Alice Kuipers
Alice Kuipers is the award-winning, bestselling author of five YA novels, including The Worst Thing She Ever Did and Me and Me. Her books include two picture books featuring twins Violet and Victor and the Polly Diamond chapter book series. Kuipers’s work, translated and published in 34 countries, has won or been shortlisted for numerous prizes, including the Carnegie Medal, the White Pine Award, and the Grand Prix de Viarmes. Born and raised in London, England, she lives in Saskatoon with writer Yann Martel and their four children. Website: alicekuipers.com Twitter: @alicekuipers Instagram: @alicekuiperswritingprompts
Alice Kuipers
Alice Kuipers is a best-selling author of eight books for young adults and children. Her work, translated and published in 34 countries, has won or been shortlisted for numerous prizes including the Carnegie Medal, the White Pine Award, the Grand Prix de Viarmes, and the Saskatchewan First Book Award. She has been an invited lecturer and workshop leader at numerous festivals including the Blue Met Festival, Brisbane Festival of Literature, Wordfest, and the Vancouver Writers Festival. Born and raised in London, England, Kuipers now lives in Saskatoon with her partner, the writer Yann Martel, and their four young children. Website: alicekuipers.com. Twitter: @AliceKuipers. For More Information Reviews of Polly Diamond and the Magic Book: “This breezy series kickoff from Kuipers (Violet and Victor Write the Most Fabulous Fairy Tale) introduces a heroine with a delightfully outsize personality and celebrates the power of imagination and words” – In Publishers Weekly “A magic spelling book turns a young girl’s world upside down as her family prepares for the arrival of a new baby brother” – In Kirkus Reviews
Alice Kuipers
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Alice Kuipers
Alice Kuipers is the award-winning, bestselling author of four previous novels (including Life on the Refrigerator Door, which was longlisted for the UK’s Carnegie Medal), and two picture books. Her work has been published in 29 countries. Born and raised in London, England, she went on a journey at 18 that included stops in Cambodia, the United States, Vietnam, Australia, and the Cook Islands. Kuipers now lives in Saskatoon with her partner, the writer Yann Martel, and their four young children. Me (and) Me It’s Lark’s 17th birthday, the weather is stunning and she’s got a date with gorgeous Alec. But while in a canoe out on the lake, Lark hears screaming. Annabelle, a little girl she used to babysit, is drowning. Lark and Alec both dive in. But Alec hits his head on a rock in the water. Alec and Annabelle are drowning. And Lark can save only one of them. Lark chooses, and in that moment her world splits into two distinct lives. She must live with the consequences of both choices. Lark has to decide: which life is the right one? Events & Tickets Thur, Oct. 12 @ 10am: Wordfest Youth presents Alice Kuipers & David A. Robertson (Full event details) Powered by Eventbrite Thur, Oct. 12 @ 9:15pm: Late Night Series: Literary Death Match (Full event details) Powered by Eventbrite
Yann Martel
Yann Martel is the author of Life of Pi, the #1 international bestseller and winner of the 2002 Man Booker Prize (among many other awards). He is also the award-winning author of The High Mountains of Portugal, The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios (winner of the Journey Prize), Self, Beatrice & Virgil, and 101 Letters to a Prime Minister. His next novel, Son of Nobody, will be published by Penguin Random House in Spring, 2024. Born in Spain in 1963, Martel studied philosophy at Trent University, worked at odd jobs – tree planter, dishwasher, security guard – and traveled widely before turning to writing. He lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan with the writer Alice Kuipers and their four children. Charming… Most Martellian is the boundless capacity for parable… Martel knows his strengths: passages about the chimpanzee and his owner brim irresistibly with affection and attentiveness.” –The New Yorker
Literary Death Match
A late-night favourite, Literary Death Match marries the high-octane performances of Def Poetry Jam, the rapier-witted quips of reality-TV judging panels, and a game show’s hilarity and ridiculousness. Four brave authors – this year, it’s youth authors who are either professional “couples” (Cale Atkinson and Ashley Spires) or professional and actual couples (Morgan Baden and Barry Lyga) who will perform their most electrifying seven-minute sets in front of an all-star judging panel. Taking the fun up a notch, 2019 judges Alice Kuipers, Anakana Schofield, and Joshua Whitehead are all past champions of Literary Death Match in Calgary.
