Bookworm Literary Festival: Cancellations and Additions

The Bookworm has just informed us of a few changes to the program of this year's literary festival. We're especially sad to see that Alain Mabanckou, author of Memoirs of a Porcupine won't be attending. The details we received from the Bookworm are listed below.

Cancellations

Unfortunately Alain Mabanckou, Keith Gessen and Jeremy Goldkorn will no longer be participating in BLF 2013. The Bookworm will be finding substitutes for the panels on which the latter two were participating.

Additions

Friday, March 15, 3pm: The Secret Book of Frida Kahlo – F.G. Haghenbeck
Mexican novelist F.G. Haghenbeck used Frida Kahlo’s own notebooks, “The Hierba Santa Book’ discovered after her death to create this beautiful and imaginative account of the legendary artist’s passionate life. Haghenbeck takes readers on a magical ride through her long and tumultuous relationship with Diego Rivera, the development of her art, her complex personality, her hunger for experience, and her ardent feminism. Haghenbeck joins us to discuss Kahlo and how her life and work has inspired him. RMB 65

Tuesday, March 19, 1pm: All This Belongs to Me - Petra Hůlová
Petra Hůlová’s novel All This Belongs to Me was a blockbuster sensation in her native Czechloslovakia. The novel follows five women and their epic lives, as they move from Mongolia's harsh, dusty steppe to the clamor and grime of the capital, Ulaanbantar; from nomadic herding and felt tents to brothels and prefab apartment blocks. Hůlová draws on her own experiences living in Mongolia to beautifully portray the landscapes and lives of three generations of women. From the pride of the Mongolian warrior past and the Mongol empire under Ghengis Khan to the poverty of its present as a post-Soviet state, from the shamanism and Buddhism of traditional Mongol culture to the alcoholism and prostitution of urban life today, All This Belongs to Me is a sprawling and captivating look into Mongolia by one of Europe’s most exciting, young novelists. RMB 65

Thursday, March 21, 6pm: Javier Moro in conversation
Spanish writer Javier Moro is known for his prize-winning novels and hard-hitting journalism. His work has covered protecting the Amazon rainforest (Paths of Freedom), the impact of the world’s deadliest industrial disaster (Five Past Midnight in Bhopal) and the remarkable story of two Tibetan nuns who trekked through the Himalayas in their search from freedom. His latest novel El imperio eres tú won the Premio Planeta in 2011. Join us to hear Moro on his in depth research on his fascinating body of work. RMB 65

Tickets to the festival are currently on sale at the Bookworm.

Photo: Voir.ca