The Super Series seminars will be led by two published authors. Writers with pieces in progress will have an opportunity to workshop their writing in a very small group and to benefit from constructive feedback and guidance. A lunch will be provided for registrants in this day-long series.
A new novelist who has been garnering much positive attention with his book Shelf Monkey, Corey Redekop has been writing for many years. The springboard for this novel was his output from the infamous 3-Day Novel Contest. Now published by ECW Press, Redekop will be on hand at the book club meeting to read and discuss his darkly comic novel. Uptown Magazine calls Shelf Monkey "…a savage and funny book, like Fahrenheit 451 meets Revenge of the Nerds, with a little Oprah's Book Club mixed in. It's a Fight Club for bookworms…" while Quill & Quire states that "the book's dark comedy and witty language play directly into its themes to make the satire sting… There's a lot to enjoy here."
Of Mennonite and Métis heritage, Sandra Birdsell has written three collections of short fiction, four novels, a novel for children, radio and theatre plays, as well as television and film scripts. Among her works are The Missing Child, Children of the Day, The Town That Floated Away, two books nominated for the Governor General Award, namely The Chrome Suite and The Two-Headed Calf, and The Russländer, which was a finalist for the Giller Prize. The jury for this prize said that "With her formidable gifts for psychological observation and her uncanny details of daily life a century ago, Birdsell weaves a place as important as any in our literature. By showing how power is often foisted upon us from an outside world, The Russländer illuminates, with an artistic glow of the first rank, the intimate certainty that evil will not dominate kindness, truth, or love."
Just last month, the much-lauded Robert J. Sawyer was in China to collect a Galaxy Award — China's top science fiction award — in the category of Most Popular Foreign Author. He has been writing since the 1970s, and since 1989, Sawyer has forged a career in writing, teaching and speaking about science fiction. His novels include the Neanderthal trilogy, Terminal Experiment, Calculating God and his latest, Rollback, and have appeared on bestsellers' lists in The Globe and Mail, The Calgary Herald, The Winnipeg Free Press, among others. Robert J. Sawyer has won all three of the world's top science-fiction awards for best novel of the year: the Hugo, the Nebula, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. He is one of only seven writers in history — and the only Canadian — to have won all three. Many of his works have been published in 13 other languages, including Chinese, Bulgarian, Polish, Italian and French. Maclean's newsmagazine says, "Sawyer, an articulate fountain of ideas, is the genre's northern star — in fact, one of the hottest SF writers anywhere. By any reckoning Sawyer is among the most successful Canadian authors ever."• Robert J. Sawyer will be reading and meeting his fans on Thursday, Nov. 8, at 7:30 p.m.
• Sandra Birdsell will take part in Words Alive and mingle with readers on Friday, Nov. 9, at 7:30 p.m.
• The Words Alive book club, featuring Corey Redekop and his novel Shelf Monkey, will begin at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov.10.
All three authors will be appearing at the 10th St. Emporium Words Alive venue. There are only a very limited number of spots available in the Super Series. Book early to avoid disappointment. All passes, including regular weekend passes and Super Series passes, can be obtained at Pennywise Books, 1031 Rosser Ave.
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