© the other press e Culture November 19, 2003 Inspiration with a Touch of Discontent— Life’s Like That Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival Colleen Smith OP Contributor Recently I attended two events at the “Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival. In previous years I was too busy or broke, so this year I made a concerted effort to select several events from the myriad of options. Entertainment was my objective as I decided to attend Tomson Highway in Conversation with Hal Wake, adver- tised as “a rare opportunity” and Iconoclasts in Conversation, that was Douglas Coupland, local boy done good, with Irvine Welsh, Scottish author of Trainspotting and other equal- ly successful novels with similarly unique characters. I admit I had high expectations, believing I chose two of the most preferred events from the 55 selections. My first outing was Tomson Highway in the Waterfront Theatre. I had seen him previously on a television interview and found him to be candid and self- effacing despite his accomplishments. His foremost success has been as one of our country’s leading playwrights. He has also recently completed the last in a trilogy of bilingual children’s books written in Cree and English, and his first novel The Kiss of the Fur Queen was a bestseller. Highway was immediately engaging, and I was thankful I sat near the front. He speaks quickly at times, his remarks having a melodic rhythm, and to follow his meaning requires rapt attention. The hour-long event was too short; he discussed his early life in northern Manitoba, linguistic activism, living in France, and his belief that a rebirth of the female God is influencing society today. An explanation to a revival he perceives is taking place in the arts and many creative pursuits worldwide. His performance was filled with an intense amount of energy, profound ideas, and provocative beliefs. Highway acknowl- edges his respect for his ancestry, but does not consent to a perspective of vic- timization, regardless of having endured residential schools himself. It is appar- ent that he “is” what he “does.” The art he creates is clearly an extension of his “self.” Highway emanates the unique- ness of living his particular life by hon- ouring its rareness and manifesting its power and magnificence. Two days later I saw Coupland and Welsh at Performance Works. Gavin Wallace introduced the authors and momentarily discussed the label Welsh and Coupland were branded with for the event—iconoclasts. Neither author seemed to know what it meant. Go fig- ure. Coupland presented first and was faithful to the radical distinction by telling everyone he wore his shirt inside out. Wow, that was pretty ground breaking. He seemed rather self- absorbed, mentioning he was an “artist” or had attended “art” college at least three times during the event, and I began to question his intent—should not “art” speak for itself—if you have to tell everyone it’s art, is it in fact art? To be honest, I was disappointed at what appeared to be his ad-hoc presentation. He seemed ill prepared to speak to an audience, desperately always needing something from the host. I preferred his anecdotal stories about performance art and everyone's ability to “do it.” One of the most successful accounts was his description of being in a restaurant and dropping cutlery on the table similar to a child dropping pick-up sticks. His point was succinctly and humorously made as he described asking the waitress to perfectly recreate the resulting sculpture. Finally, as he read an excerpt from an early short story collection, Polaroids from the Dead, | was reminded of why I wanted to attend this event. Coupland’s writing is evoca- tive and his characters challenge us to rethink our perceptions of the people we know as well as ourselves. Irvine Welsh’s segment and readings were incendiary and entertaining. He unabashedly read with vigor and enthu- siasm—the efforts of his rogue charac- ters struggling for self in an indifferent world was palpable. He was my dark horse at the festival, having not read any of his material previously. Iconoclasm was conspicuous with his work, and his discussion with Coupland highlighted its accuracy. Welsh remarked that the vulgar language of his characters within a society that distinguishes class systems was the manifestation of the weaker groups power. The words were only words, he argued, neither good nor bad. Based on his reading and insights, I am eager to read his books. I came away from these events with a developing perspective about artists and their goals with their work. As I began writing my review of these two events, I realized I had let my emotions generat- ed during the presentations dictate my opinion of each experience. I appreciate that all points of reference are necessary nonetheless, and the festival provides a rare opportunity to explore up close worlds we might otherwise neglect. Heiee: Page 18 e http://www.otherpress.ca Travel On An Amazing International Program! Are YOU ready? to discover other countries and other regions of Canada? to learn about social justice and development issues? to live and work with people from other cultures? Canada World Youth has international volunteer programs for youth 17-24. Contact CWY at www.cwy-jcm.org or toll free 1-866-7-VOYAGE. Apply now for programs that start summer 2004! 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