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Home Festival & Events The Festival of Literary Diversity Registration 7. Better Bring the Book Club

7. Better Bring the Book Club

An engaging conversion with authors of some of the most engaging novels from the past year. [CC]

 

Session Description

The only thing better than finding a good book is sharing that good book with friends. Covering different genres and styles, novelists Sheena Kamal, Adnan Khan, Sonya Lalli and Mona Awad will leave you (and your book club) with plenty to talk about in a conversation with Ann Y K Choi – author and co-founder of the Authors Book Club.

Friday, May 1st : 4:00pm – 5:30pm EST

This event has already taken place. Thank you to all who attended! Find other events to attend and view the full schedule of events here.

Featured Speaker(s)

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Mona Awad
Bio
Sheena Kamal
Sheena Kamal
Bio
AKhan
Adnan Khan
Bio
SLalli
Sonya Lalli
Bio
AnnYKChoi
Ann Y K Choi
Bio
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Mona Awad

Mona Awad is the author of the novels Bunny and Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl, which won the Amazon Best First Novel Award and was shortlisted for the Scotia Bank Giller Prize. Bunny was named a best book of 2019 by TIME Magazine, Vogue, CBC Books and Quill & Quire. It is a finalist for a Goodreads Choice Award for Best Horror and is being adapted for television by AMC.

Mona will be appearing in Better Bring the Book Club and Fractured Fairy Tales.

Sheena Kamal

Sheena Kamal

Sheena Kamal’s writing has been featured in The Guardian, Bustle, The Irish Times, Writer’s Digest and Entertainment Weekly. Her bestselling debut novel The Lost Ones won her a 2018 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize, a Strand Magazine Critics Award and Macavity Award for Best First Novel. The sequel It All Falls Down was called “a stunning, emotionally resonant thriller” in its Kirkus starred review. In 2020, expect her next thriller No Going Back, and her first YA novel, Fight Like A Girl.

Sheena will appear in Words Without Borders and Better Bring the Book Club.

AKhan

Adnan Khan

Adnan Khan has written for Maisonneuve, The Globe and Mail, Hazlitt, and others. There Has To Be a Knife is his first novel.

Adnan is appearing in Better Bring the Book Club and Fighting In-Justice with Fiction.

SLalli

Sonya Lalli

Sonya Lalli is a Canadian writer of Indian heritage. She studied law in her hometown of Saskatoon and at Columbia University in New York, and later completed an MA in Creative Writing and Publishing at City, University of London. Sonya loves to cook, travel and practice yoga. She lives in Toronto with her husband.

Sonya will appear in Better Bring the Book Club.

AnnYKChoi

Ann Y K Choi

Ann Y.K. Choi’s novel, Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety, was a finalist for the Toronto Book Award. She is the co-founder of The Authors’ Book Club, an initiative that aims to connect readers with authors across Canada. She lives in Toronto.

Ann is moderating Better Bring the Book Club.

The FOLD is a remarkable and wonderful event for authors and attendees alike. What an amazing community, dedicated to the vital need for inclusive stories and the critical role they play in building a better world.

Soraya Chemaly, author of Rage Becomes Her

Field Guide to the North American Teenager is my first novel and FOLD was my first Canadian literary festival. While American and Canadian culture overlap quite a bit, especially when it comes to bookshelves, Canadian literature is unique and I was very heartened by to be embraced by that community I consider home despite residing in the US. It was a homecoming I didn’t know I needed!

Ben Philippe, author of Field Guide to the North American Teenager

The Festival of Literary Diversity was an absolute joy–the organizers thought of *everything* and by anticipating authors’ needs, they freed us to focus on connecting with the audience and each other. There was no pretension, no posturing–just very genuine conversations with invested writers and engaged readers.

Zetta Elliott, author of Dragons in a Bag

I have been to a lot of writers festivals and the FOLD is definitely near the top of the list of those I want to be invited back to.

Harold Johnson, author of the memoirs Clifford and Firewater

Being part of such a clearly diverse, inclusive and mutually respectful group was thrilling and inspiring: a glimpse of a better world.

Kathy Page, author of Dear Evelyn, winner of the 2018 Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize

Wherever I go in Canada and find another writer of colour, we eventually end up gushing about how great the FOLD is, how by normalizing diversity it liberates us to talk to audiences about craft. It’s hard to imagine the literary landscape returning to a prehistoric pre-FOLD era.

Ian Williams, Author of the Giller Prize-winning novel Reproduction

FOLD is a festival experience unlike any other I’ve had. The FOLD team strive to create a space that’s welcoming and engaging, while allowing for curiosity, ingenuity and the fostering of real community – and they succeed, every year.

Alicia Elliott, author of A Mind Spread Out On The Ground

The FOLD is one of the most important literary events on this continent. By focusing on diverse voices and giving authors space to share their stories and speak their truths, it is revolutionizing the writing and storytelling realm as we know it.

Waubgeshig Rice, author of Moon Of The Crusted Snow

Being part of the FOLD community has provided me with a strong sense of belonging. Sharing diverse stories and listening to different voices that broaden my understanding of the world has impacted me as a person and motivated me as a writer.

Ann Y.K. Choi, author of Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety

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