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Show #5-07 – December 4, 2005
Toronto's International Festival of Authors
Regarded as one of the pre-eminent writers’ festivals in the world, this week’s show focuses in and around the International Festival of Authors, which routinely attracts the biggest names in literature. From author interviews and schmoozing galore, we asked writers their opinions on the affect of awards on an author’s career and spoke to them about book reviewers, because like or hate them, they are a necessary part of the marketing of a book. And authors and critics alike all have an opinion about the opinion makers. But it wasn’t all serious stuff at the IFOA as we got in on some really funny and candid moments too.
Awards
Writers who were nominated for Canada’s two big literary prizes, The Governor General Awards and The Giller Prize were in attendance at the IFOA. There was a lot of guesswork going on over cheese and wine soirees as to who the big winners would be. Here’s who took home some of the honours: David Gilmour - A Perfect Night to Go to China (Fiction), Thomas Allen Publishers John Vaillant - The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness and Greed (Non-Fiction), Knopf Canada
The Scotiabank Giller Prize
David Bergen - The Time In Between, McClelland & Stewart
David Rakoff
Before David Rakoff attended Toronto’s International Festival of Authors, we went down to New York to discuss his latest work Don’t Get Too Comfortable which skewers a culture of indulgence and over consumption.
Jonathon Safran Foer
One of the brightest lights on the young literary scene is Jonathan Safran Foer. Even though he doesn’t look it, there’s a rock star element to his career. His last novel Everything Is Illuminated has been recently turned into a movie starring Elijah Wood. And we decided to get a slice of Jonathan’s life on the road promoting his latest work.
John Irving
Irving has written such classics as The World According To Garp and Cider House Rules. In his latest work, Until I find you, the character Jack Burns parallels Irving’s own life, a man in search of his unknown father, and childhood sexual abuse. In an unusual move for us, we are going to broadcast part of a candid conversation in it’s entirety, that Irving had with journalist and writer Carol Off in which he discusses those dark memories.
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