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A guide to the Whistler Readers and Writers Festival

Tickets are selling fast for the festival's star-studded 12th year

If you're planning to attend the 12th annual Whistler Readers and Writers Festival, you better get your tickets soon.

Just a little over two weeks away, the festival had already sold out one workshop — Memoir Writing: Where to Begin? — with several others nearing capacity. "It's grown incredibly," says founder and organizer Stella Harvey. "Every year since we started it's grown. I mean we started with 20 people in my living room and last year we had close to 400 people who bought around 600 tickets. We've got two and a half weeks to go and we have over 300 people who bought close to 800 tickets. It's significant."

This year, with an extra $30,000 in their budget, thanks to the Resort Municipality of Whistler's Festivals Events & Animation (FE&A) funding, organizers were able to expand their offerings, both in terms of events and authors.

The festival, running from Oct. 18 – 20, is split into the workshops — which have limited space ranging from 30 to 50 slots — and larger-capacity reading events. The first reading event takes place Friday at 8 p.m. with the return of the Jazz & Books Gala at Millennium Place. It will feature a host of authors, including Mary Swan, Ania Szado (Whistler's new writer-in-residence), Patrick deWitt, Peter Zuckerman, Janet Love Morrison and Roberta Rich. After the reading there will be live music with local musicians.

"Last year, when the FE&A gave us a small amount under their experimental development fund, we were able to put the Jazz & Wine event on," Harvey says. "That was way oversold. There was a discussion for about an hour with the authors and a little bit of reading and then after that, we had a band and wine and people spent the next couple of hours talking to their favourite authors one-on-one. That experience was phenomenal."

Also on the reading roster: Crimes of Fiction, which will feature readings from crime and mystery writers like William Deverell, Robin Spano, E.R. Brown and Ian Hamilton along with lunch on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Fairmont Chateau. "I'm experimenting this year with crime writing because we haven't done that before," Harvey says. "It's close to being sold out as well. A lot of people write crime and mystery books and a lot of people read it, so that's a big draw."

The poetry session, Comes a Time: Past, Present, Future, runs on Saturday at 2:15 p.m. with the aim of examining the way different poets interpret time. Later that night, CBC radio personality and author Jian Ghomeshi will be featured in conversation with Giller Prize-winner Will Ferguson.

The marquee reading event, which also serves as the big closer, will include Ghomeshi again, this time speaking with Lisa Moore, Sue-Oakey Baker, Jane Silcott, Richard Wagamese, Genni Gunn and Meg Tilley, along with brunch on Sunday at 11 a.m.

"I've invited him in the past, but we could never make it work, mostly because of his schedule," Harvey says of Ghomeshi. "I love the show (Q) and I enjoyed his book (1982) and he commands a presence and brings in an audience all by himself. With his involvement, we're shining a light on other authors too."

The reading events range in price from $20 to $35. The workshops, meanwhile, are $25. "Accessibility for anybody is really, really important to me," Harvey, who runs the not-for-profit event with a group of volunteers, says. "I don't want somebody to say, 'I couldn't go because I couldn't afford it.'"

Last year, the workshops ran consecutively from Friday until Sunday, but for 2013 they'll take place concurrently through Saturday. That means a whole bunch of events are packed into a short amount of time. "I've had to double up on workshops because there are so many," Harvey says. "It hasn't affected the attendance at all. They're all close to full or with good numbers. None of the workshops are without participants. I think the minimum we've got is 12, which is a good number for a workshop."

To help you decide which workshops to attend, we've laid out details about the seven choices. Tickets are available at theviciouscircle.ca/collections/festival-2013-registration. Tickets for the other events can also be picked up at Armchair Books or at the Whistler Public Library.

Workshop: You Have a Manuscript, Now What

Who: Frank Edwards, Karen Haughian, Janet Love Morrison, Sue Oakey-Baker, Stella Harvey

What: The authors in this workshop have an array of experience with publishing, from the traditional route to releasing an ebook. The group will sift through the benefits and pitfalls of all the different options.

Where: Fairmont Chateau, Friday, 4 p.m., $25

Workshop: From History to Story — Writing Historical Fiction

Who: Ania Szado

What: Whistler's new writer-in-residence will discuss how to craft a story inspired by real events or characters from history. She'll help participants figure out how to choose stories and navigate the challenges of this genre.

Where: Fairmont Chateau, Saturday, 8:30 a.m., $25

Workshop: So... You want to be a magazine writer. Really?

Who: Leslie Anthony

What: Pique contributor Leslie Anthony will talk about breaking into the ever-changing world of magazines, both online and in print. Participants will look at examples of stories ranging from science and environmental topics to travel and adventure writing to learn how to navigate the industry.

Where: Fairmont Chateau, Saturday, 8:30 a.m., $25

Workshop: Writing for Young Readers

Who: Meg Tilley

What: Young adult literature can be a lucrative business, if you can tap into the teen market. Meg Tilley offers a look into the history of this genre, as well as the challenges and opportunities out there for authors.

Where: Fairmont Chateau, Saturday, 11 a.m., $25

Workshop: Memoir writing: Where to Begin?

Who: Jane Silcott

What: Aspiring memoirists will learn how to tell their personal stories — whether they're heavy or rooted in humour — with Jane Silcott. She will offer advice on getting started and where to go next.

Where: Fairmont Chateau, Saturday, 11 a.m., $25

Workshop: A Better Way to Revise

Who: Peter Zuckerman

What: This popular workshop will help non-fiction and fiction writers, along with editors, learn the best techniques for spinning a first draft into literary gold. Peter Zuckerman will lead the group through tackling problems big and small to come out with a great final product.

Where: Fairmont Chateau, Saturday, 2:15 p.m., $25

Workshop: Writing Workshop for Young Writers

Who: Meg Tilley

What: This workshop is only open to budding writers under 19. Meg Tilley will read from her own work before teaching the group about everything from creating characters to constructing a plot and building a scene.

Where: Whistler Public Library, Saturday, 2:30 p.m., Free