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Festival America launches in London
A festival celebrating contemporary writing from the Americas is to launch in the UK for the first time this year.
Founded in Paris in 2002, Festival America launches in London this September, welcoming audiences to a four-day programme of events marking the best contemporary writing from the area.
The focus country of this year’s festival will be Canada and it will showcase some of the country’s most celebrated writers and debut novelists including Patrick DeWitt, Andrée Michaud, Heather O’Neill, Michael Redhill and Guy Vanderhaeghe. They will speak alongside a selection of writers from North America including Sarah Churchwell, Nathan Hill, Ivy Pochoda, Michael Farris Smith and Brad Watson.
The London edition will follow the festival in Paris which is set to welcome more than 70 writers to Vincennes this year. Many authors will come to the UK via the French capital and will be hosted in London with support from a wide range of partners including British Council, Commonwealth Writers, CALQ, the Cundill History Prize, Granta magazine, High Commission of Canada in the UK, Institut Français, No Exit Press, The Québec Government Office in London, Vancouver Writers’ Festival and Waterstones Trafalgar Square.
Running from 24th to 27th September, it will be an opportunity to hear from "an exceptionally rich range of voices as they tackle everything from humour and high society to dystopian narratives and contemporary politics", said the organisers.
Commenting on the upcoming launch, Susie Nicklin, director of Festival America in London and c.e.o of the MILD Group, said: “As Britain prepares for Brexit and the world appears to be retreating from its hard-won 20th century compact, our relationships with Europe and the Americas remain crucial for the global ecosystem of literature. 2018, therefore, is the ideal moment for London to provide a satellite for Festival America.
"We are delighted to host such a diverse selection of participants with the support of our UK, US, Canadian and French partners. We look forward to a magical few days around Trafalgar Square.”
For more information and tickets to this year’s festival visit: festivalamerica.co.uk
