From Page to Stage

Hannah Stephenson

How do you turn literature into a performance? Eighty-five authors answered this question in a variety of startlingly entertaining ways at the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival. The festival, now in its 20th year, was held from October 16th-21st in various locations on Granville Island. Each of the festival’s 61 events gave writers the chance to perform their work before a rapt audience. Though I’m tempted, I couldn’t write about each and every event; I’ll focus on four events that were, for me, the highlights.

Event 26: GAWK (Thursday, October 18th, 8 p.m.)

I walked into the Performance Works auditorium, noting the seemingly well-behaved, sophisticated audience, and sat next to a group of (what turned out to be) grade 12 Honours English students. We were having a very nice conversation about some of the featured authors, when three male go-go dancers, clad in brightly coloured American Apparel briefs and matching Converse sneakers, started shaking their proverbial groove-things on platforms. Thus, GAWK had begun.
GAWK was certainly not a sedate lecture. Billeh Nickerson, who proved an engaging host, gave witty (and sometimes naughty) introductions and commentary throughout the evening. Eight extremely talented writers read from their latest works of fiction and poetry. All were warmly received by the crowd, but the rowdier readers were the crowd favourites. The fast-talking, high-octane Brendan McLeod read from The Convictions of Leonard McKinley, which won the 3-Day Novel Contest of 2006. Catherine Kidd closed the evening with a powerhouse performance of her poem “Human Fish,” which was taken from her (brilliantly named) book of poems, Bipolar Bear.
Another standout was poet Nick Thran. Though Thran confessed feeling rather nervous (and sipped a glass of wine at the podium), his poems were intriguing: “You’re gonna have to trust the poem, despite its shortcomings,” one poem read. 

The performances at GAWK were passionate, edgy, and refreshing. All left feeling a little more inspired, and a little less well-behaved.