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Tickets are now on sale for the Elephant Mountain Literary Festival, featuring workshops, special events, and panel discussions. Workshops and Blue Pencil Critique spots are limited to just 10 spots, and special events may sell out before the Festival, which runs July 11 to 14 in Nelson.
New this year is a workshop in lyric-crafting with award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter Stephen Fearing, and another in screenwriting with novelist, playwright, and screenwriter Ian Weir, well-known for the series Arctic Air among others. Among the 10 spots for each workshop are two reserved for youth, which come with a partial bursary provided the Nelson and District Arts Council.
The Holley Rubinsky Memorial Blue Pencil Sessions return, this year with writer-in-residence Marilyn Bowering, whose career as a writer of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry has met with international acclaim. Ten lucky writers will pre-submit material for critique delivered in a one-on-one consultation with the Writer-in-Residence.
Bowering, Fearing, and Weir also take the stage at the Saturday Night Live! event on July 13, 7:30 p.m. at the Hume Hotel. Also featured will be the recipient of the Richard Carver Award for writing.
Wine and Crime come together on Friday, July 12 at 7:30 p.m. at the Hume Hotel, when crime fiction legend William Deverell, Nelson author JG Toews, and book club darling Iona Whishaw read from their work. They’ll be paired with B.C. wines in a full-bodied twist on a festival favourite.
Saturday panel discussions during the day feature artists from across the disciplines along with invited presenters exploring aspects of creativity in sessions entitled State of the Art, Can Creativity be Taught? and Who’s Afraid of the Dark? The Power of Dark Stories. William Deverell offers insights into crime-writing in a talk entitled Guilty as Charged.
Workshop registration info, weekend passes, and individual event tickets are available at emlfestival.com.