Wendy Erskine is the author of two short story collections; Sweet Home (2018) and Dance Move (2022). Sweet Home won the 2020 Butler Literary Award, was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize 2019 and longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize 2019. The story ‘Inakeen’ was longlisted for the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Prize 2019. Sweet Home was Book of the Year in the Guardian, The White Review, Observer, New Statesman, and TLS. 

Wendy Erskine’s Festival appearance is generously supported by Culture Ireland.

Wendy Erskine will appear in the following events:

Time and the Short Story, with Wendy Erskine
October 1 at 3:30pm, Main Loft

Youthful Confusion: Stéfanie Clermont & Wendy Erskine
October 1 at 6:30pm, Brigantine Room

Dominic Hoey is a poet, author and playwright based in Auckland, New Zealand. He has released four poetry books and several rap albums he would rather forget. He has two novels: his debut, Iceland was a New Zealand bestseller; and Poor People With Money. In a former life, Dominic was an MC battle and slam poetry champion. Currently he lives with a small, vicious dog and dreams of one day owning an animal rescue farm.

Dominic Hoey will appear in the following events:

Healing Wounds with Words: Dominic Hoey & Tyler Pennock
September 23 at 8:30pm, Brigantine Room

Kapow! With Irvine Welsh
September 22 at 7:30pm, Harbourfront Theatre

Sachiko Kashiwaba is a prolific writer of fantasy whose career spans over four decades and has garnered her many prestigious awards. She was inspired by Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers and the Narnia series by C.S. Lewis. Her novel first novel, Kiri no Mukō no Fushigi-na Machi (which was translated to The Marvelous Village Veiled in Mist) influenced Hayao Miyazaki’s film Spirited Away. Temple Alley Summer received the 2022 Mildred L. Batchelder Award, was a July/August 2021 Kids’ Indie Next Pick, and a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. She lives in Iwate Prefecture.

Temple Alley Summer was translated from the Japanese by Avery Fischer Udagawa.

Sachiko Kashiwaba’s Festival appearance is generously supported by The Japan Foundation, Toronto.

Sachiko Kashiwaba will appear in the following event:

Dead, Brilliant Ghost Stories with Kenneth Oppel & Sachiko Kashiwaba
September 24 at 1pm, Brigantine Room

Ian McEwan is the critically acclaimed author of 17 novels and two short story collections. His first published work, the collection of short stories First Love, Last Rites, won the Somerset Maugham Award. Atonement, Enduring Love, The Children Act and On Chesil Beach have all been adapted for the big screen. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2000 New Year Honours for services to literature.

Ian McEwan will appear in the following event:

Lessons: Ian McEwan with Eleanor Wachtel
September 26 at 7:30pm, Fleck Dance Theatre

Born in Teramo Province, Abruzzo, Donatella Di Pietrantonio completed her studies in the provincial capital, Aquila. She now lives in Penne, where she practises as a paediatric dentist. Her novel Bella mia was nominated for the Strega Prize and won the Brancati Prize.

A Sister’s Story was translated by Ann Goldstein.

Donatella Di Pietrantonio’s festival appearance is generously supported by Istituto Italiano di Cultura.

Donatella Di Pietrantonio will appear in the following event:

Generational Ties: Lisa Moore & Donatella di Pietrantonio
September 24 at 6:30pm, Harbourfront Centre Theatre

Chi Ta-wei is a renowned writer and scholar from Taiwan. He is an associate professor of Taiwanese literature at the National Chengchi University. The Membranes was first published in Taiwan in 1995 as 膜 (or Mó). It has become a classic queer speculative fiction in Chinese. 

The Membranes was translated by Ari Larissa Heinrich.

Chi Ta-wei’s Festival appearance is generously supported by Taipei Cultural Center of TECO in New York.

Chi Ta-wei will appear in the following events:

The Future is Fluid: Chi Ta-wei
October 01 at 5:30pm, Lakeside Terrace

We Come Back Together: Chi Ta-wei
September 30 at 1:30pm, Stage in the Park

Muriel Villanueva is a writer, author of more than 30 literary works for all ages, including novels, storybooks, poems and scripts. She has received more than a dozen awards. She currently publishes in the digital magazine Catorze, collaborates on theatre projects, and writes scripts for the independent film production company Círculo Bipolar. She has been translated into Spanish, English, Portuguese, Polish, Korean and Chinese.

The Left Parenthesis was translated by Megan Berkobien and Maria Cristina Hall.

Muriel Villanueva’s Festival appearance is generously supported by Institut Ramon Lull.

Muriel Villanueva will appear in the following event:

Journey Inward: Muriel Villanueva & Yiwei Xue
October 1 at 12pm, Lakeside Terrace

Irvine Welsh is the best-selling author of Ecstasy, Glue, Porno, Filth, Marabou Stork Nightmares, The Acid House, Skagboys, and The Sex Lives of Siamese Twins. His novel Trainspotting has been adapted into a movie and Welsh is currently working on a musical adaptation in London’s West End. His latest novel The Long Knife is a sequel to his 2008’s Crime. He currently lives in Chicago, IL.

Irvine Welsh will appear in the following events:

Kapow! With Irvine Welsh
September 22 at 7:30pm, Harbourfront Theatre

The Long Knives: Irvine Welsh
September 23 at 7pm, Fleck Dance Theatre