Fictioneering: The Art of Darkness

Fictioneering: The Art of Darkness

With Victoria Hetherington & Neil Smith. Hosted by Zsuzsi Gartner

From the complexity of human/AI relationships to the effects of multiple concussions on an athlete’s brain, Victoria Hetherington and Eugene Marten use their extraordinary facility with language to set off fireworks inside readers’ heads. 

The dark side of humanity is excavated to stunning effect in Hetherington’s second novel, Autonomy, and Marten’s latest, Pure Life. In Autonomy, the near future is an increasingly alarming place due to environmental chaos, an encroaching plague, and irreversible class strife. Pure Life plumbs the depths of one man’s journey into the centre of a personal darkness. Marten has long been celebrated for his unforgettable prose style, and Scotiabank Giller-Prize winner Michael Redhill says “Autonomy is a beautifully written and profoundly enthralling novel that made me wonder if Joan Didion had started writing literary fiction.” How often can you call philosophical and metaphysical novels thrilling? 

This explosive 60-minute showcase, hosted by Zsuzsi Gartner, includes an audience Q&A and book signing.

This event is part of Wordfest’s Imaginairium festival, Sept. 29 – Oct. 6, 2022. Connect with 60+ of the world’s most generous writers, thinkers, activators and inspirers, gathered just for you in Calgary, Canada. For more info: wordfest.com