Keynote Speakers
Friday Evening
Speaking to you live from Kentville, Nova Scotia, through the wonders of technology, Andrew will take you on a virtual guided tour of the very hand-cranked printing presses that produced this year’s ScotiaBank Giller prize winner, The Sentimentalists. Then, he’ll share Gaspereau’s secret to how the press manages to balance a staunch commitment to the book as object of art with the latest technological innovations—and still meet the bottom line. You’ll learn how Gaspereau combines intense authorial collaboration, print craftsmanship, and inventive distribution to bring each book to life. Then toss him all those questions you’ve been dying to ask during the real-time Q&A session!
Andrew Steeves is an award-winning typographer, letterpress printer and literary publisher. In 1997, along with Gary Dunfield, he founded Gaspereau Press, Printers & Publishers, in Kentville, Nova Scotia. He lives in Black River, Nova Scotia.
This session is sponsored by Book Publishers Association of Alberta
Saturday Morning
Malcolm Azania (Minister Faust)
Writing is risking—at least it is when you’re serious about enhancing your artistic power and raising the architecture of your career.
Internationally-acclaimed, award-winning Edmonton author Minister Faust is a risk-taker. During his keynote address, with his trademarked mix of comic and profound, Minister Faust will reveal how he’s built and advanced his edge in style, in content, in research, in social networking, in multimedia, and in recognising the Next Big Thing,
including his just-announced decision to leave Big-6 publishing, and, like J.A. Konrath… go indie.
Minister Faust is an award-winning novelist, radio broadcaster, and print journalist. His debut novel, The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad, was shortlisted for three awards and placed on four top-ten lists for 2004. From the Notebooks of Doctor Brain, Faust’s second novel, won the Carl Brandon Society Kindred Award, and was the runner-up for the Philip K. Dick Award of 2007. His articles have been published in The Globe and Mail, Alberta Views, Unlimited, Avenue Edmonton, DRIN, Vue Weekly and SEE Magazine.
Faust has also worked with many community and social justice organizations, serving as a community activist and youth leader. He has been a part of the Council of Canadians of African and Caribbean Heritage, and is a board member for Humanserve International. An acclaimed speaker, he has addressed crowds in the tens of thousands.
