12 days of words and deeds

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This article was published 19/09/2024 (750 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After leaning heavily on virtual readings, meetings and book launches to weather the COVID-19 pandemic, Winnipeg’s annual writers festival is back to primarily in-person events — albeit with a slightly leaner (but by no means meaner) look and lineup.

The 2024 Thin Air/Livres en fête lineup features a tight but diverse range of local and national literary voices who will grace stages at a range of events held in venues throughout the city starting Friday, Sept. 20 and running through Oct. 1.

Here are five components of the festival worth a look. For more on all Thin Air — including a comprehensive list of events, complete with readings by French authors and information about daytime sessions featuring conversations, nature walks and writing workshops — and to buy tickets, see thinairwinnipeg.ca/events.

ForeWords party kicks things off

Four writers working in a range of genres and at various stages of their literary careers, will convene at the Centre Culturel Franco-Manitobain (340 Provencher Blvd.) Friday from 8-11 p.m. to help kick off Thin Air. Winnipeg poet Chimwemwe Undi will be joined by Syrian-Canadian novelist and memoirist Danny Ramadan, Cree/Métis Alberta poet Marilyn Dumont and St. Boniface-raised Toronto-based francophone poet Paul Savoie. Admission is pay what you can, with a suggested contribution of $15.

Signature series boasts trio of local launches

Thin Air’s Signature Series returns to McNally Robinson Booksellers’ Grant Park location with a trio of book launches by Manitoba authors setting the tone. Jenny Heijun Wills launches her collection of essays Everything and Nothing at All on Saturday at 7 p.m., where she’ll be joined in conversation by Lindsay Wong about the followup to her 2019 memoir Older Sister. Not Necessarily Related. (For an interview with Wills about her new book, see Friday’s Free Press.)

On Saturday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m., Winnipeg-based Cree author and CBC host of Unreserved, Rosanna Deerchild, launches her new poetry collection She Falls Again, in which Deerchild grapples with living in Winnipeg, and all its pitfalls, through the lens of Sky Woman. She’ll read from the collection and be joined in conversation by Winnipeg author Tasha Spillett.

And on Sunday, Sept. 29 at 1:30 p.m. Niizhotay Stories returns. The event, which honours late author Theodore Niizhotay Fontaine, will see Winnipeg-born, Nova Scotia-based author Andrea Currie launch her new book Finding Otipemisiwak: The People Who Own Themselves, in which she details her experience of being adopted into a white family as part of the ’60 Scoop. She’ll be joined in conversation by Winnipeg-based Michif author katherena vermette.

All Signature Series events are free and will be streamed on McNally Robinson’s YouTube channel.

Afternoon series the place for Big Ideas

Another trio of free literary events at Thin Air explores the non-fiction genre under the Big Ideas umbrella.

On Wednesday, Victoria environmental journalist Sarah Cox will discuss her book Signs of Life: Field Notes from the Front Line of Extinction, in which she chronicles having tagged along with a range of organizations striving to save a number of species at risk.

On Thursday, Sept. 26, Winnipeg-based Anishinaabe author and Free Press columnist Niigaan Sinclair will unpack Wînipêk: Visions of Canada from an Indigenous Centre, in which he explores the city, its complicated history with the Indigenous community and the leaders and community groups carving a path towards true reconciliation.

And on Friday, Sept. 27, Toronto’s Kate J. Neville will discuss her book Going to Seed: Essays on Idleness, Nature and Sustainable Work, a collection that explores the titular topics related to science, literature and Neville’s own observations.

All three events take place at the Bill and Helen Norrie Library (15 Poseidon Bay) from 3:30-4:30 p.m.

MainStage events bring writers, ideas together

While the number of authors and events at this year’s Thin Air may be scaled down, one welcome addition for 2024 is the return of the MainStage events, which gather a range of seemingly unconnected authors under overarching themes that bind their writing.

On Wednesday, four authors convene to hash out the relationship between their writing and, well, relationships. Giller Prize longlisted authors Caroline Adderson and Shashi Bhat will be joined by E. McGregor and Oonya Kempadoo to read from their work and discuss.

On Friday, Sept. 27, the second MainStage event will explore the connections between the world around us and writing, particularly in the lives and work of dennis cooley, Kate J. Neville, Shani Mootoo and Myriam J.A. Chancey, who will all read and discuss.

This year’s MainStage events take place at Ilipvik at WAG-Qaumajuq (300 Memorial Blvd.) starting at 7 p.m. — tickets for each are $15.

Stanza extravaganza closes things out

Thin Air wouldn’t be complete without the annual Haiku Death Match to close out the fest with some short, snappy poems and witty zingers. This year’s AfterWords closing event, taking place Tuesday, Oct. 1 from 7-10 p.m. at the Rachel Browne Theatre (211 Bannatyne St.), is two parts poetry, as Speaking Crow — Winnipeg’s long-running monthly poetry gathering — joins the celebration.

Local poets Angeline Schellenberg, Steve Locke and Sue Sorensen will read from their work as part of the Speaking Crow component of the night (which, this time around, won’t feature its usual open-mic) before the always-hilarious Haiku Death Match gets underway. Admission is pay what you can, with a suggested contribution of $15.

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@bensigurdson