Stella Leventoyannis Harvey

One Week to Go

Run the first two-thirds of your race with your head and the last third with your heart.” Anonymous   

All the months of planning come down to the final week. The Whistler Writers Festival is set to begin this Thursday, October 12th. I’ve been focused, strategic and doing all those other things that come from the head. It is now time to let go and hope that our combined efforts result in another spectacularly successful festival.

Letting go is not one of my strong suits. Okay, perhaps I’m understating this. Stop laughing. But really, this one final push comes from the heart. Well, all this labour has come from that place too. Otherwise why would we do it?

If you haven’t bought your tickets yet, this is a great time to do so.

Check out, Feet Banks’ article in The Whistler Insider. Feet will again be hosting the Crime Writers Lunch on Saturday October 14th starting at 1 p.m. at our festival hotel, the Fairmont Chateau Whistler. Giller Prize short-listed author, Michael Redhill will join our other guest authors, John MacLauchlan Gray, Sheena Kamal, Alisa Smith and Jenny D. Williams through the twists and turns of the crime, mystery and thriller genre, all while enjoying a delicious lunch.

Or why not read the Ottawa Citizen's article about the two Literary Salons we’ll be holding during the festival. These salons started a few years ago when a suggestion came in from a festival participant. Why not have a workshop for book clubs on how to discuss a book? Great idea. And we’ve taken it a step further this year. We’ve suggested two books (one fiction and one non-fiction) to read prior to the sessions. And we’ve invited the guest authors to the sessions to discuss their books with the audience.  The first literary salon takes place Friday, October 13th, starting at 4 p.m. and features Francis Itani and her new novel, That’s My Baby. The second salon takes place on Saturday, October 14th, at 4:30 p.m. and features, the Globe and Mail’s Doug Saunders’ new non-fiction book, Maximum Canada.

And if you want any further reasons to come to the festival, check out our website for updates and blogs. Here’s the latest blog from Jane Eaton Hamilton on this year’s theme, risk. Jane will be appearing in the Writers of Fiction event on Saturday October 14th starting at 10 a.m.

Or read our latest review. This week, poet and Whistler Writing Society member, Mary MacDonald writes about the poets who will be appearing on Saturday October 14th starting at 11:30 a.m. in a reading event aptly entitled, Speaking Our Silence. Trust me on this, the poets and the discussion that follows are always amazing!

Okay, I have one final article for you. Author Lee Maracle, who will be appearing at the closing Sunday Brunch on October 14th starting at 11 a.m., answers some of her life long questions in her new book, My Conversation with Canadians.

As I write this blog I can’t help but feel proud of our festival. There’s no ego or head here, just a whole lot of heart.

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