In Library Square, at the corner of Homer and Robson, authors, publishers and editors found themselves with an overcast sky and the persistent beating of Vancouver rain. Despite the grim weather, book readers and literary arts lovers gathered around their favourite authors and conversed with advocacy groups while kids ran in flocks toward the children’s literary booths.
This year marked the 24th annual Word Vancouver event. Like many local literary arts festivals, Word Vancouver created a space in which curious passersby could wander into booths casually, browsing through the diverse array of organizations seated under the vibrant red tents.
Walking around, an attendee could spend a generous amount of time at each booth engaging in literary discussions or casual conversations and still lack enough hours in the day to gain a full experience of the festival.
Local author J.C. McKenzie sat behind one of the long tables, showcasing her collection of paranormal romance novels, encased in ziplock bags to protect them from the rain. This year’s event was McKenzie’s first, after moving back to Vancouver from residing in Saskatchewan for three years. Despite the dark covers of her books, McKenzie’s inviting smile and visible passion for her craft drew attendees to her booth.
“I’m not expecting to sell a lot of books with this beautiful weather,” she said, laughing. “But everyone who walks by is going to see our banner. They’re going to see my covers and maybe later, they will see it again and be like ‘Oh yeah, I saw something about that,’ and just kind of triggers that familiarity as something that they might want to check out.”
Literary arts festivals are part of a niche community and for some avid bookworms, these events might be recent discoveries.
“I didn’t know these things existed. I think that I lived in a little isolated world,” McKenzie confessed. “You don’t get together with buddies to read a good book. I always read on my own and just devoured books on my own. I never thought there’d be events like this.”
Being in the presence of talented literary figures, you can feel the excitement of a shared collective adoration for literature, for the act of writing and for a community of storytellers.
“Talk to other like-minded people, talk to other authors, see what’s out there,” McKenzie said. “It’s quite a neat community to be a part of.”