2019 LitFest Lineup Brings Nonfiction to Life with Over 50 Presenters

LitFest is ramping up to bring the world's best nonfiction presenters to its 2019 Festival, happening October 17-27 in downtown Edmonton.

This year's presenters to watch for include Jesse Thistle, Ayelet Tsabari, Chef Shane Chartrand, Kai Cheng Thom, Ami McKay, Humble the Poet, Jenny Yuen, Anna Mehler Paperny, Emmy-winner Joanne Vannicola, Joshua M. Ferguson, Charlotte Gray, Bob McDonald, and many more.

"With the excitement surrounding Malcolm Gladwell's visit this year, we've taken his idea of talking to strangers and used that to inspire the Festival's programming. We're thinking about how conversations can help us connect, and help us better understand people that we don't know. We've got events where people are talking about political division and empathy, trauma and mental health, race and reconciliation, gender and sexuality-these can be tough topics, but they're also incredibly important conversations," said Executive Director, Fawnda Mithrush.

The full Festival schedule and individual event tickets are now available at litfestalberta.org. LitFest is now officially SOLD OUT of Festival Passes for 2019, so be sure to purchase individual event tickets to see your favourite presenters before they're sold out, too.

LitFest is also announcing a collaboration with Glass Bookshop on a pop-up bookstore that will open on October 1 downtown in City Centre West. This unique book shopping experience includes work from your favourite LitFest writers and showcases Glass Bookshop's focus on Canadian writing with special attention paid to LGBTQ2SIA and IBPOC writers, and independent publishers who help produce their work.

This year's LitFest is all about starting conversations to build community. In 2019, Canada's original nonfiction festival invites you to experience big ideas at over 30 events. Listen. Discuss. Repeat. That's how you LitFest!

Edmonton's LitFest is the only nonfiction festival in Canada, and one of very few English-language nonfiction festivals in the world. Bringing together bestselling, award-winning, and emerging authors of books, magazines, and digital content, LitFest gathers readers and thinkers together for a series of events in downtown Edmonton, AB, Canada each October since 2006.