Always Smile
Teen Carley Allison had it all. She was on the edge of fame as a singer and composer. She was reaching for the highest levels as a competitive skater. Then she was diagnosed with a rare cancer. Her diagnosis, doctors said, was one in 3.5 billion. Carley died before her 21st birthday, but her memory lives on in the countless people she touched with her courage. In Always Smile, bestselling author Alice Kuipers weaves their stories with the blog Carley kept in the final months of her life. It shows Carley’s transformation from ordinary to extraordinary, and conveys her unforgettable rules for living well in the worst of times. DIVE DEEPER Reviews “Always Smile” — Kirkus Reviews Videos “Alice Kuiper and Riley Allison talk about the new book “Always Smile”” — Global News
Polly Diamond and the Super Stunning Spectacular School Fair
Polly and her magic book, Spell, have all kinds of adventures together because whatever Polly writes in Spell comes true! But when Polly and Spell join forces to make the school fair super spectacular, they quickly discover that what you write and what you mean are not always the same. Filled with the familiar details of home and school, but with a sprinkling of magic, Polly Diamond and the Super Stunning Spectacular School Fair will dazzle young readers. DIVE DEEPER Reviews “Polly Diamond and the Super Stunning Spectacular School Fair” — Kirkus Reviews Videos “Author Alice Kuipers – Polly Diamond and the Magic Book” — YouTube
School Bookings – ARCHIVED
Related PostsSchool Bookings - ARCHIVED PAGETags: archived, bookings, school
Literary Death Match
A perennial Wordfest fave, Literary Death Match marries the literary and performative aspects of Def Poetry Jam, the rapier-witted quips of American Idol’s judging (without any meanness), and the ridiculousness and hilarity of Double Dare. Four brave authors will perform their most electric passages in seven minutes before an expert judging panel made up of Patrick Weekes, Jordan Tannahill, and Alice Kuipers, last year’s “take no prisoners” champ.
Gabrielle Grimard
Gabrielle Grimard was born in Montreal in 1975 and went on to study art at Concordia and l’Université du Québec à Montréal (l’UQÀM). She has since illustrated over 30 picture books, including When I Was Eight, Not My Girl and Stolen Words, which won the 2018 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award. Lila and the Crow (Lila et la corneille), Grimard’s first book as both author and illustrator, won the 2017 Skipping Stones Magazine Honor Award, given to children’s books that contain important messages of diversity, environmentalism and multi-culturalism.
David A. Robertson
David Alexander Robertson, of Irish, Scottish, English and Cree heritage, is an award-winning graphic novelist and writer who advocates for educating youth on Indigenous history and contemporary issues. He has written several graphic novels, including the bestselling 7 Generations series and Sugar Falls. His first novel, The Evolution of Alice, was winner of On the Same Page (2016). Robertson lives in Winnipeg with his wife and five children, where he works in the field of Indigenous education. When We Were Alone When a young girl helps tend to her grandmother’s garden, she begins to notice things about her grandmother that make her curious. Why does her grandmother have long braided hair and wear beautifully coloured clothing? Why does she speak another language and spend so much time with her family? As she asks her grandmother about these things, she is told about life in a residential school a long time ago, where everything was taken away. When We Were Alone is a story about a difficult time in history and, ultimately, a story of empowerment and strength. Strangers When Cole Harper is compelled to return to Wounded Sky First Nation, he finds his community in chaos: a series of shocking murders, a mysterious illness ravaging the residents and re-emerging questions about Cole’s role in the tragedy that drove him away 10 years ago. With the aid of an unhelpful spirit, a disfigured ghost and his two oldest friends, Cole tries to figure out his purpose and unravel the mysteries he left behind a decade ago. Will he find the answers in time to save his community? Events & Tickets Thur, Oct. 12 @ 10am: Wordfest Youth presents Alice Kuipers & David A. Robertson (Full event details) Powered by Eventbrite Thur, Oct. 12 @ 7pm: The Enthusiast’s Guide to the Governor General’s Literary Awards (Full event details) Powered by Eventbrite
What to Read: The Best of the GGs – $20
15 OCT 2016 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM ARTS COMMONS – BIG SECRET THEATRE, 205 8TH AVE SE In celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Governor General’s Literary Awards, a selection of past winners and finalists take to the stage as they plug their favourite titles (and confess their GG Author Crushes) from the full list of recipients of the prestigious award since its inauguration in 1936. Copies of the recommended titles (if still available) will be sold as special gift sets after the show. With support from the Canada Council for the Arts. About the Presenters Lynn Coady Lynn Coady is an award-winning author and journalist. Her first novel, Strange Heaven, was nominated for a Governor General’s Literary Award, and in 2011, her novel The Antagonist was shortlisted for the prestigious Scotiabank Giller Prize, an award she won in 2013 for her short story collection Hellgoing. She has published six books of fiction and her work has appeared in the UK, Germany, Holland and France. Coady has worked as a story editor on the TV series Orphan Black and a writer on Season Two of the HBO Canada series Sensitive Skin. She lives in Toronto. Robert Hough A natural storyteller noted for his meticulous research into events that inspire his fiction, Robert Hough’s novels have garnered critical praise and have been nominated for numerous awards, including the Governor General’s Literary Award, Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, the Trillium Book Award, and