Kingston WritersFest inaugurates KWF Presents ahead of their fall festival.
On Aug. 19, Kingston Writers Fest (KWF) hosted acclaimed Canadian authors Yann Martel and Iain Reid at the Spire in their new year-round series, KWF Presents, to discuss the themes of their most recent books, Son of Nobody and A New Kind of Clean.
The Spire’s sprawling ceilings and gothic design was the perfect location to discuss these books and their intricate, grandiose concepts. The orchestra section quickly filled up as the crowd started to arrive.
Shortly after 7:00 p.m., the director of KWF, Bruce Geddes, took the stage to announce that the Fest is set to begin in October and expressed his enthusiasm for the lineup of authors they have in store.
He also introduced their PEN Chair; it was an empty seat with a portrait of Dawit Issak, an Eritrean playwright and journalist who was imprisoned without trial and has been incarcerated since 2001. His portrait serves to remind the audience that free speech is at risk when authors and journalists are targeted unjustly, highlighting their main festival’s theme, “Words Bring Down Walls.”
Shortly after, moderator Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer, Yann Martel, and Iain Reid were welcomed to the stage. With the event only lasting an hour and fifteen minutes, Kuitenbrouwer started straight away with questions.
The first question was broad to open many pathways of discussion: “What is a novel for?”
Although both authors answered the question in a roundabout way, in the end, they both stated a belief that writing novels helps them understand the purpose of a novel.
Martel approached his critically acclaimed 2001 novel Life of Pi with hopes of understanding topics like religion, animal biology, and life at sea. Reid seeks to understand what he, as a reader, finds compelling about a book.
Both authors then discussed their different approaches to co-creativity, the process of reader interpretations and contributions changing the way a story is perceived. Reid noted that his new book being co-authored by Ellie Foumbi changed the entire reading experience. For Martel, readers’ ideas about his books impacted the way he began to think about his own characters.
Son of Nobody and A New Kind of Clean are very different on paper. Reid’s book follows a struggling actress while Martel’s protagonist is a classicist and a soldier in the Trojan War. Despite their different premises, ambition is a theme they both have in common.
Both novels explore how ambition requires sacrifices. Noble or otherwise, these sacrifices were deemed essential to bolster the characters and bring them towards their end goal. “Ambition in doses is healthy,” Reid shared with the audience. “But it can also corrupt.”
Audience questions were saved for the event’s remaining time, which greatly broadened the discussion. Martel and Reid answered questions about their favourite childhood books and their respective writing processes. They gave advice to aspiring writers and laughed along to anecdotes from the crowd.
With the question period complete, audience members had the opportunity to purchase copies of both books and have them signed by the authors.
The audience left the event with more than just insight into the new novels. As both authors explained, the creative process continues long after a book reaches its shelves and involves every individual reader’s perspective in communicating meaning.
The inaugural event of KWF Presents successfully laid the groundwork for the festival later this year, beginning on Oct. 1.
Tags
A New Kind of Clean, Iain Reid, Kingston Writers Fest, KWF, KWF Presents, Son of Nobody, The Spire, Yann Martel
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