Booker Prize winner Douglas Stuart, filmmaker Sarah Polley, musician Cadence Weapon in person at Wordfest

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Calgary’s literary lovers will finally get to meet their favorite authors in person this year when Wordfest brings back its Imaginairium, which will see eight days of literary events featuring more than 60 authors from September 29 to October 6.

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That includes Douglas Stuart, who won the Booker Prize for his 2020 novel Shuggie Bain and released Young Mungo earlier this year as a follow-up. Times (UK) columnist Ben Macintyre, also the author of 12 best-selling nonfiction books, will also be on hand to discuss his most recent work, Prisoners of the Castle. New York Times bestseller Sarah Kendzior, one of America’s most trusted chroniclers of President Donald Trump’s chaotic years, will discuss her upcoming book, They Knew: How a Culture of Conspiracy Keeps America Complacent. Other authors scheduled to appear include filmmaker and former child actress Sarah Polley, who made headlines last year with her memoir Run Towards The Danger. Polaris-winning artist Rollie Pemberton aka Cadence Weapon will discuss her memoir Bedroom Rapper.

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The festival will also feature CanLit favorites like Heather O’Neill, Wayne Johnston, Omar El Akkad, Andre Alexis and Lawrence Hill.

While there will be a few events at the Central Library, including Stuart’s appearance on September 29, most activities will take place in Calgary’s Beltline neighborhood at the center of the festival at the Memorial Library and the DJD Dance Center. said Wordfest Executive Director Shelley Youngblut.

“We’re really intentionally trying to keep this on the Beltline so you can literally walk up and down 12th Avenue and there’s a show for everyone,” he said. “You spend the whole day like you would at a folk festival. Think of it as a folk festival experience, going from show to show within a two-block radius.”

Other authors scheduled to attend include Anishinaabe novelist Waubgeshig Rice, Norway House Cree Nation writer David A. Robertson, and Oji-Cree/Nehiyaw novelist and poet Joshua Whitehead.

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Local authors Suzette Mayr, Marcello Di Cintio and award-winning fantasy novelist CL Polk will also be featured.

New York cartoonist and illustrator Liana Finck will talk about her latest graphic novel, Let There Be Light: The Real Story of Her Creation, while Ruth Ware, British bestselling author of psychological thrillers, will talk about her latest novel, The It Girl.

Second-generation author Georgia Toews, daughter of CanLit favorite Miriam Toews and author of the obscure comic Hey, Good Luck Out There, will perform at an event with Montreal translator and author Neil Smith, whose most recent novel is Jones. Hosted by writer Zsuzsi Gartner, the two writers will discuss how they drew on their personal experience to develop their novels.

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Speaking of second generations, Heather O’Neill will join her daughter Arizona for The O’Neill Reads Extravaganza, which will also feature Jason Purcell, Smith and Toews. Heather O’Neill, the best-selling writer of CanLit classics like Lullabies for Little Criminals and The Girl Who Was Saturday Night, writes about books with her daughter for CBC and her own Instagram page. Arizona O’Neill has also been named Wordfest’s first Filmmaker-in-Residence.

On October 6, the last day of the festival, former Mayor Naheed Nenshi will present Celebrating Calgary: Laureate-A-Rama at the DJD Dance Center. The event will bring together all five former Calgary Poet Laureates for the first time, including Derek Beaulieu, Kris Demeanor, Micheline Maylor, Natalie Meisner and Sheri-D Wilson with current Poet Laureate Wakefield Brewster.

Owl’s Nest Books will house two pop-up stores, one in the Memorial Library and one in the DJD Dance Center, that will include new releases and the background lists of certain authors, Youngblut said.

“The key is connection,” he said. “This is the first opportunity for him in three years to really be in the presence of an author. So bring all the books. Take all the selfie photos. We’ve designed this to have really wonderful and effortless connectivity.”

Wordfest Imaginairium takes place from September 29 to October 6. Tickets go on sale August 23. Visit www.wordfest.com