JOE DUNTHORNE, author of Wild Abandon, reading with Colson Whitehead and interviewed by Brent Bambury, Saturday (October 22) and reading with Gary Barwin, Kyle Buckley, Souvankham Thammavongsa and Alexi Zentner, Sunday (October 23)
BRIAN FRANCIS, author of Natural Order, reading with Dany Laferrière and Emma Ruby-Sachs, Saturday (October 22)
DREW HAYDEN TAYLOR, author of Motorcycles & Sweetgrass, reading with Joseph Boyden, David A. Groulx and Lee Maracle, Wednesday (October 26)
COLSON WHITEHEAD, author of Zone One, reading with Gary Barwin, Jennifer Haigh and Sarah Winman, Friday (October 21) and interviewed alongside Joe Dunthorne Saturday (October 22)
PATRICIA MARX, author of Starting From Happy, interviewed with Kate Beaton October 29 and reading with Tessa McWatt, Zacharia Wells and D.W. Wilson October 30
JOSHUA KNELMAN, author of Hot Art, reading with Rodge Glass, Kate Beaton and Ken Babstock, October 30
WILL FERGUSON, author of Canadian Pie, interviewed by Shelagh Rogers on Saturday (October 22) and reading with Niels Frank, Gary Geddes and Conor Grennan, October 29
Describe your book in 15 words or less.
A strange white man, who may or may not be a legendary trickster, returns to a native community riding a vintage 1953 Indian Chief motorcycle, causing mischief and magic. DREW HAYDEN TAYLOR
The end of a commune, the end of a marriage, the end of the world. JOE DUNTHORNE
Canadian Pie is about a very, very, very, very, very, very, very curious man who… WILL FERGUSON
An elderly woman tries to find redemption for the lies she told about her dead son. BRIAN FRANCIS
Theft, love, money, beauty, greed, courage, detectives, cunning, thieves, epic game of hide and seek. JOSHUA KNELMAN
It’s 1900. Hunt is a shaman, chieftain, anthropologist, scientist – now he’s accused as a cannibal. COLSON WHITEHEAD
A man from La Mancha sets out as a knight-errant… Wait! That’s someone else’s book. PATRICIA MARX
Do you have any idiosyncratic green room requests?
I absolutely loathe hydrangeas. BRIAN FRANCIS
I get to spend time in the green room? Who’s in there? Are they nice? JOSHUA KNELMAN
Scotch and Uzis. Colson Whitehead
I’d like this green room in blue, please. PATRICIA MARX
Which couple’s bio would you rather write: Will and Kate’s or Brad and Angelina’s?
Well, mine and Kate’s, obviously. WILL FERGUSON
Could I pick Will and Angelina? PATRICIA MARX
E-books – are you a convert yet?
Not yet. Like the Inuit used to say when snowmobiles were introduced in the Arctic, “You can’t eat a snowmobile if you get stranded in a snowstorm.” You can’t use an e-book if you’re stuck in an outhouse at the cottage. DREW HAYDEN TAYLOR
I’m agnostic. JOSHUA KNELMAN
Yes. When reading 1,100 pages of the print edition of Infinite Jest last year, I cut my copy into three chunks (re-binding each bit with masking tape) to make it easier to carry. Then, each night, I had to come home and catch up on the footnotes. Very annoying. Now my girlfriend’s reading it on a Kindle, and it’s ideal. JOE DUNTHORNE
E what? WILL FERGUSON
They’re making a biopic of your life. What movie star should play you? Why?
Owen Wilson. We share blond hair and an unconventional nose. JOE DUNTHORNE
Chunk from The Goonies for my early years, Michael Bublé for my adult years, Phyllis Diller for my senior years. I think you know why. BRIAN FRANCIS
Jake Gyllenhaal. He seems like the kind of person who could get suckered into following this kind of story. I’d kind of like to be played by Maggie Gyllenhaal as well. JOSHUA KNELMAN
Cate Blanchett. She’s the coolest cube in the icebox, as a man or a woman. COLSON WHITEHEAD
My friend Phoebe Cates does an adroit impersonation of me. Hmm… that could be a bad thing. PATRICIA MARX
Create a premise for a literary reality TV show what would you call it?
An audience attempts to stay focused during a 30-minute author reading. Title: So You Think You Can Listen. BRIAN FRANCIS
I once quoted George Bernard Shaw’s line “It’s a pity youth is wasted on the young,” to which somebody responded, “What the hell does that mean?” So I suggest asking people on the street to explain literary quotes and phrases. Title: What The Hell Does That Mean? DREW HAYDEN TAYLOR
An author and his/her harshest critic are forced to share a bedroom. The author writes stories that cruelly fictionalize the critic’s personal hygiene, night smells, etc. The critic writes scathing, highly personal reviews of the new stories. This pattern continues until they either go mad, fall in love or both. Title: Sleeping With The Enemy. JOE DUNTHORNE
A group of celebrities are placed in the Murder Mansion, where they must compete in writing ever more gruesome, witty and inventive murders. Each week, the most popular murder is enacted on the least popular celebrity by our specialist team. Title: Murder Mansion – Only The Interesting Survive. COLSON WHITEHEAD