Literary Journalism Conversations • Mondays, 8:00 p.m.
July 7: Wayne Johnston • July 14: Marni Jackson
July 21: Program participants • July 28: Katherine Ashenburg
Rolston Recital Hall, The Banff Centre, Free
Presented as part of the 2008 Banff Summer Arts Festival
The Banff Centre’s popular Literary Journalism Conversations kicks off July 7 and runs to July 28, offering an exploration of truth in writing and some candid tales from the world of Canadian publishing. The series features Wayne Johnston, Marni Jackson, Katherine Ashenburg and readings by the eight writers participating in this year’s Literary Journalism program. Lectures take place Mondays throughout July at 8:00 p.m. in the Rolston Recital Hall at The Banff Centre.
On July 7, in a talk called “How Much of This is True?”, novelist Wayne Johnston will examine what constitutes truthfulness in fiction, and where the boundary lies between invention and fact in non-fiction. Johnston is the author of Time of Their Lives, The Divine Ryans, and The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, a novel included among the Globe and Mail’s list of Hundred Best Canadian Books. His novel, The Navigator of New York, was shortlisted for the Giller Prize and the Governor General’s Award for Non-fiction, while his memoir, Baltimore's Mansion, won the Charles Taylor prize for non-fiction in Canada. His most recent book is Custodians of Paradise.
On July 14, Marni Jackson will offer her memories of the basement beginnings of Can Lit in the late 1960s, when the House of Anansi published the young Margaret Atwood and a promising poet named Michael Ondaatje. Jackson, the Rogers Communications Chair in Literary Journalism at The Banff Centre, has titled her talk “Atwood in the Attic (Poets in the Lane): Stories from the early, squirrelly days of Can Lit.” Accompanying the talk will be a slide show featuring 671 Spadina Ave., the Victorian house where Anansi began, and the writers who have lived and worked there. Winner of multiple National Magazine Awards and the author of two non-fiction books, Jackson’s work has appeared in Outside, Rolling Stone, The Walrus, The Globe and Mail, and The London Times.
The third lecture will be devoted to readings by the eight writers participating in the Literary Journalism program this year. The topics include “Palestinian hip-hop” by Richard Poplak, and a piece that investigates the “Ocean mind” of dolphins and whales, by Jeff Warren. These readings will take place on July 21.
Katherine Ashenburg is the final speaker of the series and will present a discussion on July 28 called “The $450,000 Folly: The Sobering Story of a Non-fiction Book.” The purpose of her talk is to explore the realities of publishing non-fiction and the little-known details behind the process. Ashenburg will examine the costs and rewards of writing non-fiction and address the provocative question: why do we continue to write? Ashenburg is the prize-winning author of three non-fiction books including The Dirt on Clean, a social history of washing our bodies, and The Mourner's Dance, a book about the rituals around grief. She writes regularly for Toronto Life magazine, and has written many travel articles for the New York Times.