the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. His most recent novel, Dr. Brinkley’s Tower, was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award. He lives in Toronto. Anosh Irani Playwright and author Anosh Irani was born and raised in Mumbai, India, and moved to Vancouver in 1998. He penned three critically acclaimed and award-winning novels: The Cripple and His Talismans, Dahanu Road and The Song of Kahunsha, which was a finalist for CBC Radio’s Canada Reads. His fiction writing has been published in thirteen countries, and his non-fiction has appeared in The Globe and Mail and The New York Times. Irani was nominated for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama for his anthology, The Bombay Plays: The Matka King & Bombay Black. He lives in Vancouver, BC. Yann Martel Yann Martel’s #1 international bestseller, Life of Pi, won the 2002 Man Booker (among many other prizes). He is also the award-winning author of The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios (winner of the Journey Prize), Self, Beatrice & Virgil and 101 Letters to a Prime Minister. Born in Spain in 1963, Martel studied philosophy at Trent University, worked at odd jobs — tree planter, dishwasher, security guard — and traveled widely before turning to writing. He lives in Saskatoon, with the writer Alice Kuipers and their four children. Noah Richler Noah Richler made documentaries and features for BBC Radio for 14 years before returning to Canada in 1998. He was the books editor and then the...Read More
Yann Martel
Yann Martel’s #1 international bestseller, Life of Pi, won the 2002 Man Booker (among many other prizes). He is also the award-winning author of The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios (winner of the Journey Prize), Self, Beatrice & Virgil and 101 Letters to a Prime Minister. Born in Spain in 1963, Martel studied philosophy at Trent University, worked at odd jobs — tree planter, dishwasher, security guard — and traveled widely before turning to writing. He lives in Saskatoon, with the writer Alice Kuipers and their four children. The High Mountains of Portugal The High Mountains of Portugal is a suspenseful, mesmerizing story of a great quest for meaning, told in three intersecting narratives touching the lives of three different people and their families, and taking us on an extraordinary journey through the last century. Beautiful, witty and engaging, Yann Martel’s new novel offers us the same tender exploration of the impact and significance of great love and great loss, belief and unbelief, that has marked all his brilliant, unexpected novels.
5 Reasons to see Yann Martel Mar. 15
In case you need another reason to see Yann Martel, live at Wordfest, on March 15, 2016, here are some suggestions. Find Out if Obama is Right The new, 15th-anniversary edition of the author’s blockbuster novel Life of Pi features a blurb from the U.S. President claiming the book offers “an elegant proof of God.” No doubt someone will ask what Martel thinks of such heavenly praise. Expect cool diplomacy and clever cheek in equal parts. Learn How to Handle Criticism (a.k.a Just Keep Writing) Not even the wildly successful author of a book beloved around the world and turned into an Oscar-winning movie is immune to receiving nasty reviews on a subsequent project. Martel’s third novel, Beatrice and Virgil, an allegorical story about representations of the holocaust, was loved by some but harshly panned by many; certainly, Hollywood hasn’t come a-knockin’. Thankfully, rather than hide in his room and learn a new trade, Martel kept writing. He’s delightfully sanguine about lousy reviews. Find Out Why Writing a (Man Booker Prize-winning) Book Is a Slow Process Norah Roberts has written more than 200 novels. Martel has written four (in addition to short stories and books of letters). While watching the author’s reaction to the brave soul who asks what takes him so long will be entertainment in itself, his answer will no doubt be priceless. Widely considered one of the most insightful and imaginative of contemporary writers, Martel has compared his methodical writing process to that of attempting to “build a cathedral” brick by brick. (If you’ve already gleefully plowed through his latest, your wait for the next may be epic.) Come to Terms with Why a Writer with a Hollywood Paycheque Lives in Saskatoon The Spain-born author has lived all over the world and, a few years back, put down roots in Saskatoon with his wife, the writer Alice Kuipers, and their four kids. He likes it there. If we’re really nice, perhaps he’ll move to Calgary one day. A fan can dream. Be the First to Hear Him Talk About His New Novel This, of course, is the No. 1 reason to see the author live at Wordfest. Martel’s new book, The High Mountains of Portugal, is a story of love, loss, faith, grief, chimpanzees, motor cars and murder; it intertwines the lives of three people whose stories ultimately mesh together in a village in northern Portugal. Margaret Atwood describes the book as “ …fresh, original, smart, devious and crammed with absorbing love.” Expect the man himself to be all of the above.
ARCHIVE – Yann Martel – $25
Join Wordfest, Calgary Public Library and Owl’s Nest Books for an evening of readings and conversations with Yann Martel, one of Canada’s most recognized and outspoken writers. The author of the bestselling Life of Pi presents his highly anticipated new novel, The High Mountains of Portugal. The event is followed by an audience Q&A and book signing.
ARCHIVE – Yann Martel
Yann Martel’s #1 international bestseller, Life of Pi, won the 2002 Man Booker (among many other prizes). He is also the award-winning author of The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios (winner of the Journey Prize), Self, Beatrice & Virgil, and 101 Letters to a Prime Minister. Born in Spain in 1963, Martel studied philosophy at Trent University, worked at odd jobs—tree planter, dishwasher, security guard—and traveled widely before turning to writing. He lives in Saskatoon, Canada, with the writer Alice Kuipers and their four children.