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2020 Festival: October 19 - 25

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Don’t miss RBC Bronwen Wallace Award winner Noor

Don’t miss RBC Bronwen Wallace Award winner Noor Naga’s bracing debut: a novel-in-verse about a young woman’s romantic relationship with a married man and her ensuing crisis of faith. Coocoo’s faith is threadbare after years of bargaining with God to end her loneliness and receiving no answer; then, she meets the married Muhammad. Heartbreaking and hilarious, "Washes, Prays" chronicles Coocoo’s spiraling descent: the transformation of her love into something at first desperate and obsessive, then finally cringing and animal, utterly without grace. #VWF2020 #noornaga #washesprays

Sara wants one thing: to be normal. What she has i

Sara wants one thing: to be normal. What she has instead are multiple diagnoses from her doctor that cause her to isolate herself. She rarely speaks at school, and doesn’t have any friends. When she starts group therapy, she meets talkative and outgoing Erin, who doesn’t believe in “normal.” Suddenly, Sara finds herself at the movies, at a birthday party, and with someone to talk about her crush with. But there’s more to Erin than her cheerful exterior, and Sara wonders if helping Erin will mean sacrificing their friendship. From Wesley King, the Edgar Award–winning author of "OCDaniel," named a Bank Street Best Book of the Year and Canada’s Silver Birch Award recipient. #VWF2020 #saraandthesearchfornormal #wesleyking

From the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize-winning author

From the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize-winning author of "The Lost Ones," Sheena Kamal: Trisha is trying to break the cycle of violence in her family by channeling her impulses into kickboxing. Her father comes and goes from their house, every punch he lands on her mother carving itself indelibly into Trisha’s mind. But one night he wanders out drunk in front of Trisha’s car while she’s practicing driving and is killed, and her mother seems strangely at peace. Trisha doesn’t know what happened, but she’s afraid it’s going to happen again because her mom has a new man in her life and the pattern is repeating. #VWF2020 #sheenakamal #fightlikeagirl

"Hope Matters: Why Changing the Way We Think is Cr

"Hope Matters: Why Changing the Way We Think is Critical to Solving the Environmental Crisis" boldly breaks through the narrative of doom and gloom that has overtaken conversations about our future to show why hope, not fear, is our most powerful tool for tackling the planetary crisis. Award-winning author, scholar, and educator Elin Kelsey reveals the collateral damage of despair—from young people who honestly believe they have no future to the link between climate anxiety and hyper-consumerism—and argues that the catastrophic environmental news that dominates the media tells only part of the story. #VWF2020 #hopematters #elinkelsey

Multi-award winning author and inaugural Massey Le

Multi-award winning author and inaugural Massey Lectures speaker Thomas King introduces readers to Bird and Mimi in "Indians on Vacation," a brilliant, poignant new novel on personal and political histories. Inspired by postcards sent by their Uncle Leroy nearly a hundred years earlier, the couple attempt to trace Leroy and the family medicine bundle he took with him to Europe. Witty, sly and powerful, this tale follows one couple’s wanderings through Europe’s famous capitals to reveal a complicated past, present and future. #VWF2020 #thomasking #indiansonvacation

In 2015, Steven Heighton, the Governor General’s

In 2015, Steven Heighton, the Governor General’s Literary Award-winning poet of The Waking Comes Late, volunteered on the frontlines of the Syrian refugee crisis, on the isle of Lesvos in Greece. Heighton worked on the landing beaches and in a camp providing meals, clothes, and rest to refugees after their crossing from Turkey. Heighton—alongside locals and under-equipped aid workers—found himself in emergency roles for which he was woefully unqualified. This is an account of the crisis and an exploration of the borders that divide us and the ties that bind. #VWF2020 #reachingmithymna #stevenheighton

Inspired by Petra Kelly, the original Green Party

Inspired by Petra Kelly, the original Green Party leader who fought for the planet in 1980s Germany, "Petra" is a captivating new novel about a woman who changed history and transformed environmental politics—and who, like many history-changing women, has been largely erased. Shaena Lambert, a former Rogers Writers Trust Fiction Award finalist and the bestselling author of "Radiance," takes readers back to the Cold War era to explore love, jealousy and the power of social change led by a woman taking on world superpowers while grappling with her own complex nature and love. #VWF2020 #petra #shaenalambert

MEMBER EVENT SEPTEMBER 12! Two old friends reconne

MEMBER EVENT SEPTEMBER 12! Two old friends reconnect in Dublin for a dramatic, revealing evening of confidences—some planned, some spontaneous—in this captivating new book from Roddy Doyle, author of the Booker Prize-winning novel "Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha." Old friends Joe and Davy meet up one night at a Dublin restaurant and discover that while they are not the men they used to be, the memories of their past are anything but gone. Love offers a moving portrait of what it means to put into words the many forms love can take throughout our lives. #VWFBookClub #VWF2020 #RoddyDoyle

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