various Harbourfront venues) was able to outsell 2004’s event by a wide margin-and attract a slightly younger, hipper audience in the process.
Alongside such youthful upstarts as American sentimentalist Jonathan Safran Foer, Britain’s Zadie Smith, Nigerian writer Uzodinma Iweala, and Canadian cartoonist Seth were such literary old-guarders as John Irving, John Ralston Saul, and John Berendt, all reading from their work and musing on the craft of writing.
One of Friday evening’s main events was a roundtable discussion on the short story featuring Canadian authors Lisa Moore and Craig Davidson, along with American writers Melissa Band and Daniel Alarcón.
The panel agreed that the short story has not slid into the decline that some critics have suggested, although there were some interesting revelations regarding the attitudes of writers and publishers toward the form. When asked by the moderator whether they would want to be remembered for a great short story or a great novel, the group was unanimous in their preference for the novel. Davidson, whose first book Rust and Bone is a collection of short fiction, also lamented the pressure from publishers and agents to abandon short stories for more lucrative novel contracts.
Saturday’s panel discussion on “time and place” featured several prominent writers of historical and post-colonial fiction, including Canada’s Lydia Kwa and Rabindranath Majaraj, along with German novelist Zsuzsa Bánk and one of South Korea’s most prominent literary figures, Hwang Sok-Yong. The discussion touched on some intriguing problems inherent in the relationship between writers and the pressure for national pride in their home countries. Through his interpreter, Sok-Yong also spoke briefly about his government’s 1992 decision to imprison him for making an unauthorized goodwill journey to North Korea.
The most hyped-up event of this year’s IFOA was undoubtedly the roundtable discussion on classic comic books featuring some of the most popular alternative cartoonists in North America. A sold-out audience of comic enthusiasts packed into the Brigantine Room to hear the panel featuring the anachronistic Seth, ACME Novelty Library creator Chris Ware, New Yorker cartoonist Charles Burns, and book designer/comic historian Chip Kidd discussing the influence of classic strips on their work.
Burns cited Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy as an important milestone in his artistic development, while Seth described how the ceaseless monologues of Little Orphan Annie provided a major inspiration for the tone of his new graphic novel, Wimbledon Green.
Another major influence for all of the panelists, especially Kidd, was Charles Schulz and his classic Peanuts strip. Seth, who designed the recently released Complete Peanuts anthology, suggested that due to the excessive marketing of Peanuts-related memorabilia, there is a need for readers to see the early strips and view Charlie Brown and company with “fresh eyes.”
All four panelists also agreed there has been a marked decline in the quality of newspaper comics, but expressed enthusiasm at the increasing literary and artistic legitimacy of graphic novels.
Overall, this year’s IFOA provided an exciting look at some of the newest talents, ideas, and trends in Canadian and international literature. By appealing to a diverse range of interests and age groups, the festival proved that reading is far from dead, and that literature is still in fact a strong and versatile force in contemporary culture.
