Staff Picks from Sandra Paire

Sandra Paire is the Manager of Wordfest’s French programming and youth program including First Calgary Financial Book Rapport. And she’s always on the lookout for variety when it comes to books and literary events.

I guess one can say I am an eclectic reader, turning pages of various genres. I read children lit for work and pleasure, and I read so-called adult books for fun and interest. I like novels for the escape it provides.

And so picking only one or two events from the Wordfest calendar is a bit tricky for Sandra.

Among the children’s lit events, I want to see Anna Dewdney and Marianne Dubuc; their books are clearly intended for a very young audience, but they also appeal to me not just by the quality of the stories, but also by the beautiful illustrations bringing the words to life.

Sandra is also looking forward to seeing Veronica Roth at the Knox in conversation with Tahereh Mafi.

Two young successful writers in the YA scene, Veronica Roth and Tahereh Mafi seem to have a very different personality and writing style. Yet, they engage teenagers and the young at hear to explore worlds, words and reflections with memorable characters that make the story come alive.

Among the French events, she is looking forward to seeing the teen lit pairing of Fabian Gregoire & Christiane Duchesne. And among the so-called “grown-up” events, she can’t wait to hear what the Wordfest artists share at Writers and Mixtapes: Pechakucha Style!

The event features some of my favourite authors such as Jonathan Auxier, Andrew Kaufman and Sean Michaels (Scotiabank Giller Prize finalist). Just these three writers are so different from one another that the mix of personalities, genres and presentation styles are sure to be spellbinding.

Please visit the links below for more information about Sandra’s picks for Wordfest 2014.

Related Posts