208 writers join International Festival of Authors

208 writers join International 
Festival of Authors 

By Alex P. Vidal

MONTREAL, Quebec -- Some 208 book authors -- including hosts, moderators and interviewers --participate in the 33rd International Festival of Authors (IFOA) that unwrapped October 18 until October 28 at the Harbourfront Center in Toronto, Ontario. 
Meanwhile, celebrating 75 years in publishing, Doubleday Canada and Authors at Harbourfront Centre present a special anniversary reading featuring authors Chris Cleave, Miranda Hill, Jane Johnson, M.G. Vassanji and Karen Thompson Walker who all read from their latest works. Charles MacPherson hosts on Tuesday, October 23.
The event includes a door prize of a library valued at $500! Donated by Random House of Canada Ltd.
This year's IFOA participants, which brings together the world's best writers of contemporary literature for 11 days of readings, interviews, lectures, round table discussions, and public book signings each October,  are Ekiwah Adler-Beléndez, Siri Agrell, Tom Allen, Kamal Al-Solaylee, Anita Amirrezvani, Dr. Anamika, Larissa Andrusyshyn, Bert Archer, Barbara Arrowsmith-Young.
Others are Mark Askwith, Nathalie Atkinson, Paul Auster, Garvia Bailey, Shauna Singh Baldwin, Erin Balser, Steven W. Beattie, Ned Beauman, Mario Beauregard, Mark Billingham, Jared Bland, Mariel Borelli, Roo Borson, Gail Bowen, Tim Bowling, Sigmund Brouwer, Chester Brown, Catherine Bush, Liam Card, Marjorie Celona, Michael Chabon, Ayesha Chatterjee, Lee Child, Stuart Clark, James Clarke, Adrienne Clarkson, Chris Cleave, Susan G. Cole, Trevor Cole.
Also in attendance are Tim Conley, Lynn Crosbie, Hilary Davidson, Christopher Dewdney, Junot Díaz, Tamas Dobozy, Cory Doctorow, Emma Donoghue, Jeff Douglas, Lise Downe, Naomi Duguid, Modris Eksteins, Louise Erdrich, Will Ferguson, Charlie Foran, Richard Ford, Dan Friedman, Jonathan Galassi, Bill Gaston, Fabio Geda, Jian Ghomeshi, Douglas Gibson, Graeme Gibson, Rachel Giese, Jonathan Goldstein, Nora Gomringer, Ted Goossen, Hiromi Goto, James Grainger.
They are joined by Taras Grescoe, Hubert Haddad, Rawi Hage, Phil Hall, Claudia Hammond, Mohammed Hanif, Deborah Harkness, Joanne Harris, Jasmine Herlt, Miranda Hill, Jesse Hirsh, Linda Holeman, Simonetta Agnello Hornby, Robert Hough, Chris Howden, Jennifer Hunter, Hiromi Ito, Howard Jacobson, Jane Johnson, Rachel Joyce, Mons Kallentoft, Hiromi Kawakami, A.L. Kennedy, David Kent, Mark Kingwell, Liza Klaussmann, Chan Koonchung, Arno Kopecky, Vincent Lam, David Layton, Max Layton, Dennis Lee, JJ Lee, John B. Lee, Rebecca Lee, Sook-Yin Lee, Matt Lennox, Ben Lerner.
Also in attendance are Martin Levin, Laura Lippman, Lesley Livingston, Erlend Loe, Annabel Lyon, Wayne Macauley, John Macfarlane, Linden MacIntyre, Sarah MacLachlan, Charles MacPherson, Kyo Maclear, Beatrice MacNeil, Stacey Madden, Andri Snær Magnason, Aga Maksimowska, Pasha Malla, Emily St. John Mandel, Alen Mattich, Norah McClintock, Bob McDonald, Don McKay, Ben McNally, Mark Medley, China Miéville, Rohinton Mistry, Jacob McArthur Mooney, Kim Moritsugu, Donna Morrissey, Kate Mosse, Nick Mount, Alice Munro, Jo Nesbø, Craig Norris, Grace O'Connell, Carol Off, Alix Ohlin, Véronique Ovaldé.
They are joined by Shane Peacock, José Luís Peixoto, Alison Pick, Gordon Pinsent, Christine Pountney, Steven Price, Andrew Pyper, Vishnu Ramcharan, Mukunda Rao, Ron Rash, Corey Redekop, C.S. Richardson, Nancy Richler, Tanis Rideout, Sandra Ridley, Dianne Rinehart, Peter Robinson, Michael Robotham, Shelagh Rogers, Robert Rotenberg, Subodh Sarkar, John Ralston Saul, Candace Savage, Robert J. Sawyer, Anakana Schofield.
The event was also graced by Emily Schultz, Richard Scrimger, Seth, Leanne Shapton, Motoyuki Shibata, Antanas Sileika, Kjersti A. Skomsvold, Olga Slavnikova, Joey Slinger, Robin Sloan, Carrie Snyder, Morten Søndergaard, Linda Spalding, Eva Stachniak, Ted Staunton, Meaghan Strimas, Cordelia Strube, Susan Swan, Kristel Thornell, Kim Thúy, Joanne Tod, Miriam Toews, Lorna Toolis, Amor Towles, Becky Toyne, M.G. Vassanji, Eleanor Wachtel
Also in the festival are Karen Thompson Walker, Jess Walter, Eric Walters, Russell Wangersky, Claire Vaye Watkins, Irvine Welsh, Andrew Westoll, Nathan Whitlock, John Wilson, Benjamin Wood, Stuart Woods, Minky Worden, Kyle Carsten Wyatt, and Nora Young.
The IFOA presents a number of special events including readings by Scotiabank Giller Prize, Governor General’s Literary Awards, and Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize finalists, as well as the awarding of the Harbourfront Festival Prize.