The Festival of Words begins today, and organizers are already making this year’s unusual iteration of the beloved literary event feel as normal as possible given the circumstances.
Moving the Festival to a completely virtual format was certainly a challenge for the team, as admitted in previous interviews with the Moose Jaw Express leading up to today, but organizers are confident in this year’s events.
Things kicked off this morning with the launch of the daily trivia games, a modified version of the crowd-favourite Trivia Night usually held at Bobby’s Place.
This year, a new trivia challenge will be released every morning for Festival attendees to conquer and tally points, with the individual collecting the most points by the end of the week taking home the title of this year’s Trivia Trophy winner.
Keeping an eye on social media is going to be a must-do for this year’s events, as the Festival of Words is hosting giveaways for plenty of great stuff throughout the week — including a select number of tickets to attend the Andino Suns concert live at the Mae Wilson Theatre on July 18, as well as more book giveaways featuring works by this year’s guest authors.
The Festival of Words is also taking today to prep for a packed schedule of literary live streams, workshops, readings, and panels — beginning with the Readception event later this evening, as is tradition.
Six guest authors will be joining together to offer 5-minute readings of their work, a favourite event of long-time Festival fans. The event is a great taste-test for the rest of the Festival and will begin at 7 p.m. tonight.
Authors will return to give readings during the Lunch is Lit series throughout the week, which will feature a new pair of authors every noon hour to share selections of their work.
As for the rest of the week, here’s some highlights to check out for yourself:
On Tuesday at 3 p.m., a series of theatrical presentations by the Hardly Art Theatre company will shake up the way the Festival of Words debuts live literary performances, followed by a Q&A session with director and playwright Yvette Nolan.
On Wednesday, join author Amanda Leduc for an afternoon workshop on writing disability representation in a way that respects and centres the experience of disability, and then join moderators in the evening for an interview with Jay Ingram, current science writer and former host of the Discovery Channel’s Daily Planet.
To fill your Thursday, the Lunch is Lit session with feature readings from romantic comedy author Farah Heron and memoirist-turned-YA-author Lindsay Wong over the noon hour, followed by a sure to be worth seeing afternoon interview with author Paul Seesequasis on his book Blanket Toss Under the Midnight Sun: Portraits of Everyday Life in Eight Indigenous Communities.
Friday morning, be sure to check out the annual Teen Read Out, the important conclusion to the Festival of Words’ week-long Teen Writing Experience. In the evening, join a selection of Canadian spoken word poets for a series of readings followed by a panel discussion on the history and experience of slam poetry on the prairies.
On Saturday, the Great Big Book Club will meet at 3 p.m. to discuss Joan Thomas’s Governor General’s Award-winning novel Five Wives with the author herself, and the Regina band Andino Suns will take the stage in the evening for a live stream concert at the Moose Jaw Cultural Centre.
To finish things off on the final day of the Festival, Sunday will feature two fascinating panels this year. In the morning, Amanda Leduc will moderate a discussion on the rights versus the responsibilities of writers between authors D.M. Ditson, Naben Ruthnum and Alicia Elliott. In the afternoon, author Angie Abdou will moderate a panel discussion about the literary culture here in Saskatchewan between authors Bernadette Wagner, Bruce Rice and Paul Seesequasis.
Whatever catches your eye, this year’s festival will certainly be one to remember, organizers hope, and not just because it is the first time the Festival is going virtual and offering free registration for events.
Registration remains open online, with a few spots left to take part in any of the events occurring over the next week for those still interested in joining in on the fun — it's not too late.
A full schedule of the Festival of Words is available here.
Stay tuned for coverage of the festival as it progresses through the coming week.
