Going into 2020, the organizers of Calgary Wordfest had big plans for the festival’s 25th anniversary: ramped-up live programming, large-scale events with about 600 people in the audience, more theatricality for the festival’s already dynamic programming. Authors who had previously appeared at the festival would be invited back to the city for a big fall bash: 25 authors at 25 events over five days in September.
Then the pandemic plot twist made for the worst kind of spoiler – the in-person festival is off, of course. But the organizers have come up with an anniversary plan they hope will take the concept of author-event-on-Zoom to the next level.
In what they’re calling 25@25, Wordfest has stuck with the idea of inviting Canadian authors who have appeared at the festival in the past – but to a virtual space, and with a few revisions. To avoid burnout, the events will be spaced out – one each week – rather than over a concentrated period. Further, the writers themselves have been asked to, in turn, invite a different Canadian author to appear with them.
When 'Black Lives Matter hit,' says Shelley Youngblut, Wordfest chief executive and creative ringleader, seen here, 'the whole conversation about who’s the curator, who decides, who’s invited, who isn’t, also became a parallel track that we were trying to both acknowledge and also add something positive to.'Heather Saitz/Supplied
When “Black Lives Matter hit,” says Shelley Youngblut, Wordfest chief executive and creative ringleader, “the whole conversation about who’s the curator, who decides, who’s invited, who isn’t, also became a parallel track that we were trying to both acknowledge and also add something positive to.”
By having the authors make selections, they were able to curate the events themselves in a way. “That was a sense of [Wordfest] giving up control and also opening it up to both authenticity and generosity,” Youngblut says.
The first invitation went to Lawrence Hill (The Book of Negroes), who chose Zalika Reid-Benta, whose debut short story collection Frying Plantain has won awards and made last year’s Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist. They will appear Oct. 6.
The series gets under way Sept. 8, with Calgary author and Giller Prize winner Will Ferguson launching his new novel The Finder. He selected his son Genki Ferguson, whose debut novel Satellite Love will be published next spring.
Ian Williams, who won the Giller last year for his debut novel Reproduction, has invited the author he thanked from the stage at the beginning of his victory speech – Margaret Atwood. They appear Nov. 24, shortly after the publication of Atwood’s poetry collection, Dearly.
Also announced this week: Iain Reid, author of I’m Thinking of Ending Things, will appear Sept. 15 with Charlie Kaufman, the director who adapted the book into a film. (Kaufman, who is not Canadian, is not one of the 25; because of the uneven number, there are 13 events with 25 writers. CBC broadcaster Shelagh Rogers, who will be interviewing Thomas King – the prolific author of books such as The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America – on Sept 22, is considered an honorary author for this purpose. (The Globe Book Club will host a livestream conversation between Atwood and King on Wednesday, Sept. 23.)
Instead of a program, Wordfest will create a commemorative book, for which each author will submit a piece of original writing. As with the writers, 12 Canadian artists were hired to create likenesses of the authors and asked to invite someone else to participate. (Graphic novelists Seth and Leanne Shapton, who will appear together, will do each other’s likenesses.)
Further, each participant – many of whom will not have a current book out – will recommend a book published in 2020. (Wordfest is also holding an additional 21 events for current books.)
The move into a virtual space wasn’t completely out of left field. Wordfest had already been thinking about doing more online events, trying to expand its reach to both audiences and authors. Still, this was not the ease-in plan they had anticipated.
After cancelling all live events on March 12, Wordfest held its first digital event March 25; 150 people turned out to see Youngblut interview Samantha Bailey (Woman on the Edge). But the second event, with Eva Holland (Nerve: A Personal Journey Through the Science of Fear), was Zoom-bombed, with racist, sexist messages sent into the chat. Wordfest needed a new platform, a new system.
They have moved to the live video streaming software vMIX, and have been studying what others are doing – not just festivals, but TV shows. “We realized that if Saturday Night Live didn’t know what they were doing, well then no one knew what they were doing. And our goal was just to be as good as Saturday Night Live at Home,” Youngblut says.
They bought lights and microphones and presented 24 virtual events – including a six-hour fundraiser for arts education – between March and August.
“We didn’t want to just take a live event and put it online,” Youngblut says. “We wanted to create online programming.”
Around 20,000 people have tuned in for the free, 45-minute sessions. For 25@25 there will be a cost: $99 for a pass to attend all events (or $15 for a single ticket).
“This is the first time now that we’re starting to charge so that’s [making me] a bit nervous,” Youngblut says.
But mostly, she sounds excited.
“The key thing about 25@25 is we never would have been able to do it live. There’s no way we would have gotten those 25 authors in the same place at the same time. It was impossible. But this is now possible.”
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