Birth, Death, The Restless In Between

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Join a conversation with, and a reading by, three poets whose distinctive aesthetics give voice to a continuum of existential challenges that living asks us not only to embrace, but to embody. Against a background of exuberant affirmation and lingering threat, Hasan Namir recounts how the birth by surrogate of his and his husband’s son joins the three of them in Umbilical Cord. Through a rough cut of found texts in Grey All Over, Andrea Actis curates the earnest recall of her beloved father in the shattering days, months, and years after his death. In The Shadow List, Jen Sookfong Lee narrates the contemporary urgency to find and put love into perspective in a culture where the chance ways that men and women connect, exerts unnerving pressures on intimacy. True seriousness, joy, and candour are the tonalities of these thought-provoking poets.

Co-curated by Planet Earth Poetry

Moderated by John Barton

This event will have captioning for in-person and livestream options

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Organizer

Victoria Festival of Authors

Since 2016, Victoria Festival of Authors (VFA) has been the largest celebration of books and book lovers on Vancouver Island. Each fall we invite authors from across Canada to share their books and ideas with Victoria’s readers. VFA has also included school-based programs since 2019.

Our traditional five-day festival includes author readings, panels, workshops, and master classes, as well as events that fuse literature with other art forms, such as dance, music and visual arts. The Victoria Festival of Authors showcases established and emerging poets, prose writers, and other storytellers. Artistic achievement, creative innovation and a diversity of voices drive our mandate. Victoria Festival of Authors achieved charitable status in 2019.

In 2021, we have taken what we learned last year, at our first virtual festival, and combined it with the strengths of past programming to deliver a hybrid festival. We are excited to present seven in-person events to small but necessary audiences. You can also take part from the comfort of your living room since all in-person programming will be live-streamed for free. These events celebrate the writers from our region: Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. In addition, we will have four Zoom events, featuring authors from across Canada.

We gratefully acknowledge the generous financial support of the BC Arts Council, Canada Council, the CRD, the City of Victoria, United Way and the Government of Canada's Emergency Community Support for ensuring live-streaming and Zoom-based events are free.

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