Photo by Joy Gyamfi
By Rebecca Peng
From March 8 to 17, more than a hundred of Canada’s most groundbreaking authors will convene in Vancouver for the third Growing Room Festival. The only feminist literary festival in North America, Growing Room is dedicated to centring marginalized voices. All ten festival days are packed with incredible celebrations of the bold visionaries— both emerging and established—shaping our literary futures.
Fully committed to inclusion and accessibility, most of Growing Room’s 50+ events are also pay-what-you-can or by-donation. With so many options, including panels, workshops, manuscript consultations and an opening night dance party, it can be hard to know where to begin. Here are eight must-see events to get you started.
Venue: Red Gate Revue Stage
Date: Saturday, March 9, 11:00am – 8:30pm
A reading series dedicated to raising the voices of Indigenous women, Two Spirit and queer writers, Indigenous Brilliance celebrates its one-year anniversary with a full day of festivities. Featuring poets, writers, singers, visual artists, academics, beadworkers, medicine makers, and more, this festival highlight includes four readings on a variety of genres and topics. It’s a celebration you won’t want to miss!
Venue: Native Education College
Date: Saturday, March 9, 1:30pm – 3:30pm
Andrea Warner moderates this incisive panel, which interrogates our culture’s obsession with one kind of body—the young, thin, white, able body. Authors Lucas Crawford, Jónína Kirton, Arley McNeney and Hana Shafi will explore how body politics influence what stories we value, and speak to the ways we might creatively shift these narrow expectations and make radical, meaningful change.
Venue: Red Gate Revue Stage
Date: Sunday, March 10, 7:30pm – 9:30pm
Whitney French, editor of the new Black Writers Matter anthology, hosts this spectacular evening of readings. Crossing genres and challenging expectations, Siobhan Barker, Cicely Belle Blain, Chantal Gibson, Robyn Maynard and Rabbit Richards promise an unforgettable night of poetry and prose, showcasing the vastness and variety of the Black Canadian experience.
Venue: Red Gate Revue Stage
Date: Monday, March 11, 4:30pm – 6:30pm
In a society that still wrestles with strict boundaries on femininity and gender, this panel convenes five trailblazing womxn writers. Attentive to the ignored, the maligned and the derided, these authors address the importance of characters that challenge our expectations and share creative strategies for resisting invisibility.
Transcendent: Writing & Surviving in a Cissexist Society
Venue: Red Gate Revue Stage
Date: Tuesday, March 12, 7:30pm – 9:30pm
Serena Lukas Bhandar, Ivan Coyote, Lorimer Shenher and jaye simpson reflect on questions including: What cisgender narratives are they writing back to? How do they balance the power, demands and vulnerability of visibility – both on the page and as public figures? Join these four accomplished authors as they speak to the unique rewards and challenges of writing as and for trans and genderfluid individuals.
Dream Me a Dream: Literary Futurisms
Venue: Annex Theatre
Date: Wednesday, March 13, 7:30pm – 9:30pm
How do we write the futures we desire? How do we turn our dreams into words – and our words into better tomorrows? Moderated by Jessica Johns, panelists Eden Robinson, Serena Lukas Bhandar and Brandi Bird dive into the power of radical imaginings and how our dreams can build new realities.
Venue: Massy Books
Date: Thursday, March 14, 7:30pm – 9:30pm
Guided by experienced writers and theatre performers, The Shoe Project empowers immigrant and refugee women to put their experiences of migration and settlement into performance. At this special reading, six women from Eritrea, Kurdistan, Bangladesh, Syria and Tibet share their life stories and their perspectives on life in Canada.
Whatever Gets You Through Book Launch
Venue: Native Education College
Date: Saturday, March 16, 4:30pm – 6:30pm
Celebrate the launch of Whatever Gets You Through, a first-of-its-kind collection of essays. Twelve award-winning authors reflect on the enduring effects of sexual assault—the weeks, months and years that follow—and how to get through. A non-judgemental exploration of the innumerable ways survivors cope, endure and heal, this collection offers hope and solidarity. Join some of the contributors at this uplifting launch, where snacks and refreshments are provided.
Growing Room 2019 takes place March 8-17 on the traditional, unceded, and ancestral territory of the Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh, and Squamish peoples. To view the full event calendar and reserve tickets please visit the Festival website.