Yann Martel

march 16, 2016 (7:30 PM – 9:00 PM)
Two novelists share imaginative works that take the reader on a road trip to faraway places. Yann Martel, author of the international bestseller Life of Pi, will read from The High Mountains of Portugal, which explores the interconnected lives of individuals caught up in ancient Portuguese mysteries. Additionally, Claudia Casper will read from The Mercy Journals, an unsettling novel that uses a sparse, dystopic landscape to explore questions of morality and forgiveness.

Part of Incite: An Exploration of Books and Ideas series. (starfishian)… (more)

Yann Martel (Life of Pi, Beatrice & Virgil)

The award-winning author of four previous books, the most recent of which is What Is Stephen Harper Reading?, Yann Martel was born in Spain in 1963. He studied philosophy at Trent University, worked at odd jobs - tree planter, dishwasher, security guard - and travelled widely before turning to writing. He was awarded the Journey Prize for the title story in The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios. His second novel, Life of Pi, won the 2002 Man Booker, among other prizes.Yann Martel lives in Saskatoon with the writer Alice Kuipers and their son. (added from Random House)… (more)

Yann Martel discusses Beatrice and Virgil.

“My book is about representations of the Holocaust. The event is gone; we are left with stories about it. My book is about a new choice of stories.” So says the narrator of Yann Martel’s novel Beatrice & Virgil, and so says the Mann Booker Prize-winning author himself about his book which, as soon as it hit the shelves, sparked much discussion and debate about the limits of representation. To his critics, Martel responds: “By freeing up our representations of the Holocaust we will secure, overall, a greater, more nuanced and useful understanding of it.” Join this thoughtful and respected author for a discussion of allegory and glean new insights into the nature of storytelling itself. Tickets $25. (thebookpile)… (more)

Yann Martel discusses Darwin’s Bastards: Astounding Tales from Tomorrow.

Zsuzsi Gartner has selected and edited a collection of twenty-three short stories entitled Darwin’s Bastards: Astounding Tales from Tomorrow. Today she joins in conversation with five of the authors included in the collection who are not normally known for writing about an exploration of future times. They will talk about the genesis of their speculative writing and breaking the bounds of realism. “What if...?” becomes “and then...” in these stories. From Yann Martel’s “We Ate the Children Last” to Anosh Irani’s “Notes from the Womb,” the collection shows that the Canadian imagination can be as wildly inventive as any on earth―or off the planet, for that matter. Suitable for Grades 10 to 12 and adults. $17 / $8.50 for student groups (thebookpile)… (more)

Yann Martel discusses Beatrice and Virgil.

Put four deep thinkers on the same stage, each armed with a new novel and big ideas, and you’ve got the makings of a great evening. Orange Prize winner Andrea Levy and Mann Booker Prize winner Yann Martel join one of Europe’s leading cultural philosophers, Claudio Magris, who has won the Premio Viaregio Tobino (writer of the year) and Andrew O’Hagan, who has been shortlisted for the Booker, the impac Dublin and the Whitbread. Their novels tackle big ideas from the Holocaust to slavery to American culture to the nature of revolution. This is a quintessential Writers Festival event that will draw the best from the world’s leading writers. Tickets $19. (thebookpile)… (more)