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Who Goes There: In Conversation

With Matthew J. Trafford, Peter Counter, David Bergen, and Shani Mootoo

Thursday, November 6
7:00PM – 10:00PM (Doors open at 6:30PM)
The Bus Stop Theatre
$15.00

Description

Two conversations about family, chosen family, constructed identities, and more. First up, it’s Matthew J. Trafford and Peter Counter (How to Restore a Timeline) chat about Trafford’s new book of short stories, Runs in the Blood. Then award-winning writers and festival faves David Bergen (Days of Feasting and Rejoicing) and Shani Mootoo (Starry, Starry Night) in conversation with each other about their new books, their past work, and much more. Presented by Starboard Wealth Planners.

Speakers

  • Matthew J. Trafford (he/him) holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia. His first collection of stories, The Divinity Gene (Douglas & McIntyre), garnered critical acclaim in the US and Canada. He continues to write and teach fiction and has recently developed a fibre arts practice, knitting and designing knitwear as Fairy Godfather Knits. He lives in Toronto, Ontario.

  • Peter Counter writes about television, video games, film, music, mental illness, horror, technology, and the occult. He is the author of two essay collections that blend criticism and memoir: How to Restore a Timeline: On Violence and Memory (2023, House of Anansi) and Be Scared of Everything: Horror Essays (2020, Invisible Publishing). His nonfiction has also appeared in The Walrus, All Lit Up, Motherboard, Art of the Title, Electric Literature, Open Book, and the anthology Empty the Pews: Stories of Leaving the Church (2019, Epiphany Publishing). You can read his most recent writing in his newsletter, Test Obituary.

  • David Bergen is the author of eleven novels and two collections of short stories. His work has been nominated for the Governor General’s Literary Award, the Impac Dublin Literary Award, and a Pushcart Prize. Among his acclaimed works are The Time in Between, The Matter with Morris, Out of Mind, and Away From the Dead. In 2018 Bergen was given the Writer’s Trust Matt Cohen Award: In Celebration of a Writing Life. His latest novel is Days of Feasting and Rejoicing.

  • Shani Mootoo was born in Ireland, raised in Trinidad, and has lived in Canada for more than forty years. She is the author of several novels, including her most recent Starry Starry Night, Polar Vortex, and Cereus Blooms at Night which is now a Penguin Modern Classic and a Vintage Classics book. Her work has been long and shortlisted for the Booker Prize, The Giller Prize, the Lambda Literary Prize, and the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, among others. Her poetry books include Oh Witness Dey!, Cane | Fire, and The Predicament of Or. She has been awarded the Doctor of Letters honoris causa degree from Western University, is a recipient of Lambda Literary's James Duggins Outstanding Mid-Career Novelist Prize, the Writers' Trust Engel Findley Award, and The National Library’s Library and Archives Scholar Award. She lives in Southern Ontario, Canada.