One of the fun things about the Festival of the Written Arts (FOWA) is that with its incredible popularity - almost 9,000 visitors this year for 21 events - you might be sitting at Rockwood Pavilion next to notables such as Margaret Trudeau (an invited speaker) or Sen. Pat Carney who attends every year.
You could be listening to publisher Anna Porter who has worked with just about every literary or political great during her career, including Farley Mowat and Jean Chrétien.
But when the lure of the glitterati wears off, the next best thing about the Festival is the depth of discussion fostered by the sessions. Porter, for example, left audiences wanting more. She spoke a bit about her career with publishing icon Jack McClelland and the role of her Hungarian grandfather in her life -the main character in her book, The Storyteller. But the substance of her discussion was drawn from her award-winning The Ghosts of Europe in which Porter describes roaming central Europe to determine how today's generation is dealing with the struggles of their past.
In Poland she interviewed Gen. Jaruzelski, who sought to crush that country's Solidarity movement by imposing martial law. She wasn't afraid of calling on any of the world's leaders for an interview.
"Once you've worked with Pierre Berton, no one else scares you," she joked. Although she didn't warm to Jaruzelski, she derived insights into how Poles cope with delivering justice and described the Institute for National Remembrance where public files of wrongdoers are on display.
Porter, who was born in Hungary, told how Hungarians have still not dealt with the Holocaust. What lessons can Canadians learn from this?
"Be passionate about democracy," she urged. "Speak up. It's vital."
The annual Bruce Hutch-ison Lecture is also about being a Canadian, and speaker Judy Fong Bates (The Year of Finding Memory) spoke with great hope about a culture that is becoming ever more accepting of its immigrant roots.
She described her Chinese parents who emigrated so their daughter could have a better life, and how they bought a stereotypical business, a Chinese hand laundry, in Acton, Ont., where she was the only non-white child in school. Her parents never realized their power as new immigrants, she said, and they always struggled, but her generation, born in China but raised in Canada, has come of age and does recognize their role.
She told the audience she was proud of "the way that Canada is becoming the complex, multi-cultural society that it is today."
Trudeau scampered to the stage with joy during her Friday evening full house session and charmed the audience with an account of summers spent in Roberts Creek at the cottage with her grandmother.
"I was a little quicksilver girl, impulsive and vivacious," she said, telling how she met her famous husband, who was many years her senior.
Trudeau's flood gates opened during her session and everything poured out, as told in her book Changing My Mind, from soap opera stories to the agony of a mother who lost her son. She recounted her rise to infamy as the flower child of 24 Sussex, the woman who took to marijuana "like a duck to water." She spoke openly of the birth of her sons and her subsequent post partum depressions that she suffered for many years before her chemical imbalance was diagnosed as bi-polar. She told of the manic urges that took her from London to Paris to dancing at Studio 54 in New York, followed by the years of depression.
"Everyone was trying to fix me; they're still trying to fix me," she said.
Other highlights of the festival included Susan Juby, who talked with unflagging humour on an unfunny subject. A drinker since the age of 13, Juby spoke honestly about her teenage addiction to alcohol and drugs. Her book, Nice Recovery, tells the story in a way that teens can relate to and that should help parents to understand as well.
The Meter's Running, a poetry session on Saturday, did not go as anticipated. Poet Chris Bose cancelled, so Vancouver poet laureate Brad Cran and the rodeo bull rider poet Garry Gottfriedson took the stage together. Some of Cran's poem titles were longer than Gottfriedson's single image poems, but this created an interesting contrast of styles that made for an entertaining session.
Highlights were Cran's poem, In Praise of Female Athletes Who Are Told No, that drew attention to female ski jumpers not allowed to compete during last year's Olympics, and Gottfriedson's longer poem in which he posed a love triangle between Pauline Johnson, Grey Owl and the architect of the Indian Act, Duncan Campbell Scott. It was fascinating.
For some writers, another FOWA highlight took place after the speaker's session was over. In response to an audience question, humour writer Terry Fallis, winner of Canada Reads for his book The Best Laid Plans, encouraged writers to self-publish, but warned them not to expect great financial gain. After his talk he visited the 13-member group, the Independent Writers, selling their self-published books at their table in the big tent.
"Terry was great," said writer Jan Jensen, organizer of the group effort. "He actually spent quite a bit of time with us, maybe 10 minutes with each author - a very cool guy on top of it all."
Next year will be FOWA's 13th anniversary, and no doubt there will be a special celebration. It's difficult to imagine what could top this year's fine event.
