Canadian Authors at Berkeley Book Festival
Writer to Writer: Joyce Carol Oates and André Alexis
André Alexis and Joyce Carol Oates, moderated by Lise Quintana
Saturday, May 4 10:00 AM – 11:15 AM
In our Writer to Writer series, two authors who are fans of each other’s work come together for conversation. Winner of the prestigious Windham-Campbell prize for his body of work, Trinidad-born and Ottawa-raised André Alexis sits down with National Book Award and National Humanities Medal winner, and author of over 40 novels, Joyce Carol Oates. The pair will discuss genre-bending, world-building, and their shared obsession with storytelling.
Veterans Memorial Building – Auditorium
With the support of the Consulate General of Canada, San Francisco/Silicon Valley and Zoetic Press
Writer to Writer: Esi Edugyan and Tayari Jones
Esi Edugyan and Tayari Jones, moderated by Caille Millner
Sunday, May 5 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
In our Writer to Writer series, two authors who are fans of each other’s work come together for conversation about writing and society today. Novelists Esi Edugyan and Tayari Jones both probe racial injustice in their work, and both women have received considerable praise. Edugyan’s sweeping, imaginative novel “Washington Black” was named a Top Ten Book of 2018 by the New York Times, and Tayari Jones’ “An American Marriage” was an Oprah’s Book Club pick for that same year. Edugyan uses magic realism to explore slavery and freedom in a stupendous tale that moves from Barbados to Nova Scotia to England. Jones weaves a devastating tapestry of a modern marriage wrenched apart by a discriminatory American justice system.
San Francisco Chronicle Stage in the Park
With the support of the Consulate General of Canada, San Francisco/Silicon Valley and She Writes Press
On Not Mothering
Sheila Heti, Emilie Pine, Grace Talusan
Sunday, May 5 11:45 – 1:00 pm
Whether it’s by choice or chance, not mothering is still considered taboo. Talked about in hushed tones and regarded with pity or disdain, women who don’t mother are made to feel like failures. But what are the windows of possibility opened up by a child-free life? What other kinds of nurturing can happen in its place? Brazen in their vulnerability, Sheila Heti (“Motherhood”), Grace Talusan (“The Body Papers”), and Emilie Pine (“Notes to Self”) break the silence on not mothering, addressing the assumptions, stigmas, and surprising rewards head-on.
Hotel Shattuck Plaza – Crystal Ballroom
With the support of the Consulate General of Canada, San Francisco/Silicon Valley and Culture Ireland
Not So Polite After All: Canadian Writers Challenge the Status Quo
André Alexis, Esi Edugyan, Sheila Heti
Sunday, May 5 3:15 PM – 4:30 PM
Three award-winning Canadian writers converge on one stage to recount their adventures in literary risk-taking and rule-breaking. Esi Edugyan’s richly spun historical epic “Washington Black” celebrates the genius of an escaped slave (not the white man who freed him). Sheila Heti’s “Motherhood” is a searingly honest rumination on whether or not to have children. André Alexis’s surreal and hallucinatory “Days By Moonlight” defies all conventions. Join these authors for a look at the leaps they took and the rewards they reaped.
Hotel Shattuck Plaza – Crystal Ballroom
Sponsored by the Consulate General of Canada, San Francisco/Silicon Valley
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Royal Canadian Legion, US Branch #25 