The Word from Word on the Street: National Book and Magazine Festival (Vancouver)

Posted by Lima Al-Azzeh Sep 29, 2008

Sunday September 28th 2008, a beautiful sunny day in Vancouver with a slight crisp in the air and the unmistakable buzz of excitement from book and magazine vendors setting up their tents for the annual Word on the Street: National Book and Magazine Festival.

Taking up three city blocks surrounding the enormous Vancouver Public Library, this year’s festival offered a great selection of books and magazines to be discovered and enjoyed by kids and adults alike. Suite101.com had a booth right in the thick of the action where we were able to spread the word on who we are and what we can offer writers, editors and curious readers.

Some highlights of this year’s festival included the annual “Book Bag Treasure Hunt” wherein a lucky 250 people lined up to purchase a $20 book bag that allowed them to search for vendors who offered free books and magazines to fill up their sack of treasures. It was a delight to see so many people, of all ages, scavenging around, ticking off lists and filling up their bag of goodies. The excitement was palpable and reminiscent of the kind of eager anticipation of Christmas morning or post trick-or-treat Halloween.

The “Stop-Look-Listen” mini-stages with live performances by various poets and short-story writers were equally thrilling. Among the enthusiastic performances was Michael J.P. Hall’s dramatic reading of his creative non-fiction story “Bukowski My Boilermaker”—a story that awarded him winner of SubTerrain Magazine’s “Lush Triumphant” contest.

Of great interest and enjoyment were the surreal art and illustrations of Kristian Adam. Perched in the middle of walking traffic, this artist had a show-stopping crowd parked on the sidewalk watching as he painted beautiful and enigmatic pictures. The appearance of such an artist proved that coordinators of Word on the Street understand that the passion of art and creativity has many mediums.

This year’s festival was certainly driven by a powerful desire to spread the importance of literacy to book and magazine lovers of all ages; and as always, it is an honour to be a part of an event that seeks to reveal the power and beauty of the written word.