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The Word On The Street has been renowned for the quality and diversity of its event programming and our 2024 festival promises to offer the best so far. Check out our schedule for Saturday, September 21, 2024!
In this series of fascinating and beautifully written essays about his deep desire for meaningful connection with the natural world , his steadfast commitment to protecting the wilderness, and his life on this vast and precious planet, Legault invites us to explore the intricate relationships that develop between people and place when we immerse ourselves in wild nature. Whether comfortably ensconced in a favourite easy chair or bedded down by a raging river under a canopy of stars, readers will slip between sheer canyon walls, walk a wind-torn ridge high in the mountains, meet Blondie the grizzly bear, and perhaps discover their feral selves and the possibilities for a better future that this awakening might bring.
Stephen Legault is a full-time conservation and climate activist, professional photographer, writing instructor and political organizer. He has published fifteen books, including the highly acclaimed Running Toward Stillness, Carry Tiger to Mountain: The Tao of Activism and Leadership, and Where Rivers Meet: Photographs and Stories from the Bow Valley and Kananaskis Country. He is also an accomplished fiction writer whose works include The Red Rock Canyon Mysteries and The Cole Blackwater Mystery series. Stephen Legault currently works as Senior Manager, Alberta Energy Transition, for a national environmental advocacy organization. He and his wife, Jenn, live in Canmore, Alberta, where they raised their two sons, Rio and Silas.
In the Lake District, someone’s laying on a deadly welcome…
The cast and crew of a popular TV crime drama are shooting in the Lake District – but behind the scenes, relationships are as tense as on-screen. The director’s reputation proceeds him, the two lead stars are feuding and rumours swirl.
Meanwhile the locals are enjoying the filming – Amita Kahtri and her friends from Penrith Bingo Club are becoming social media stars with their behind the scenes pictures from filming – although her son-in-law, Jason is taking it all with a pinch of salt.
But when on-screen slaughter gets swapped for real-life murder at the concert hall where the TV drama is based, and the genuine police are as baffled as the TV detectives, it falls to the locals to search for the truth. It seems like a taste of fame can be deadly – but what happens when a killer’s plots are wilder than anything the writers can dream up?
JONATHAN WHITELAW is a writer, award-winning journalist and broadcaster. After working on the frontline of Scottish politics, he moved into journalism, covering everything from sports to music to radioactive waste – and everything in between. He’s also a regular reviewer, panelist and commentator. Find him on twitter @JDWhitelaw13.
Young Ryan Fox gets good grades, but he’s not sure what he wants to be when he grows up. It isn’t until he meets a Blackfoot doctor during a school assembly that he starts to dream big.
However, becoming a doctor isn’t easy. University takes Ryan away from his family and the Siksikaitsitapi community, and without their support, he begins to struggle. Faced with more stress than he’s ever experienced, he turns to partying. Distracted from his responsibilities, his grades start to slip. His bills pile up. Getting into med school feels impossible. And now his beloved uncle is in jail. Can Ryan regain his footing to walk the path he saw so clearly as a boy?
GITZ CRAZYBOY “M.Ed” (he/him/his) is a Siksikaitsitapi (Blackfoot) and Dene father and Indigenous Educator from Mohkínsstsisi (Calgary). Gitz’s passion and purpose is helping, guiding, and most importantly, learning from the next generation, and he has held many positions within the youth education profession.
As an activist, Gitz is known for his leadership and participation in establishing the Bear Clan Patrol in Calgary, as well as organizing with the Idle No More movement. He has spent most of his life learning and living with different Indigenous Nations around the world. His travels have taken him to Germany, Ecuador, Guyana, Puerto Rico, and sacred spaces all over North America.
Currently Gitz resides in Calgary and is actively reconnecting with his Siksikaits-itapi roots. He believes the truth of who we are can be found in the beautiful things our ancestors carried—riddles, mysteries, ceremonies, songs, medicine, love, life, and laughter.
Finnian Burnett’s work explores the intersections of the human body, mental health, and gender identity. Their novella-in-flash, The Clothes Make the Man, shortlisted for the Bath novella-in-flash awards and was published by Ad Hoc Fiction. Their most recent collection, The Price of Cookies, is available through Off Topic Publishing. Finnian is a recipient of the Canada Council for the Arts grant, a finalist in the 2023 CBC nonfiction prize, and a 2024 Pushcart nominee. Finn is obsessed with the structure of flash fiction and believes absolutely anyone can write a flash fiction story by following the flash fiction roadmap.
When not writing or teaching, Finnian enjoys walking, Star Trek, and cat memes. Finn can be found at www.finnburnett.com
